Thought for March 12, 2024

  •  1884: Mississippi establishes the first State college for women
  • 1894: Coca Cola sold in a glass bottle for the first time
  • 1912: Juliette Gordon Lowe forms Girl Guides [Girl Scouts] in Savannah
  • 1933: FDR has first "fireside" chat
  • 1945: NY is first state to prohibit discrimination in employment based on race
  • 1970: U.S. voting age lowered to 18
  • 1980: John Wayne Gacy convicted of killing 33 in Chicago
  • 1986: Susan Butcher wins Iditarod
  • 1994: Church of England ordains 1st 33 women priests
  • 2003: Elizabeth Smart found after being missing for 9 months
  • 2019: Dozens charged in college admission scandal--Lori Loughlin and Felecity Huffman
  • 2020: NCAA Basketball Tournament cancelled
  • Born: Clement Studebaker, Charles Boycott [locals refused to serve him giving us the term "boycott"], Gordon MacRae, Jack Kerouac, Wally Schirra, Edward Albee, Billie Thomas [Buckwheat], Herb Kelleher [Southwest], Andrew Young, Barbara Feldon, Eddie Sutton, Liza Minnelli, Mitt Romney, Jon Provost [Timmy on "Lassie"], Dale Murphy
  • Died: Henry Bergh [founded ASPCA], George Westinghouse, Sun Yat-Sen, Robert Bosch, Anne Frank, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Eugene Ormandy [Philadelphia Orchestra], Woody Hayes, Robert Ludlum
Thought:
Reading Galatians 1:6-10 today. I am focused on 1:6. The churches in Galatia had been disturbed by a distortion of the gospel. They were being taught that they needed Jesus plus the Jewish customs and laws in order to be saved. It was a teaching that Christ alone is insufficient. I must have Christ plus something else to be saved. But as I read 1:6, I wonder if Jesus is speaking to me and to the church in 2024. Have I been disturbed by someone distorting the gospel so that I think I need Jesus plus something--Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus ceremony, Jesus plus rites, Jesus plus church membership, Jesus plus something else. 

Maybe I need Jesus plus acceptance that I am not bigoted, biased, close-minded, radical, fanatical. Maybe I need Jesus plus public approval---careful what I say not to offend. Maybe the plus has taken over completely and I now serve a social gospel--doing good works for humanity. Maybe social justice and equality have become my gospel. Now, before you send me emails, I believe in justice, equal opportunity, good works, serving others, going to church and participating. These are responses to my salvation not part of my salvation. I believe in justice because the Bible tells me to love mercy and do justice-but Larry cannot do that without Jesus. 

Our pastor often says by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. I think that is what Paul has in mind in this passage. A few weeks ago, an elder at church said that we needed to be careful that the Bible did not become our god---the Bible is God's word, but not God. So if I get so educated and scholarly about the Bible, maybe it becomes the thing I worship, not the author---just like someone who worships nature and not the Creator. Satan is the father of lies and the great deceiver. He distorts the truth until we believe a lie. These verses cause me to reexamine what I believe and who I worship. Notice that Paul says when we distort the gospel we are deserting Jesus [1:6]. When I was in the Air Force, desertion was a serious crime. This passage calls me back to think again about the gospel and the Christ who came and who will come again. Lord, help us hold fast to the gospel. 

Blessings
Larry

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