Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“At the Corner of First and Main”
“She's taken her stand at First and Main, at the busiest intersection. “ – Proverbs 8:2 (MSG)

In our first pastorate the house we lived in literally was on the corner of the two busiest streets in the town. West Main Street and Business Highway 61. We loved that house. It was almost 100 years old with a huge covered front porch. A man from the church made us a porch swing (which we still have) and often we would in the evening sit on that front porch and simply watch the traffic go by.,br /> It was an interesting dynamic watching the traffic. I think it was standard procedure that when you got to the corner of Main & 61 it was protocol to “honk your horn!” Something that practically everyone under the age 21 did on a regular basis.
I remember one occasion a man from the church was sitting with us on the porch. We were talking when all of a sudden he stopped and began staring at one of the cars that had stopped at the intersection. Finally he looked over at us and said, “That’s the third time I’ve seen my son drive by! Does he do this all the time?” I couldn’t lie. “Yep! He and every other teenager in town!” “Well, this may be the last time you see him for while.”
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:18-20
How obvious does the Word of God need to be for you to believe it to be His Word? His Wisdom? What has to happen before it crosses your mind that there truly is something about what He has to say that makes perfectly good sense?
Gilbert West was a noted British educator and author. Sir Edward Littleton was a famous British judge. These two men had one thing in common: both were complete skeptics concerning Christ and Christianity. They not only doubted the validity of the Lord's way of life, they openly opposed it. At one point in their lives, the two men agreed on a joint course of action to "rid the world of this religion of a madman, once and for all," as they put it. They vowed to disprove Christianity for all time. And they would begin by totally discrediting two key New Testament stories: One—the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and two—the conversion and life transformation of the apostle Paul.
Following a long period of research on the two subjects, West and Littleton met to compare their findings. Much to Littleton's surprise, West told him that as a result of his research, he himself had been converted to Christianity. Moreover, much to West's surprise, Littleton told him that he too had become a follower of Christ as a result of his investigations. Two men set out to destroy Christianity and both became Christians after making a serious study of the Faith. This would make a later "skeptic" by the name of C.S. Lewis (who too, became a Christian by researching Christianity) write: "Better be careful about taking this Jesus seriously. You might end up following Him!!",br /> Wisdom is driving down the busiest intersection—honking her horn alerting us to her presence. Are we listening?
Pastor J. T. Carnell