THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 6, NUMBER 29, JULY 23, 2006

A  POTPOURRI OF THOUGHTS

SOME HAPPY, SOME SAD

            ** I am not altogether certain who is responsible for the weeding of the landscaped areas and the flower beds, but whoever you are, you have done a wonderful job.   With the kind of weather we have had this summer, the only thing that has truly flourished has been the weeds.  However, if you look at the northeast corner of the building, right by the office, you will see a weed of gargantuan proportion that may even warrant entrance into the country fair.  I would put it up against any weed, grown anywhere, by any body or group of men.

            ** Almost immediately upon becoming a Christian, all I really wanted to do was preach.  Jeremiah 20:9, is branded on my heart, burned into my soul.  I wish it wasn’t.  “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.  But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

            ** I walk up and down the hallways at the church building, going past the classrooms and looking into them, and I marvel at the work so many have put in to make those classrooms attractive and engaging places for the young people here to learn.  I note the names of the teachers for each class posted on the doors and thank God for their willingness to do the work.  I watch the children as they come into the building when it is time for Bible study and watch them smile, some go running down the hall because they WANT to go to class.

            ** I think of the last workday this congregation had in preparation for the meeting with Donnie V. Rader last May.  It was so well attended with so many brethren willing to get their hands dirty outside, get on their knees and on the ladders to clean inside, and a host with their walking shoes ready to go into the neighborhoods to invite people to come.  There are so many good people here.  There is so much potential and so much work to do – but it will all only be realized if we will finally lay aside those things that have been distracting this congregation for so long – finally say, Enough is Enough and move on.  “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

            ** I know God answers prayers.  I believe that with all of my heart.  But I don’t know why He answers some of them the way that He does.  I think Paul tried to help me understand, not just me personally, but all of us, in 2 Cor. 12:7-10, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  Intellectually I know what that passage means.  I can break it down word for word and tell you everything you want to know about it and more, but sometimes it hurts.

            ** Is it wrong for a 51 year old man to sometimes desperately miss the comfort of his mother’s arms and the solace that could always be found there?

            ** Why is it that the Bible is the piece of literature that people feel the most comfortable taking passages out of context in an attempt to prove a point? One of the most basic rules of interpretation, and it is true no matter what genre we are talking about, is “keep it in its context.”  Proof-texting is only effective and sound exegesis when it is properly done by recognizing and considering the who, when, why, what, and even sometimes the where, of a passage.  For the faithful Christian who is seeking to follow only the Lord’s truth with no other agenda, every single verse is a proof text and belongs to him or her.

            ** I am so glad that Scott and Sarah are back and have once again identified with this congregation.  The girls just keep getting prettier and bigger all the time.

ELSIE SHULL

You probably didn’t know her,
Her name was Elsie Shull.
And of all the sisters I have loved and lost,
I think I miss her most of all.

Elsie was in her eighties
Her hair was white but she was ramrod straight.
“Come on, Greg, there’s work to do,
Time’s  awasting and we can’t be late.

She could read me like a book,
She knew how I was feeling some how.
With a simple word she could wipe away the tears,
Oh Elsie, I need you now!

Maybe soon the Lord will return
And you and I will reunite and once again embrace.
I have done all that I know to do,
And now I long to see your face.

Greg Litmer