Finding a Friend

An Arkie's Faith column from the June 5, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

It seems like I spend a lot of my time answering the phone. If my hands are full, or If I am inside or under a vehicle, the phone is likely to ring. One day, I was setting a windshield in place when the phone began to ring. I had to finish setting the windshield before I could answer the phone. The phone rang and rang. When I was able to answer, the voice on the other end of the line asked, “Is this a car lot?” “Yes,” I answered tentatively, thinking it might be a telemarketer. “I know that this is a longshot, but I don’t know where else to turn. I am looking for a friend who I have lost touch with.”

As we continued the conversation, I learned that this man was trying to locate someone he had served with in the armed forces. He had a phone number for his friend, but it had been disconnected. He was afraid that his friend had passed away and that he hadn’t heard. He knew that his friend had sold used cars in this area. As we talked, I realized that I did know his friend. I promised him that I would get his information to his friend and let him know that he was trying to get in touch with him.

When I called the number that I had, I got the message that the number had been disconnected and was no longer in service. I knew where he lived, so later that day when I was out making deliveries, I stopped by his house. He and his wife welcomed me into their home. When I told them the reason for my visit, tears came to his eyes. He had lost track of his friend. Over the years, since their active duty together, they had always kept in touch. He was very happy to receive his friend's contact information. He thanked me for taking the time to bring the information to him.

I thought about how much the man must have wanted to reconnect with his friend, to start calling strangers in the hope that they might know him. I think that God may have directed him to call me because I did know his friend. His tenacity in searching for his friend reminds me of God as he searches for you and me. Luke 19:10 (NLT) tells us that “the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” And in Ezekiel 34:11 (NCV) “the Lord God says: ‘I, myself, will search for my sheep and take care of them.’”

No matter what you have done, or where you are in this life, God will always be searching for you. He will use every method there is to save you. Often, we have no idea that we are lost, but God still searches for us.

One of the greatest historical search stories is Henry Stanley's 1871 expedition to find David Livingstone in the uncharted interior of Africa. Dr. Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and explorer who had become an international celebrity for his work in exploring the African continent. In 1866 he began his third exploratory trip to Africa, searching for the source of the Nile River. Over the years, Livingston had been known for his letters and constant updates during his journeys. Livingstone was rumored to be dead when three years had passed on this final trip with very little news of his progress.

Henry Stanley was a reporter who was commissioned by the publisher of the New York Herald newspaper in 1870 to go and find Livingstone. After a difficult expedition of more than seven months, he found Livingstone. He later wrote the following description of their meeting: “As I advanced slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied, had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded gold braid round it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a mob—would have embraced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me. So I did what cowardice and false pride suggested was the best thing—walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said: ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?’”

Dr. Livingstone would later express surprise that he was considered lost. He was troubled by illness and was short of supplies but had no intention of stopping his exploration of African lakes. Livingstone remained in Africa, where he died in 1873.

God has been searching for the lost since the beginning of our earth’s history. Genesis 3:8,9 (NKJV) tells us the story of God seeking Adam and Eve after they had sinned. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’

Gentle Reader, remember that we have a Father who actively looks for us. Just as God searched for Adam and Eve as they tried to hide from Him, He is searching for you. Just as Henry Stanley sought for Dr. Livingstone, in the wilds of Africa, your Father seeks for you! “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

Rambler Down

An Arkie's Faith column from the May 29, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

Back in 2016, I purchased a 1960 Rambler American. I have always loved these little cars. They are very simple with a small flathead six-cylinder engine that produces 90 horsepower. When I bought the car, the previous owner told me he had cleaned out the gas tank and rebuilt the carburetor. He assured me that it was drivable. The first time I drove the little Rambler, it quit running. I was able to pull over to the side of the road. Just as I got out of the car to see what was wrong, a friend of mine stopped to see if I needed help. He pushed me back to my shop with his 1961 Pontiac. I can only imagine what the passers-by thought, seeing an old Pontiac pushing the little Rambler down the road.

Since the gas gauge didn’t work, I thought that it might just be out of gas. I put several gallons in the tank, and the little Rambler started right up. That night I was driving it home, and once again the little Rambler quit running. With the help of some other motorists, I was able to push it to the side of the road. I was able to get the engine started again and headed to the gas station. After filling the tank, I started again, but the little Rambler didn’t want to run. I had to call my Dad and have him help me pull the car back to my shop. When I told my wife about the day's experience, she told me, “You need to get rid of that car.”

The next morning I determined that the fuel pump wasn’t working. After replacing the pump, the little Rambler fired up and ran smoothly. I was ready for another drive. This time it ran perfectly, but when I returned to my shop, I noticed a stream of coolant running out from under the front end of the car. After checking out the leak, I found that I needed a new water pump. I had also noticed that the steering was loose. When I had replaced the water pump and a tie rod end, the little Rambler was ready to drive.

Since that time, I have driven the little Rambler a lot. I have steadily worked on the car to improve it. It has a new gas tank, and clutch linkage. There is now a coat of new paint on the little car, and it looks nice. I recently replaced everything on the front brake system so I can stop safely. I hadn’t driven the Rambler for several months because the brakes needed to be repaired. On the first drive after the brake job, the little Rambler left me beside the road when the needle valve stuck and flooded the engine.

For the past couple of weeks, I have enjoyed driving the Rambler with her new coat of paint and good brakes. But yesterday as I was driving down Highway 71, The car started to vibrate severely and then seemed to buck like a bronco. I was able to pull into the center turning lane. When I got out to look at the car, the right front tire was leaning at a crazy angle. I knew I wouldn’t be able to move the car. I called the towing company to have the little Rambler towed back to my shop. Because something in the suspension was broken and the right side of the car was sitting on the ground, we had a difficult time loading the Rambler. Traffic refused to move over to give us room to work the tow truck. We finally had to call the police to help stop traffic so we could load the car.

Did I still love the little Rambler? She has given me a lot of trouble. This time I am afraid that it is serious. I haven’t had time to find out what needs to be done, but I hope to be driving again soon.
The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8(NLT) that, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” God loves us in our broken down imperfect state. Sometimes we feel that we have to become good before God can love us. But we learn in Isaiah 64:6 (AMPC) that, “our best deeds of rightness and justice are like filthy rags or a polluted garment.” We can never become good enough to deserve God’s love. Just like I love my little Rambler even when she isn’t driveable, God loves us in our sinful condition. The Apostle Paul said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of those sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15 (ICB)

Because God loves us, He wants better things for us. Peter explains the process in 2 Peter 1:5-7 (NCV), “Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love.”

Gentle Reader, even though I haven’t gotten rid of the little Rambler though it seems that I can never drive it without a breakdown, I do want to improve it. God is the same way with us. He tells us that “nothing can ever separate us from His love” Romans 8:38 (NLT), but Jesus came to “save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (ESV) He wants a relationship with us. He wants to improve us.

A Birthday Surprise

An Arkie's Faith column from the May 22, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

Last weekend, I made a trip to southeastern Kansas with my Daddy to the area where he grew up. We went to church at the little church in Thayer, Kansas, where his family attended church. I have many fond memories of the Thayer church. When I was a child, we always attended there when we were visiting my grandparents. I still have cousins who attend there.

While we were in the area, we visited places that are nostalgic for Daddy and me. We tried to find where the Morehead School had been. My Daddy attended grade school there. We found the road it was on, but everything had changed so much in the seventy years since he had been there that he wasn’t able to tell exactly where the school had been. We looked for familiar places in the small town of Altoona where my grandparents, great grandparents, and many other family members had lived. I had a wonderful time reliving old memories. My cousin, Don, drove us around the countryside, showing us the places where family members had lived. I had a wonderful time reminiscing, and hearing stories about family.

The reason that we were in the area was to attend a cousin’s birthday party. Her family had planned a surprise birthday party and had invited us. It wasn’t easy to keep it a secret with so many people involved, but my cousin was surprised. I almost let it slip when I posted on social media that I was heading to Thayer. I didn’t say anything about the party, but my cousin saw the post and wondered why I was coming. She told me that when she saw the post, she wondered If I would contact her so that she could see Daddy and me while we were in the area.

It’s not easy to pull off a surprise party with a lot of people, but this party was very successful. Everyone loves a good party. Even the Bible loves a party. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Luke 15. I like to call it the party chapter. It is Luke’s account of three parables, each one describing a lost item that is found, and each one describing a party that was held to share the joy and happiness of finding the lost item.

The audience for these stories was the Pharisees who were complaining about Jesus' lifestyle and his welcoming of tax collectors and sinners. For the Pharisees, the term "sinners" was used for a class of people who lived immoral lives or had questionable occupations; people that no respectable Jew would ever associate with.

These people, the social and religious outcasts, were coming to Jesus, and he was receiving them and eating with them. In Luke 5:30-32 (NIV), the Bible says, “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”

The Pharisees didn't like Jesus’ association with sinners. Why were they so upset that Jesus associated with sinners and enjoyed their company? Why were they unwilling to associate with them? We find the answer in the story of the older brother found in Luke 15. In this parable, the older brother represents the Pharisees, who grumbled at Jesus’ reception of sinners. In the story, the older brother is out in the fields working, when his younger brother, “the sinner," returns. The older brother does not know of his younger brother’s return until he hears the sounds of a party coming from the house. He became very angry and refused to join the party. When the father came out to ask him to join in, the older son refused.

We find the story in Luke 15:29 (MEV), “But he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years have I served you. Nor have I ever transgressed your commands, yet never have you given me a goat, so that I might be merry with my friends.’” The older brother was at work in the field when his younger brother, “the sinner,” returned home. He thought that the basis for obtaining his father’s love was his works. He didn't need to work to win his father’s love; he only needed to be his son. This emphasis on works was the error of the Pharisees. They were “hard at work,” keeping the law, as they interpreted it, thinking that it would win God’s approval and blessing.

The older brother continues complaining to his father in Luke 15:30 (MEV), “But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.” This complaint is the flip side of the first complaint. The older brother expected to be rewarded because his works, so he expected his younger brother to be disowned because of his lack of works.

The father answered in Luke 15:31-32 (MEV) “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. But it was fitting to be merry and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” The father was not celebrating because of the younger brother’s sins, but because of his repentance and return. The older brother not only failed to comprehend grace, but he resented it. The problem of the older brother is self-righteousness. His self-righteousness expects, and even demands, God’s approval and blessings.  His self-righteousness is so strong that he resents the grace of God and refuses to rejoice in it.

Gentle Reader, don’t be an older brother. Don’t resent the grace that God so freely offers to sinners. I challenge you today to see “sinners” the way that Jesus sees them, people to associate with and to love. Remember that Jesus throws a party whenever one of his lost sheep comes home, and he wants you to join the party.

Prepaid

An Arkie's Faith column from the May 15, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

I was busy installing a windshield when the phone rang. I laid down my tools and picked up the phone. “Last night the window was broken out of my Lincoln,” said the voice on the other end. “I need to get it replaced. How much will it cost?” “Let me get into the office where I can look it up,” I answered. After getting all the information and pricing the glass, I told him, “that is an expensive piece of glass. It will cost 550.00 for the glass and installation. I can have the glass here on Tuesday.” “Well, I have to have it,” he answered. “Go ahead and order it.” “Do you want me to come by and pay for it before you place the order,” he added. I told him that it wasn’t necessary to pay for it before the job was done.

About an hour later, the customer with the Lincoln drove up to my shop. “I want to pay you for the glass,” he said. I told him that it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted. “Thank you,” I said. “That is very thoughtful of you.” He wrote me out a check handed it to me and then drove away.

The Lincoln glass was delivered and at my shop on Tuesday morning. But the customer didn’t show up to get it installed. It was a busy day, and I didn’t have time to think about it until late that afternoon. I called the customer, but only got his voice mail. I left a message telling him that the glass was in and asked him to give me a call to reschedule. I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the week. I thought that was unusual, but I didn’t worry about it because he had prepaid for the glass.

A week went by before I heard from the customer. He called, and we made an appointment to install the glass. I was glad to have the job completed. I was surprised that he waited so long to have the work done, especially since it had already been paid.

In my warehouse, there are quite a few pieces of glass that customers have special ordered but never came to get the work done. It is a frustrating part of the business. But I also have several pieces of glass that customers paid for but have never picked up. I am puzzled that someone would pay for a piece of glass and then never pick it up.

I am also puzzled that more people don’t accept God’s grace. It has already been paid for. The Bible is clear that God’s grace is a gift. Why don’t more people accept the gift? If you were to ask one hundred random people, “how do you get to heaven?” you would hear a lot of different answers. You would hear things like, “try to be good and do your best” or “work hard at being a good moral person” or “do more good things in life than you do bad things.” All of these ideas are based on our abilities and actions. They are not based on the idea of a gift. People that don’t feel the need of the gift see no need to accept God’s grace. Many religious people fall into this way of thinking. They feel that they can do it themselves and that they don’t need some gift.

In 1 Corinthians 6:20 (NCV) Paul tells us, “you were bought by God for a price. So honor God with your bodies.” God paid the price of his Son to purchase your salvation. “He suffered the things we should have suffered. He took on himself the pain that should have been ours. But we thought God was punishing him. We thought God was wounding him and making him suffer. But the servant was pierced because we had sinned. He was crushed because we had done what was evil. He was punished to make us whole again. His wounds have healed us.” Isaiah 53:4,5 (NIRV)

Jesus suffered for you. He took on himself the pain that should have been yours. Your sins were the ones that pierced him. He paid the price to heal you and make you whole. Jesus died for you. The stain of sin that marred your life has now been washed white as snow. He has paid your debts. All of them. Jesus has paid it all.

John 19:28-30 (NCV) tells the story of the last moments of Jesus’ life on the cross. “After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and died.”

Gentle Reader, Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross. He paid in full all the costs required for our sin to be forgiven. And when we place our trust in him, our debt for sin is forever wiped off the books! We all need the gift of grace. We all need to have the penalty paid for our sins. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NKJV) We need the gift of God, eternal life. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”  Ephesians 2:8 (NRSV) Don’t be too proud to accept the prepaid gift.

First Gear

An Arkie's Faith column from the May 8, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

It was a beautiful spring evening with blue skies, fluffy clouds, and a perfect 70-degree temperature. The redbuds and dogwoods were in bloom, showing off their glorious beauty. I had not driven my little Rambler American for several weeks, so I decided that this evening would be a great time to take a drive. I headed for Wal-Mart to pick up some things that I needed. The sun was shining as I drove along with my window down. I pulled into the parking lot, found a space, and headed into the store.

When I had finished shopping, I put my purchases in the trunk of the Rambler and then slid behind the wheel, getting ready to start the engine and head home. I slipped the key in the ignition and pushed on the clutch. The clutch went to the floor with no resistance. “Oh no,” I thought, “what am I going to do? With no clutch, I wouldn’t be able to drive home.”

The car in the parking space in front of me pulled out of the space. I put the little Rambler in first gear and turned the key. The Rambler lurched and jerked as it started in gear. I was able to maneuver out of the parking lot in first gear and crept up to the stop sign at the exit. There was no one near, so I idled through the stop sign and made my way to the stoplight at the intersection. The light was red, but I made my way through the parking lot and onto the highway. Without a clutch, I couldn’t shift out of first gear. The engine raced as I drove down the highway at ten miles an hour. That was as fast as the Rambler could go in first gear.

I had three miles to drive to get back to my shop. The roar of the engine echoed in my ears as I slowly drove down the road. Traffic behind me had to wait for a chance to get into the other lane to pass me. I felt bad about impeding traffic, but I had no other choice. I only hit one traffic light while it was red. I had to kill the engine and sit at the light. When it turned green, I once again turned the key and started the engine while the car groaned and stumbled forward. I was worried about the engine overheating from being driven at high rpm’s but at such a slow speed that very little air was going through the radiator. When I finally reached my shop, I breathed a sigh of relief.

When I was able to get under the Rambler and check out the clutch linkage, I found that the reinforced fabric material of the clutch linkage flexible support assembly had torn apart. I would have to go online and order the parts before I could repair the Rambler and drive it again. I didn’t want to have to drive it stuck in first gear. I hope to have the clutch linkage repaired soon so that I can drive in high gear.

Too many of us are going through life stuck in first gear. We can plod along at a slow pace and eventually get where we are going, but life isn’t enjoyable. This isn’t the life that Jesus wants for us. He says, “I have come so they may have life. I want them to have it in the fullest possible way.” John 10:10 (NIRV) Jesus doesn’t want us to be stuck in first gear.

Some days it seems like everything naturally goes from good to bad. I know that I have had days like that, and I’m sure that you have too.  It seems like nothing is going right and we are just spinning our wheels and not making any headway. When things go wrong, and life is hard, heartbreaking, or even just disappointing, we can easily get stuck in a negative mindset. But a negative attitude keeps you stuck in first gear.

In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, Paul included this prayer. “I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself. God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us.” Ephesians 3:17-20 (NLV)

When you are having that bad day, or if you feel that your life is going nowhere, remember that Jesus loves you beyond anything you can understand. “We are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.” Ephesians 2:10  (CEB)

The life you have today, and all it includes or doesn’t include, is the life God has given you. It’s the only life you have. But you can live it to the fullest. Don’t let life pass you by as you allow problems, disappointments, or drudgery to steal your enthusiasm for living. Don’t go through life in first gear. God wants you to live life to it’s fullest in high gear. Your happiness is up to you.

Gentle Reader, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT) But you don’t have to wait for heaven to experience a full life. King David wrote, “You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life. As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending, and I know true joy and contentment. Psalm 16:11 (VOICE) Even in this life, those who believe in Jesus can have a wonderful appetizer of future blessings! Jesus truly did come so that we can live life in the fullest possible way. He wants you to live life in high gear. Don’t get stuck in first gear

The Boxer

An Arkie's Faith column from the April 24, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

The car made its way along the rough, rocky county road. The idyllic pastures and the cattle they contained gave way to woods as the road gained elevation. After a sharp bend in the road, the surface became smoother as the road neared the top of the mountain. When the car climbed out of the woods, the view opened and revealed a beautiful mountaintop home. At the corner of the property, standing at attention, was a large, muscular, imposing looking dog. His sleek, short coat shone with the lean, muscular build of an athlete.

This scene repeated itself many times as we made our way up the mountainside to visit my cousin. The dog, a Boxer, would always be standing there with a majestic pose. His well-developed muscles visible under his tight skin gave him the air of a bodyguard. When we drove onto the property, he would be there to escort us up the driveway and greet us when we got out of the car.

Although the Boxer’s physique suggests that he would be aggressive, he is a gentle giant. He loves people and wants to be with you. According to the American Kennel Club; “The breed’s most appealing traits is a tremendous love for their humans and a need to be loved in return. A Boxer is happiest when he’s with his family.” My wife and I loved the Boxer, and he loved us.

One Saturday afternoon while were visiting, the Boxer and one of the family dogs went for a romp in the woods surrounding the house. An hour or so later the other dog returned home, but the Boxer didn’t. When another hour passed and the Boxer still wasn’t home, we began to get worried. My cousin and I went walking through the woods looking for the Boxer. After walking and looking for a long time, we widened the search by driving down the mountain and circling through town to the east side of the mountain. There was no sign of the Boxer. After several hours, we gave up the search. We hoped that he would come home, but we feared the worst.

Boxers are prone to the hereditary heart disease aortic stenosis, meaning an obstruction underneath the aortic valve. This medical condition can cause sudden death, so the dog looks fine one minute and keels over the next. We knew that Boxers are prone to heart problems, so we feared that the Boxer had suffered a heart attack. With sadness, we resigned ourselves to never seeing the Boxer again. Not knowing what had happened to him was the most difficult part.

One evening later that week, my wife and I were sitting in our living room when the phone rang. My wife answered the phone. “You will never guess what happened,” said the voice on the other end. “Our boy is home.” Just a few minutes earlier, my cousin had been outside his house when he saw the Boxer running as fast as he could towards home. What a joyous reunion that was. I don’t know who was happier, the Boxer or his people.

In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three stories, each describing a lost item, and the joy and celebration when they were found. “He was lost and has been found.” Luke 15:24 (NASB) could be referring to the Boxer. When Jesus was telling the story of a lost sheep, He said, “you will continue to search for it until you find it. And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’” Luke 15:4-6 (ERV) The story made me think about the phone call we received telling us that the Boxer was home.

The stories of the lost items in Luke 15 are about God's love and mercy for sinful human beings. Jesus is telling us that he wants us to rejoice with him. He says, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 (NKJV) “We had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.” Luke 15:32 (GNT)

Are you looking for the lost? Are you celebrating and rejoicing when they are found? In Luke 19:10 (NRSV) Jesus says that He “came to seek out and to save the lost.” And the same Jesus who came to seek out and save, tells us in John 20:21 (NIV), “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Looking for hurting people and saving them was a priority in Jesus’ life on earth. It should be a priority for his people as well. But to do that, we must engage the broken and hurting people around us. Too many Christians do not want to seek out and save the lost. They are very happy to point out sin in the world and declare that those sinners are lost, but they don’t want to engage with them. Ed Stetzer, American author and pastor writes; “It’s fascinating that a lot of Christians don’t seem to like non-Christians, often referred to as the lost or the unchurched. Often, we want to keep away from messy people.”

The focus of too many Christians is pointing out the sin in others. Daniel Darling states, "we must not allow our protest against values with which we disagree to overshadow our responsibility to show Christ's love for the world. It may very well be the person who offends us the most whom God is in the process of saving. And our gracious response might be the bridge that the Spirit uses to usher him from death to life.” Many people who claim to love God don’t have genuine love for other people. But 1 John 4:8 (NKJV) tells us, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Gentle Reader, do you have compassion on those who are lost? I challenge you today to see the lost the way that Jesus sees them and to rejoice with Him whenever one of his lost sheep comes home!

Ten Years After

An Arkie's Faith column from the April 10, 2019, issue of The Mena Star.

April 9 is the tenth anniversary of the EF-3 tornado that devastated portions of Mena in 2009. The Associated Press article that ran in newspapers nationwide the day after the storm stated, “Authorities began a house-to-house search Friday for possible victims of the tornado that struck a 'direct hit' on this mountain community, killing at least three people, injuring at least 30 others and flattening homes and businesses. The twister descended quickly on the Ouachita Mountains town shortly after eight p.m. Thursday.” Because it was national news, I had many people contact me asking if we were ok. I was one of the fortunate ones who had minimal damage from the storm.

Those of us that lived through that night will never forget it. I still often talk to people who experienced the terror of the storm. My wife was on the phone with a dear friend when the tornado hit. Our friend was in the bottom of a closet covered with blankets. She was afraid of the storm. As the storm hit the phone went dead. We didn’t know what had happened. After the storm had passed, I tried driving to her home, but the authorities were not letting traffic into that part of town. It was several long hours before a neighbor of hers was able to get word to us that she was ok, but her house was heavily damaged.

I remember the months that followed and the long hours at work installing auto glass. There were so many damaged vehicles that I worked from 6:00 A.M. till 10:00 P.M. six days a week. Two hundred homes were lost, and 1,000 homes were damaged. So many people had so much to do in the recovery and rebuilding that it seemed the whole town was fatigued.

Even though the people of Mena were tired and saddened, there was still a resilient spirit. The prevailing attitude was, “we will get through this.” When a town with a population of 5,700 has 1,000 homes damaged, a large percentage of the residents are affected. Anyone who didn't have damage to their property knew people who did. Watching the town rebuild showed me the importance of community and small-town Christian values.

On April 11, 2010, one year after the tornado, I was in attendance when the Polk County Arkansas Long Term Recovery Committee held an event in Janssen Park to recognize those who helped Mena recover from the tornado and to remember those who lost their lives. Mena residents gathered at the park on a beautiful sunny day to remember the tornado that swept through town the previous year. The volunteers that came from far and near to help with the recovery were recognized. The most poignant part of the event was the placement of a memorial in loving memory of the lives lost in the tornado; Anna Cress, Judy Lobner, and Albert Shaw.

A memorial is something that serves as a focus to help remember an event. Are there memorials in the Bible? There is a memorial right in the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:8-12 (NKJV) says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

What are we to remember when we keep the Sabbath? God created the heavens and the earth. When did God set up this memorial to creation? Genesis 2:1-3 (NKJV) tells us, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

On the seventh day of creation, God blessed and sanctified the seventh day. It is a memorial of creation.  Many people no longer believe that God created the world in seven days. If we deny that God is the Creator, we have no reason to worship God. “No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him. He ranks higher than everything that has been made. Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ. He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him.” Colossians 1:15-17 (NCV)

To reject the account of creation as found in Genesis is to reject not only Old Testament worship but New Testament worship. In Romans 1:25 (NLT) the Bible says, “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise!” When we deny God’s creative power, we end up worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.

Gentle Reader, creation is important; It is the reason we worship God, and the seventh day has stood as a memorial to God’s creative power from creation week until today. “The Lord created the heavens. He is God. He formed the earth and made it. He set it firmly in place. He didn’t create it to be empty. Instead, he formed it for people to live on. He says, ‘I am the Lord. There is no other Lord.’” Isaiah 45:18 (NIRV)

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Photos that I took in Mena during April 2009