Sunday, June 30, 2002
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Sunday, June 30, 2002 |
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Jesus and the crowds By DR. KNOX HERNDON As we go through life working at our assigned spots and dealing with the day to day routines and the same ole people, we can often get into a "rut." I was told that the difference between the "rut" and the "grave" was only "depth." There is some serious truth there. As a pastor I can remember burying people within a family that I did not personally know. In cases like these the only way to be able to get to "know" the person you are burying is, of course, talk to the family. I can remember sitting down in their living rooms and asking questions about the deceased. I would very prayerfully and tactfully ask them if there were any outstanding features or stories or events that they remember that they would like for me to mention in honor of their departed loved one. Now I certainly realize that there are, as in any family, situations in which people are in so much pain or denial or there were so many "problems" surrounding certain people that no one wanted to deal with saying "anything" and to not start another problem. Having said all that, in several cases it was deeper than that. Some of these people's lives were in such a self imposed rut that there were no blips on the screen to mention. I would therefore get statements like, "He was a good person, people liked him, we will miss him." Mercy!! I would hope that this wonderful life full of daily opportunity that God Almighty has given us would not be summed up with, "He was a good person, people liked him, we will miss him." What a waste of a good life!!! If this describes you, maybe you are in a rut and don't know it. Often we can again look to God's word for the answers to the issues and daily routines of life. We can often ask ourselves "what, if any, examples do we have of 'WWJD' or 'What Would Jesus Do?'" Fortunately, we do have an example. As you look into the Gospels we see Jesus daily preaching and teaching and healing the masses, similar to our daily routines. What we don't often notice is that even Jesus stopped periodically and "got away from the crowds." I believe that there is a strong message for us today in our routine-driven lives. I like the commercial hosted by Checkers hamburgers YOU GOTTA EAT!!" which often has given me another excuse to eat just one more Champ Burger, which is, of course, not good for me as I discover another hole I haven't used in my belt. You gotta get away like Jesus did and balance our routines with spiritual reconstruction. Last week my family got four reasonably priced Priceline.com tickets and flew into Portland, to a beautiful remote place in between Damariscotta and Jefferson, Maine. Dee's family has had this summer cottage for over 40 years. Their grandfather had split up his inheritance between the four siblings and they "cooperated" by pooling their assets and by building this wonderful summer cottage thirty steps from the lake. There is another whole article on how much we could accomplish in life if we could just learn to cooperate one with another. What a novel idea for a family, or a church, or a marriage, or a nation. WOW!! By the way, I realize that we don't all have "cottages on the lake" or families that have cooperated, but we do have the gorgeous north Georgia mountains or the gorgeous beaches just a few hours' drive away. Stop today and plan some trips with the ones you love. It has been said that a vacation is "just doing something different than what you normally do." Interestingly enough, I ask the people that live in the places we travel to, "Where do you go for vacation?" They will always say the same things. If they live in the mountains, they say, "I go to the beach"; if they live near the beach, they say, "I go to the mountains." I rest my case. Get out of the rut and into a little physical and spiritual recreation as Jesus did! 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 KHERN2365@aol.com.
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