Thought for November 18, 2024

•  1302: Pope Boniface VIII declares that outside the Holy Catholic Church there is neither salvation nor remission of sin
• 1307: William Tell allegedly shoots an apple off his son's head
• 1497: Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope
• 1626: St. Peter's Basilica consecrated [replaced the original consecrated in 326]
• 1865: Mark Twain publishes the "Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
• 1872: Susan B Anthony arrested for voting illegally
• 1883: Railroads create standard time zones in the US
• 1902: Morris Michtom names teddy bear after Theodore Roosevelt
• 1916: Battle of the Somme ends after 1 million killed or wounded
• 1928: "Steamboat Willie" released [1st Mickey Mouse cartoon with sound]
• 1956: Khrushchev says "we will bury you"
• 1959: "Ben Hur" premiers
• 1963: Touch Tone phone introduced
• 1978: 918 members of the Peoples Temple die with Jim Jones in Guyana
• 1990: First Solheim Cup--US ladies win
• 1999: Bonfire at Texas A&M collapses killing 12
• Born: Louis-Jacques Daguerre, Sojourner Truth, William Gilbert [Gilbert & Sullivan], George Gallup, Johnny Mercer [Moon River], Alan Shepard, Linda Evans, Jack Tatum, Warren Moon, Len Bias, Owen Wilson, David Ortiz
• Died: Chester Arthur, Niels Bohr, Joseph Kennedy, Cab Calloway, James Coburn, Walt Hazzard, Rose Duchesne [missionary American Indians in Louisiana called "Woman Who Prays Always"]

Thought:

The election is over. Candidates often pledge to be the leader of all the people, not just those that voted for the candidate. Candidates often call for unity, asking all to now work together for the common good. Despite all these pledges, the elected officials seldom seem to work for unity. We have become a fractured and divided society. In Romans 15:5-6, Paul calls for the followers of Christ to be of one mind--not my mind or your mind, but to have the mind of Christ. for in Him there is neither slave nor free, man nor woman, young or old, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile--we are all sinners saved by grace and now members of one body--the body of Christ.

I notice a few things from these two verses. 

• The goal of unity is not for us to feel good--it is primarily to glorify God. When there is strife, discord, argument among the redeemed, God is not glorified. But in peaceful, harmonious loving unity, God is glorified and His kingdom is advanced. 
• Unity doesn't just happen. Notice verse 5--unity requires perseverance, endurance, patience, listening. Think about a marriage. When Jan and I were married, Reverend Sherrill told us that the only difference between a marriage that was united and a marriage that was untied was where you placed the "I". Look back at verse 2--let every one please his neighbor for his good ,not himself. Or verse 1--bear the weaknesses of those that are not strong. 
• Unity requires us to encourage each other. Life is a long race, we get tired, irritable, weary. When we pray for each other and cheer each other to good works and good attitudes, unity can happen. When we criticize and complain and get bitter, unity fails. 
• Verse 7 tells us to accept each other as fellow sinners saved by grace. Unity requires us to allow the grace of Christ to flow through us to others.

Pray for unity of believers and unity in our nation. When I find myself at odds with someone theologically, I try to go back to that place where we agree--one and only one true and eternal God; one and only one Savior Jesus Christ; all are sinners in need of grace and forgiveness; etc. This helps me separate the essentials from those things that are not. For unity I want all to agree on the essentials, but so many times the arguments and divisions are over non-essentials.

Blessings

Larry