Filthy Rags

The Old North Church in Boston (the same church made famous by the lanterns that signaled Paul Revere) opened in 1723.  Since it was located within the city limits, no land was available for a cemetery.  So, in 1732, church members began to be buried in crypts beneath the church building.  After 37 tombs there was no more room, so coffins had to share tombs.  As the wooden coffins would rot (along with the bodies inside) other coffins were put in on top of the rotted remains.  Eventually 1100 bodies shared the 37 tombs!  The only tomb not reused was that of smallpox victims.  No one was brave enough (or stupid enough) to reopen a smallpox tomb.  Can you imagine the nastiness held within those tombs?  Hey, the prophet Isaiah describes our “righteousness” before a Holy God as “putrefying rags” - rags that might have been found in those tombs.  Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”  Before God, all of us are unworthy!  But Jesus Christ has redeemed us and made us clean before Almighty God!  If we but accept the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be made as clean as the driven snow!  If this is confusing to you, message me and let’s talk.  This is not my opinion; it’s God’s wonderful plan found in His wonderful Book to show you how to become a part of His forever family.

Tuning to A 440

In 1978 I tuned pianos.  I didn’t play the piano, but I enjoyed the technical aspect of piano tuning.  Beginning in the low notes and continuing into the treble notes, the vibrations of the strings increase logarithmically.  After I finished tuning a piano, the customer wanted to hear a pleasant-sounding little tune, which I couldn’t produce.  The piano was accurately tuned, but the customer wasn’t quite satisfied that it was.  When I began studying the art of piano tuning, I discovered that the standard was the A above middle C on the piano, which was decided upon in 1889 to be set at 440 vibrations per second, or 440 Hz.  So, I bought a tuning fork calibrated to A 440.  Middle C turned out to be 456 Hz, but A 440 is the standard.  When tuning the orchestra, the oboe begins, because it is the hardest instrument to tune.  Actually, the oboe cannot be tuned, it is “made” at A 440.  So, the oboist warms up their reed by playing a few scales, and then settles into their boring job:  play a concert Bb note (which has been tuned to A 440) as long as they can while the other instruments take turns listening and tuning their instruments to the oboe, which in turn, is tuned to A 440.  Hey, that’s like our spiritual life.  Everything that we do is keyed off Jesus Christ.  Jesus isn’t just a good man, He didn’t die and leave us a good example, Jesus was the perfect Son of God.  Jesus didn’t come to tell us about truth, Jesus IS the truth.  Jesus said in John 14:6, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Jesus is the only way to God.  Are you trusting in “your truth” or are you trusting in the ultimate standard of truth, Jesus Christ?  Think about it.

Thirsty

Several years ago, my brother-in-law needed a new roof on his house.  His son-in law, Wayne, and me offered to help, so we put the roof on.  It was an easy job without any valleys or dormers.  There was one skylight and a couple of vent pipes to flash, but nothing special.  The only difficulty was the summer heat.  We started early in the morning and worked on the west side until lunchtime.  Then in the afternoon, we moved over to the east side avoiding the sun as best we could.  Nickie kept us supplied with water to stay keep hydrated.  We were finished on the second day.  Harry took us out to O’Grady’s restaurant for supper, and I immediately ordered a glass of sweet tea.  When the waitress came back with the menus, my glass was empty, so she refilled it.  When she came back to take our orders, the glass was again empty, so she refilled it.  As we ate our meal, I kept drinking glass after glass of tea and the waitress kept the tea coming.  Yesterday at church, our pastor’s topic was on the last words of Jesus on the cross.  He read John 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”  I can only imagine the pain the dear Lord suffered for me.  But I could relate to His thirst.  Only a little.  Jesus loved me so much that He suffered and died on the cross of Calvary to pay for my sins!  And Jesus paid for your sins too!  Do you have a longing in your heart for peace with God?  Have you accepted His gift of salvation?  If you haven’t, today would be a good day to receive His gift.  Message me and we can chat.