Longview Campground, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. ~ Proverbs 30:5
Do you ever read these crazy titles I use and try to figure out what the post will be about? I wonder about that sometimes . . . . 😊
We were actually able to attend a worship service this morning! The Longview Christian Church is near the entrance to the Park, and advertised an outdoor service at 9:00am, so we packed up our chairs and drove over with great anticipation!
We were warmly greeted by several ‘hostesses’, but not the few dozen parishioners. However, since everyone was wearing masks and sitting at least 6’ apart, that’s really no surprise, and we certainly didn’t fault them for it.
But when the service began, the Pastor said, “We encourage you not to sing this morning, but you can hum along if you’d like.” Seriously?!?!? For some reason, there seems to be a nation-wide belief that singing worship songs spreads COVID germs; even if you’re outside and wearing a mask. If that’s the case, if they don’t want you to sing along with them, then why was a sheet music copy of the hymns inserted into the bulletin? The two song leaders and pastor, were not required to wear masks, and they were permitted to sing out loud . . . .
Still, we were able to sit amongst fellow believers, so that was good! And they served communion in a way that was unique to us – – they had little individually packaged wafers and white grape juice, that you picked up from a table as you entered the “sanctuary” on the lawn.
You peel off the top layer to get to it, then lift a second covering to get to the juice.
The pastor’s message was taken from the the Book of Hosea and in a nutshell was about loving even those we perceive as unlovable, because God loves all.
The following is another excerpt from the dating study:
THE BIBLE – –
In 1455AD, the first moveable-type printing press created its first publication – a Latin Bible. Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of this life-changing machine, died poor, never profiting from his invention. Of all the literature that could have been printed first, he chose a Bible. Why do you suppose that is?
The Bible, though written by about forty different authors and over a period of roughly 1,500 years, is the very Word of God (I Thessalonians 2:13). It is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), which means that, while God allowed the writers their own individual style and ability to write from their own unique perspective, the Holy Spirit brought to their minds the memories He wanted them to share, and to convey what He wanted them to say. This is why, for example, the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), while similar, are all a bit different. It doesn’t mean they contradict one another, it just means the writers are human with their own unique view of what happened. Similar to a group of people who witness a crime. Each person focuses on a different aspect of the crime. It doesn’t mean any of them are wrong. They just witnessed the event differently. But because the Bible is the Word of God Himself, the Holy Spirit (part of the triune God) worked within each writer to ensure everything written was accurate and provided the events and lessons He wanted shared.
The Bible is historically accurate. Archeology has never been able to disprove anything in scripture – and has verified much. The truths taught are consistent throughout – there are no contradictions. If there appear to be contradictions, it’s because people have taken portions out of context or misunderstood. It contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies – many of which are very specific – like Isaiah 44 and 45 that mentions Cyrus, King of Persia, or Daniel Chapter 11, or any number of prophecies regarding Jesus Christ Himself – and many that were fulfilled even thousands of years after the initial prophecy. It has influenced the course of human history more than any other book.
You cannot pick and choose which parts you want to believe. It must be all or nothing. If you choose to believe only pieces-parts, that brings the entire book (and your beliefs) into question. In other words, let’s say you choose to believe Jesus rose from the dead, but choose not to believe in His virgin birth. Your friend says there was a virgin birth, but Jesus was never really dead in the first place, so there was no resurrection. Who’s to say that one is right and the other wrong? And how would you know? Or how can you say it’s wrong to murder, but it’s okay to steal or lie or commit adultery?
God has graciously given us His Word to help us get to know Him and His desire for us. It tells us how to be faithful and obedient, how to love Him and others, to learn about His character, and to learn from the past. But it doesn’t do us any good if it just sits unopened or we rely on others to tell us about it. For example, let’s say you have a toothbrush and toothpaste. Using them daily will give you a better quality of life – your breath will be more acceptable to others, you will have fewer health issues, your teeth will last longer. You know these are all benefits, but you choose not to use the tools you have. They just sit on your bathroom counter, day after day, month after month, year after year. Other people use theirs. They tell you how beneficial they are to their daily living. They tell you that you need to use yours. You can see that their lives are healthier compared to yours, but still you choose to let yours sit and tell yourself you’re getting by just fine without them. You cannot improve your quality of life by letting others use theirs and listening to them talk about it.
I once gave a Bible to a friend and was told they’d give it back when they were done reading it, to which I replied with a smile, “You’ll never give it back.” “Yes, I will.” “No, you won’t, because you’ll never be done with it.”
God’s Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:11). No one can ever know everything in it. We can read it cover to cover. We can study it diligently for years. We can highlight it and write notes in it. But still, it continually speaks to, and reveals itself to us in different ways throughout a believer’s lifetime. Passages that we’ve read, maybe several times, one day suddenly take on a new meaning, or we discover something we hadn’t seen or understood before. And that’s the work of the Holy Spirit as He reveals what God wants us to know.
This afternoon found us back in the company of Uncle Nick and Aunt Sherri, as they took us on a tour of the quaint little town of Weston, Missouri. (Yep, we drove back and forth across the border a few more times today. 😊) Interesting history in this town! And lots of interesting shops, although we didn’t go inside any of them – – just window shopping today.
A guy from the city was taking down Christmas decorations along Main Street today, because they just finished filming a Hallmark Christmas movie recently. He was sharing with everyone who passed by, that he was in it. 😊 And I’m very sorry, but I can’t remember what the name of it will be.
I’d never seen Santa pulled by buffalo . . . .
Maybe it was taken before the great buffalo decimation, and he had to switch to reindeer after that?
This is where the Hallmark movie was filmed.
Did you notice the dog sitting in the middle of the road? And another one by the curb? : )
There were a lot of motorcycles in town today. The couple in the background weren’t the happiest of people. First, his t-shirt (and the fact that they aren’t wearing masks) indicated that he wasn’t a bit concerned about the virus, and second, when the four of us laughed at something as they were approaching, he raised his voice and grumpily said, “What’ so funny?” And no, he wasn’t trying to be included. People need the Lord.
Once we’d seen the town, we all splurged on dairy-made ice cream from a creamery in town. Yummy!
Then they drove us over to a Park to see the Missouri River. Nice little Park. As three of us walked the short trail to see the Mighty Mo, Aunt Sherri sat at a picnic table and waited for us.
Males have wings, females do not. How do the evolutionists explain that?
And their sting is very painful. Yikes!
See it running through the trees over there?
When we got back, she offered snacks she’d brought – cheese, crackers and apple slices. More yummy treats!
And back at their place, we splurged on BLTs at Aunt Sherri and Uncle Nick’s for dinner. Also yummy!
As was the pleasure of their company. And it was our last time of fellowship for this visit to Kansas/Missouri. ☹ We will surely miss their company and are grateful they were willing to spend so much time with us, even despite Aunt Sherri’s recent knee surgery. How wonderful to have family members who love the Lord, and us!
Till we meet again!