Page 4
From the Pulpit...
Owner/Publisher: Rob Wood
H
Happy Father's Day!
ow many of us as kids remember our parents telling us not to go to a place that was unsafe to play around? At times we would listen and stay away, but how many other times did we not listen and went to play in that area anyway? I did that a couple of times. But I remember the last time, and it didn't feel great. After the punishment was done though, I would be talked to and told that, when you're told not to do something but you go ahead and do it anyway, then there are consequences for your actions. Remember when you were punished? It didn't feel very good, did it? Well, that is what happens when we
Obedience!
sin against God. He loves us very much, yet He has no choice but to punish us for our sin; He will take so much from us. Sin naturally to the flesh feels really good and it can be enjoyable and God will let this go on, but only for a season. Then He will punish us if we don't repent, because there are always consequences that come from sinning. Obedience is what is required to show God that we love Him, so obey His word, as Sergeant York did. We see his obedient heart in action...This comes from the 1941 movie, Sergeant York; the true story of Alvin York who grew up a Tennessee mountaineer. He was a hard drinking, brawling and a sharp shooting man, who would become an American hero of World War I. When Alvin York was growing up in Tennessee, he was a hard case. He would spend his time split between working the family farm, out
hunting in the nearby mountains and causing a whole lot of trouble. But when Alvin was a young man, everything changed in his life when he gave his live to Jesus Christ. Alvin stopped fighting and drinking; he also began to read and study his Bible passionately. Everyone in the mountain community noticed that Alvin was a changed man. It was the arrival of World War I that clearly brought light to Alvin's changed life. He was drafted and with the harsh reality of war, he felt that he no longer liked fighting. Alvin applied for the status of a 'conscientious objector;' he did this hoping that he could escape joining the army and going to war. But Alvin's request was denied and he joined the army as a Private. Alvin's commander, Major Buxton, was a Christian also. He told Alvin to study his Bible and all the scriptures that were linked to war,
June 2021
self defense and obedience to country. Up to this point, Alvin was prepared to face whatever the penalty would be for disobedience to his orders when it came to killing during war time. But after some time to reflect, he decided to take Major Buxton's advice and study his Bible and go through all the scriptures to see whether he should take a stand for his beliefs, or to go to war. After he studied and did some soul searching, Alvin came to the conclusion that he could, in good conscience, go to war. He wouldn't be disobeying God by obeying his government, which was important to him. In September of 1918, he was in his first battle in the Argonne Forrest in northeastern France. It looked like hell; bare dirt heaved up by hundreds of artillery shells with areas of bushes, dead soldiers and burned trees, surrounded by
