Monthly Archives: September 2009

My Family Tree

Years ago, for a school project, I was asked to trace my ancestry and make a family tree. In the process, I learned things I did not know about my heritage. Some of it made me proud, and some of it didn’t. I was also reminded that the family tree is always living and growing. As a husband and father, I appreciate that my children (and, one day, grandchildren) will be affected by how I lead my family.

You are tending your family tree, too. How are you caring for it? That’s what makes your legacy. It will affect those who live after you are gone. Consider some things every family tree has and ask yourself what kind of tree you are growing.

Your family tree has roots. Something is central to your home, that drives and motivates you. It’s where you have your primary interest and investment, measured in dollars, energy, and time. For your family tree to thrive and survive, it must be firmly rooted in Christ (Col. 2:7).

Your family tree has branches. Your home is an influence on the larger community around you. Every facet of your life is impressed, negatively and positively, by your home. You have a reputation. You are seen. As your family branches out into the world, what impact is it making for Christ? Remember, “If the root be holy, the branches are too” (Rom. 11:16).

Your family tree has nutrients. God made the tree to eat and drink, and by such it lives. If the nutrients are cut off (by drought, disease, or damage), the tree dies. Likewise, our family tree must be nourished properly (cf. 1 Tim. 4:6).

Your family tree has fruit. It may be acorns, cones, blossoms, or edible fruit, but trees bear fruit. When a fruit-bearing tree ceases production, it’s a sign of trouble. At best, such a tree loses its value. Our family tree will be known by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:16ff). Failing to bear good fruit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23) or bearing bad fruit (Lk. 6:43) is unacceptable to God.

Your family tree has predators. “Dutch Elm Disease,” beetles, ants, and termites can all prematurely end a tree’s life. Sometimes, what kills the tree can be readily seen. Trees can be eaten from the inside out, and by the time the damage is visible it can be too late. There are so many predators of our homes. Tragically, the damage can come from within—what we allow to happen in our homes. Satan is the predator of the home, but he works through human agency.

Your family tree has leaves. There are evergreens, conifers, pines, and hardwoods. The hardwoods annual cycle fascinate me. In spring, they bloom and put on their leaves. They flourish in summer. In autumn, they are vibrant in color and beautiful. In winter, they die and leave the tree. Parents, think of your children as those “leaves.” From birth, they bud and grow. Hopefully, in the teen years after trial and tribulation, they begin to absorb and emulate the good principles you taught. It can be a beautiful time. Then, the time comes for them to leave. Make sure they leave spiritually and eternally prepared.

No doubt there are other comparisons that can be made. Take care of your family tree. If you do, it will blossom and grow for the good of the Kingdom!

–Neal Pollard

Please Pass the Salt

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My wife asked me recently what I wanted for supper. I told her I’d enjoy a big pot of home-cooked pinto beans. She quickly reminded me that we were under strict orders to cut back on our sodium intake. “The doctor says high blood pressure and salt aren’t close friends.” “They don’t have to be close friends,” I replied, “just friendly acquaintances!” Cutting back is one thing; cutting out is impossible — especially when you are a fan of pinto beans.

Salt was not considered a detriment in ancient cultures. On the contrary, it was regarded as a highly prized commodity. The Greeks called it theon, which means “divine”. Often Roman soldiers were paid in salt (that which they recieved as wages was referred to as a salarium, from which we get our English word “salary”), and it was from that practice that the expression “not worth his salt” came into usage. In some societies salt was even more precious than gold. That’s something to mull over when you realize that the current market price for an ounce of precious yellow metal is just over $1,000. Remember that next Winter when you’re slinging that 25 pound bag of rock salt over your icey driveway.

Salt was deemed valuable for at least three reasons: First, it was a PRESERVATIVE. Without refrigeration, meat was especially subject to spoilage. Salt “cured” animal flesh and kept it from going bad. Second, it was a SEASONING. Historians tell us that the diet in and around ancient Palestine tended to be bland. Salt permeated food and gave it a distinctive, pleasant flavor. Third, it was a CLEANSING AGENT. Wounds were bathed in salt water in order to sterilize them. Infection was kept in check by the high salinity brine solution and helped promote healing.

Because we can purchase salt in such large quantities for relatively little money today, we often lose sight of what Jesus was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. We probably don’t give much thought to Bible doctrine when we are buying that navy blue, cylindrical box of Mortons at the local IGA. But when the Lord declared, “You are the salt of the earth…” (Matt. 5:13a), He was underscoring our great value and influence in the world. Faithful children of God have a preserving effect in a world of rampant spiritual decay (Gen. 18:23ff; Prov. 14:34; 2 Tim. 3:13); they hinder and retard moral decline. Christians add a divine tang or flavor to the local community in which they live. Once salt is added to a food, it permeates and changes it. (Just a smidgen of salt can enhance a big pot of pinto beans)! Then too, believers serve as a kind of virtuous antiseptic towards those wounded by the effects of sin.

On the other hand, Christians who wear their holy designation on “Sunday only” have no life-testimony — they neither preserve, season, nor heal. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “…But if the salt loses its flavor…it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot…” (v. 13b). In New Testament times, salt was collected from around the Dead Sea where the crystals were contaminated with other minerals. These formations were full of impurities, and since the actual salt was more soluble than the impurities themselves, the rain often washed out the sodium chloride, which made what was left worthless since it literally lost its saltiness. This residual material was simply thrown into the yard to destroy the fertility of the soil (Deut. 29:23; Judg. 9:45; Psm. 107:34) and harden the path to the house.

George Barna, the church statistician, highlighted this Bible truth-principle when he wrote, “…The average Christian in the average church is almost indistinguishable from the rest of society. The fundamental moral and ethical difference that Christ can make in how we live, is missing. When our teens we claim to be saved, get pregnant and do drugs at the same rate as the general teenage population – when the marriages of Christians end in divorce at the same rate as the rest of society – when Christians cheat in business, or lie, steal, and cheat on their spouses at the same statistical level as those who say they are not Christians – something is horribly wrong” (Rom. 2:19ff). I hear both Jesus and Barna saying the same thing. That which makes Christians commendable and worthy of respect (Jas. 1:27; Phil. 2:15) can be leached out of their hearts by the constant flow of the world’s values.

Minerals without salt were worthless. Pinto beans without salt are not fit to eat. Likewise, Christians without salt — to borrow from old Kentucky lingo — “ain’t no count.”

Would you please pass the salt? Oh yeah, and the cornbread too! — Mike Benson

Golgotha, the place where Jesus died

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SOME TIME AGO I bought a fine little devotional book on the death of Christ…

One of the chapters was on “Earth’s Most Sacred Spot.” The author was referring to Golgotha, “the place which is called Calvary.” In that our Savior suffered and died there, the author considered it the most sacred of all places. He considered the place over in Palestine where the cross of Jesus stood to be the most holy of all places. But I want to assure you that earth’s most sacred spot is not some hill on the other side of the world. The most sacred place on this earth is right here, right here at this table, when we commune with Jesus and with one another in breaking bread and drinking the cup of the Lord. (David Pharr)

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16).

Be wary of making assumptions

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Two gas company service men, a senior training Supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters and parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked there way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. As they finished the meter check the older supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck. As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath she said, “When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figured I had better run too.”