Month: October 2024

When Jesus prayed that we’d all be one, He was praying for the church, not for a nation. And when He said a kingdom divided against itself could not stand, He wasn’t talking about a nation, but the kingdom of Satan. When Patrick Henry, however, said “United we stand, divided we fall”, he was expressing concern for our nation, and many share that fear today.

We obviously do live in a nation that is politically divided, but is that a bad thing? I’m not so sure.

Before the flood, God saw that all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth, and He would have blotted out mankind if He hadn’t found one righteous man. After sparing Noah and his family, He told them to fill the earth. But his descendants didn’t want to be scattered over the face of the earth, so they built a city that would bring glory to themselves. God could see where that was going, so He divided them into nations, speaking different languages.

It seems that when everyone in a fallen world is united as one, they always head away from God. Apparently nations were created to keep sinful men divided, and to contain the spread of rebellion against God within smaller units.

Being divided into nations also makes it possible for God to work through one nation to bless or discipline another, and this He has done throughout history. He even divided Israel into two countries in the hopes that one would influence the other. But when they both failed to obey Him, He used other countries to discipline and to eventually destroy them both.

The founders of our country were good students of history. They recognized the need for checks and balances, and even recognized that political parties were a necessary evil if we were to survive. In spite of the rhetoric and lying, parties serve a good purpose because they give us the opportunity to choose a platform that is more in keeping with our God-given values.

With that in mind, I encourage you to vote for a platform instead of a person. If you feel the stated goals and objectives of a particular party are more in line with God’s will, please vote for the lesser of two evils.

God Bless, Rick

Everyone knows I’m not much of a sports fan. Sports didn’t play much of a role in my childhood. Dad did put a basketball pole in the yard, but we really couldn’t dribble on the grass. I played baseball for a couple of seasons, but didn’t even try to get into a Little League team with uniforms. Khoury League with T-shirts had to do.

When I entered high school I thought I’d go out for football. But the first practice was on a track field, and the coach wanted to see how tough we were. He told us to dive into the cinders, and I just went home. When I went out for wrestling, a couple of classmates told me I would be guaranteed a letter if I’d volunteer to be the manager. I did, but who wants to wear a letter with MGR on it?

Sports did, however, become important for me when I became a father and grandfather. When Matt and Nikki went out for soccer I knew nothing about it, but really enjoyed watching them play. Matt tried football for a season, but decided he’d rather make music, and Nikki stayed with soccer through her first year in college. When the grandkids got into soccer I was ready, and loved watching them play. Even when they played like a swarm of bees after the ball.

Grace and Anna stuck with soccer throughout high school, and both were team captains. I was really looking forward to the year they would get to play on the same team, but then Covid struck. Josie and Will are now playing soccer, but they are in Tennessee.

I don’t think I have to tell anyone what kind of athlete Carter is. The media does that for me. And now Levi is a freshmen kicker, on the varsity team.

Obviously I’m very proud of all my grandkids, but Carter did something a couple of weeks ago that took my pride to another level. While we were at Bible study he texted Nikki to tell her he was making thirty-five milkshakes for kids from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He began leading the Auburn chapter last year, and had invited all his friends to come. Thirty-nine came, and Carter was more excited than I’ve ever seen him. Even after a touchdown!

And so was I.

God Bess, Rick