Pastor's Post 4/21/2023

Dear Shiloh Family,

     Living in an older home often requires frequent repairs, changes, and upgrades.  It also presents opportunities of discovery in past, almost primitive carpentry practices.  

     In a recent attempt to evict an unwanted critter guest, I made a crude observation about the original structure of our humble abode.  The floor joists in the original one-room beginning are rough-cut, sawmill grade, untreated timbers.  Some appear to be nothing more than bark-shaved logs.  They aren’t perfectly symmetrical and won’t hug a chalk-line in several places.  However, they are strong, durable, trustworthy, and have held their ground since the day they were installed (probably more than 100 yrs.). 

     Perhaps the greatest disclosure given up by the near ancient dwelling is the foundation upon which the box seals rest.  Much of the bottom-line support is a wall of rocks, most likely gathered from the surrounding land plot, cemented together for strength.  However, the main cornerstones are large blocks of granite hewn out of some larger bolder.  One, in particular, seems to support the weight of the entire structure.

 Job 38:4-6:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 

6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, NKJV

     None of the aforementioned building materials are appealing to the beholder and would probably be discarded by the modern-day developer.  However, the unseen, enduring, supporting entities provided the original framework for several modern additions.  More importantly, that simple one-room cabin, and all the ensuing add-on rooms housed, warmed, protected, and became home to several families, including my wife, children, and me.  

     I think about my life and how the traditional principles of God’s word and the foundational influence of the church form the structure of how I live today.  To the modern world and societal correctness, those principles are ugly, rough, warped, and outdated.  However, they have stood the test of time for our family.  The beginning foundational truths of value, integrity, Bible study, prayer, and church attendance, among others, laid by my grandparents, built upon by my parents, and expanded by their children, still remain valid, necessary, and strong today.  Consequently, that strength has nothing to do with the O’Neal or Sprayberry names, but rather because of the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, upon whose name it stands.  The future of the house, family, and generation rests upon the “name above all names.”  That name is Jesus.

 Ephesians 2:19-22: 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.  NKJV

A crack in the sheetrock usually has nothing to do with the paint, but rather has everything to do with the foundation.        

God bless you all,
Pastor Derrell