 A few years back on Good Friday several tornadoes worked their way through our fair state doing a great deal of damage. Because the damage was scattered, a lot of us didn't know about it; but because of my work with disaster relief for the Church, I was aware, so on Monday morning I took a tour of the devastation. The ERT, Early Response Team program of South Carolina, was just getting off the ground back then. In that the ministry fell under my purview as UMVIM-SC chair, I wanted to see how they were doing in their work. I also needed to assess what further work was needed to get those folk’s affected by Mother Nature’s rampage back on their feet again.
It was during my drive down near Aiken, Beech Island to be exact, that I came across a little community that was extensively damaged by an F2 tornado that focused its fury upon it. Some of the homes were heavily damaged, but still standing; some were completely blown away and a few looked pretty good, exclusive of some minor roof damage. Nonetheless the community itself was so desperately affected that it was indeed a miracle that it recovered. The name of the community is Petticoat Junction. In spite of the destruction and loss that those folks suffered, the federal and state governments decided that not enough people were adversely affected by the tornadoes to offer any aid and assistance. No aid whatsoever was rendered to the families that lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their sacred mementos. F.E.M.A. and the state have a complicated equation that is used to determine such things, and Petticoat Junction simply did not fit into the equation. While I may consider that process flawed, I suppose you have to have some way to figure out such things; and I do believe that they do the best they can, but what do the folks in need do when the government leaves them high and dry? They do what people at the end of their rope have always done. They call upon Christ and His Church; and as always Christ’s Church responds. It took a while but between the Methodists, Baptists and a few Mennonites, that community was brought back to life again, not for glory or fame, but simply because Christ has taught us to help those in need. Call it the ‘Good Samaritan’ syndrome if you wish, but when all else fails the faithful don’t. As I was driving home from Aiken that evening, my mind kept flashing back to one of my favorite television shows when I was a kid. You guessed it: “Petticoat Junction.” My mind drifted back to the old Shady Rest Hotel, Uncle Joe, and those three pretty sisters peeking out over the top of the water tower. As I drove I became homesick, and I began to pine for the time when television consisted of shows that were for the most part wholesome; a time when traditional Christian values were still viewed with respect and Christian living was still a sought after commodity. I hungered for those days when we as a nation and as a Church stood firmly on the side of Christ and His teaching about home and family, about right and wrong, about love and respect. My mind wandered back to a time when we, as Christians, were more concerned with what Christ taught than we were with what the prevailing culture thought. It is amazing what can happen to a neglected culture in fifty some odd years, isn't it? Petticoat Junction, Uncle Joe and the girls are gone now, blown away by the forces of secularism, the me first society, and an unhealthy desire to please folks at the expense of preaching the Gospel of Christ. Right and wrong have been replaced with “whatever suits you,” good and bad with ‘if it feels good, do it.” It will be a miracle if our culture survives. In spite of the damage done, the government will not step in to help in the cultural recovery. All too often those in power make matters worse anyway. So what are we supposed to do? Well, I suppose there is nothing left to do but roll up our collective Christian sleeves and get to work. If we claim to be Christians, we need to start acting like it. We need to begin rebuilding the cultural foundation that has been undermined by those who would scoff at the Word of God. We must find the courage to stand for Christ and Christ alone at every opportunity. We must defend His teaching with no fear of the world and with no thought of retreat. It won’t be easy. As evidenced by recent events, to stand for Christ and His values places us in the crosshairs of a world that would rather destroy the messenger than accept the truth. That being said, we cannot back down. Christ Jesus stood up for us to the point of being nailed to a cross. Today the time has come for you and me to stand for Him with similar courage. If we fail to stand as individuals and as a Church, then the cultural blood stain will fall upon us, and a nation built upon truth and justice may very well become a footnote in history. I challenge all of us to live for Christ in a world where such a life is ridiculed. I challenge all of us to stand for Christ when the winds of unhealthy change blow across the nation. I challenge all of us to live for Christ no matter what the consequences. I challenge you and I challenge me to call upon the Holy Spirit for the courage to stand up for Christ Jesus just as He stood for each and every one of us. We must never retreat or surrender. Our children, our grandchildren and their children yet unborn will benefit or suffer from what we do today. Love, Pastor Tony
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 I have struggled with what I should write this month. I’ve been dealing with on e of the nastier bugs that has been making the rounds lately and I think I may h ave strained my brain a bit during one of my coughing fits. No matter how hard I try nothing is springing from that fountain of imagination that is usually so reliable.
My gray matter has gone black. The synaptic thunderstorm in my mind has become more of a gentle rain shower, nice for cozying up to the fire and pondering the simpler things of life, but not so great for writing an engaging and thought provoking article. So what to do? What to do? Listen to your wife, that’s what. “It’s February,” she said, “Write about love. You know the sappy, soppy, slushy type of love that you men claim you don’t like.” So I figured, why not? So here it goes. Some scattered thoughts on love. Love has a screw loose. It is downright crazy, isn’t it? It ought to be fitted for a straightjacket. It hits you like a ton of bricks, and it completely takes you over. You can’t sleep. You can’t think. You just sit there and moon. I seem to recall a young man back in the seventies who would drive a 150 mile round trip each and every week in a 1964 Valiant with no air, no heat, no speedometer and not much of a roof just so he could be with his love. Sometimes he would make the trip twice just to see a ballet that she was in; and trust me when I say that is true love. Love is nuts. True love is virtuous insanity, but it is insanity nonetheless. When you find that certain someone, reason takes a hike and mental illness and emotional instability move right on in. Y’all stop me if I get off track. I mean what wouldn’t you do for the ones you love? Just saying it, if it’s real, is never enough. It isn’t so much that the lover needs to see some tangible evidence, as much as it is that the lovey needs to display something tangible. If you love somebody, I mean really love somebody, you want the world to know it and to see it. Am I right? Love is a thousand yellow ribbons, it’s Marvin Gaye singing “Ain’t no mountain high enough.” Love is a single red rose resting in a crystal vase sitting on a sidewalk in mid-February. Love is never leaving, always caring and being true. That is what true love looks like isn’t it? Love is kissing your daughter’s tears away and hiding yours when the time comes to give her away. Love is enduring a sixth grade orchestra concert, a third grade choir and the heartbreak of a losing season. Love holds through thick and thin, sick and well, young and old, good times and bad. Love sleeps all night on a little girl’s floor just to make sure the monster is dead, and love gently brushes the hair of the woman who doesn’t know your name but forever remains a part of you. Love is a mountain top where everything is possible, and love is a heartache so desolate that only God above can offer comfort. Love is a gift. Love is a curse. Love is life with all of its glory and loss, all of its joy and sorrow. Love is the marrow, the essence, the substance of life. Love is life. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 Love, Pastor Tony |
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December 2024
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