Ronald K Martin

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from the December 1993 issue of The Pilgrim Witness.

“Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the sea; and there was a great calm.” Oh, if only we could have clutched the gunwale of that heaving boat and witnessed the power of those words! The winds died, the sea was calm, and the disciples were awed. Jesus’ rebuke of those forces shows to us that they were being controlled by a power that was more than natural. Nature is always subject to the will of its Creator.

“Whom do men say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). Christ asked this question to His disciples and received a variety of answers in response. So it has been down through the ages. Men have devised many philosophies to try to explain to their satisfaction who Christ really is.

The presence of color in the universe truly is a testimony of the greatness of the Creator. God created the light that we receive from the sun to be a mixture of all the primary colors. The prismatic effect of water droplets separates these colors so that they can be seen individually in a rainbow.

"Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee" (Ex 20:12). Paul in Ephesians 6:2 identifies this instruction as being the first commandment with promise, but all of us know that respectfulness is not a natural trait in children. Children are selfish by nature; and selfish people are not respectful of others. Thus the question arises, how do we teach our children to be respectful?

Over the years, the conservative churches in general have taken a stand against various forms of substance abuse. Section 4 in Article VI, Christian and Self Denial, in our Decrees for to Keep is titled "Tobacco, Alcohol, & Substance Abuse." It opens with 1 Corinthians 6.19: "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost " and continues on to prohibit the use of tobacco and alcohol due to their harmful effects on the body.

The freedom to operate our own schools is but one of the tremendous blessings we experience. As a result of God’s blessing on the hard work of faithful personnel, our schools produce results that the public school system can only dream of, at a cost that they can not believe possible. Complacency, however, has ruined many a successful venture; so, at the beginning of another school term, I would like you to consider what your contribution should be to the work of the school.

The English language is constantly changing. New words are being added; many are for new inventions or processes. Modem, email, ecotourism, and zipper have entered our language in the recent past as words are formulated to keep pace with the changing world. Some words, such as the word flux, which means continuous movement or continual change, fall from common usage. Other words undergo change in their meanings. The King James Version of the Holy Scriptures uses many words that are examples of this flux.

Commonly, when we meet someone we have not seen for awhile, we are asked the question, "How have you been?" At times we respond to this question by saying, "God has certainly blessed us." We then proceed to enumerate our "blessings."