Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama
A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. ~ Proverbs 16:28
I chose to worship at First Baptist Church of Pinson at 11:00am this morning. I had an earlier option, but I was feeling a traditional service with old hymns and songs I knew, rather than a contemporary service at 8:30am. I don’t think Blaine and David were too pleased with my decision, but I don’t assert my opinion on things very often, so they caved pretty easily. 😊
I wasn’t disappointed. Great hymns like “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and “Just As I Am”, filled my heart and soul. It was a wonderful time of worship! As the Pastor came to the pulpit, he expressed gratitude for the music and said, “Music is a message with a melody!” I couldn’t agree more! And the message wasn’t bad either. Or should I say, the message delivery. The message itself was great. 😊
It’s the start of Thanksgiving Week, so I know pastors all over the United States gave messages on being thankful/showing gratitude. Today was no exception. The Scripture focus was on Luke 17:11-19 – the ten lepers who were healed, with only one returning to show gratitude to Jesus.
He began his message talking about Helen Keller, and Blaine whispers, “I see a Special Edition coming.” He’s probably right, but that’ll have to wait. Anyway, he talked about how grateful she was and how she spread that attitude everywhere she went. He went on to talk about a guy named Clay Dyer. He’s a professional sport bass fisherman who was born without any lower limbs, no arm on his left side and a partial arm on the right, who’s motto is “If I can, you can.” I guess you have to be a fisherman to know who this guy is, because we’d never heard of or about him. Anyway, he too, lives his life being grateful.
Looking at just these two examples, how can we not be grateful for the blessings we live with each and every day?
In Jesus’ time, leprosy was a life sentence of total isolation from the rest of society. At the first indication of leprosy, men and women were relegated to a special leper colony, and it didn’t matter what race you were or how you felt about each other. Leprosy made them one. Samaritan, Jew, Greek, rich, poor, whatever. Leprosy knew no social boundaries. These people had no income. All they could do was rely on the kindness of their families and strangers to leave provisions for them, or they could grow their own food. . . maybe, if conditions were right. Regardless, it was a painful life – both physically and emotionally. And they were helpless to do anything about it.
Since these men were waiting for him, indicating that word has spread about His miraculous healing powers. They came to Him as He was passing by, and standing at a distance pleaded Him for mercy. He was their only hope.
But Jesus didn’t heal them. Instead, He told them to go and show themselves to their local priest. The book of Leviticus makes it clear, that no one was actually healed, unless a priest decreed it so, but in the case of known lepers, what town or priest would even allow them to get near enough to be checked?
Apparently, the men didn’t even consider that. They just took Jesus at His word, and off they went. They demonstrated faith in Jesus, and because of that, they were all healed along the way. Can you even imagine the joy and excitement of those men once they discovered their flesh suddenly healed? Once they realized they would be able to return to their families, and society? Surely, there must’ve been a whole lot of shouting, dancing and crying on that road!
But only one was grateful enough to go back and say “Thank You!”. And this man was a Samaritan. The same as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The same as the Woman at the Well. The same group of people that the Jews would walk miles out of their way to avoid. He returned to throw himself at Jesus feet and thanked him. And Jesus remarks that only the foreigner thought to return and give praise to God.
Going to the priest was a good thing. It was necessary, but it could’ve waited. Putting Jesus first is the priority. Sometimes, we are very much like those nine men. We’re so busy ‘doing’, we forget about Jesus. It’s good to be busy doing the things that God wants us to do, but we must make time to express our gratitude to the One who saved us, the One to whom we belong.
Are you sincere when you give “Thanks” at your meal, or are you just going through the motions? Are you sincere when you worship? Do the words actually mean something to you, or are you just taking what you can get from it? Are you sincere in your busy-ness for God, or are you performing good deeds for your own sense of self-gratification? Are you sincerely grateful when you give your tithes and offerings to the church, or do you give simply because you feel you have to? Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ~ II Corinthians 9:7. This verse applies to thought, word and deed, not just monetary giving.
Jesus said to the grateful man, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Real and true faith in Jesus, not just knowledge about Him. And ‘well’ is not just referring to physical healing, but spiritual as well. He alone acknowledged Jesus as God. He alone was saved because of his faith.
The Pastor encouraged us to make gratitude a Holy Habit; regardless of our circumstances. Regardless of how dark things may seem, there are reasons to be grateful, and acknowledge that God has a purpose in using those dark times for future light. Light that we can’t yet see, but we have faith is there somewhere.
Faith and Gratitude – – and don’t forget the most important, the greatest – – Love.
After church, we parted ways to eat lunch and change clothes before tackling the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve that sits right in the middle between us. After meeting in the parking lot, the guys put their heads together to determine the best route and off we went.
By the way. David made his walking stick out of bamboo from his yard!
This Park has several connecting trails, so it’s difficult to determine exactly how far we hiked. Best guess? 5-6 miles up and down decent-sized hills and through a spectacular palette of Fall colors created for us by God Himself! Not to mention the smell and sound of all the fallen leaves! And of course, the extra company! It was a wonderful day!
but it was such a gorgeous day and the views beyond my ability to describe!
What do you think?
And nowadays, who determines what’s proper,
because I don’t know about you,
but much of what I see – – even on the News – – isn’t what I’d consider proper.
I kept up just fine, only falling behind when I stopped to take pictures. : )
So I went.
And of course, Blaine agrees.
And so here I am. Free-climbing up the face of a very tall slab of rock!
Didn’t realize I had it in me! Coming back down was harder . . .
I didn’t really climb that thing. It’s trick photograpy that turned out really well! hahaha! Because we don’t take in enough fake news these days.
Back at our place, it was time to get dinner going. Today’s meal consisted of my (originally my mother’s) sweet and sour meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes and canned green beans. I used almost two pounds of hamburger because I was anticipating leftovers. David and I both love leftover meatloaf sandwiches! But we ended up eating almost all of it – and 7 potatoes too!
Visiting for a bit longer, and then it was time to call it quits. Tomorrow . . . is another day! (cue ‘Gone With the Wind’ music . . . ) 😊
Today’s Tidbits:
Esports Explained
Short for electronic sports, esports describes the world of organized video game competitions. Individual players or teams of players face off in the same video games that are popular with at-home gamers, including the bestselling titles “Fortnite”, “League of Legends”, and “Madden NFL”.
Fans can watch their favorite players via TV or video streaming or attend live competitions in sold-out arenas. In 2015, the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, California, because the first dedicated esports facility in the U.S.
Estimates are that this year, the total audience of esports will grow to more than 450 million viewers worldwide and revenues will increase to over $1 billion.
Player earnings vary based on the event and if competitors play solo or as a team. Many professional gamers make tens of thousands of dollars a year, while the best in the world have won millions from a single competition. In addition to the cash prizes, players can also earn money from sponsorships, endorsements and team salaries.
Some high schools now have esports teams, and a growing number of colleges offer esports at the varsity level, providing players scholarships. There is even talk of adding esports as a demonstration sport in the 2024 Olympics.
Just what young people need – – more incentive to sit instead of exercising their bodies and minds and eating healthy.
Wit and Wisdom:
There’s nothing like a really loyal dependable, good friend. Nothing. ~ Jennifer Aniston
The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~ Elizabeth Foley