Green Pastures and Still Waters
- Details
“Baptism as a Pivot”
Until a few years ago, the word pivot only had an agricultural meaning for me. In my mind, when I heard the word pivot, I thought of the large irrigation assemblies we see in farm fields in our area. The giant sprinkler has a pivot point where the water comes up from the well and enters the system for delivery to the crops in the field. According to Webster’s dictionary, the word pivot means “the point on which something turns.” The word took on a metaphorical meaning during the height of the Covid era. The word pivot was used commonly in reference to business practices and political maneuvers that became necessary in the crisis. People talked about needing to pivot, in other words, they had to turn things in another direction. Preparing for Baptism Sunday this week, I realized that baptism could also be viewed as a pivot. Baptism signifies the point at which someone turns. Baptism is the official profession of faith. The people that were baptized by John the Baptist, the disciples of Jesus and those who were baptized at Pentecost had all come to a pivot point. They were going in one direction and repentance called for a pivot. A new trajectory in life resulted from understanding who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. I suppose you could take it one step further. Jesus has been referred to as lamb, water, door, bread, morning star and so forth but I’ve never heard anyone refer to Him as “The Pivot of Life.” But, He is. He is the point at which our lives turn from death to life, from darkness to light, and from emptiness to purpose. He’s quite a Pivot when we stop to think about it. Join us on Sunday and rejoice with the ten people who will declare their pivot.
- Details
“The Benefit of Doubt”
Some groups within Christianity have frowned on doubt over the years. Questions have been viewed as threatening while acceptance without critical thinking has been viewed as faith. Sadly, some things that have been embraced as “biblical” are actually the preferences of well-meaning people. Thankfully, there have always been some people among the believing crowd that are willing to ask questions. They may be afraid to ask the questions; but not because they fear the answers—they fear interrupting the status quo. Even more though, they fear not living in harmony with what is actually true. I have found that the writers of most Bible commentaries are hard on Thomas. Thomas is often referred to as the “doubter,” and worse. Admittedly, there is a form of doubt that is dangerous; it is the doubt that refuses to know. It is the doubt that looks for excuses not to believe. However, there is also a doubt that is healthy. It is driven by a desire to truly know and receive what is true. There are some who doubt that actually have a strong desire to believe. Their heart is open and welcome but their minds need to be satisfied. I’m so glad the story of Thomas is in the Bible. As J.C. Ryle put it, the story of Thomas is in the Bible because “the Holy Ghost knew well that the dull, and the slow, and the stupid, and the doubting are by far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world…our Lord has many dull pupils in His school.” Maybe you don’t see yourself as one of them. Congratulations. For the rest of us, there’s Thomas, we’ll get to know him a little better on Resurrection morning.