Most of you know I am passionate about genealogy. I was spending some time Monday reconstructing an early family from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. One early census recorded this man, Abraham Zug (pronounced Zook), as a ‘Preacher’. So I went on through the census records to learn more and he was always listed as a Farmer.

Later in life I found him living with an adult son, who was listed as a ‘Minister of the Gospel’. So I went deeper yet, studying the Lebanon County History and found they were both part of the Church of the Brethren branch known as the Dunkers. The Dunkers, of course, believed in water baptism by immersion, thus the moniker. They were also apparently pretty legalistic.

It seems the Dunker church in Lebanon County was founded by two men, Abraham Zug and one other. It seems the other man fell into sin, whatever that was. At first he confessed to the sin, but then denied it. Since he denied the sin, the church refused to allow him to attend. He was excommunicated and it rocked that local church to the core. I wonder if there was more to the story than meets the eye. A little politics in the old church?

How difficult we sometimes make it for sinners to come to Christ and find grace for their lives. Are you making it simple or difficult for those on the journey?

Tags: forgiveness, sin

A little boy was standing in his yard one sunny day when he noticed his shadow for the first time. “Mommy, Mommy,” he shouted, “what’s that dark thing?”

“Oh, that’s only your shadow, dear,” she answered.

“I’m scared of it, Mommy. I don’t ever want to see it again!” he said, tightly shutting his eyes.

Suddenly his mother had an idea. Turning his little body to face the other direction, she said, “Honey, open your eyes. See, the shadow’s gone.” “How’d it happen?” he asked happily.

“I turned you toward the sun,” she said. “When you keep your face to the sunshine, you can’t see the shadow.”

Your past is like a shadow, following you wherever you go. So, keep looking to the Light of the world (John 8:12) and you won’t be scared by your shadowy past.

Tags: light, past, shadow, sin

I have a couple of favorite coffee cups I use periodically. The cup on my desk has Open Door Ministries’ logo on the front and ‘Pastor Ralph’ printed on it. The cup on my desk at home has my unit insignia from my days in the army: ’507th US Army Security Agency’ and my name ‘Ralph O. Diehl’ printed on it. But my favorite and most used coffee cup has a photo of the Three Stooges on it and no name. I love the Three Stooges because they represent to me the sinful world we live in.

These guys were masters of destruction, which is exactly what sin does in our lives. The damage they did to each other and those they encountered is humorous. But when that damage is real instead of pretend, its scarey. I’ve watched people do some of the stupidest and damaging things and think they were right. So, why do it keep it around? That’s what I once was. It reminds me of His grace.

Tell me about your favorite coffee cup and why.

Tags: cup, grace, sin

The story I recounted yesterday reminded me of an experience I had in basic training. We were running a similar obstacle course, with full combat gear and bayonets affixed. I had just run through a mud hole and next had to run across a log over a small ravine. As I got about half way across, my boots slipped and I fell, straddling the log.

I immediately began to lose my balance and slip to the right side of the log. Instinctively jerking my arms up to regain balance, my bayonet caught on the side of the log and the butt of the rifle struck my lower lip, splitting it open. Stunned senseless, I fell onto my back to the ravine bottom. I lay there for a few seconds until my drill sergeant yelled at me to get up and move on. When I stood, he saw the blood running down my chin and onto my jacket. That’s when they pulled me off the course and took me to the first aid station.

Its easy to lose your footing when you’ve been wading in the mud. If we don’t want to fall into sin, we must avoid wading around in it. If we’ll clean our behavior up, we’ll have a better grip on life. Clean something up today.

Tags: accident, fall, sin, slip, unclean

What’s your definition of conservative and liberal? Another word for liberal might be generous or abundant. Would you describe yourself, then, as a liberal? Another term for conservative might be hanging onto the past. Obviously, these terms can be deceptive.

Jesus was obviously a liberal when it comes to helping others. Suppose Jesus attended our church and was in charge of a row of seats. What kinds of people would He bring into our church and how would they be received? Next to the aisle would be a peaceful man with a reputation just a few months ago of running naked among the stones at the Waterloo Cemetery, cutting himself with rocks and screaming at passersby. We don’t want a guy like that in our church.

Sitting next to him would be a man named Bartimaeus. He’s a nice enough guy, but every time we would sing about grace, especially the line that says, “I once was blind, but now I see…”, he would get really emotional and embarass everyone around him. We don’t want a guy coming to our church who can’t behave himself.

Next to Bartimaeus would sit a woman who dresses too gaudy. She also has a reputation that she was caught in bed last week with another man. She could use a few lessons in good taste. Really, she should know better than to show up here.

I’m not so sure Jesus would do the best job at recruiting new people into New Hope. What do you think?

Tags: church, preferences, sin

The Rio Puerco River is a wide, shallow river in Arizona. It is peculiar in that is bed is nearly all quick-sand. It can be traveled safely provided you keep moving, but the moment a stop is made the treacherous sands begin to engulf you.

How like the world that is! God never intended that we should stop here and make this our home. Since the “fall” this world is a dangerous place that engulfs us in its lusts and passions. It causes us to sink deeper into its mire.

Christians must remember that this is not our home…we’re only passing through. The more you settle for what this world offers, the more we become submerged in its sands. Keep moving toward God!

Tags: quicksand, sin, trials, trouble