HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...EVERYBODY IN THE CHURCH!

When I was a little girl growing up at Double Springs Baptist Church, a very small independent Baptist church about a mile from my house, there was a tradition that I have not heard anyone speak of since I left there about 1969.  I don't know where the tradition came from or whether any other church has ever adopted it or whether Double Springs even carries it on.  Maybe someone in our tiny congregation came up with the idea.  Maybe they heard of it at 'sosation.  (I never knew what that was until I was grown and realized it was a shortened form of "association."  That's the yearly conference a delegate from the church attended.  Sort of like the annual conference that Southern Baptists attend.)  The tradition was simple but fun and minimally fruitful at the same time, and people of all ages could participate.

At the front of the church was the pulpit and in front of the pulpit stood a table.  On the table sat a small bank in the shape of a globe.  It was about six inches tall. Visitors...if there were any...probably wondered what purpose it served until the person opening the service asked if there were any birthdays this week.  That might give a visitor cause for pause and could actually make them look around in confusion, wondering,  "Why does he want to know if there were any birthdays this week?"

If your birthday was within a few days of that Sunday, at the leader's invitation you would get up and walk to the globe bank and drop in some coins.  How many coins you dropped in was up to you, although you must remember that this was the 1960s in rural Georgia, so there probably weren't that many coins dropped in on any given birthday.  But it was a really nice way to celebrate your day and also a great way to help others because, you see, that money was given to missions.  I didn't really know what "missions" meant but I knew it sounded nice and the church approved of it, so I was accepting.  If it was okay with my parents, then it was okay with me.  They were my plumb line.

My church was so small that many Sundays there was not anyone with a birthday soon, so no coins were dropped in.  I don't know how often the money was emptied out and turned in, but my guess is that in a year's time there probably wasn't more than $15 collected altogether, maybe not even that much.

I heard a song on the radio today that went something like this:

I wanna go back to "Jesus loves me, this I know because the Bible tells me so."
I wanna go back to "This little light, gonna let it shine."

I like that idea, too.  I'd like to go back to dropping coins in a globe-shaped bank that sits on a plain little table in front of the pulpit.  Of course, these days we'd have to get a pulpit.  Then we'd have to get a plain little table to put in front of it.  And I bet there's a globe-shaped bank out there somewhere.  I'd love to walk down the aisle and drop my coins in.  I'm prepared to drop more coins in these days, and after all I've heard from people in my church who have gone on long-term and short-term mission trips, it would be an honor to give on my birthday.  Maybe we could find a globe-shaped bank that has a hole in it big enough to drop in folded-up bills as well as coins.  I would love that.





Here's the song by David Dunn.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0VirZWCtJQ

IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HIM, JUST SAY HIS NAME

In some circles, the fear of God's Name is so strong, they either don't dare say it, or if they're writing about Him, they won't even include all the letters.  For instance, they will write G-d for God.

I have taken to watching a fair amount of youtube videos of preachers, musicians, speakers, etc., and there's an oddity that I have noticed lately.  Either some of these people are simply speaking too quickly or they actually have a problem saying the Name of Jesus.  Not to marginalize or simplify an awesome and complex Name, but His Name is pretty simple.  It's "Jesus."  Two syllables.  Je.  Sus.  Jesus.  I don't have to leave out a letter.  In fact, He likes for me to say His Name when I'm talking to Him or telling someone else about Him.  I like to say His Name, too, which is pretty funny when you consider the fact that when I finally accepted the ongoing invitation from Joyce and went to this ladies Bible study back in the 80s, I thought it odd that these women were all sitting around talking about Jesus like they knew Him or something.  Like He was their...I don't know...friend!  You see, I wasn't accustomed to hearing His Name often outside of my regular attendance at Sunday School and church.  You just didn't say His Name in everyday speech.

Well, that was the day that I got saved.  I'm not saying that I came to know Him all at once that day, but I was introduced to Him and realized that I was not right with God and that if I let Jesus into my life and let Him dispose of all my sins, this would make me right with God.  I knew I wasn't right with Him and if this is what it would take to fix that, then I was going to do this thing.  The study said that everyone is born a sinner and that sin separates us from God but that Jesus died to take away our sins if we would just accept that.  Well, I did.  Not to trivialize this most important decision I ever made, but for me it was like a business transaction.  In business, you take facts and act on them accordingly.  The facts were:

I was a sinner.
I was separated from God.
Jesus died to take away my sins.
Accepting that fact would make me right with God.
I wanted to be right with God.

The result was:

That day, I accepted that Jesus is my Savior from sin.

A bonus fact is that Jesus came back to life soon after He was buried and promised to come back for all of us Christians at a later date.  It won't be long, considering the things He said would happen not long before His return are happening.  Matthew 24 and other scriptures back this up.

It didn't take long for me to realize why these ladies were so free to say the Name of Jesus.  They did know Him.  He was their friend.  After that first day, He was mine, too.  It was easy to say His Name in the loving way that I had learned because I had also learned that He loves me unconditionally.  Unconditionally.  Are you grasping that?

So why is it so hard for some of these preachers and other people I'm listening to on youtube to say His Name correctly?  I think there is a problem.  Not sure what it is but I think there is a problem.

You're wondering why I think they're not saying His Name right, aren't you?  Well, they all seem to not particularly like that middle "s" in His Name.  Instead of saying "Jesus," they're saying "Je us."  Je.  Us.  Je us.  It's really odd.

Who does it?  At times David Platt, for one.  Francis Chan is another.  And also this musician I listened to this morning...I think his name is David Keefe...who had a video that was about 15 minutes long and he was complaining about Christian music being so boring.  He said that it all has the same beat and is not creative.  I guess if he heard a hymn he'd just keel over on the spot.  Here is the video.  I didn't particularly like it.  He had a problem saying "Jesus." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE4_dHW0nWk

Here's one featuring Todd Friel of "Wretched Radio" when he was preaching to a public crowd.  The woman in the video argued that he was being unkind in trying to get people to get saved.  Right at the end she says, "Je us."

And how about unsaved people?  How about this little girl?  What hate has she been taught and by whom?    www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVs7BhCOIKs

What do you think?  Is it hard for you to say His Name?  Not me.  I like telling others about Him.  Would you like to talk with me about Him?

DO IT ANYWAY

As you may know, I read or listen or read and listen through the Bible every year and have done that for about 20 years or so.  It's an amazing thing to do.  Yesterday this was part of my reading:

Mark 6:1-6 - Jesus went out from there and *came into ^[a]His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ² When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such ^[b]miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of ^[c]James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in ^[d]his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could do no ^[e]miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief.

And He was going around the villages teaching.

This is a simple message, but aren't those some of the ones that impact us the most?  And if you've ever done anything, especially for the Lord, that was...shall we say "different" than is expected from those around you...this passage will speak to you immediately.  Your town, your friends, your family, and your household suddenly wonder what in the world you're doing and, "Who do you think YOU are, you self-righteous, holier than thou so-and-so??????  I knew you when you were just a little pipsqueak who could barely add two and two.  I've known you all your life.  Do you think you can impress me now?"

Well, Jesus wasn't in the business of impressing people.  He made that abundantly clear all through the New Testament.  His life was dedicated to serving God and doing whatever it was He told Him to do, even to dying on a cross for my sorry self.  He would have done that even if I had been the only person on earth, and I really don't think that has ever sunk into my inward parts.  (He did it for you, too.  TRY and let that sink in.)

Yes, this is a simple message but profound.  He had to do most of all that he did outside his hometown and away from his own people, even his own immediate family for a time.  I think they finally got it, but it took them awhile.   I'm certainly not comparing myself to Jesus, but I'm not sure I could have done some of the things I've done either if I had stayed in my hometown.  They're good folks and it's a good place, but they know me.  They knew me most of my life until I left there in my mid-20s, still a sinner.  So when I got saved about the age of thirty and started living for Him, some of them probably wouldn't have taken me or what I was doing seriously, and that can detract from the goal of getting something done for the Kingdom.

Do you know what strikes me most about this passage, though?  The very last sentence:  "And He was going around the villages teaching."  He KNEW what He was supposed to be doing and it mattered not that no one else believed that He was supposed to be doing that.  He did it anyway...because He knew it was what God was calling Him to do.  He and God had that kind of close relationship.

And wouldn't you know it?  Here is how God works.  I have this little thing that I call a flippy chart thing because I'm not sure what it's called.  It's a wooden pedestal about 8" tall that has a bunch of cards with sayings and Bible verses on them.  You flip one over every day and read it and it starts your day off with something to think about.  I've had it for about 40 years.  My niece gave it to me when we were both young sprouts.  I'm just six years older than she is, so yes we were young together.  Some of the sayings are just stupid and I have crossed them out so that I'll know to flip to the next one and not camp out on the stupid ones, such as, "A coincidence is a small miracle where God chose to remain anonymous."  Sigh.

Well, guess what today's says.  "How men treat us will make little difference when we know we have God's approval."  Don't you just love how God operates sometimes?