Ramblings From A Vacation

Ramblings From a Vacation

I thought about titling this article, “Thoughts of a Mad Man” but our vacation was good. Actually it was quite nice and we enjoyed ourselves. Hope says we usually have bad weather when we take Spring Break off, but this year’s weather cooperated pretty well. Vacations are nice for they get us out of our normal routine and allow us to see and do different things. After looking back on our time off, the following thoughts come to mind.

While at my Mom’s, I picked through some of my Dad’s ties. I remember my Dad having ties hanging in the closet, but I don’t remember him wearing them when I was young. I guess he wore them on “special occasions” such as funerals, but I can not recall seeing him in one. It was not until he obeyed the Gospel and we started attending worship services that Dad started wearing a tie, yet he had ties when I was young. One tie always stood out. It was red and had a pattern of dots, and was silky. I brought this tie home with me because it reminded me of earlier days. We tend to forget that our parents lived a life before they had us. Yes, they liked doing things and having fun before we came along. A lot of times we don’t see that because we see what they are doing and not who they are. When we are young we tend to take our parents for granted. Only later in life do we understand some of the decisions they made. That is one reason God made the Father and Mother the head of the home and not the children. It is also a reason we need to honor our father and mother. So if you see me wearing a really interesting red tie, you know where it came from.

It is strange how you will hear something new and then hear it again and again. On Sunday we attended services in Louisville . In the Bible Class the teacher was talking about the word “atonement.” It was brought up that the word literally meant, “at one ment.” Atonement is what is necessary to bring us back into fellowship with God. It means to pacify or to reconcile. It is through the blood of Christ we have the forgiveness of sins, Ephesians 1.7, Acts 22.16. The purpose of this forgiveness is to bring us back into fellowship with God, to be reconciled. Therefore, we are again at one with God. Sunday night I heard the same point made at Caneyville , KY. Without Christ we can not have fellowship with God because all of us have sinned, Romans 3.23. Sin separates us from God and He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, John 1.29. I an not sure if I have heard of atonement described in this way before, but I don’t tend to forget it.

Another thing I heard that got my attention was during the Sunday morning sermon. The preacher made the point that if some people tried as hard to believe the Gospel as they did to not believe it they would be a Christian. Such is true. These people try very hard to reject the Gospel of Christ; they are like Saul of Tarsus. He rejected Christianity and even persecuted those that had accepted Christ as the Son of God. It was not until he was on the road to Damascus that he believed. Jesus spoke to him, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads (pricks, King James) (Acts 9.5). A prick or a goad was a sharp object, usually a stick, that was placed behind an animal as it was pulling a cart or plow. If the animal tried to kick it would hit the sharp object and feel pain. It would not take long for the animal to wise up and stop kicking the goad. In the same way men often try to kick against the Gospel. The difference is they never learn to stop kicking and start thinking. I do not ask anyone to accept the Gospel without reading and studying the Bible for themselves, but I do expect people to be honest. The arguments made to reject the Gospel requires a lot more faith than the Gospel requires.

The first day of vacation, Noah, suggested that we have a news blackout. Only if there was a national emergency would we turn on the news. (I know what some of you are thinking, but we figure someone would call us if a national emergency occurred). Fortunately “news” did not include sports, so I was able to watch the press conference when Kentucky named its new coach, however, I did refrain from watching the news. It was really nice to not hear the gloom and doom of the news. Despite all the “bailouts”, rocket launches, and economic problems, most of us are doing OK. We need to remember that God is still in His Holy temple and we rely on Him instead of ourselves or our national leaders, Habakkuk 2.20.

Finally, I was very thankful for the time we had together. Regena and I have been blessed in so many ways. – Dennis Tucker

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