Sunday in our Sunday school class a lady was introduced to class as the Chaplin for Bienville Animal Medical Center in Ocean Springs. That struck me as strange to have a Chaplin at an animal center.  Do animals have souls?  Who knows, I don’t think it really matters.  I guess if I live my life long enough and I live it in a righteous manner, accept Grace from God then I will find out.  I hope that dog is there to greet me.  When I thought about this I realized how I felt when I had to have Chris euthanize my Dixie that day some years ago.  She was very old 16 years or so, blind, with no bladder control probably had cancer.  I cried all the way home for a lost dog.  She was just a mutt – the best kind of dog.  It would have been nice to have a Chaplin that day to comfort me with my loss.  Chris was very gentle when he talked about it being necessary. I will never forget that day as long as I live.   I know that that dog would have loved me if I locked him in the trunk of my car and rode around all day.  When he got out he would have been happy to see me.  I don’t think my wife would react the same way.

However that is not what I want to tell you about.  This lady a Presbyterian minister was the Chaplin at Bienville Animal Medical Center.  We were discussing the truth behind the Bible.  She was very vocal about a point I have pondered all week.  She was talking about traveling on a ship through the Red Sea and she said,”A sailor asked her did she really think that Moses parted the Red Sea. This thing is huge he said. “   She said, “Yes, are you a Christian?  Do you believe that Jesus was raised from the dead? Then parting the Red Sea is a small task compared to raising someone from the dead.”   You know she has a point.

So how do you know what in the Bible is true? You just know. No one has to prove it to you, and no one can. God spoke through Jesus during his time and God continues to speak through many people in our time – including you. Prophecy is not relegated to days of yore. It is equally available in days of yours.  We hear people with faith story everyday and we believe them.

Another thing that has caused me to reflect – A friend said he heard on the radio struck him a certain way.  A preacher said that men need to quit hiding behind the apron strings of their wives spirituality.  You have always heard that behind every man is a great woman.  So we need to think of our spirituality in that context.  I know in my case my wife prayed for me everyday for years before I came back to the church.

The world is always asking for men to step up and not to hide behind a woman’s apron strings.  The world wants men who are not for sale. Men, who are honest, sound from centre to circumference, true to the heart’s core. Men who will condemn wrong in friend or foe, in themselves as well.  Men who will stand for the right even when it is easy to go the other way will define character for his family.  Men who can have courage without putting their courage out front for others to see in a boastful way will prevail. Men in whom the courage of everlasting life runs still, deep, and strong. Men who cause their voices to be heard on the streets for justice, who will not be discouraged until judgment of this world comes. Men who know their message and tell it to people that are searching for the light of Christ. Men who know their places and fill them. Men who know their own business.  Men who will not lie. Men who are not too lazy to work, not too proud to be poor. Men who are willing to eat what they have earned, and wear what they have paid for.  These things will place us out in front of the apron strings of our wives.

It is always safe to trust those who can trust themselves, but when a man suspects his own integrity, it is time he was suspected by others. Moral degradation always begins at home. Honesty is never gained or lost suddenly, or by accident. Moral strength or moral weakness takes possession of us by slow and hardly noticeable degrees in many ways.  We can lead our wives and lead our families instead of hiding behind our wives spirituality.  We as men today need to act boldly and do what we know to be right in the eyes of God and not the world.

- STEVE RUSK

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