Today’s Word from Pastor Jim
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” Matthew 16:24
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” Declaration of Independence July 4th, 1776.
One of the great contradictions of the founding of our United States of America was the continuation of the institution of slavery. The issue divided the country as our nation was struggling for independence. In 1844 James Russell Lovell wrote a poem called “The Present Crisis.” Lovell appealed to Christian people to heed the call to follow Jesus as citizens of a divided a nation that was drifting closer to civil war.
This stanza of “The Present Crisis” would become the first stanza of the hymn titled “Once to Every Man and Nation.”
“Once to every man and nation
comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
off’ring each the bloom or blight,
and the choice goes by forever”
The decision to follow Jesus is not a singular event, marriage vows are not completed on our wedding day, an alcoholic must choose sobriety each and every day. Martin Luther kept baptismal water on his nightstand. Before his feet touched the ground in the morning Luther touched the waters of baptism pledging his allegiance to God for one more day.
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
The Present Crisis
“Once to every man and nation
comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side…”
May God help us. May we be faithful in this present crisis.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
