"COMMITMENT"

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families...

Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned...

Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army...

Another had two sons captured...

Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war..

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty...

At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson's home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General George Washington to open fire on the Nelson home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt...

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forest and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion. 

SO...as I will ask of all of us in the morning at East La Follette...

"WHAT DOES COMMITMENT MEAN TO YOU?"

MORE THAN "HAPPILY EVER AFTER"...

Isn't it still amazing to think about the rescue of the miners?  With every media outlet fixated on the story, they had no choice but to include all the people giving God credit for such a miraculous ending.  I still snicker a little as I think about them having to do that, lol. 

But as I spoke on Sunday night, God's not only there in these fairy tale like endings is He?  Well, that depends on who you talk to nowadays.  It appears there are still some people out there who insist as long as you "live right", God will bless you as He  "takes care of His own". 

Now, don't let me confuse you TOO much here.  I still believe "living right" is important but that is a sermon and perhaps a blog post for another day (next Sunday for the sermon and eh, who knows when for the blogpost?  Lol.).

Don't get me wrong, folks.  I'm a FIRM believer in giving God ALL the credit, glory, praise, honorable mention, etc.  I just want us to do that even when things don't turn out like last week, too.

Yes, God does "take care of His own".  But that doesn't mean a Christian miner has never died in an accident does it?  Do you really believe that only Christian soldiers who were "living right" made it back home from war alive?  Was every Christian family that has endured the death of a loved one to a horrible accident or disease like cancer just not "blessed" enough?  Was God not there for them as He was/is for others who survive such accidents and see their cancer/problem inexplicably vanish?

I don't have all the answers to all the "why" questions.  Sorry.  Sometimes "bad" things do happen as a result of sin (or not "living right").  Sometimes they happen for no other reason than we live in a fallen, imperfect, sinful world. 

But you CANNOT say, as some modern day FALSE TEACHERS/PROPHETS say, that "bad" things won't happen to you if you're giving enough money, going to church, praying, reading the Bible, dressing like a pilgrim, abstaining from TV/movies/radio, living in a cult-like "holy" huddle type society...you get my drift.  

If you are reading this and believe in this health/wealth/prosperity HERETICAL GARBAGE, tell me, what sin did Abel commit to warrant his muder? 

...what was it, exactly, that Job did to cause his incomparable calamity?

...was John The Baptist beheaded for eating too many wild locusts? 

How dare you make fun of such a revered Bible figure, Greg!  That's just it...I'm not making fun...he WAS a great messenger of God who "made straight the path" for THE LAMB OF GOD!  AND YET (grammar police, I'm sorry) THIS GREAT MESSENGER'S LIFE ENDED IN A HORRIBLE MANNER!  And you need to KNOW it wasn't because he wasn't "LIVING RIGHT"!!!

Stephen was martyred for "doing good", wasn't he?  Weren't INNUMERABLE EARLY CHRISTIANS fed to lions, wild beasts, and burned alive for "doing good"?

DIDN'T JESUS SAY WE'D HAVE TROUBLE...SUFFER...BE HATED...AND EVEN KILLED FOR FOLLOWING HIM?!?!

The answer you're looking for is YES!!!  It's in the Bible.  Read John 15&16 sometime if you don't believe me.

But folks, the good news is that even in times of bad news, HE IS STILL THERE/HERE WITH US!  In accordance with His ultimate, perfect, and sovereign will, He may choose to rescue me from the mine or let me breathe my last down there.  He may take my cancer away or let it consume this temporary flesh and THEN call me home and provid my ULTIMATE healing!  BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE ARE NOT ALONE AND WE HAVE THE FULL ASSURANCE HE STILL REIGNS...DON'T WE???

Therein is the reason for this post.  I watched and listened as so many spoke of all God did last week.  And with good reason they spoke such things.  What a story with a hollywood (or at least Lifetime) movie ending.  Just know, even though we might not understand, He's still there and still working when the story doesn't seem to end with "happily ever after".