Christmastime in Dixie

Alice, Kelly and I left about midday Monday, Dec. 20, to head down to Alabama for the holidays. God’s favor seemed to be on us for this trip…

We drove through Jacksonville at dinner time, about 10 minutes out of the way, and stopped at Roma’s Greek Pizza on the square. We ordered a half-and-half pizza, one part bacon and the other pineapple. We also had drinks and fried cheese sticks. We were acting a little giddy, laughing and poking fun, because it had been a long drive and a long day. The pizza was a little overdone when it was brought to the table and the waitress said Miss Tina wanted to alter our bill because of that, so she took the ticket from the table and never brought it back.

When I went up to the register to pay for it she asked me what I was doing there. I told her I wanted to pay for the meal, and she said I needed to talk to Miss Tina about that. Miss Tina said she wasn’t charging for the meal and wished us a Merry Christmas. We left a $20 tip (which was at least $10 less than it would’ve cost us), and rushed to the car before they could chase us down and give the tip back…

Then we checked into the Hampton Inn at Oxford. It was about 10:30 when we got there, and they gave us a room on the second floor overlooking the lobby. My roommates woke me up about 3:45 a.m. because I was snoring, and I couldn’t get back to sleep after that. We were right next to the elevator and I was hearing everyone come and go there. They would stop in front of the elevator and talk and laugh as they waited for it. I kept hearing other talking and finally realized the desk clerk had the TV in the middle of the lobby turned way up so they could hear it at the desk. Then at 4:55 the phone rang for our wake-up call, which we hadn’t requested. I called the front desk and asked why we were getting a wake-up call. She said the system must be wacky. I said I could hear the TV in the lobby too and told her I wanted my money back. I finally got to sleep again about 7:30 and slept maybe four hours total for the night. Alice and Kelly went down for breakfast and I joined them following a shower. After eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes I went to the front desk and asked for the manager. He already knew what I wanted, but I took him to the middle of the lobby, pointed at our door just above the TV, pointed at the elevator just behind the wall of our room, and told him if it was me I wouldn’t rent that room unless it was the only one left available. He apologized, and told me they weren’t charging us for the room. Plus they had two new policies now. The desk clerk wouldn’t be blaring the TV anymore at night, and housekeeping would begin checking the phones every day to make sure they weren’t set in advance to go off…

We stopped on our way through Wedowee long enough to say hi to Tom Norton at his family business. We stayed with Bonnie’s family in Roanoke, ate at Sonny’s, a great new restaurant with a buffet. They had perhaps the best fried green tomatoes I've ever eaten. My brother-in-law Ricky left a generous tip there. The waitress started crying and hugging necks. We went shopping at Wal-Mart. I picked out Alice’s gift, went to pay for it, pulled a Wal-Mart gift card out of my wallet and told the cashier to run it because I thought it might have 40 cents or so left on it. It deducted $25 from the price. We ate at Jon Boy’s the next day, visited my sweet mother in the nursing home a couple of times, where she seems happy and was being more verbal and doing more laughing than she has in years. She had us all laughing with the things she was saying and the way she was acting. We opened presents with Bonnie’s family and then headed back up the road…

On the way back we stayed at a Hampton Inn at Athens, Ala. I went out to get a Coke so I’d have something to take my daily bedtime medicines with, and put two dollars in the machine because the cost was $1.25. I got a dollar back in change.

About 60 miles up the road the next morning we needed gas. I stopped at a Shell station where it was priced at $2.95 a gallon. I told Alice I wasn’t gonna fill it up at that price, that I might put 10 or 20 dollars worth in. I noticed you could use your Kroger Plus card for gas there, so I ran the card through to see if I’d get a discount. It knocked off 40 cents a gallon, so I filled up at the best price we’d seen the whole trip. Alice had bought a few gift cards that knocked 40 cents off the price, but I didn’t know that. Another pleasant surprise...

I’m hoping all this good favor extends to Auburn’s upcoming trip to Phoenix on the 10th of next month…

God at Mount Carmel, Part 4

The last installment of a sermon I wrote for preaching class at Southern Baptist Seminary. As a disclaimer, the Scripture verses used are the choice of E.Y. Mullins.

After Israel had acknowledged the Lord to be their God He poured out His blessings upon them. Then Elijah predicted the rain would come. He went off to the top of Carmel where it was very high and very private to pray, and thanked God for His answer by fire. Elijah understood the real power of God that can be found when we are alone and on our knees.

Elijah ordered his servant to bring him the news when a cloud rose out of the sea. While Elijah prayed he sent his servant out seven times to look for a cloud. Finally a cloud no larger than a man's hand appeared, and then the skies blackened and the rains came.

E.Y. Mullins, former president of Southern Seminary, listed several natural and moral attributes of God, the same God Who proved His majesty and sovereignty at Mount Carmel.

1 - God is SELF-EXISTENT. God exists by reason of what He is in Himself. He is eternal in being (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 57:15).

2 - God is IMMUTABLE. God does not change His character, nature or purpose. He is active, progressive, free to choose, and He experiences both joy and sorrow. But while changing His methods, He never changes in His nature or purpose (Deuteronomy 4:26-38; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 21:33-35; 2 Peter 2:4-10).

3 - God is OMNIPRESENT. God is present at all times in every part and time of His universe (Psalm 139:7-12). He is limited by neither time nor space, but is a free, personal Spirit.

4 - God has the quality of IMMENSITY. God is superior to space. He is the God of the universe. No human concept can contain Him (Romans 11:33-36).

5 - God is ETERNAL. God has no beginning or end. He is related to events in time, yet He is not confined to time. Past, present, and future are one to Him.

6 - God is OMNISCIENT. God has all knowledge. He knows all things simultaneously. His knowledge is immediate, without the processes of thought, reason, or inference. He knows the workings of His natural, physical, moral, and spiritual laws which work toward definite ends. Individuals are free to choose in the light of them, but are responsible for their choices. God knows these choices beforehand.

7 - God is HOLY. Holiness connotes supreme moral excellence (Isaiah 6:3). The word holy carries the idea of separation or exaltation. When used of persons or things, it means separated for God's service. Because God is holy, He demands holiness in His people (Leviticus 11:44).

8 - God is RIGHTEOUS. This is God's self-affirmation on behalf of right as opposed to wrong. As righteous, God cannot ignore or condone evil. Righteousness connotes what God is in His nature, what He demands in man, and what by grace He bestows through Christ upon all who believe in Him (Romans 3:26; 10:1-13; 2 Corinthians 5:19).

9 - God is TRUTH. God is the source and ground of all truth. He is the criterion by which all thoughts and acts shall be judged. Truth--whether in science or religion--harmonizes. For all truth is of God. Any error is a departure from God's nature (John 17:17). Jesus answered man's eternal search for truth when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

Jesus Christ is the incarnation of truth (John 1:14,17; 14:6). In Him dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

10 - God is LOVE. Love is the attribute which permeates all other of God's attributes. "God is love" (1 John 4:7-10). Love involves absolute loyalty to its object. By it God seeks the complete possession of and the highest good for His creatures.

God at Mount Carmel, Part 3

Part 3 (of 4) of a sermon I wrote for preaching class when I was a student at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville.

Miracles are acts of God contrary to man's knowledge of natural law, but not contrary to God's knowledge of such, and which He works in accord with His benevolent will and purpose. Thus miracles are not only possible but expected.

God, working through Elijah, determined to test the god that Israel was worshipping, and if Baal proved to be worthy of worship then the people could renounce God and worship only Baal, but if Baal failed the test then the people would renounce Baal and worship God.

Baal had the king, his court and the whole body of the people on his side. One lone man stepped forward for the cause of God while 850 supporters of Baal opposed him. One lone man who had been in exile and had been fed by birds to keep from starving.

The proposal was made that each side would prepare a sacrifice and pray to its God, and the God Who answered by fire would be hailed as the one, true God. If neither answered, the people would become atheists. If both answered, then the people could continue to serve two Gods. Elijah served as an example that we can stand alone against great numbers as witnesses and advocates of God without fearing the face of man.

The prophets of Baal were allowed to go first, and were frustrated in their attempts to get a response from their non-living god. They got their sacrifices ready and cried as with one voice with all their might, "Oh Baal, hear us. Oh Baal, answer us." They hopped up on the altar. They jumped up and down hoping they would please their god. Elijah taunted them and suggested that perhaps their god was doing his business and would be along in a few minutes. They cut themselves in pieces with knives and sharp, surgical instruments, hoping to obtain the favor of their god by offering their own blood. On the other hand, our God expressly forbids His worshippers to cut themselves in Deuteronomy 14:1.

They went from morning until noon, when Elijah further picked at their failure and did not even try to spare their feelings, questioning whether or not their god would be able to hear them if they did not make a lot of noise. But they so wanted to avoid being put to shame and convince the people they were right, that they became more violent and acted more ridiculous. Elijah let them carry on until they were tired, until it was time for the evening sacrifice.

Then Elijah prepared the altar for God. He refused to use their altar which had been polluted with prayers to Baal, but instead found the ruins of an old altar that had been built to worship the Lord and proceeded to rebuild it, exemplifying the idea that he was not about to start a new religion but was reviving the faith and worship of their father's God, an old-time religion. He repaired the altar with 12 stones which represented the 12 tribes of Israel. Though 10 of the tribes were now worshipping Baal, God's covenant with Abraham is everlasting, and the nations of Israel still belonged to God.

Having built his altar "in the name of the Lord," Elijah prepared the sacrifice. Elijah ordered water to be poured on the altar, and he had prepared a trench to keep it around the altar. He did this because he did not want the people to believe he was hiding a fire under the altar. He then prayed to God and humbly asked Him to turn the sacrifice to ashes. He was composed, calm and sedate, far from putting on the kind of scene Baal's prophets had rendered. He called upon "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel" to remind the people of their relationships to God and the patriarchs. Elijah pleaded for the glory of God and the edification of the people. God immediately answered by fire, licking up all the water in the trench, and consuming the stones of the altar and the dust of the ground, and likely striking terror in the wicked hearts of Ahab and the Baal worshippers.

Elijah had, by the most convincing and undeniable evidence, proved his claims on behalf of the God of Israel. And the people all fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, "Jehovah, He is the God, and not Baal, Jehovah, He is the God." Hopefully this inferred that if He was the God, He would be their God and they would serve only Him. Some hopefully had their hearts turned back to God, but most were only convinced and not converted, yielded to the truth that God is God but not to the covenant that He would be their God.

Elijah then ordered that the prophets of Baal be seized, condemned and executed according to the law. They were all slain immediately as troublers of the land.

God at Mount Carmel, Part 2

Part 2 of a sermon I wrote for preaching class at Southern Seminary:

Much of what we know about God's character is revealed at Mount Carmel. God's attributes are those elements which describe his nature. Elijah was the most dominant prophetic figure of his time, the early Ninth Century B.C. The wicked king of Israel, Ahab, and his infamous wife, Jezebel, provoked the wrath of the Lord with their aggressive idolatry worship. Elijah responded to this by calling down a famine on the land, and then he fled to the brook known as Cherith, where God miraculously took care of him by having ravens deliver him food. Likewise, Elijah subsequently performed miracles for a widow in a city called Zarephath by supplying food and raising up her dead son.

Three years of drought passed while Elijah was in hiding, and the famine became severe. God commanded Elijah to show himself to Ahab, and to expect rain. Elijah sent notice to Ahab of his return through a servant of Ahab's named Obadiah, who was a righteous man. It was probably a great surprise to Ahab to hear that Elijah, whom he had looked for so long without finding, was now seeking him. Would Elijah bring news of relief from God, or some other more dreadful judgement on the land?

King Ahab and the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, were worshipping the god know as Baal, which brings us to our text. When Elijah finally met with Ahab, because of the drought and famine he was referred to as "troubler of Israel." Elijah, of course, was quick to boldly point out that it was not his fault. He may have called the famine down, but he was merely doing God's work as a response to Israel's unfaithfulness under the leadership of the king. Those who come under God's judgement are the real troublemakers, not the one who gives the warning. It is not unusual for the best among men to be known as troublemakers. Even Christ and His apostles were misrepresented in such a way. God's people had a chance to repent and prevent the judgement they endured.

Elijah told Ahab to bring all the prophets of Baal who were scattered around the countryside together on Mount Carmel, where at one time there had been an altar built to worship God. Ahab issued orders for the meeting to occur, presumably because he feared Elijah and dared not oppose him, or because he thought if he did what Elijah told him to do, Elijah would ask God to end the drought. Elijah also required that all the people of Israel be present to witness the proceedings.

Ahab and the people of Israel expected Elijah to bless the land and pray for rain, but Elijah had other work to do first. In order for the judgement to be removed, the people had to repent and change their ways, and then they could hope for the removal of judgement. Those who have removed themselves from the range of God's grace need not expect to be under the umbrella of His protection until they come back to Him. If you have made a commitment to God to live your life with Him as Lord, you better honor that commitment. God expects you to keep the promises you make to Him and will accept nothing less.

Elijah knew which end to start from. You cannot expect the blessings of God if you still need to repent and ask His forgiveness. God is just, God is in control, God is sovereign, and God is worthy of worship. Elijah rebuked the people for mixing their worship of God together with their worship of Baal. They would sometimes worship One and then the other. This Elijah called in verse 21 "halting between two opinions," or thoughts. Then he challenged them, "If the Lord is God, follow Him." And the people said nothing.

They worshipped God to please the prophets, and they worshipped Baal to please Jezebel, and to stay in good standing in her court. There is only one infinite, supreme, OMNIPOTENT, all-sufficient God.

God possesses all power. He can do anything in keeping with His nature and purpose. The only limits to His power are self-imposed. He cannot lie or act contrary to His own laws, character and purposes. These limitations are evidences of God's power, not of His weakness.