Christmas

I've been neglecting my blog. Sorry about that, but I have a good excuse...

It is the holiday season and consequently very busy - especially for pastors. But this season was even more busy because my daughter and son-in-law visited us for a week with their two children.

Now, I like blogging, but there is no contest between spending time on my blog and spending time with my children and grandchildren. The blogging I can do anytime, but I only see my grandchildren a few times a year.

Caleb is a smiley five month old. He hardly ever cries! If he isn't smiling at somebody, he is working very seriously at exploring his baby toys.

Emma is a two year old streak of lightning! She is also being potty trained. She enjoyed bossing the dog around, playing with her new dinosaurs, coloring pictures, and hiding in the "cave" under the roll-top desk. She did not enjoy the potty training!

She was not alone in this attitude. She had to be watched constantly. Living room chairs had to be protected from flooding. Timers were set and beeping constantly. Hours were spent sitting on the uncomfortable edge of the bathtub waiting for Emma to be "all done" on the toilet.

We had some successes. We had some failures. Sometimes Emma was pretty unhappy about being put on the toilet. She was mostly pretty agreeable. By the end of the visit she was having quite a bit of success.

So, how was our visit? We laughed and celebrated together! We got on each other's nerves and argued with each other. We went out to eat. We shopped. We babysat. We moved furniture. We used a bale of paper towels. We cuddled. We sang silly songs. We played jokes on each other.

It was a GREAT visit. Praise the Lord for His goodness and mercies. How amazing that sinners like us can get along with anyone half so well as we got along for this crowded and busy week!

Preaching Again!

Think of that old western song - "I'm back in the saddle again..."  Or Willie Nelson - "On the road again."  The sentiment in those songs is pretty much how I feel this week.  I am back in the pulpit again!

During the move I took two weeks off from preaching.  It was, I suppose, necessary.  I had tons of work to do and no time to study, but I sure missed preaching.  The privilege, the challenge, the adrenaline...  Preaching is like breathing to me.  When I am not preaching it is like holding my breath.

Of course, there is a sense in which preaching is terrifying.  The Bible is the word of God. Preaching is a tremendous responsibility and no matter what I do, I always fall short of what I would have liked to do in preparation and presentation.  I live in fear of misrepresenting the truth of the word - or even of giving people a wrong impression.

On Monday I posted my Sunday sermon to my web page.  That adds another level of insecurity.  Preaching - at least for me - is a very personal thing.  I prepare through study and prayer to the best of my ability.  I open myself up to people as I preach.  I preach to the audience before me - and their responses and feedback during the sermon affect my presentation (though hopefully not my message).  To put that sermon on the web where it could be accessed by pretty much anybody in the world hits me in my insecurities.

But, it is what it is.  In twenty-one years of pastoral ministry I have preached thousands of messages.  I try to learn from my mistakes, but I can't allow myself to obsess about them.  I can only pray that God will use them in people's hearts as I turn my attention to the next message.

So, I am back in the pulpit again!  Praise God!!  This is what God made me to do, and I count myself tremendously blessed to be back at it.

God is great and greatly to be praised!

Have a blessed week.

Heavy Traffic

Now that I live in Canton I need to get used to the traffic.  This evening I drove up Whipple Ave. to Everhard Road, then across to South Main Street.  I was awed by the volume of traffic.  Four lanes full - backed up at the red lights - a steady stream of cars.

My first reaction was, "I don't like it."  It is busy, dangerous, frustrating and noisy.  But then, while I waited through four light changes to get my turn at the intersection at Everhard and South Main, I though it over.

I grew up fishing in a deep lake near my house that had many many fish.  I caught Bluegill, Perch, Pickerel and Large Mouth Bass.  It was a rare day that I didn't catch fish.  As an adult, however, I've fished in other deep lakes that didn't have so many fish and where I rarely caught any.  Now where would I rather fish?  You guessed it, no doubt.  I like fishing where there are plenty of fish to catch.

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him and told them they would become "fishers of men."

So I looked at that traffic streaming by and I thought, "Praise God for all these people. Surely God has put us in a place where there will be good fishing for men."

The Need To Rest

We are in the midst of our move to Canton and it is wearing me out!  Yesterday I worked outside all day - first cleaning up things from our outbuilding, then tearing an old utility trailer apart with a sledge and a crowbar.  (I guess I mostly beat it apart.)

After that, I loaded a ton of junk - pieces of wood, old notebooks, broken computers, etc. and took them to the transfer station.  Then I came back and loaded 29 lbs. of aluminum and 460 lbs. of other assorted metal pieces (mostly two really heavy pieces) and took them to the scrap yard. 

Believe it or not, but most of the time pastors don't get to spend much time doing heavy work outdoors in the cold.  I was frozen, chapped, covered in mud, and tired!  (It was like deer hunting - only without looking for deer.)

The point of this story is that I was so tired when I sat down...  My muscles ached.  I just wanted to rest.

And it felt good, too!  It feels good to get really tired.  It makes the rest that much more sweet! It feels good to be tired and to know that you got that way doing something that needed to be done.  It feels great to know that there will be a time for rest as well.

We are moving to Canton.  We are packing up everything.  We are tired and we have many questions that we haven't found answers to yet.  We also worry that we haven't even asked some of the important questions.  But Friday we load the truck and Saturday we go up to our new home.  Hopefully we will find more time to rest after that.

May God grant you both meaningful work and wonderful rest.

Pastor D

OMG

I get tired of hearing people say, "Oh my god!" (OMG)

It is tempting to suggest that OMG is a transgression of the third commandment.

(Ex 20:7) “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

In truth, OMG is worse! In casual conversation - in discussions of the most mundane matters - where the issues of interest are the most pedestrian - OMG begins almost every sentence.

"And I was like, OMG, why would I want to have seconds of broccoli? I mean, MG, it is so green! But, OMG, she was like, 'have some more?' And I was like, 'No,' but she scooped more onto my plate. OMG, how clueless is that?"

What this tells me is that the person isn't so much using God's name in vain - they are just using the word "god" as a filler. As bad as it is to use the name of the One True and Living God in a way that dishonors Him - it is WORSE to not believe in God at all.

"OMG" betrays a diminished awareness of God - a senseless, unseeing, unknowing, blind deadness toward God.

(Rom 11:33-36) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
“For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

(1Tim 1:17) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Expository Preaching

I am a fan of expository preaching. The preacher focuses on one particular passage of Scripture and explains in detail what it means. This requires a high view of Scripture, because if it is anything less than the inspired and inerrant word of God, what's the point? It also requires careful study to determine the original intention of the passage. The expositor must look at the text (vocabulary, grammar & syntax), context, historical background, original audience, etc.

Topical preaching is very popular these days, partly on the theory that unchurched people can be attracted by what appear to be self-help messages: "Successful Financial Management," "The Problem Of Suffering," "Raising Well Adjusted Children," etc.

It is theoretically possible to preach an expository message on a topic - if you are preaching a passage of Scripture that deals with a topic - but this is not what most modern topical messages are like. Rather, the topical messages I hear today are built on the preacher's outline of what he wants to say. The Scriptures are usually brought in to support the preacher's points, but they are not usually dealt with in any depth. They are used as "proof texts" and are often presented without any context that would show that they apply to the topic at hand.

I want to be an expository preacher. Most of my sermon series are book studies. I prepare by studying the text to be preached as thoroughly as I can manage. I look for a way to organize the message around the points that are made in the text and in a way that is true to the text.

But I am always nervous. Am I really getting the point of the passage? Am I reading into the passage what I think it should say? Am I guilty of using proof texts when I bring in other passages for support? At the end of the message have I really explained the text at hand or simply promoted my own point of view?

These are serious questions. They need to be asked. They cannot be ignored. But they shouldn't paralyze us - we do our best with the gifts God has given us. And we cannot let them drive us away from expository preaching and into simple topical lectures.

Whatever people may think they need, what they really need is the word of God.

(2Tim 3:16-4:2) ¶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

Husband Of The Year

If I ever write a book, it might be about being "Husband Of The Year." I am the reigning champion, having held the title ever since I invented the concept about six years ago.

The idea is that I want to be absolutely the best husband my wife could possibly imagine - a far better husband than anybody else's husband that she hears about at work or in the community. Lola is the only one who gets to vote.

It all started when we moved to a new pastorate in Ohio. After a year or so, Lola returned to college to finish her teaching degree. My office was in the parsonage and a pastor's schedule is flexible, so it seemed reasonable that I would take up some of the responsibilities that had previously been hers - most notably the cooking. When she finished her degree, she got a full time teaching job and started her Master's program. She was busier than ever, so I continued with the cooking and picked up more of the cleaning and laundry duties.

The experience gave me a new perspective on the life of a housewife and a new appreciation for how difficult it is to run a household. At times I felt frustrated and under-appreciated. Sometimes I would plan and cook a meal that would come out perfectly - only to have Lola come home late. Occasionally I would cook something that Lola and David Andrew didn't enjoy like I thought they should.

I often found that I couldn't get it all done. I did have, after all, a full time job to do in addition to the cooking and other housework. It was easy for me to feel sorry for myself and to whine that Lola wasn't always doing her fair share.

Martyrdom might have claimed me, but for the Husband Of The Year Award. I realized that God wants me to love my wife like Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. (Eph. 5:25) That meant that I couldn't justify all my worries about whether or not I was being treated fairly. Love for my wife means I should do everything in my power to ease her way, serve her needs and benefit her in life. It is not just a matter of doing the right thing, it is also important to have the right motive.

My cooking and other household duties meant that she could give more attention to her studies, finish her education more quickly, and do a better job getting established in her profession. This is not a sacrifice on my part, but a service of love that serves me too. As Ephesians five says, you should love your wife as your own body. Lola's success in education and in the workplace makes her a more confident and interesting person. Her salary benefits both of us. Her happiness contributes to my happiness. Her accomplishments are a source of pleasure to me as well.

I think my "Husband Of The Year" idea might have started out as a desire to get Lola to acknowledge my excellence as a husband. It was a way to get a pat on the back. I recall saying something like, "I will take care of doing the laundry you couldn't get to, but remember to vote for me as Husband of the Year." I am sure when Lola was especially pleased with some meal or service I provided, I have said, "Just remember to vote for me for Husband of the Year."

But Husband Of The Year became something far better than a way of fishing for praise.

The irony is that as my perspective became more biblical and my goals became more pure, Husband of the Year became a way of reminding myself that what I was doing was for my OWN benefit. It is a shorthand way of saying, "I am not just doing this for you, dear wife. I am doing this for me - because I love you as I love myself. It is no sacrifice. It is not a burden. I am only nourishing and cherishing you like I do my very own body - and for the same reason. Because I love you as my own flesh."

Beyond that, I do it for the glory of God. Even if I never mention it to Lola and she never says a word of praise - God wants me to be the Husband of the Year. Why should I focus my love and loyalty on my wife? Not just because it pleases her. Not just because it benefits me. But ultimately, because it is the right thing to do, and it pleases God and brings Him glory.

Being the Husband of the Year is a rush. Lola comes home with stories of her colleagues who work all day, then go home to do all the cooking and cleaning and waiting on their husbands who don't do "women's work" and who expect to be waited on by their wives. She delights in being the envy of her friends who know that I send her love notes in the lunches I pack for her everyday. She sparkles with a radiant beauty as I focus my loving attention and affection on her in my thoughts, words and deeds.

Everyone should want to be the Husband of the Year (or Wife of the Year). And everyone CAN be.

Bumps In The Road

I repeatedly remind the church that this world is not heaven.

We have not arrived. Our calling as followers of Christ does not permit us to settle down and make ourselves comfortable. We are renters here. We are strangers and pilgrims on a journey through a foreign land. We are special agents of God, sent on a mission into an alien world.

While we might not have grandiose fantasies of fortune and pleasure, we all want what everyone wants. We want to be safe and secure. We want to be with the people we love and to have them love us. We want to be free from worry. We want good food and clothes and a place we can call our own. We want to be comfortable, satisfied and established.

Here is a basic struggle for the follower of Christ. Where is the line between the reasonable pursuit of life's necessities on the one hand and the idolatrous pursuit this world's values on the other hand?

We need to make a living. We need food and clothes and a place to live. We need to love our families. But we need to love Christ more than any of these. We need to put Christ before everything else... before our career, before our food and clothes, before our home place, before our loved ones.

Somehow we need to let our desire for stability and satisfaction energize us for the service of Christ. Those desires are not bad in themselves. Aren't those desires the things that will be ultimately and completely satisfied in heaven? They are only bad if we try to realize them in this world at the expense of following Christ.

(Matt 6:33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

(1Tim 6:6-8) ¶ Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Sunny Days

Today started out kind of gray, but turned sunny in the afternoon. It is amazing how much better I feel with the clean and cleansing light shining down! It lifts my spirits like a big man's hand lifts a newborn kitten. One minute I am tripping along and struggling. The next minute I go sailing up with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

Gotta love that sunshine!

Weasel Words

I watch news clips on the web - so I get to see the same commercials over and over again. One of them is for Tylenol PM. It evidently contains a sleep aid.

Don't worry about getting hooked on it, however, because it "has not been shown to cause dependence."

These are weasel words. I can't decide if it is funny or insulting.

Maybe they didn't do any tests at all. That would not show if something caused dependence. Maybe their tests were inconclusive. That would qualify.

At least we know that nobody has proven that it DOES cause dependency. But we are also sure that nobody proved that it DOESN'T cause dependency, otherwise they could have said it straight out.

Instead, all we get is weasel words, and the outbreak of weasel words makes me very suspicious.

How about you?

The Phantom Of The Oprah

Don't you think that Saturday Night Live or Comedy Central should do something on "The Phantom of the Oprah" (as in Oprah Winfrey)? They already have music for it. They would only need to change the storyline a bit.

Why Moving Is Nasty!

Sorting through all of your accumulated stuff is nasty. You find things that you forgot you had and did very well without - but now that you have discovered it again you think you need it. You find out that you have more stuff than whole villages in some countries > and you are keeping most of it "just in case." Most of what you will move hasn't been used, touched or even seen in years.

Packing everything you own is nasty. You make the rounds of local businesses like a beggar - looking for suitable boxes. You wrap fragile things, box everything, label everything, stack everything. You feel like you are living in a warehouse.

Transporting everything is nasty. How do you find enough help - strong enough help - careful enough help? All of the furniture is at risk. Will the glass be broken? Will the wood be scratched? Will the hardware be lost? A move is inevitably hard on furniture - chairs and desks and tables and cabinets.

Figuring out where to put things in your new house is nasty. Upstairs or down? Kitchen or dining room? Basement or closet? Forget parking in the garage for three months after you move. The garage will be full of odds and ends of furniture, tools, and plastic containers.

Cleaning up the old place after you move out is nasty. It is always filthy under things that you haven't moved for a while. Pictures on the walls have left holes. Behind big cabinets and under the beds you will find dust and dirt and spiders. The stuff in the attic is always grimy.

Moving is a huge undertaking. Moving is dirty. Moving is overwhelming. Moving is painful. Moving is exhausting. Moving is nasty.

Moving Is Nasty!

I can say it with authority!

I was born to move. My mom said that they moved 13 times the first year of my life. That was the beginning of a trend. After that we moved to Albany, NY and lived in two different houses in that area. Then we moved to Oneonta where we lived on Chestnut Street for a couple of years before we moved to an apartment on Maple Street.

At about that point we started moving out to Bloomington, IN for the summers. Mom and dad both did graduate studies there. We lived there through the entire year when I was in fourth grade.

Back in New York we moved out of Oneonta to the family farm near Portlandville. We lived in the old farmhouse for several years while we prepared to build a new house down closer to Saddlebag Lake. I think I was 12 when we moved down to the new house (an A frame) where we lived in the basement while the upstairs was being built. Then, after a year or so, I moved upstairs to my new room. And there I stayed until I went away to college.

How many moves was that? 21? (not counting the summer trips to Indiana)?

Then I moved to college in Cedarville, OH. After college Lola and I married and moved to Wisconsin. We stayed put for three years, then moved to Scranton, PA so I could go to seminary. After a year in Scranton we moved to West Endicott, NY for a while to do an apprenticeship, then back to PA - this time to a trailer park in Factoryville where we stayed for four more years.

What are we up to now? 26 moves!

After seminary we moved to Franklin, NY where we lived in a beautiful old house for a year. Then I became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Cadosia, NY and moved into their parsonage. We stayed there for almost ten years. Then I accepted a call to pastor New Harmony Baptist Church in Caldwell, OH and we moved here in December of 1996. We have been here longer than anywhere - eleven years.

Three more moves and we are up to 29.

Now we are preparing to move to Canton, OH so I can become pastor of Whipple Ave. Baptist Church. That will be my 30th move. (OK - so I was under one year old for 13 of them. So say 17 moves - it is still a bunch).

I know what I am talking about. Moving is nasty!

Carefree For God's Glory

God is worthy of all praise and glory. He is the Creator. He is holy. He is loving, just, merciful, gracious and everything else that is good. He is infinite and wonderful.

Not only is God worthy of all glory, but the more I get my heart in line with that value, the better it is for me. The closer I come to loving the Lord my God with all of my heart and soul and strength and mind, the more I am blessed with an immunity to distress.

Since I am a 20th century American kind of guy, I like the ideas of personal autonomy, liberty, freewill and self-determination. The problem is that I am a limited and sinful human. My will is selfish. My outlook is short-sighted. My power is extremely limited. When I live for my own will and glory I always come up short. Even my successes are imperfect. My crashes are spectacular. My ability to control the world is nil.

In the rare and fleeting moments when I am surrendered to the love of God, however, I am able to soar above any potential problems of this world. When I want God's glory with all of my being, I have nothing to fear. I relax my grip and release myself, my possessions, my family and friends and even my freedom to God.

I tell Him to use them all for His glory in any way that He sees fit and in that moment, I am finally free of care. Here I know that life and death are already in His hands. Let them be for His glory. Painful things will still hurt, but there is comfort in knowing that God has a perfect sovereign plan and any pain will be for the best purpose in the universe - the glory of God.

In surrendering to God I find rest and peace. I couldn't control anything anyway - I now have turned it over to God, Who CAN! And I can be confident that He will handle every circumstance perfectly. He cares for my loved ones more than I do. He knows the end from the beginning. He is not warped by foolish pride and selfish ambition. He will make things turn out just like He wants them too - and I can trust Him with them all.

(1Pet 5:5-7) ¶ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Absolute Truth, Facts and Opinions

What could it mean to say that there is no absolute truth? It is absurd to assert this as a truth statement. What I see in people's web conversations is the idea that all truth claims are equally muddled by the claimant's perspective (or lack thereof.)

One person claims something to be true. Another claims the same something to be false. The relativist moderates by saying that from the first person's perspective the something is true and from the other person's perspective it is false. This is not too hard to swallow since people's opinions are certainly not infallible.

The problem comes when EVERYTHING is considered to be opinion and nothing is a fact. The relativist doesn't necessarily say there are no facts - he just claims that we don't have access to the facts. We only have our perception of the facts and our description of the facts are opinions.

It seems odd to me that modern science has contributed to the confusion. Science has claimed not only the physical universe but the metaphysical as its domain. Much of what science asserts as true truth about the universe is no more than a projection of naturalistic, materialistic and uniformitarian presuppositions. For example macro evolution has never been observed in nature, is not supported in the fossil record and is completely counter-intuitive in a world that is elegantly interwoven in overlapping systems that suggest design. But the secular scientists affirm that macro evolution is true truth 1) because it is the only explanation for how such a world could come to be that is thoroughly naturalistic and materialistic and 2) because most secular scientists believe it must be true and 3) because no matter how counter-intuitive it seems, some "scientist" somewhere has a "just so" story about how such systems might have progressed from one stage to another to form the incredibly complex organs, organisms and ecosystems we find today.

Science would like to be the arbiter of truth. Scientists consider themselves to be those who interact with the facts and who are unbiased in their testing and reporting of those facts. But since they refuse to acknowledge that their atheistic presuppositions shape their studies they cannot see that their application of the scientific method is fatally flawed so that their pronouncements are suspect to every thinking person.

Only an infinite personal God can be above the fray. He is the basic fact and every other factual reality comes from Him. He alone can speak with absolute authority about true truth > what exists, how it came to exist and why it exists > what is good and what is evil > what is life and how should we live? God knows, but is He saying?

OARBC Conference Report

Yesterday I returned home from the annual conference of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches that met in Toledo. You CAN get here from Toledo, BUT it isn't easy! I was tired from the drive, but still invigorated from the fellowship.

It is interesting to me that some pastors avoid these conferences. I personally find them to be a blessing. Let me work through some thoughts:

1. We get to sit under the preaching of God's Word! Not only that, but it isn't just generic preaching, but preaching to a congregation mostly comprised of pastors. The applications are tailored for us. If you can open your heart to the preaching of the Word, God will richly bless you at the conference.
2. At these conferences you see people that you only get to see once or twice a year. You swap stories from your ministries. You inquire about their family and your mutual friends. You care for them. They care for you. You pray for each other. You have lunch together. You realize that you are not all by yourself - that there are other people who know what you are going through and who CARE.
3. You meet with your peers - other pastors and missionaries. It is a great place to ask questions and get advice. This can be dangerous ground! It is possible for me to feel like there is a competition running - who has the biggest church, etc. But I find that I am blessed if I put my pride away and make the most of finding out what good ideas God has given to my brothers in Christ. This year in particular, as I anticipate moving from rural ministry to urban ministry, I need all the ideas and inputs I can get!
4. The conference is sort of a mini ministry retreat. It is not a vacation - far from it. Leave the TV off. Be careful not to overeat. Use your time alone for prayer and reflection. Think of questions you need to ask and people you want to be sure to talk to. Apply the messages to your own life and ministry. Go to workshops that will stimulate your thinking about your own situation. Talk to people without pretense. Lick your wounds, accept people's encouragement. Encourage some others with the encouragement God has given you.

When I was younger and more insecure, I was nervous about conferences. Sometimes I felt irritated rather than blessed. Now I realize that it was all my own fault. My immaturity and pride were at the heart of it and they were robbing me of the blessings. It wasn't other people who were comparing themselves to me - it was me, comparing myself to them. It wasn't other people criticizing me - it was me being critical of others that left such a bitter taste in my mouth.

God has made us to need fellowship. Conferences like the OARBC conference are great for helping to satisfy that need. Praise God for His wonderful provision!

Evolution & Racism

Another interesting news item today.

LONDON - London's Science Museum canceled a Friday talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the co-discoverer of DNA's structure told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.

Here is another example of the hypocrisy of evolutionists. If we evolved from lower life forms it logically follows that some of us might be more evolved than others. That would mean that some people are, as a group, less evolved and so "lower."

Of course civil rights groups are up in arms - and rightly so. But they don't realize that the basis for "human rights" and the notion of equality is derived from the Biblical account of creation. The reason we are equal is that we were "created equal." The reason we have "rights" is that God invested His own image in us and defined our rights.

If evolution is correct there is no special reason that one human should not kill another. If I can kill you and take your stuff, then I have improved my chances of reproducing. (Reproducing is the main point in the evolutionary world. What lives today is what has managed to successfully reproduce. Survival of the fittest - Law of the jungle and all that.) Why should I value human life - my own or the life of another? Life is just an accidental and meaningless occurrence. What value could it have?

If evolution is correct it would be surprising to find that humans everywhere are essentially the same. Somewhere there should be more advanced humans and in other places there should be less advanced humans (don't call them sub-humans).

According to the Bible, however, there are no sub-humans - just humans. All humans are descended from the original humans, Adam and Eve, created by God. Isolation of populations has resulted in inbreeding that has resulted in what are largely cosmetic differences in people groups, but they are all humans under the skin.

So they cancel Dr. Watson's lecture because he is more true to their beliefs than they are themselves. How interesting!

Starting Over

When you are about to hit the button that says, "Do you really want to delete this blog and all of it's posts?" you should check to make sure that you are on the right blog.

Oh, well! On to new blogs, I guess.

Starting over is good too.

I've accepted the call of Whipple Avenue Baptist Church of Canton Ohio. My last Sunday at New Harmony will be November 25th. I am excited by the new opportunities I will have. I am frightened by the new challenges. I am nostalgic about the years of ministry and life here in Noble County. I am sad about leaving people I love behind again.

But God will use it for good, I'm sure. He will stir me up and make me more what He wants me to be. He will work in the church here and make it more what He wants it to be. I certainly hope He plans to bless Whipple Ave. through my ministry there.

Onward and forward.

May God richly bless you.