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4A Clje 1) eralb Tuesday, August 3,2021
Opinions
Ruffin's Renderings: Sermons
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
Do you ever wonder
where preachers get their
sermons?
Your first thought might
be “from God.” We prob
ably hope that’s the case.
Preachers probably hope
so too. 1 remember hearing
a story about two church
members discussing their
pastor’s sermon. One said,
“It sounded as if he had
been talking about it with
God all week.” The other
responded, “Maybe he had
been.” It’s a good thing if a
preacher’s sermons come
out of her or his walk
with God. People expect a
sermon to be a word from
God. Preachers want it to
be.
You may also have
thought “from the Bible.”
Different Christians have
different ways of describ
ing the way in which the
Bible reveals what God
wants us to know, but
almost all Christians take
the Bible seriously Most
church folks probably
expect their preachers to
take it even more seriously
than they do.
But we expect our
preachers’ sermons to do
more than repeat what the
Bible says. We expect them
to offer some interpreta
tion of the Bible that will
help us understand how
God expects us to live here
and now We expect to
hear what the Bible means
as well as what it meant.
Where do our preachers
learn what they need to
learn about the Bible in or
der to share with us what
we need to know?
Well, we might expect
them to learn it from the
Spirit of God. I suppose
there may still be some
preachers who get in the
pulpit not knowing what
they are going to say and
expecting the Spirit to
inform them on the spot.
1 never forgot what my
mentor, the late great Dr.
Howard Giddens, taught
me: “The Spirit leads you
in the study too.” 1 believe
that we preachers owe it
to God and to our listen
ers to prepare
as fully as we
can to share the
Gospel truth as
accurately as
we can. That
requires careful
and prayerful
study.
But before
preachers study,
they have to
decide what
they’re going to preach on.
Let’s pause here for a
joke. Someone asked the
preacher what he was
going to preach on. “On
the pulpit,” the preacher
answered.
Now back to our regu
larly scheduled column.
What 1 mean is that a
preacher has to choose
which Bible passage he
or she is going to base
their sermon on. There are
several ways preachers
might decide, including
preaching on a particular
subject, preaching through
a book of the Bible, or (and
1 don’t recommend this)
deciding what they want
to say and then hunting
for a Scripture
passage to fit
their pre-deter-
mined position.
Other preachers
(including me)
find guidance in
something called
a lectionary.
Back when 1
was serving as
a Baptist pas
tor, the church’s
newsletter, which mem
bers would receive during
the week, included the
title and Scripture passage
for the coming Sunday’s
sermon. Every once in a
while, one of our members
would tell me, “We visited
our daughter’s family’s
church in Atlanta last Sun
day” - at that point they’d
lower their voice and
confide in a conspiratorial
tone, “They’re Methodist,
you know” - “and their pas
tor preached on the same
Scripture passage you
preached on!”
1 would smile and say,
“Well, the Lord works in
mysterious ways!” And the
Lord certainly does.
In this case, the Lord
was working through a
lectionary, which is a col
lection of recommended
Scripture readings. Many
pastors who minister
in mainline and liturgi
cal traditions follow one
called the Revised Com
mon Lectionary 1 started
following it back when
1 was a Baptist pastor
because its readings follow
the Christian calendar,
which 1 had come to
believe (and still believe)
is a very important aspect
of Christian worship and
practice. Another thing 1
like about following the
lectionary is that it forces
me to deal with Scripture
passages that, left to my
own devices, I’d probably
choose to ignore. 1 also
like that the lectionary
readings cycle through all
four Gospels (each year of
a three-year cycle focuses
on Matthew, Mark or Luke,
with readings from John
included at times during
each year).
Anyway, more often
than not, the lection
ary helps me select the
Scripture passage or
passages that will provide
the basis for my sermon
on a given Sunday. But
once the selection is made,
1 am still responsible to
study, pray, and write in
the quest to present best
approximation 1 possibly
can of the word God wants
the people to hear.
Preaching is hard, chal
lenging, and important
work. All of us preachers
are imperfect recipients
and deliverers of God’s
word. At our best, we will
prayerfully prepare with all
our might in the hope that
the good news of Jesus
Christ will be proclaimed.
To return to where 1
started, hopefully our
sermons will come out
of our own ever-growing
relationship with God.
And never from the
internet.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Macon. His new book,
Praying with Matthew, is available at
helwys.com and at Amazon.Amazon.
Ruffin’s
Renderings
Kudzu & Clay:
Frog gigging
My grand
parents moved
to a nice house
on a golf course
when 1 was a
kid. Going to
visit them was
like going to an
other country. 1
had never seen
such a large,
manicured
property with
cart trails and
little ponds ev
erywhere. The
grass was green, all the
bushes were trimmed,
and the flowers devoid of
weeds. It was the kind of
place you go to and you
just know that you need
to have good manners,
none of that backwoods
country kid stuff was go
ing to cut it around here.
One evening, as we
were over for dinner, lis
tening to classical music
and eating some lavish
meal that required silver
ware, my dad stopped
mid-chew and stared
off into the distance. He
shushed us. “You hear
that?” Immediately 1 was
mortified. 1 didn’t hear
anything, but I knew any
time my dad asked that
question that something
was about to happen.
Something 1 probably
wouldn’t agree with.
“You hear that? You
hear them frogs? They’re
bullfrogs.” Sure, we all
heard frogs, we were
surrounded by mansions
and little ponds. “Guess
we better go frog gig
ging!” 1 had no idea what
this activity was but it
didn’t sound good.
It was getting dark at
this point. My dad got
up from the table and
disappeared out the
door. Within two minutes
he came back with a
long cane pole that had a
piece of styrofoam stuck
to its end, an old pillow
case, and one of those
flashlights so bright you
could signal the Space
Station. He then removed
the styrofoam from the
pole to reveal
four or five long
spikes. Whatev
er was about to
happen wasn’t
in the frog’s
best interest.
He led us
to one of the
ponds in the
dark and we
stood by some
tall grass at the
bank. We had to
stand com
pletely still and
silent. Slowly the frogs
started croaking. With
the flashlight in one hand
and the pole in the other,
he shined the light down
on the bank and with a
quick jerk, plunged the
pole in the water and
started laughing. What
came back up was an
impaled frog still moving
around. That escalated
quickly.
For the next few
hours, we went from
pond to pond and he
acted like a man picking
up trash on the side of
the highway on his last
hour of probation. He
was dancing around and
spearing these frogs, one
by one, and placing them
in the bag. When we got
back to my grandmoth
er’s he dumped his haul
in a bathtub, half of them
still squirming about.
Now what? I thought.
I’ll spare the details
from the live-action hor
ror movie that ensued.
The next night 1 was
treated to what 1 was
told was a delicacy. Frog
legs. As 1 was forced to
eat one, 1 thought about
how much it tasted like
chicken. “You hear that?”
my dad said. Nobody
heard anything, because
nothing was left to make
noise.
Chris Walter is a writer, artist,
and Barnesville native. He has just
published his first book, “Southern
Glitter”. You can find more informa
tion about his art and writings at
kudzuandclay.com.
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
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Troop 38 cleans cemetery
Boys Scout
February 16,2018
Eagle Scout Candidate
Colin Serene of Boy Scout
Troop 38 began to clean
up the old Aldora Cem
etery across the street
from the Aldora United
Methodist Church, as an
Eagle project. The cem
etery remained unattend
ed until Girl Scout Sharon
Robinson tackled the job
in late May 2021. She did
a great job and made the
sign as well.
A survey of the cem
etery showed undiscov
ered graves from both
projects.
In July 2021 Boy Scout
Troop 38 went to the
Philmont Scout ranch in
New Mexico and hiked
more than 50 miles
across the mountains
there. They were thus
eligible for the coveted
Fifty Miller Award. One
of the requirements to
complete the award was
to do 10 hours of con
servation minded com
munity service. They did
three hours there in New
Mexico.
It was decided to take
the whole crew over to
the cemetery several
Saturdays and do a much
broader clean up of the
property. They started
Saturday July 31 and will
continue off and on over
the next several Satur
days until finished.
National school lunch,breakfast programs
The Georgia Depart
ment of Education School
Nutrition Program an
nounces that Georgia
schools may participate
in the Seamless Sum
mer Option for the
National School Lunch
and Breakfast Programs
in school year 2022.
A school district or a
single school may offer
meals at no charge to all
students. Households are
not required to complete
meal applications to
qualify for meals at no
cost. Nondiscrimination
Statement: This explains
what to do if you believe
you have been treated
unfairly. In accordance
with Federal civil rights
law and U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA)
civil rights regulations
and policies, the USDA,
its Agencies, offices, and
employees, and institu
tions participating in
or administering USDA
programs are prohib
ited from discriminating
based on race, color,
national origin, sex, dis
ability, age, or reprisal or
retaliation for prior civil
rights activity in any pro
gram or activity conduct
ed or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities
who require alternative
means of communication
for program information
(e.g. Braille, large print,
audiotape, American Sign
Language, etc.), should
contact the Agency
(State or local) where
they applied for benefits.
Individuals who are deaf,
hard of hearing, or have
speech disabilities may
contact USDA through
the Federal Relay Ser
vice at (800) 877-8339.
Additionally, program
information may be made
available in languages
other than English. To
file a program complaint
of discrimination, com
plete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint
Form, (AD-3027) found
online at: http://www.
ascr.usda.gov/complaint_
filing_cust.html, and at
any USDA office, or write
a letter addressed to
USDA and provide in the
letter all of the informa
tion requested in the
form. To request a copy
of the complaint form,
call (866) 632-9992. Sub
mit your completed form
or letter to USDA by mail,
fax, or emaikprogram.
intake@usda.gov This
institution is an equal op
portunity provider.
Aug. 1-7
10 years ago
Phillip Foster pleaded
guilty to murder and oth
er charges in connection
with the 2009 death of
William Charles (Bubba)
Milner at the Eagle Car
Wash off 1-75 at Hwy. 36.
Milner was working the
night shift and was killed
for $100. Foster is still
serving his life sentence
at Phillips State Prison.
25 years ago
Aaron Slagle, 25, was
killed when the driver of
a pickup truck he was a
passenger in fell asleep
at the wheel, ran off the
road and struck a tree
in Troup County. The
driver, James R. Long, 23,
of Orchard Hill suffered
minor injuries. Neither
man was wearing a seat-
belt.
50 years ago
James Flournoy Porch,
90, died July 27 at the
Griffin Hospital. He was
a retired merchant and
a deacon at First Baptist
Church. Survivors includ
ed his sister, Faith Porch.
Burial was in Greenwood
Cemetery.
100 years ago
Mr. Emmett Langford,
cashier of the Barnesville
Bank, returned Sunday
from Eldorado, Arkansas
where he appeared as a
witness against Robert
Gray, alias Fred Taylor,
who was charged with
forging Mr. Langford’s
name to what were
passed as a cashier’s
check on the Barnesville
Bank. Based on Lang
ford’s testimony, Gray
got three years in the
penitentiary.
barnesville.com
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