Sunday, May 26, 2002
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Sunday, May 26, 2002 |
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My hope is built on nothing less ... By DR. KNOX HERNDON Can you fill in the next five words of that old hymn? If you can, chances are you might just be a Baptist or some Christian group that believes the blood of Christ saves you from your sins. For those who don't know the hymn, the next five words are "than Jesus' blood and righteousness." If you ever attended Christian crusades in stadiums around the world, you would nearly always hear that hymn. In seminary I remember a professor who claimed that any sermon that was preached had to contain "the blood of Christ in there somewhere or it was not a Christian sermon." I liked that man. My wonderful Christian, ministry-supporting wife is always gathering information and articles we can use in the ministry and I dearly appreciate that. The only problem with that is that if I don't get to a newspaper or magazine before she hits the mail box or gets to it, I will see gaping holes in the magazine or newspaper where I was eagerly anticipating the reading of an article. Clip on, sweetheart! One of the great articles she "snipped" was from the Zion's' Fire magazine in the March-April 2002 edition. This magazine is produced by "Completed Christian Jews." This article was entitled "Touch of Gold" by Dan Hayden. He stated that "Gold, in the system of Israel's worship, is symbolic of the presence of God." Gold has fascinated mankind since the beginning of time. I remember while living in Alaska there were those whose hobby it was to search for gold on the weekends. Some were fairly successful with it. They would go out to the streams and pan for gold and often turn up several nuggets here and there. In fact, Dee and I and Nikki (11) and Robbie (9) were visiting a town south of Anchorage called Hope, Alaska. There were only four or five buildings in this little town just yards from a gorgeous stream coming off of Tournigan Arm, a peninsula which bordered the ocean. In the background of this little town were the beautiful snow capped mountains which to me gave Hope, Alaska an unspeakable romance. What further made my heart fall deeper in love were the hundreds of salmon that would choke this stream just steps from the town buildings. If I ever mysteriously disappear, one of he spots you can look for me will be in Hope, Alaska. Anyway, we all descended upon this only restaurant in town which was owned by a very fine Oriental man. While we were eating, a very nice outback man with full beard in his thirties sat down next to us and called for the owner. The owner approached and this man asked for the "gold scales." Out from under the counter the owner produced a set of scales and weights for this customer. The prospector then proceeded to reach into his pocket and pull out his "poke of gold" and clunk it on the counter. I thought I was being transported back in time to a western movie. I looked around for a gunfight at any minute. Then there on the counter the customer began to smile and weigh his gold. Dee and I and the kids were witnessing a prospector figuring out the earnings of his labor for the summer. I questioned the prospector as to how much he thought his bag of "digs" produced and he said over $3,000. I have heard Christians within the church say that "money is the root of all evil." Yet we must look deeper into what God's Word says. It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money can do wonderful and marvelous things for the good of mankind and the cause of Christ. In fact if you have a spare $500,000 lying around, we could use it to build Phase II of our church and move out of the "double wide on 85" (not that we don't appreciate where we are at this point of our church). Isn't it interesting that mankind goes at "getting what I want" backwards to God's plan? God's plan says "seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Not gold, not things, but Jesus blood & righteousness. Sing on, church, sing on! The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). The Rev. Greg Mausz is senior associate pastor. The Rev. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church is just below Fayetteville, on Ga. Highway 85, a mile south of Ga. Highway 16, just below the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail
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