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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Imitating God
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
I’d like to begin this
week’s column with a
word to the reader—sev
eral words, actually. I
am a Christian. On top
of that, I am a Christian
preacher. 1 try not to be
too preachy in this space
because I want everyone
who reads my words to
find something to chew
on and maybe even
benefit from. But this
week 1 am talking to my
fellow Christians. That
doesn’t mean that others
shouldn’t read what I’m
about to say too. In fact, I
hope you will.
I was recently doing
some work on some
words found in Ephesians
5:1-2. Verse 1 begins,
“Therefore be imitators of
God, as beloved chil
dren.” That sets a mighty
high bar, doesn’t it?
Jesus says something
similar in the Sermon on
the Mount. He says, “Be
perfect.. .as your heav
enly Father is perfect”
(Mt 5:48). If that doesn’t
intimidate you, then you
must be intimidation
resistant. It helps a little
to know that “perfect”
means “mature” or “com
plete,” but it is still quite
a challenge to hear Jesus
tell us that we are to be
complete in being who we
are as God is complete in
being who God is. It adds
to the challenge to hear
Jesus lead into that saying
with his instruction that
we are to love and pray
for our enemies because,
Jesus says, doing so will
make us “children of [our]
Father in heaven, for he
makes his sun rise on the
evil and the good, and
sends rain on the righ
teous and on the unrigh
teous” (Mt 5:46).
While I can’t say for
certain that Fuke wrote
his Gospel
after Matthew
wrote his, I can
imagine why
he might have
changed Jesus’
saying a bit to
make it more
precise. Fuke
has Jesus say,
“Be merciful,
just as your
Father is merci
ful” (6:36). Fuke
may have succeeded
in making Jesus’ saying
more precise, but he
didn’t succeed in mak
ing it any easier (which I
doubt he was trying to do
anyway).
Still, Fuke’s more
focused terminology is
helpful. If we are to be
come the most complete
versions of ourselves
that we can be—if we are
going to be formed in the
image of God that Christ
makes possible in us—if
we are going to look and
act like who we
are as God’s
children—then
we will practice
mercy in our
dealings with
people.
So, what
does it mean
to imitate
God? Well, the
passage that
leads into those
words says
that we should speak the
truth to each other, that
we should protect our
relationships with each
other, that we should
work so we can help
people in need, that we
should use our words
to build each other up,
that we should be kind to
each other, and that we
should forgive each other.
To imitate God means
to be the best selves that
we can be. It means to
love, to practice mercy,
and to forgive as best we
can—not because of what
we are able to do on our
own, but because the
love of Christ is working
in us.
The next verse in
Ephesians 5 further
explains that it means
to imitate God. It means
to “live in love, as Christ
loved us and gave himself
up for us” (5:2). On one
hand, it’s helpful to have
Jesus to look at in order
to learn how we are to
live as imitators of God—
we are to love each other
with the self-emptying,
self-giving, other-focused
love that Christ loved us
with. On the other hand,
it’s still a mighty high
bar, isn’t it? It still seems
like a challenge that is
difficult to the point of
verging on being impos
sible, doesn’t it? It sounds
like something we can’t
do, doesn’t it?
I wonder how seri
ously we take the charge
we have to imitate God
by living in love, by giving
ourselves up for each
other, and by practicing
mercy and forgiveness. I
wonder how hard we try.
Fet’s ask ourselves a
couple of questions.
First, do we Christians
really believe that Christ
lives in us and makes his
love available to us?
Second, when it comes
to being the best versions
of ourselves that we can
be, when it comes to
offering others the kind
of mercy and forgiveness
that God offers us, and
when it comes to living
out the love that Christ’s
presence makes possible,
which is better: to aim
high and fall short, or to
aim low and hit the mark?
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives and works in Macon. His
new book, Praying with Matthew,
is available at helwys.com and at
Amazon.
Government control is not
behind necessity of vaccine
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedortti@gmail.com
As a population of al
legedly educated people,
we are falling woefully
short of plain common
sense when it comes to
a politicized pandemic.
If we are smart - and as
long as there is internet
to persuade and mis
lead, we won’t be smart
enough - we will at least
attempt to remember
those deadly diseases of
the past that have been
eradicated with the use
of vaccines. (Does small
pox ring a bell?)
It took much
longer than
several years
to perfect the
vaccine against
poliomyelitis in
the 1960s. Be
tween the Sabin
and Salk efforts,
there were many
discussions, attempts,
even failures, until finally
success was achieved
and practically the
whole population was
vaccinated. It’s been
a long time since I’ve
seen a TV commercial,
featuring a child com
pletely encased in an
“iron lung” machine
because breathing can
not happen with polio,
asking support for the
eradication of the dread
disease.
So why is the U.S.
not 100% advocating a
way to prevent another
disease that has taken
more than three times
the number of lives lost
in the Viet Nam war?
Because this pandem
ic has been deeply politi
cized - first the Trump
Republican administra
tion was accused of
neither informing the
populace nor caring
about the virus; now the
Biden Democrat presi
dency et al is “trying to
find every way they can
to make the people do
everything they want so
they can destroy Ameri
ca.” I call BS on both.
If and when we ever
have a U.S. president
or governance that
never makes mistakes,
is never self-serving,
actually listens to the
little people, even helps
destroy special interest
groups instead of de
pending upon them for
finances to continue in
office - that will be when
we have landed in the
afterlife. There
will forever be
differences in
political views,
but until recent
ly there never
has been an
absolute inabil
ity to share the
power “across
the aisle.”
I continue to marvel
that no one has insisted
on accountability from
China, where this mess
all started. We are still
pouring billions into a
country that seems to
be the origin of agony,
fear, separation, des
peration, mental health
problems, children
cheated of school years,
a wrecked economy,
family friction and di
vorces, failed businesses
- the beat goes on.
By the end of Septem
ber, the designated time
and testing for the ef
ficacy of the vaccine will
have elapsed, and the
FDA will likely announce
its full approval. Mean
while, we know these
things to be true: cases
drop when more people
are vaccinated, and
increase when they are
not; only a unified effort
will bring a halt to cases,
period; and we should all
be helping each other.
NAVIGATING LIFE’S CURVES
Prayers for all those going back to school
BY BARBARA LATTA
kbkj@bellsoutli.net
Our chil
dren face
dangers
we never
thought of
decades
ago. Vio
lence and
bullying attack students
too frequently. A year
ago, a virus invasion
we never saw coming
emptied classrooms and
businesses.
School is back in ses
sion now, but we still
face health restrictions
along with the viruses of
political correctness and
humanistic philosophies.
Here are some ways
we can pray for our
students and educational
personnel as the learning
year resumes.
Pray for protection.
Psalm 91:14-15 NKJV
says, ‘Because he loves
me,” says the Ford, “I will
rescue him; I will protect
him, for he acknowledges
my name. He will call
on me, and I will answer
him; I will be with him in
trouble, I will deliver and
honor him.”
We can stand in faith
on these scriptures for
protection for our chil
dren, their teachers, the
buildings, and the secu
rity personnel who stand
ready to intervene in the
event of a crisis. But it
is not enough to merely
quote or read these
words. We should believe
and live by them.
Pray for defense
against wrong beliefs.
Colossians 2:8, “See to
it that no one takes you
captive through hollow
and deceptive philoso
phy, which depends on
human tradition and the
elemental spiritual forces
of this world rather than
on Christ.”
Different belief sys
tems have flashed
through the world as
fast as the internet can
zoom through Wi-Fi. Just
because a person comes
up with some philoso
phy and starts a move
ment doesn’t mean it is
a healthy attitude to live
by. Anything that does
not agree with biblical
standards is an invention
of humanity.
Pray students will hon
or and respect teachers.
“The student is not above
the teacher, but everyone
who is fully trained will
be like their teacher.”
We can pray for
children to have teach
ers who are caring and
honorable. We should
also pray for the teach
ers who put forth more
effort than is required to
give back to their classes.
Many provide supplies
out of their own resourc
es and sometimes work
during the off season to
prepare classrooms, even
when they are not on the
payroll. We can also help
in this area by donating
supplies.
Pray students will
handle offense correctly.
Colossians 3:13, “Bearing
with one another, and
if one has a complaint
against another, forgiving
each other; as the Ford
has forgiven you, so you
also must forgive.”
Unfortunately, kids
can be cruel to each
other. When we teach
our children that they are
valued and loved, they
are less likely to take the
hurtful words of others to
heart and believe them.
The root of bullying is
usually because the bully
acts out of hurt in him
or herself. This doesn’t
absolve the crime, but
when we know where it
comes from, we can show
our kids what others say
about them isn’t true.
Pray for implementa
tion of diligence and
ethics. “Do you see a man
skillful in his work? He
will stand before kings;
he will not stand before
obscure men.”
The “gimme” attitude
has saturated our society.
Free enterprise and entre
preneurship are viewed
by some as outdated and
oppressive practices. But
those who are steady,
faithful, and diligent will
reap rewards.
Whether we have
students in school or
not we can support and
pray for our educational
system. The students of
today will be the leaders
of tomorrow and they
need our help, prayers,
and love.
Barbara Latta is a freelance writer
who posts online articles at barbara-
latta.blogspot.com and contributes
to the devotion website Christian
Devotions.
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The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
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Publishers: Walter and
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AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
September 2, 1921: Scout executive W.F. Moses
of the Sixth Congressional council of the BSA ar
rived in Zebulon to organize troops in Pike. The
first meeting was Friday, September 2, 8 o’clock at
the school in Zebulon to create troops in Concord,
Meansville, Molena, Williamson and Zebulon.
75 YEARS AGO
September 5,1946: J.W. Adams became the
new principal at Molena High School. Mrs. Adams
would teach in the primary school. Mrs. Lester Mc
Crary returned to the Molena faculty.
50 YEARS AGO
September 3,1971: Pike schools reached an en
rollment for the term of 1,741. Across the board it was
an increase over the previous year with the exception
of first grade which had nearly a 40% decline.
25 YEARS AGO
September 4, 1996: A single engine aircraft ran
off the runway and crashed into trees and bushes
at Eagles Landing. The pilot, from Carrolton, and
a passenger, an unidentified woman who owned
the plane, were taken by ambulance to Spalding
hospital and later released.