Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling

To This I Cling

"And the rain descended, and the floods came.”

Clara Gantt was on her way from her daughter’s home in Blythewood, South Carolina, to her own home in Irmo on Sunday morning, October 4.  She had plans to attend church services at her home church there, when she was abruptly stopped by floodwaters.  She was north of Columbia where Crane Creek meets Lake Elizabeth when the floodwaters lifted her car off of the pavement and swept it into a field.

In desperation, she called 911, but her call didn’t go through.  So, she called her son-in-law, who in turn called Gantt’s grandson, Travis Catchings, to go to her rescue.  Catchings found his grandmother stranded in her car with torrents of water rushing over it.  Her car was trapped in a ditch in front of a small church building.  After a great struggle, Catchings was able to pry open the car door and get his grandmother out.  A huge red cross that had been standing in front of the little church building had become uprooted and was lodging against the car.  Grandmother and grandson clung to the cross in the hopes that someone would be able to rescue them.

“I was literally, after I got out of the car, holding onto the cross. I was clinging to the cross," Gantt said.

They clung to the cross for five hours until help arrived.  They were saved from the rushing waters.

Augustus Toplady identified the means of our salvation in the words of a song entitled, “Rock of Ages”:

“Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling.”

When we were “drowning” in sin, God sent Jesus to rescue us.  The only way Jesus could save us was to die for us, for He – the sinless Son of God – was the only One who could pay the price for our sins and satisfy the justice of God.  So Jesus died on the cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3).  His death on the cross is the means of our salvation.

God will save those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).  The blood that Jesus shed on the cross will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His word (1 John 1:7).

When interviewed by WIS-TV about her ordeal and her rescue, Gantt proclaimed, "Jesus is my Savior...  This story is not about me; this is about what He did to save me."

For those who are saved and receive the gift of eternal life, the story will be the same: "Jesus is my Savior...  This story is not about me; this is about what He did to save me."

Cling to His cross through your trusting obedience, for it is the means of your salvation.

Won’t YOU?

-- David A. Sargent

Common church traditions

For the best part of this year, we’ve been studying the parables of Jesus in our Sunday morning Bible class.  In that study we’ve seen a constant theme throughout and it’s the confrontations between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees. 

And one of the constants in these confrontations is Jesus and His disciples clashing with the “traditions of the elders.”  Of course, this was the “traditions” of the Pharisaical “elders.” Let me refer you to a couple of scriptural passages that shows what Jesus was dealing with in these clashes - Mark 7:1-9 and Colossians 2:8.   It’s these “traditions” that has brought our lesson thoughts to mind today and I’ll start it off by asking some questions.

Do we get hung up on “traditions” today?  In other words, do we get set in our ways and does that equal “traditions?”  And I’m not speaking of the “old paths” that the prophet Jeremiah is referring to in Jer. 6:16.  In that passage, Jeremiah is talking about the Jews returning to following God’s Law - God’s Way.

You’ll notice in that passage, when he says for them to “ask for the old paths” he defines what the “old paths” are.  He says: “Where is the good way.”  That tells me that “old” isn’t the operative guide in our worship to God.  No, it has to also be the “good way.” 

The “old paths” of which Jeremiah speaks is the “path” outlined by God for man to follow in order to be righteous.  The “traditions” of the Pharisaical “elders” were not the “old paths” of Jeremiah.  I just wanted you to be clear on that and possibly not get the two confused.

But, let’s go back to our questions.  When we think about that, do we like or dislike a preacher or teacher because of their speaking delivery?  IE: Do they possess a great speaking voice or do they just talk plainly like everyone else?  Or, do we like or dislike because of their wardrobe?  Maybe they don’t wear the coats or ties that we like to look at.  Or, do they have some mannerisms that we either like or dislike?

My point here is, based upon our “traditions,” our personal likes and dislikes, do we support or do we not support them?   If we’re following our personal “traditions” then we’re not basing our support upon the truth of the matter.  Not based upon whether they’re teaching the truth or not.  Not based upon whether their lessons are righteous with God’s Word.

If our “traditions” are the basis for supporting or not supporting a preacher or teacher, then let me ask you one more question:   How are we any different than the Pharisees? 

I think that we can learn a valuable lesson from looking at the “traditions” of the Pharisees.  You know, sometimes great lessons can be learned from the errors of others, can’t they?  And that’s the case here today.  I have a little story to give you for the rest of our time and space here and I believe that it will help us better relate to the gist of our lesson.

“It seems a new preacher arrived in town.  He had a group of new stories, new sermons and a dynamic new approach to all of the old problems.  A great number of the community were attracted to him.  It would be safe to say that, as an evangelist, he was singularly successful.

However, a group or the Old Guard became concerned and they discussed him among themselves.  His preaching did not have the sound they were accustomed to hearing.  It sounded new and unorthodox to their ears.  In fact, he accused them in dramatic and damning terms of their own aggressively conservative position.  This disturbed them greatly.

Something had to be done!  It began as a matter of constant criticism.  They criticized him for the ones he accepted in fellowship, because of the people with whom he associated, and the fact that a great number of the people agreed with him, especially the younger generation.   They were afraid that his modernistic teaching would soon destroy the Bible.  They even considered him a LIBERAL!

Someone suggested they crucify him.  They did ----- on Calvary!”

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey

Are you listening?

    Headlines can be confusing, can’t they? For instance, one headline read,”Joint Committee Investigates Marijuana Use.” Another stated, “Cold Wave Linked To Temperatures.” You don’t say?! And how about this one – “Grandmother of Eight Makes Hole In One”?! How hungry are you for headlines? So much of it is a report on the lowest and meanest and bloodiest men and women can do to each other.

 A little caution might be in order before we swallow everything we hear from those who make and those who choose the headlines we get to hear. Jerry Seinfeld wondered out loud something every Christian should think about. He said, “It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper” (or the website or blog or tweet or talk-show, etc.)!

    Bill Gates is one of America’s most successful and richest businessmen. He warned, “Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you because bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not.” The news people don’t tell us about the multiplied thousands and thousands of airplanes that don’t crash – only the ones that do! And so it is almost certain that the murder and mayhem, robbing and raping, burning and bombing, fussing and fighting, arguing and animosity, and hatred and hostilities will go on dominating headlines on earth. As Tracy Morgan said, "Bad news travels at the speed of light; good news travels like molasses.”

    Here is where the gospel continues to stand out as it relates to the news! It allows us, as the late great news commentator Paul Harvey used to say, to “wash your ears out with this”!! Heaven has some good news God wants His church to continue to headline. Consider the words of the apostle Paul as he began his letter to Christians living in the first century Asian city of Colosse 2,000 years ago. As he thanked God for the faith and love that existed in the hearts of the Christians in the church at Colosse, he said in Colossians 1:5-6 – “because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.” The word of God amazes, and I hope it amazes you, too!

    The book of Colossians (like most books of the New Testament) never ignores the evil and sin and darkness in the world, but it simply will not allow all that bad news to headline! Heaven’s headline always center on the gospel. It’s like God is telling us, in a world where headlines are bleak and blue and bloody, “Wash your ears – and your hearts and souls – out with this!” As often noted the word gospel means “good news.” In this day of crime and global terrorism and moral decline, we really need some good news. How about it – could you use some good news? Are things rough for you here on earth? Has your physical health taken a hiatus? Does your money often run out before the month? Have friends forsaken you? Has sin taken more than it promised to give you and left a scar in your soul? Is there now more fizzle that sizzle in your marriage?

    Why don’t you tune in and hear heaven’s headlines? God loves you! Christ died for you and rose from the dead! There is hope laid up for you in heaven! That headline never changes! Will you hear that headline? Are you listening?

--Dan Gulley