Reformation Sunday Celebration

My wife and I attended a wonderful service Sunday night celebrating the Reformation (as well as what God has done and is doing) at Grace Church here in the Valley, joined by several other Presbyterian churches in the area.

It was a time of worship, prayer, communion and a wonderful sermon. Rev. Mike Sharrett of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg (they have a wonderful website which can be visited here) preached on 2 Kings 2: 15-25, where Elisha is addressing three different categories of people shortly after the torch of prophet is passed from Elijah to him.

The first group is skeptical of Elisha's word that Elijah does not need to be looked for, but ultimately Elisha gives in and allows 50 of them to go--when they come back stating they could not find Elijah, he tells them that they should not have gone.

The second group (near the end of the passage) is a mocking group of boys who is representative of those in the town that disdain the message that Elijah brings and essentially call him "baldy"--Elijah then turns to curse these boys and two female bears come from the woods to tear the boys apart.

The third group in this spectrum is a group of those in the town of Jericho that come to Elijah about their water problem--they show themselves blessed to be where they are, yet their water does not allow them to possible grow crops or feed their livestock. Unlike the other groups, they come to Elijah believing that he through his God can help them.

Rev. Sharrett drew parallels to a spectrum of people that receive God's Word: the first group can receive the Word but when the heat of life comes, they run to other pleasures or sensualities for their comfort, forsaking the living water of the Word. The second group who mocks are the ones who disdain the Truth and further condemn themselves before the Father. Finally, the third group hears and treasures the Word, knowing that it gives life, believing that the Father will do what He says.

Rev. Sharrett gave us a challenge to be people of the Word, to read it daily and not just on Sundays--one test that he gave us to tell whether we were people of the Word was not whether we were actually doing it everyday but if we missed it, did something inside us ache for missing it. Part of our regeneration is the changing of our desires--do we desire the Word, even if we are not perfect in our execution and exercise of that discipline?

May we be people of the Word, and do honor to the saints that have come before us, especially those of the Reformation, who liberated the Word from the pulpit, making it available to all and reemphasizing the priesthood of all believers.

What Is the World Coming To?

Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to letting people know about the "climate problem."

But how does someone win a prize so prestigious as this for using scare tactics and what some have called bad science?

All things considered, I guess it's better than having him for president the last 8 years or so. Sheesh.

Not Blogging Much...

I haven't been blogging much lately not because I haven't had much to say but because 1) work has been crazy the last week (staying until 7 or 8 PM several nights this week) and 2) I injured my finger playing football at our church's picnic last Sunday.

And no, it's not simply jammed, because I've done that plenty of times. You can usually just pull your finger and it will correct itself. This time (as in the many other times) it was hard to bend without pain. As I've told others, at the worst it's a fractured knuckle and at the least just a pulled tendon. The funny thing is that I can't remember if this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've broken this finger (I have broken one middle finger once and the other one twice).

Most other folks would rush to the emergency room to get it x-rayed, but not me. From experience (four broken toes and four broken fingers), all they do is x-ray it and tell you it's broken, give you a splint and send you on your way...oh, and then there's the bill for $400 (we have a HSA plan, so we pay full price for most services up to a deductible, and I'm NOWHERE close--I haven't been to a doctor in 2 years)! A decent splint can be picked up at your local pharmacy and most over-the-counter stuff will help deal with any pain (of course, if you are in a great deal of pain, see the doctor!).

The only thing the x-ray would do is to help me figure out the exact injury and how long I need to wear the splint (I'd thought about going to the airport and going through their x-ray screen but they might not want me on the conveyer belt with the luggage?). My guess is two to four weeks. I'm hoping toward the lower end, since the men's retreat is coming up a week from now and we're playing captain's choice golf on Saturday (it's my understanding that this is where a team plays but the best shot at each juncture is chosen and all play from that spot--but I could be misunderstanding the concept).

I doubt that I'd have best ball on most shots, though--maybe I'll just bring my putter (and maybe a wedge).