Downsville Cob

Welcome to the Downsville Church of the Brethren BLOG site. The church is located in Downsville, MD. We are a conservative Christian community lifting up the Name of Jesus daily.

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Location: Downsville, Maryland, United States

I am the Pastor of the Downsville Church of the Brethren. This BLOG was set up to allow for interchanges of views, questions, ideas or suggestions concerning the Evangelical Church. While I am a Pastor in the Church of the Brethren all faiths are welcome to join the discussions.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Things I don't want to try

If Statements...

I was recently told the following odd "fact(?)": A skunk cannot spray if it's feet aren't touching the ground.

This leaves a GREAT BIG IF statement running around in my head. If this is correct how do I prove it? If this isn't correct the disproving would require the application of large quantities of tomato juice (another fact I've never had to prove!).

If this is true do I prove it by provoking a skunk and then quickly picking it up? If I can move that fast why would I pick up the skunk (but that's another tangent)?

The Bible is full of IF statements that would require us to do things that are far more dangerous than picking up a skunk. In Colossians Paul puts forth the following:

Colossians 1:21-23 - 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. [22] But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- [23] if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Verse 21 states where we start – ” Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” This is the starting point for us all. BUT- says Paul “he has reconciled you”. He has balanced the sheet and taken away the status of “sinner” – HOW? “by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—“. That looks like a complete thought, doesn’t it? That looks like Paul has completed his statement about our reconciliation – the balancing out of our sinful beginnings and the beginning of our walk away from sinning.

Paul doesn’t let us off that easy in the way some think of the phrase “Once Saved Always Saved” he goes on to add an “If” statement. To sum it up, “If we don’t backslide!” Paul calls for us to continue our walk "
not moved from the hope held out in the gospel" rather than stopping our Christian growth at the end of Verse 22.

Jesus Salvation should not be treated as if it were an insurance policy.

  • You don’t buy auto insurance and then drive around running into other cars simply because you have the insurance.
  • You don’t buy life insurance and then take up sky diving without a parachute just because you have the insurance.
  • You don’t buy insurance against the theft of your possessions and then leave them on the sidewalk for anyone to take just because you have the insurance.
  • You don’t accept the Grace that is Salvation and then tuck it away with the other insurance policies to bring out when you need to file a claim.
  • You don't pick up a skunk to find out whether or not it will spray you with it's feet off the ground.
I don't want to risk picking up a skunk. We as Christians shouldn't risk the wrath of God simply because we believe we have all the "facts". We know the path to walk. We know that the LORD wants us on the path. We also know that "In the beginning..." God created skunks. He also created all of the pleasures that the enemy uses against us on a daily basis.

With our Salvation we begin a climb from our original sin nature (the one that thinks picking up a skunk to prove it won't spray is a good idea) to maturity as a Christian. As mature Christians we see the danger before we touch it. As mature Christians we can see in advance that there are "Things I don't want to try".

Wilkie Nunn
Pastor, Downsville Church of the Brethren


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