Luke 17:2
“It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck than to face the punishment in store for harming one of these little ones.”

1. Grandpa was tough. He had a lot of experiences that showed how tough he was. He was electrocuted in 1954 while working at the rock crusher plant, he was nearly dragged over a cliff, by a runaway truck at the same plant, and he was caught-up by his denim work shirt in the conveyor system. But, he was also gentle, evidenced by how he loved kids and how they loved him. He was always excited to hold the little ones and he would smile from ear to ear while they were with him. Compare this to our Lord Mt 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 Jesus said, “Let the little children to come me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
2. Grandpa was merciful to me when I deserved punishment. Once, about thirty or so years ago, I had my BB gun and took aim at Grandpa’s rain gauge. I didn’t figure I had a chance at hitting it, since I was a fair distance from it and I had only one pump. However, I did hit it and broke it. Nobody saw me do it, so I put the gun away and after awhile we loaded things up and waved goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa until our next trip down from the city. After a couple of months we came back down and I had almost forgotten about the rain gauge incident. But, Grandpa hadn’t. He got the grandkids together in the dining room and brought out the busted gauge and simply asked who was responsible. I quickly owned up to it, not knowing what Grandpa’s reaction would be. As I recall, he told us about responsibility and he told me that he was disappointed with me. But, he didn’t yell. He simply made the point that when I make a bad decision I should address it immediately and not run away from it. Grandpa was like the Lord in showing mercy to me. The lesson of mercy extends beyond that Saturday Afternoon of thirty years ago. Mt. 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy.”
3. Grandpa did not often tell us how much he loved us, but we knew he loved us by what he did to show his love. Once he and Grandma took a summer vacation with my family. It was Mom, Dad, Jeff & myself in our car and Grandma & Grandpa in their old blue International Harvester pickup. We were somewhere West of Dalhart, TX and had been on the road the better part of the day, when Dad saw a lone Elm tree with a picnic table on the horizon. Dad quickly took the decision to stop and have a picnic there on the high plains of the Texas panhandle. Both vehicles rolled to a stop and Dad, Jeff and I unloaded from the Buick and ran back to Grandpa’s truck just as the wind shifted. Dad had stopped us next to the biggest pig yard in west Texas. The smell almost overwhelmed Grandpa, who was still behind the wheel of the International Harvester. He never criticized Dad or offered any opinions about Dad’s choice of picnic areas. He simply said, “James, I’m not that hungry. Let’s keep driving.” Grandpa showed his love to us. Compared to our Lord 1Jn 4:9-10 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

   For those of us who don’t yet believe in the LORD and for those of us who do believe, we should consider these words from Jesus in Matthew 19:25-26 & 20:1-16
   25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

   Jesus then told this parable about those who follow him.
   1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
   3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 At noon and again around three o’clock he did the same thing. 6 At five o’clock that evening he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
   7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
   “The owner of the estate told them, ‘Then go on out and join the others in my vineyard.’
   8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired earlier came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
   13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take it and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be angry because I am kind?’
   16 “And so it is, that many who are first now will be last then; and those who are last now will be first then.”
   Some come early in the day, some come in the middle of the day, and some come at the very end of the day, but all receive the very generous reward from their Master.

   Grandpa did indeed confess Jesus about six months ago, while talking with Dad.

   Mt. 12:1-13 God Almighty follows the Spirit of the law not the letter of the law. He is a Lord of mercy. Mt. 12:7 “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”

   To conclude this memorial to Homer Martin, we can know that
   1) He was tough & yet gentle like Jesus
   2) He was just, yet merciful like Jesus
   3) He showed his love by his actions, like Jesus.
   4) And finally he confessed his faith that Jesus is Lord.

Look at the Does God Exist? website. Mr. Clayton makes a bold claim that he can scientifically prove that God exists.
I want to get back to my answers to Matt, about what I believe and why I believe. (This is the 3rd or 4th part of this answer series, depending on if and/or how you might be counting the parts.)

What do you think about this photo? Is it beautiful? Peaceful? Graceful?
I say God is majestic!
Some say “nature” is awsome!
Did anyone catch the personification of Nature, in the quote from the Scientist, Russ George? About nuclear fusion within our Sun and all other stars in the universe, Mr. George said “Nature, however, does not seem to use it on a very large scale…”

So, you must understand that Mr. George has simply taken the word “God” and replaced it with the word “Nature.”

Nature is personified and given a personal will.
I don’t know Mr. George’s theology, but this same issue arises with many publicly avowed science atheists.
Therefore, simply replacing the word “God” with some other word does not get rid of God, it rather just gives Him a new title.

It is, ultimately, up to each individual to know ‘what’ he/she really believes and ‘why’ he/she has been convinced of that thing.

We may not want to work out our beliefs because the answer is inconvenient.

This issue happens in the news every week.

The story might go something like this: A mother’s “little Johnny” is caught in a tragic incident on a “joy ride” or with a trunk load of illegal drugs or “You Name It”, and the mother goes on Channel 8 news and tells the reporters that her son is a perfect angel.

We choose to believe or disbelieve for many reasons.

But, truth and lies do not exist without leaving their mark. Often times the mark is clearly present, but the evidence is simply ignored because the required action may be too painful.

It is a failing of the individual to not desire the truth.

And when this happens we make ourselves to be fools, by believing our own made-up lies.

We actually see people who can fabricate lies out of whole cloth and then begin to believe the thing they’ve just made-up. We could laugh, it weren’t so sad. This is the very thing that the Apostle Paul wrote concerning in Romans 1:18ff. Look at the following passage and think about what Paul tells us about God and humankind.

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.

Humans are the same today as they were then, “Wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.”

Pushing truth away about a rebellious and disobedient child will condemn that son or daughter to a life of misery. And yet, we do it.

Pushing truth away about a tire that has a bulge on one side will result in tragic consequences on the highway. And yet we do this too.

Dealing appropriately with either of these two examples will certainly result in personal discomfort, but the alternative is far more lasting and ugly.

My 2nd essay on this subject, posted on December 21 2006, deals with the subject that Paul outlines in the Romans 1 passage above. I made the same point that Paul made. I used specific hard evidence of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, but even non-technological folks from two thousand years ago saw the same truth that remains today.

Please, read Romans 1:19-20 again, and I will meet you up in my next post, to conclude this thought. But, you have got to follow me there.

TO BE CONTINUED…

God bless,
DSM

The title is a variation on the opening for the Apostle Paul’s “Sermon on Mars Hill.”