Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

MOMMA’S KNIFE

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Someone, no, a lot of folks have said, “you know you are getting old when you look backward in life more than you look forward.” I am guilty! But wait a minute! That does not mean that I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Still, it is sweet to reminisce about little things that caresses the heart as a sweet piece of pie titillates the tongue and pleases the palette. Bear with me!

The year was 1959, and I was twenty years old. In the spring, I announced to my church, Cavanaugh Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas that God had called me to preach the gospel. That stirred a lot of emotions in several people: some very happy, and a few disappointed. But, these asides will now be forgone.

As spring turned to summer, preparations were made to enter Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, Ark. Although I had been away from home in military camps and basic training, there had always been someone responsible for my living quarters, food, clothing, etc. Moving to Little Rock from Fort Smith would entail a whole different set of circumstances, including knowing no one there. As August came, it was time to make the move. It would allow some time to find a place to live, and an all-important job to pay those expenses.

To help make things easier, mom put together some necessities for bachelor living: cooking and dining utensils, some non-perishable food items, recipes, and the like. Among those things was her best butcher knife. I had little appreciation at the time how valuable that knife would become. Now, some 60 years later, that knife is still the most used utensil in the kitchen. It is the best peeling knife, melon splitter, bread cutter, butter spreader, etc. It is made of high grade steel so thin one can almost double the blade backwards, but it will peel a potato before quick can get ready. I am protective of that knife. The handle is well-worn hardwood. I will not let it go into the automatic dishwasher. It is always on the kitchen counter, ready to be used for so many different purposes.

Mom and dad are both gone now. Over 30 years have come and gone since they took their flight heavenward, but there is nothing in our household: pictures, dishes, or other things that hold the same sentimental value as momma’s knife. It evokes a picture of her in happy days long ago in her kitchen preparing meals for her family whom she often described as appetites with skin pulled over them.

Sometimes it seems strange what attachment is placed on things others may not notice at all, but momma’s knife reminds me of another knife that God gave to me. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, and . . . is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Thank you, Lord, for that knife!

FOR THOUGHT: Have you been surprised at what sentimental attachments you place on the most unlikely items reminding you of precious people? What do you have, and prize, that reminds you most of God and His grace? Do you protect that?

NATIONAL SLIDE: HOW FAR, HOW FAST?

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” Romans 1:28.

A television news commentator was recently heard to say, "How did we come to this? How did we slide so far so fast?” It is a question posed by a lot of folks across the country who find their heads reeling with the magnitude and speed of national decline, moral indecency, and widespread corruption. Although multi-faceted, the answer is not complicated. Think with me!

Fast track back over 90 years. Think of the infamous Scopes Trial involving William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow as adversaries over the teaching of Darwinian evolution in public schools. It launched a continuous slide until a near reversal prevailed: it is now unlawful in most schools to teach creationism instead of the evolution of species.

Next came monetary inflation associated with the industrial revolution, and its effect on churches. It was exciting that churches could now have access to funds for building and expansion. So they built. They expanded. They programmed. Soon, it was apparent that anything controversial must be avoided as it would cause a reduction of members, and their offerings so necessary to meet the large debt obligations of material expansion. Doctrine and culture clashes were avoided while children became latchkey kids as both parents worked to keep pace with society’s ever escalating material offerings. Meanwhile, those children were being systematically taught from kindergarten through college that they were a product of evolution. The logical result of that is that if so, they are not accountable to any higher power such as the “Christian Crutch”: God! Christianity was relegated to being a segment of culture, formalistic, ritualistic, non-spiritual, and marginalized by masses of its once proponents. From this came Roe vs Wade and the annual slaughter of millions of innocents. The prime motivation of life became, nothing must stand in the way of self gratification. Enter the “normalization” of homosexuality and the labeling of God’s Word as hate speech, and you have arrived at how far, how fast the slide. So, a new generation arose that knew not God! Though similar to ancient Israel in the days of its judges, it is certainly a commentary, description, explanation in part of the slide of Christianity in America. Finally, those who reject God, God rejects, and He turns them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are evil; whose judgment flies toward them swiftly and certain.

FOR THOUGHT: Have you studied history enough to know that history repeats itself? Do you agree that it repeats itself more quickly on those who forget the past? How much have government schools with tenured instructors been responsible for this slide? How much have parents contributed to the slide by abandoning their children in favor of the workplace?