Year In Review

This is the time of year we look back at where we've been and ahead to what is to come. In church this morning we were reminded to look at our spiritual lives to see where we need to improve and then take steps to make that happen. If any of us say we're fine the way we are, we are not being honest. No one is perfect and there is always room for growth in becoming more like Christ. 

All that said, it is still easier to chart the path of our lives by our visible activities than invisible spiritual things. So here is a snapshot of our lives in 2018.

Our first great-grandchild, Avery Lynn Miller, was born January 15.

Some of my cousins came to help quilt on February 21.

On March 5, Leroy marked 45 years of working at Shank Door.

We enjoyed a week of lovely weather in Sarasota, Florida, the end of March. We had not been in Sarasota for 44 years.

 Our bathroom was remodeled the middle of May.

 We took some time out of our family weekend at the cabin in June to take a 5-generation picture.

 In July we went to the Museum of the Bible and the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

 On Labor Day we made apple butter at my sister's place and crossed the Susquehanna on the ferry boat on the way home.

We enjoyed  a weekend of camping in Ohio September 21-22, though we wimpy old folks slept in the house.

We went to Holmes County, Ohio, in October where I was scheduled to speak at a writer's conference. An Amish family gave us a place to sleep in an apartment in this building which is used for his business of making horse-drawn farm equipment.

It was a very wet year with record rainfall and a heavy wet snow the middle of November made us wonder what kind of winter we will have.

Leroy celebrated his 75th birthday with a special lunch at work.

We had 34 people at the table and one in the high chair on Christmas Day.

A lot of activity that isn't recorded in pictures took place. Leroy worked on the John Deere tractor he is building from scratch and helped Gerald a couple times with his remodeling project. I crocheted an afghan, wrote a book, a couple articles for the historical society's magazine, a genealogy appendix for the reprinted Jonas Martin Era book, and about a dozen short stories for children. And then there was all the normal daily work of earning a living and keeping the house.

What are we looking forward to in 2019? More of the same everyday life, Lord willing. At this point we have no big trips planned but wild ideas may pop up as we go along. We'll take a day at a time and try to grow spiritually so that when we look back again at the end of the year we can see a difference.

Birthdays

Birthdays come and go. They were exciting at 16 and under, but the higher the numbers go the less exciting or anticipated they are. We've had so many birthdays they're old hat by now and we'd rather ignore than celebrate them. But ignoring birthdays doesn't stop them from coming so you might as well face the facts and admit the truth.

My birthday and Leroy's are just three days apart, on the 14th and 17th. However, he is four years older than me. Every time the numbers rolled over to start a new decade, it didn't seem as bad because he was four years ahead of me.  This year he got a kick out of telling people that we had our first date when I was 17 and now we turned the numbers around. If you remember your grade school math, you can figure out what number he reached today.

Although we had nothing to do with when we were born, it is convenient for a couple tightwads like us to have our birthdays close together. We usually have a gift card or two for a restaurant and use one to celebrate both our birthdays on one card. In addition, having December birthdays makes it convenient to give each other a gift that serves for both birthday and Christmas. We both prefer to give and get gifts that are practical and useful rather than luxury items, although that has happened occasionally. 

This year it seemed appropriate to recognize Leroy's birthday in a special way so we made plans for an office party. I was working on making five pies this morning when he left for work: apple, cherry crumb, pumpkin, shoofly, and lemon meringue. 

Gene ordered eight pizzas and I took chips, drink, the pies and ice cream in to the office at noon. It was a special treat to have lunch with my husband and son. He is celebrated and officially 75. I can hardly believe that number! But facts are facts and we are very blessed to have all these years together.

The Welsh Mountain

Anyone who is familiar with the Welsh Mountain south of New Holland, Pennsylvania, has probably heard stories of the Buzzard Gang of outlaws who lived there. The notorious members of the Buzzard Gang were brothers who grew up in the Welsh Mountains, raised by a single mother who lost her husband in the Civil War. Of the six boys raised by Mary Buzzard, three of them, Abe, Isaac and Jacob, had the most run-ins with the law. 

Abe, by far, was the ringleader, but his brothers were equally wild. Another brother, Martin, served 16 years in prison for shooting a farmer in the head during a botched robbery, although the elderly farmer survived. In and out of prison for most of their lives, the brothers terrorized communities throughout the region with robberies, gun battles and a string of thefts too numerous to count. 
Back in 1883, the Buzzard Boys organized the largest prison break in Lancaster County, taking advantage of lax security to free more than a dozen prisoners. At times, there were bounties out for Abe Buzzard that were larger than those offered for Western outlaw Jesse James. Abe was shot several times in gun battles, but he survived those encounters. Despite his outlaw ways, the end came quietly for Abe, who died in 1935 at age 84 in his home in Reading. 

The Buzzard Gang was not the first or only outlaw gang to live on the Welsh Mountain. It had a reputation for their type long before they were born.

The mountain reminded the Welsh people of their homeland and they named it the Welsh Mountain. When they settled in the area in the early 1700s, Indians still lived on the mountain. It was sold out from under them which, of course, did not sit well with them. How would you like it if someone came to your house, claimed it and sold it to someone else? 

Black slaves and white indentured servants who escaped ran to the Welsh Mountain. The Indians helped them hide from their masters. The three races mixed on the Welsh Mountain and produced a Tri-racial group of descendants that lived in crude huts. They made it clear they wanted to be left alone, fiercely defending their freedom with vicious dogs and guns. 

An article in the Philadelphia Gazette in 1790 warned travelers on the State road near Gap in Lancaster County that they were liable to be attacked by "Green's Banditti." The leader of the band was identified a burly black man, Thomas Green, who had control of the mountains. A few years later he died in an attack on a waggoner but his wife and family survived and perpetuated the name and family tradition.

In 1898 the Mennonite church established an industrial mission on the Welsh Mountain in an attempt to evangelize the people and provide a way for them to earn an honest living instead of begging and stealing. While their intentions were noble, generations of hardscrabble living on the mountain was not easily changed to the German work ethic of the mission's founders. The industrial part of the mission was not a stunning success and the residents of the mountain largely continued in their lifestyle.

In 1899, Cal Green was the leader of the black outlaw gang on the Welsh Mountain. She was a descendant of Thomas Green and fiercely defended their territory with guns and vicious dogs. At great peril, Leslie Gilliams managed to interview a few residents on the mountain and photograph the huts in which they lived. A report of his adventure was published in The Wide World Magazine, Vol. IV, Oct. 1899-Mar. 1900; p.366-371.

Today, the Welsh Mountain has been tamed. The industrial mission evolved into a home for low-income elderly. The outlaws are gone and their huts have been replaced with comfortable homes.  A paved road crosses the ridge that once was dense forest. It is safe to drive across the mountain in the dark without fear of being attacked by bandits. 

It's Not Fair

      We have so much to be thankful for in this country. I feel guilty when I hear about so much suffering in many other parts of the world. Why should I have such a comfortable life when other people are hungry and cold? Why have so many people been driven from their homes through no fault of their own and had their lives and families destroyed? It's not fair that they should have so little while I have so much. We have not been blessed to indulge ourselves. We can't fix all the inequality in the world but we can share what we have with those in need. 

      Why was I born in a land where there is freedom of worship while others are persecuted for the same faith? Why was I born into a Christian family that made it easy for me to learn about Jesus and the way of salvation while millions live in spiritual darkness and never heard the name of Jesus? It's not fair that I have had the opportunities and they had none. I am humbled to be so blessed.

     Today, as we gather in houses of worship and around tables loaded with food, give God the credit He deserves. All we are and have comes from Him. Happy Thanksgiving!

Life and Death

Last week was unusual in the life of our congregation. We had two ladies pass away a day apart on November 2 and 3. Then last week we had four days in a row of either a viewing or funeral. As a result, our revivals which had been scheduled for that week were canceled. Although both ladies had terminal illnesses and their deaths were expected, it is still a reality check when it happens and the person is gone forever.

Today I am remembering our son Steve who left us unexpectedly 24 years ago. He was 18 and would be 43 today. I can't quite imagine how he would look by now for he is forever 18 in my memory. Out of sight does not equal out of mind. Although he is no longer with us here, he will live in our hearts as long as we live. 

Solomon said, "love is as strong as death." I would say it is stronger than death for death cannot end love. First Corinthians 13 says love is greater than faith and hope because love is eternal and goes on after faith and hope are no longer needed. 

I have reached my "three score years and ten" so I know there are more years behind me than ahead of me. Because the future is hidden from us, we go on living as usual and the thought of our own death seems somewhere out there in the distant future. We are busy living and can easily ignore the fact that life is a terminal condition. Sooner or later, each of us will reach our last day on earth. The only thing that will matter then is what we have done with Jesus. If He is our Lord and Savior, we already have eternal life and death is merely a transition from earthly life into His presence forever. Death does not end life. And someday death itself will die.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1Cor. 15:26,57).

John Donne said it this way:

Death, be not proud

though some have called thee

mighty and dreadful,

for thou art not so.

For those whom thou thinkest

thou dost overthrow

die not, poor death,

nor yet canst thou kill me.

One short sleep past

we wake eternally

and death shall be no more. 

Death, thou shalt die.

A November Day

I posted this nine years ago, but it's worth repeating on this dreary November day.

Changing of Seasons

The dawn was made of smoky purples, grays and reds. It was like the background music for a movie about the Creation. Although the mood was somber, it was nothing you could really put your finger on. The colors were subtly intermingled and changed rapidly from one to the other and to mixtures of two or all three.

The day, according to the calendar, would be a November day and, after the nature of the brute, hardly anybody knew how it would all come out. It began brilliantly after its dawn had dissipated and the sun struck the east sides of houses and trees with a brightness that was altogether foreign to dusky November.

In this eleventh month of the year Nature's patience is running out. She is tired after having produced the bounty that fills barns and freezers and quart jars to feed animals and people through the winter ahead. Fatigue makes her fretful and the weather she brews in fit for neither man nor beast.

Sometimes, as in this year, there is snow before we are psychologically or physical prepared for it. Consider, if you require evidence, the bewilderment that struck us as we looked out upon a white world at a time it should have been green. Snow fence segments lie, still rolled, in fields and there was the unusual experience of the maples, spectacular in yellow---trimmed in white.

November is notable for its cold, dismal rains that slant into the faces of pedestrians and for sleet that dresses them and the objects of their culture in glassy sheaths. Its winds rattle doors and moan softly about the corners of houses in a tune-up for winter. They will become more proficient with rehearsals and, by January, should be in excellent voice.

Sometime in mid-morning, long after the somber dawn had faded, a thick mass of forbidding clouds began to move out of the northwest in a line that stretched from horizon to horizon. There was no turbulence within the mass and its passage across the heavens was orderly, almost sedate.

The mass was not of a consistent thickness. In it were brighter areas of thinner cloud. Some parts of the mass moved a bit faster than others and in some areas had compressed the gray bulk ahead of them into formal rows until they resembled a squeezed accordion.

Torn By The Wind

Immediately preceding this darkening curtain across the overturned bowl of the sky was a wide line of thin, white cloud, ragged and torn on its leading edge by the winds. The larger mass retained its white border until there was nothing left of blue but a wide sliver that stretched across the southeastern sky.

The advancing clouds consumed the sliver in the end and the sky was gray from horizon to zenith over 360 degrees of its earth boundary. In the northwest, where it had all begun, the sky was a leaden gray curtain of uninterrupted gloom. This curtain was to bring a very brief spate of raindrops in mid-afternoon.

The countryside seemed moody and depressed under its heavy cloud cap. Farms appeared deserted, although, in Lancaster County, it must never be assumed that an absence of visible people means idleness--the work goes ahead inside buildings. Snow lay in patches about these buildings and there remained a light frosting on portions of their roofs. Where the blanket of snow on fields and meadows had melted or was very thin, strips of emerald green broke the monotony of adjoining brown fields.

There were still traces of color in the foliage of a woodlot that climbed a hill behind a snowy cornfield. The whiteness in the foreground accentuated the dim color in the woods that had been so brilliant a short week ago.

Most of the trees had lost their leaves. To the sycamores the absence of their crowns does not seem as great a loss as it does to other woody plants. The sycamores, with their whitish limbs exposed, are now the most spectacular and easily recognized of all the trees in the woods.

In the upper elevations where there was more snow originally and where more of it had remained there was the feeling that Thanksgiving was just around the next bend in the road. Warm feelings that accompanied this thought were supported by a thin column of smoke that rose from the chimney of a farmhouse where, in a few days, a turkey will be roasting in the oven. The smoke curled away from a northwesterly breeze that was not yet a wind.

A flock of starlings, perhaps the homeliest birds on earth, flew crazily overhead and landed clumsily in a field. Further on, for contrast, a pair of cock pheasants, bursting with pride at the glory of their own plumage, stood by the road and haughtily surveyed the landscape.

A lone gull made his way down the course of the river and disappeared into the gathering gloom of late afternoon. The surface of the Susquehanna was troubled by a breeze and its reflections of the hills opposite were indistinct, but not without a faint hint of color. Patches of snow shone among wooded areas on the tops of the York County hills. It seemed later than November over there.

There was no indication of it in the west when the day was over. The sky simply became more leaden and darker and evening settled in, chill and comfortless, around houses where lights came on. It had taken all day for it to become November.

Milestone

We reached another milestone today. It is fifty years since we moved into this house. 

We were married in July 1967 and lived in a rented house for fifteen months while we bought a little over an acre of land and built a house on it. 

The carpet had not been installed in the living room when we moved in and the lawn and landscaping were not done. The upstairs was one big attic room. On the main floor were two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and laundry, plus an attached one-car garage. We had one three-month-old son and very little furniture. Walls were white plaster and decorating was limited to a calendar on the wall. Multiple bathrooms and central air were luxuries we didn't even consider.

Leroy worked all through the next spring and summer to seed the lawn, one section at a time. I took the picture below after we had grass, shrubs, and a tree in the front yard. They are so small you can hardly see them!

We had a lot of ideas for improvements to the place and it took almost fifty years to get them all done. Maybe that's why we never moved. As the family grew, we added a bedroom upstairs and later a second bedroom and a half-bath. That floor was crammed full with five boys. Our bedroom was downstairs and our daughter had the second bedroom.

As the years passed we built a two-bay garage beyond the right of the attached garage. When the boys were teenagers another two bays were added.

We also added a patio behind the garage end of the house and sometime later turned it into a sun room by enclosing it. Several years later it was finally finished when tiles were laid on the floor. This place was a work in progress, doing things only as needed and we could afford it.

The basement was unfinished with cement block walls and concrete floor. That was fine since it was a rec room. We had a wood stove down there which heated the basement and main floor. The concrete floor was perfect for the children to ride tricycles and roller skate. Leroy hung some swings from the floor joists and the picnic table was stored down there for the winter. In the 1990s we got rid of the wood stove and installed an oil furnace for heat. The children were growing up and our tribe was increasing as grandchildren were added, so the time had come to finish the basement and turn it into a family room for parties and Christmas dinners.

One of my dreams had been to have a sewing room in the second bedroom on the main floor. I thought I would spend my time sewing when I was an old lady. By the time that room was no longer needed for a bedroom, things had changed. I was spending more time writing than sewing so it became an office. We had an Amish man custom-build a desk to fit the room.

Some non-essential items on the "someday" list were adding shutters for trim and blacktopping the driveway. They eventually happened and we chalked off the final one when the driveway was finished last year.

Of course, there were a lot of other changes and upkeep that happened through the years. Wooden windows were replaced with vinyl ones, the roof was replaced, the garden expanded to cover almost a third of an acre and kept shrinking as the children established their own homes.

This place has served us well and could tell a lot of stories. It is the only home our children ever knew. God has been good and we are very blessed.

Moral Questions

Medical science has made great strides in modern times. A hundred years ago, during WWI, people died by the thousands from the flu. Today joint replacements and open heart surgeries are almost routine. People are living longer as a result of better health care. But some of the advances raise difficult questions, especially as it relates to the sanctity of life in reproduction and end-of-life issues. How much effort and money should be spent to prolong life? When is it time to "pull the plug"? What methods of birth control should a Christian not use? Is it morally right for an infertile couple to try conceive a child by IVF (in vitro fertilization)? Medical science has created a quagmire of moral questions that were not an issue a generation ago.

The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978.  Many of those who successfully undergo IVF end up with leftover frozen embryos. As the use of IVF grows, the number of embryos in storage also grows. An estimated 600,000 frozen embryos are now in storage across the United States. 

The government views these embryos as tissue and personal property rather than a human being. Most of these frozen embryos will eventually be destroyed. Since we Christians believe life begins with conception and these embryos are human beings, this creates a moral problem. 

The year Louise Brown turned 20, another couple welcomed America’s first "snowflake baby,"  the term advocates of embryo adoption use to describe the children born from this procedure. President George W. Bush began an initiative through the Department of Health and Human Services to promote embryo adoption.

When couples use IVF, one option available to them is to donate the leftover frozen embryos to another couple. This is an alternative way for an infertile couple to adopt a family. After the doner releases their embryos to the adoptive parents, the embryo is thawed and implanted in the womb of the adoptive mother. She carries and gives birth to the child, allowing the adoptive parents to not only have a child but also experience pregnancy and childbirth. A child that would have been destroyed (technically aborted) is given a chance to live. Most people have not heard of embryo adoption but I believe it is not morally wrong and is a valid way for an infertile Christian couple to build a family.

America Needs the Lord

This past week was déjà vu time for everyone old enough to remember the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill controversy. But in the midst of many striking parallels between the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in 1991 and 2018, we have largely overlooked a very telling, quite ironic comment from Justice Thomas.
But first, some of the parallels.

Then, As Today

Then, as today, there were two compelling stories.
Then, as today, there were two believable witnesses, a qualified male judge and a respected female professor.
Then, as today, there were charges of sexual impropriety.
Then, as today, there were concerns about political hit jobs.
Then, as today, the judge was a conservative nominated by a Republican president.
Then, as today, the woman was brought in by the Democrats.
Then, as today, the male judge was hailed as courageous for his impassioned denial of the charges against him.
Then, as today, the female professor was credited with helping to empower women who had suffered sexual abuse and harassment.
Then, as today, the woman was reluctant to come forward and wanted to preserve her anonymity.
Then, as today, the woman’s anonymity was compromised by leaks to the media.
Then, as today, the judge was considered to be a virtually certain appointee until the charges were leaked.
Then, as today, the man felt his reputation had been tarnished for life.
Then, as today, the man denied the accusations “unequivocally and categorically.”
Then, as today, the Republicans and Democrats voted along party lines.
Then, as today, the hearings were brutal.
Then, as today, the judge and the professor received death threats.

“A Travesty … Disgusting”

In fact, it was John Sununu, President George Bush’s chief of staff and a supporter of Thomas, who knew that Bush’s picking of a “true conservative” would result in a “knock-down, drag-out, bloody-knuckles, grass-roots fight.”Yes, the parallels are beyond striking, as indicated by these comments from Thomas in 1991 when asked by Senator Joe Biden if Thomas had anything to say to the committee.
Thomas remarked, “I think that this today is a travesty. I think that it is disgusting. I think that this hearing should never occur in America,” referencing the “dirt” and “sleaze” that had been dug up (really, manufactured) against him “by staffers of members of this committee.”
He continued, “I think something is dreadfully wrong with this country when any person, any person in this free country would be subjected to this.”
Dreadfully wrong, indeed, and a sentiment echoed by Kavanaugh.

Lesson Not Learned

But here’s the sad irony of all this. We have not learned our lesson, and the hopes of Clarence Thomas were not realized.
It was Senator Orin Hatch who asked Thomas if he had expected to go through the particular hell he endured as a result of his nomination.
Thomas responded, “Senator, I expected it to be bad. And I expected the awful treatment throughout the process. … I expected to be a sitting duck for the interest groups. I expected them to attempt to kill me. And yes, I even expected personally attempts on my life. That’s just how much I expected.”
But, he added, “I did not expect this circus. I did not expect this charge against my name. I expected people to do anything, but not this.”
And then the words that are so sadly ironic.
Thomas said, “And if by going through this, another nominee in the future, or another American, won’t have to go through it, then so be it [my emphasis]. But I did not expect this treatment. And I did not expect to lose my name, my reputation, my integrity to do public service.”
Tragically, we have not learned our lessons. We have not improved our conduct. We have not become more civil.

Healing, Restoring, Awakening

Quite the contrary.
Through the tidal wave of social media and endless news outlets, through our increasingly divisive politics, we are on the verge of tearing ourselves apart. And if the Thomas hearings could be likened to a “circus,” the Kavanaugh hearings can be likened to gladiatorial combat, with the bloodthirsty crowds cheering on. What in the world is coming next?
Recently, Rev. James Robison urged Bible believers to, “Release the powerful weight of [God’s] kingdom presence — right here, right now, for His glory and eternal kingdom purpose.”
Nothing other than divine intervention will do. Nothing less than a great awakening will work.
America needs the Lord. Desperately.
So I pray, “Heavenly Father, have mercy on us, and come and heal and restore our broken nation.”
Can I hear an Amen?
 By Michael Brown, Published on September 29, 2018

Wimpy Campers

We spent the weekend in Ohio with our daughter, Cheryl, and her family. The main purpose for going this weekend was Arianna's baptism on Sunday morning but it expanded to stretch from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.

Gerald and Kelly were looking for a place to go camping that was not a campground. Cheryl said they have plenty of room to camp on the thirty acres they own above their house. They would pull their camper up the hill for Gerald and Kelly to use. They snapped up the offer and went with us. 

We got there a little after 7pm on Friday. Richard had the camper in place and a blazing fire ready to make mountain pies for supper. We hurried to make them because a thunderstorm was coming. 

We got some mountain pies eaten but retreated to the house when it was obvious the rain was coming. After it blew over, we went out again and made more mountain pies. I totally trashed my less-carbs diet. Gerald and Kelly slept in the camper but we are wimpy campers and went down to the house to sleep.

Cheryl said it had been in the 90s all week but the thunderstorm broke the trail for fall to arrive. There was an abrupt change Saturday morning and we needed jackets. We went up the hill to the campsite where Gerald had a fire ready to make breakfast. It was about 9:30 when we had breakfast but we couldn't believe how much food the seven of us put away. Must have been the cooler air and campfire that induced us to go through two dozen eggs, two pounds of bacon, a dozen sausages, coffee cake and cinnamon rolls.

The men went fishing in Richard's dad's pond.

The women went to watch a bit and Kelly even tried her hand at fishing.

While they were fishing, the women went to a coffee shop and to see the bulk food and deli store where Arianna works. Angie was surprised I had never been to a coffee shop. I decided to splurge and see how a latte tastes. It was good but I am much too tight to spend $3.75 for a cup of coffee unless it's an emergency.

The men came back with a string of ten fish for our supper. Josh caught the most but Gerald got a few too and Leroy caught two. They spent the rest of the afternoon shooting clay birds up at the campsite. We just watched them having fun blowing up their money.

Raindrops were threatening so the women went in the house to prepare supper. The shooting went on until it started getting dark. Then the men came to grill the steaks and Josh fried the fish.

It was a privilege to be able to be at Arianna's baptism Sunday morning. She was one of a class of six young people who were baptized. May all of them be faithful to the vows they made and grow in their walk with Christ.

We all went back to the house for lunch and then headed home as soon as possible. It was a good weekend of sort-of (for us) camping. Gerald thought his nephews enjoyed it and maybe they should do it again next year. Maybe we will---as long as I can sleep in the house!

Judaizers, Gnostics and Nicolaitans

The early church was attacked by three groups of false teachers, the Judaizers, Gnostics and Nicolaitans. Who were these people? What did they believe? Do they exist in our world today?

Judiazers

A Judaizer taught that, in order for a Christian to truly be right with God, he must conform to the Mosaic Law. Circumcision, especially, was promoted as necessary for salvation. Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes first, and then they could come to Christ. The doctrine of the Judaizers was a mixture of grace (through Christ) and works (through the keeping of the Law). This false doctrine was dealt with in Acts 15 and strongly condemned in the book of Galatians.

Paul made the case that, in Christ, there was no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile, for God had purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith (Acts 15:8-9). He said it plainly in Galatians 2:16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

There are many groups today with beliefs and/or practices very similar to those of the Judaizers of the New Testament. It's a doctrine that is a mixture of law and grace. They reason that such a grand gift as forgiveness from such a holy God must require some kind of payment from us. They thank God for His grace, but think He expects us to somehow earn that grace—in other words, there must be something that we can do to pay off the debt we owe to God. The Bible is clear that the attempt to add human works to God’s grace overlooks the very meaning of grace, which is “undeserved blessing.”

Not all Judiazers require people to keep the Mosaic Law. Those who uphold man-made traditions and prohibitions as necessary to obtain (or earn) salvation are also "Judiazers." If our faith is based on our own performance, we are missing the point. There are things Christians need to deny themselves and do to be right with God but we will never earn our salvation by good works. If we could earn our salvation, Christ would not have had to die to provide it.

Don't get me wrong. God is a God of order and His church should operate in an orderly manner with proper guidelines. We become Judiazers when we base our salvation on keeping the Ordnung (church rules) rather than on faith in Christ.

Gnostics

Gnosticism is difficult to define because it comes in so many flavors and interpretations. By itself, it is not a separate denomination or religion but a religious philosophy. It is a framework from which to explain the nature of God, creation, good and evil, man, and the purpose of life. Gnostics tended to focus exclusively on the inner life of the spirit, which they clearly differentiated from material life.

In its most basic sense, Gnosticism is knowing, but its knowledge, while sometimes including the Word of God, does not have it as its foundation. Gnostics valued what they experienced, what elders told them, or what they learned from "angels," astrology, or chemistry, more than what was contained in Scripture. 

This same distrust of God's Word is readily seen in today's world. Basically, Satan told Adam and Eve, "You do not need to follow God's way, for it is obviously unfair and far too stringent. You can follow your own way. You can take knowledge to yourself of what is good and what is evil. You can be just like God in determining what is right and wrong." They took the bait, and ever since, man has rejected God's standard of righteousness in favor of his own.

Modern Gnostics who believe in "progressive revelation" have also succumbed to this first of Satan's ploys, "Hath God said?" While God does reveal things to us, the critical point is that what is revealed—if it truly comes from Him—will never contradict what He has already revealed in His Word.

Currently, the Bible's legitimacy is undergoing an intense assault. Due to popular Gnostic writings like The Da Vinci Code book and movie, many people are questioning the validity of the Bible. Satan seems to be asserting that the Word of God is subject to the whims of men and thus cannot be trusted. At every turn, faith founded in God's Word is being undermined.

Nicolaitans

The early church's choice of "Nicholas of Antioch" as one of the first deacons implies he likely possessed natural abilities and leadership qualities, as well as fulfilling the apostles' qualifications of being "of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" (Acts 6:3).  That Luke calls him a proselyte tells us that he was a Gentile who converted to Judaism before his calling to Christianity. 

Both Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria consider Nicolas of Antioch to be the founder of the Gnostic sect known as the Nicolaitians. Another early writer, Hippolytus, adds that Nicolas "departed from sound doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifferency of both life and food," meaning he taught the Gnostic belief of the irrelevance of physical things. This reinforces Clement's claim that Nicolas became an ascetic and that his followers later perverted his teachings to encompass idolatry and immorality.

Though sincere and devout, he came to believe that the only way to grow spiritually was to consider his body and its desires as unimportant. His fundamental doctrine of asceticism appears to have been "the flesh must be treated with contempt" in order to reach a high level of spirituality.
Over the years, however, this teaching took on a more Gnostic spin: Since the flesh is unimportant, even contemptible, what one does in the flesh is of no consequence. Spiritual life, growth, and ultimately salvation occur in the soul, and since God is spirit, He has no regard for the flesh. Therefore, Nicolaitans reasoned, what does it matter if one satisfies the flesh's desires? At some point then, Nicolaitanism evolved from an ascetic philosophy to a licentious one—one that Christ says He hates (Revelation 2:6, 15).
When members of the church teach and practice that they are not obliged to keep the laws of God, sin will inevitably break out and apostasy will increase. 

To summarize, Judiaziers corrupt belief in Christ with faith in their own works. 
Gnostics are their own god, trusting in their own knowledge and reasoning. Common labels today are Atheism or secular humanism which deny any spiritual reality.
Nicolatians today often say, "It's what's on the inside that counts."  They believe they can live as they please and nothing they do will cause them to lose their salvation.

In contrast, Theists believe God is the Creator of all things and a personal living God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. Only by faith in Him and Him alone can we have peace with God and enter His presence after this life. His Word is the absolute authority and the standard by which we must live. That is what I believe, but I think we need to be aware of the false teaching that can so easily creep into the church and deceive us.
"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." 2 Peter 3:17-18.

End of Summer

Although summer doesn't officially end until a few weeks after Labor Day, this weekend is considered the end of summer. Many schools opened at the end of August and the rest will open after Labor Day. 

For quite a few years now we have gone to my sister on Labor Day to make apple butter in a copper kettle over a wood fire. The crowd is different every year with a combination of my siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews gather for the event. For some reason, this year we had the smallest crowd ever. Even some of those who always come had other things today. So those of us who could kept up the tradition and made a small batch of apple butter. A few more were there than are shown here. It was the first year Gene and his family were there.

We start with applesauce and each quart cooks down to three cups. By noon it was finished cooking and we took it off the fire to cool while we ate lunch. Then we each took our share.

We capped the day by crossing the Susquehanna River on the Millersburg ferry on the way home.

The Millersburg Ferry is the last operating ferry on the Susquehanna River. It crosses the river between Millersburg in Dauphin County and Buffalo Township in Perry County. The ferry was established in the early 19th century. The Millersburg Ferry crossing was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. It is believed to be the last wooden double stern-wheel paddle boat to be operating in the United States. It is owned by the Millersburg Chamber of Commerce and operated by the Millersburg Ferryboat Association from May until October when water levels permit.

It was fully loaded with four cars. 

It was a beautiful day and a smooth ride. Grayson wished it would have been a wider river and a longer ride. 

When we got to the other side there was a line of cars waiting to cross. So we drove off to make room for them and went home taking the memories with us. It was a lovely end to a good summer.

Shifting Gears

With the help of my daughters-in-law, we wrapped up the August canning season last week. Pears will come in by Labor Day but that won't amount to much. It seemed strange to not have any canning or freezing to do this week but I was not twiddling my thumbs. I shifted right into the next season along with the children who headed back to school this week. 

My schedule no longer revolves around the school year but each season has its own domestic chores to keep a household running smoothly. When the end of August rolls around it's time to start the fall housecleaning. I begin with scrubbing the front porch and enclosed patio behind the house while it is still warm enough to be slopping with the hose. 

Today was the day to begin with the front porch. I didn't realize until I started scrubbing how much mildew had grown there. It's been a very wet summer and I should have known. I expect I'll find a lot more of the black stuff inside the house as I get to it later. At any rate, the front porch is clean now and looks like it's been to the dentist to get its pearly whites shined.

As I was scrubbing I was thinking about how there's never a time when I have nothing to do. Finish one job and the next one is waiting. Just as canning comes to an end, housecleaning begins. I was reminded of what my my sister-in-law's mother once said. She raised a family of sixteen children and then adopted three more. And after that she kept foster babies until she was 80. Someone once asked her how she managed the work of raising such a large family. Her answer was simple but profound. "Just do the next thing."

Life is a series of things that need to be done in a daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal pattern. What those things are will vary with our age and interests. We can get bogged down and frustrated when there are more things that need to be done than we have time to accomplish. I know because I've been there, done that. But what I couldn't do in one day always waited for the next and eventually it all got done somehow. My mother used to say, "Tomorrow is another day, and if it isn't, it won't matter."

So as we stand on the verge of fall which brings a change of seasons and schedules, take to heart some good advice from two wise women. Just "do the next thing." And if you don't have enough time to finish everything on your list for the day, "Tomorrow is another day, and if it isn't, it won't matter."

August Canning Season

August is rushing by like it can't wait to be over and I'm being pulled along with it. This is always the busiest month for canning and freezing with corn, tomatoes, peaches, and apples in season. Although I don't need to preserve nearly as much as I once did, neither do I have a flock of children to help. Besides, I'm older and slower so it takes me longer to do a smaller amount by myself. This year it's taking even longer because Rheumatoid Arthritis is slowing me down even further.

I was doing very well for several years but now the RA has flared up and stubbornly refuses to respond to the medication. So I'm hobbling around on swollen ankles and with fat fingers that don't have their normal strength. 

I am constantly asked if the weather affects the RA. The answer is no. It is not like other kinds of arthritis that comes from wear and tear. RA is an autoimmune disease and all the home remedies and potions will not help. It is incurable but the symptoms can be treated with medication. I am going to see the doctor again tomorrow and hope we can find something to knock it down.

The blessing in all this is that my children noticed the difficulty and the daughters-in-law are pitching in to get my canning and freezing done.  The beginning of the month Amy came and helped do the corn. One of the big four chalked off! I managed to get the peaches done by myself last week. Tomorrow Kelly is coming to help do the applesauce. And Velma offered to can some green beans and spaghetti sauce for me when she does hers. That will bring me to the finish line in a hurry. I will do a few quarts of pears yet but that won't be a problem. 

It's such a blessing to have my sons marry women who can see the need and know how to pitch in and help. I'd rather be on the giving than the receiving end of things but sometimes you just have to be a gracious receiver. This is one of those times and I'm thankful for the help. Lord willing, this will pass and I can be on the giving end again.

Two-day Tour

We chalked another little trip off our bucket list this week. When the Museum of the Bible opened in Washington DC in November 2017, Leroy said he wants to go there sometime. Some tour groups have gone but the dates never fit our schedule. So we decided to make our own tour. He scheduled a week of vacation this week and we invited my sisters to join us. They snapped up the offer, so I made all the reservations needed to visit the Museum of the Bible on Wednesday and the Holocaust Museum on Thursday. That included reservations for a parking garage and motel.

We left the house shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday and met my sisters (and brother-in-law) at Harrisburg where they left their cars and jumped into ours. We found our first parking garage with no trouble and walked to the Museum of the Bible. It was around 11 a.m. so we found a park bench to eat the lunches we had packed. What self-respecting Mennonite would dare to buy food in a big city when you can just as easily take a lunch from home?

We were in the Museum of the Bible until it closed at 5 p.m. and still hadn't seen everything. There are six floors with lots of videos to watch and displays to see that trace the history of writing from clay tablets to electronic tablets. 

Some things are facsimiles, such as the Rosetta stone. The black stone is inscribed with decrees issued in Egypt about 196 B. C. The top and middle sections are written in Egyptian hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts while the lower section is written in ancient Greek. This writing was the key to understanding ancient Egyptian literature and civilization.

Many other artifacts are on display. One that attracted my attention was a display of Canaanite gods including Baal and Ashtoreth on the top shelf of this display. I'm sure there were much larger images when they were worshiped but I could not imagine believing something man-made like this had any power. How sad that the Israelites whose God had done great things for them became assimilated into the Canaanite culture and stooped to worshiping these idols! But then, is it any different with Christians today who are taking their cues from the world instead of the Word of God?

Another display that impressed me was the thirty shekels below. These silver coins are probably what Judas received when he betrayed Jesus. The life of a perfect man for a handful of silver! The larger objects are weights used in measuring commodities being sold.

Of course, the main attraction in the museum are the ancient scrolls, codex books and Bibles. This is one of the old copies of the Torah.

At one place a Jewish scribe was engaged in producing a new copy of the Torah. It is done very slowly and meticulously to produce an exact copy. If just one mistake is made he will have to throw away the sheet and start over.

There are many old and rare Bibles on display. I will show you just a few that had special meaning to me. This is the books of the Old Testament prophets translated into German in 1526 by two Anabaptists, Hans Denck and Ludwig Hatzer. It was printed in Worms, Germany, by Peter Schoeffer in 1527. Denck died from the plague in 1527 and Hatzer was martyred in 1529.

This is known as a Froschauer Bible because it was printed by Christopher Froschauer in 1556. It was translated into German by Ulrich Zwingli and based on Luther's translation until 1525 when Swiss vocalizations were added. The translation was the favorite of the Anabaptists and Mennonites brought these Bibles with them when they immigrated to America. They continued to be used as long as they were available and ordained men were expected to have a Froschauer Bible. 

Another interesting Bible is a Latin Vulgate which contains Martin Luther's signature. It was printed in Lyon, France, in 1542. The Vulgate was the principal Latin version of the Bible, prepared mainly by St. Jerome in the late 4th century, and (as revised in 1592) adopted as the official text for the Roman Catholic Church. Luther's signature is in the middle of the page below the date of 1545.

This is the first edition of the beloved King James Bible printed in 1611. It was not the first complete English translation but is the one which has endured through the centuries. This is called the "he" Bible because of the pronoun error in Ruth 3:15 "and he went into the citie." The second edition corrected the pronoun and is called the "she" Bible.

When we were chased out at closing time, we made our way back through the rain to the parking garage and got our car. We had supper at a Denny's restaurant and a motel at Camp Springs, Maryland. 

We had breakfast Thursday morning at the motel and struck out about 8:30 for the second day of our tour. The Holocaust Museum is not far from the National Mall. Carol has a National Parks passport book. She wanted to go to the Washington Monument to get her book stamped so we did that first. We dropped her off at the Monument and then circled around and picked her up again. She was able to collect a number of stamps there. 

After that, we found our second parking garage a half mile from the Holocaust Museum. Because parking is limited in that area, it is advisable to reserve a parking space in advance. The reservations and GPS were two life-savers on this trip. At one point we had an "old-fashioned" GPS device and three phones set to give us directions. We circled around sometimes but the devices always got us back on track. I can't imagine how high the stress level would have been without them. Country bumpkins should not venture into the big city without assistance!

Our tickets for the Holocaust Museum were for 11:15 so once again we found a park bench and had a bit of lunch across the street from the museum. We soon attracted a flock of hopeful sparrows. We shared some tidbits with them. They scorned bits of fruit but loved potato chips and cheese.

We were in this museum five hours and still didn't see everything. I didn't take many pictures because it was just too terrible. One of the few was this collection of shoes that were removed from the feet of the people who were sent to the gas chamber. Both sides of the aisle were filled with shoes of all sizes that were found at a prison camp in Poland when it was liberated.

This message is inscribed on the wall of the museum.

Traffic was terrible as we left the parking garage and started for home. It did not thin out until we were above Baltimore and on I-83. Then we finally stopped to fill the car with gas and our stomachs at Panera Bread. We sailed north then and got home about 9:30 p.m. It was a good trip, made more fun by sharing it with my sisters. And the memories will last longer than the two-day trip. If you have the opportunity, go see both museums. Unless you're a city slicker, be sure you have some form of a GPS with you!