The Valley, March 2011
“Pappy” from page 4 out of our range – let’s be honest, almost all were priced out of our range (laugh). This, of course, made it easy for us to weed out quite a few prospects early on. In the first couple weeks of searching, we didn’t really net much luck. Either the tractors were priced to high, or the ones we could afford were not in very good shape. The last thing I wanted to do is end up with a tractor that wasn’t ready to work and/or would need significant repairs to be made operational. The search became frustrating until one day Ginger happened across a 40 year old 31 hp John Deere 820 3 cylinder diesel tractor that was in good repair and the current owner was only the second owner in the life of the tractor. It didn’t have a front bucket, but it did have a PTO and three point hitch, which were our primary requirements. After a couple phone calls to the seller, we drove to see the tractor and immediately fell in love with its simplicity and vintage look. Our two young sons were absolutely infatuated with the tractor and couldn’t resist climbing all over it as we negotiated with the seller. We quickly came to an
agreement on price, paid for the tractor, and headed home with it. Shortly after getting the tractor home (we still lived in the suburbs at the time), the kids all begged for a ride, so for pretty much the entire weekend I drove up and down the streets of our suburban neighborhood taking turns giving rides to our kids and several cousins as well. I would have to say that out of all of our children, my then nearly three year old son was the most excited and would ask for a ride every day after I got home from work. Shortly after getting the tractor home we decided that it would only be proper to name it something since it was essentially a new member of the family as proclaimed by the kids (grin). It was unanimous–after a short conversation, our tractor was to be named “Pappy,” and until this very day still carries this name proudly. The very next weekend we loaded up Pappy and took him to his forever home–the property. When we got to the dirt road leading to our property, I unloaded the tractor and hooked up the trailer in order to avoid getting our SUV stuck on the sugar sand road, which has already claimed us victim in the past. Naturally, the kids
immediately jumped out of the car and demanded a ride down the road on the trailer I hooked up to Pappy. This was quite a memorable moment and was awfully cute watching our excited kids enjoy their inaugural ride down our little road for the first time. There is no doubt in my mind Pappy has earned his keep several times over in the short period of time we have had him, especially for as little we paid for him. Being able to pull out stuck vehicles more times than I like to admit, tree stumps, bush hog and clear land, and many others things, has been invaluable in aiding our progress towards our future homestead. Of course, if you ask the kids, they would place the value on the tractor rides no doubt! Not every homestead needs a tractor and to be honest even though Pappy is always ready and willing to work, I find the manual labor to be an important part of the homestead. Not only is it healthy but it brings a stronger sense of pride in your work as well as a stronger connection with your land. Take care, Dave & Ginger and Family a
Thots on...Genesis
A Bible Study for the Lay Christian by Lydia
In 2 Timothy 3.16, Paul tells us, “Every inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living…” [NEB] On the road to Emmaus, Jesus made the Scriptures come alive to his followers, so that they later said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” [Luke 24.32*] It is my hope that the Thots on series will make your heart burn within you as God’s thoughts and purposes are revealed in a way that is easily understood by the seeking heart. *Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are quoted from the New International Version. Genesis 2.20-24 But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s
ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. God decided that it was not good for the man he had created to be alone, so he created woman from man’s side, from his flesh, to be his companion, his helper, his mate. Adam recognized her importance the moment God presented her to him, for he exclaimed, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” God created man and woman to complete each other, to help each other and, through marriage, to become one flesh. Notice that
this union, this marriage—for verse 25 calls them “the man and his wife”—is, by God’s design, between one man and one woman. Today, there is a great deal of societal pressure to accept the notion of “gay marriage.” There are those among us who go to great lengths to attempt to prove that those in same-sex relationships should have the right to enter into a marriage relationship. Even some churches support this position. But shouldn’t we, as Christians, rely on the Bible for our guidance? What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Paul, in his letter to the Romans, tells us, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.” [Romans 1.25] Sounds rather like rabid environmentalism, doesn’t it? Paul continues, “Because of this, God gave them over to
Rev. Dr. Henry G. Covert
hgc7@verizon.net Dr. Henry Covert is an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ. After a tour of duty in the military, he worked in law enforcement for twenty years as both a patrol sergeant and county detective. Toward the end of that career he began his studies for the ministry. He has served several parishes, worked in therapeutic communities, was a state prison chaplain, and acquired adjunct faculty status in the criminal justice department at Penn State University. Dr. Covert was the chaplain for Pennsylvania’s first execution in thirty-three years. He has a doctorate from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and has authored six books. • • • • • •
Ministry to the Incarcerated (ISBN 0-8294-0860-6) International market -paperback Discovering the Parables: An Inspirational Guide for Every day Life (ISBN 978-0-313-34962-1) International market – hard cover & e-book Spiritual Reflections: A Journey Through the Scriptures (ISBN 978-0-313-35901-9) International market - hardcover & e-book Christian Beliefs and Prayers (ISBN 978-0-692-01101-0) International market – paperback, e-book & Amazon Kindle The Crucifixion of Jesus (ISBN 978-0-9833359-0-0) Inter- national market – paperback, e-book & Amazon Kindle The True Church of Jesus Christ (ISBN 978-0-9833359-48) International market –Paperback, e-book & Amazon Kindle
Lowest Prices: bookfinder.com, bookfinder4U.com, alldiscountbooks.net, cheapbooks.com
shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” [Romans 1.26-27] We will leave for another day the discussion as to whether the “due penalty” they “received in themselves” is AIDS or spiritual death. However, God quite clearly views homosexuality as unnatural and indecent. Nowhere in the Bible is homosexuality condoned. Every time it is mentioned, it is referred to as an unnatural perversion. Since homosexuality is sinful in God’s eyes, should we hate homosexuals? Of course not! Do we hate a child who has gone astray? We may hate his behavior, but we still love our dear child! Just so, we cannot hate those for whom Christ died, even though we recognize their behavior as sinful. God hates sin but he loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for our sins while we were still sinners [Romans 5.8], so that we might be restored to fellowship with him. We, in turn, must dem-
onstrate God’s love to those who have given themselves over to sin—any kind of sin, for none of us is perfect; every one of us has sinned. [Isaiah 53.6] Jesus died for our sins—and for their sins, too—and only he can redeem us and liberate us from the bondage of sin. We must love our brother for whom Christ died while still condemning the sin of homosexuality, and we must stand against those who insist that such behavior is normal and should be accepted, condoned, and even rewarded with societal recognition. More importantly, we cannot allow a corrupt world, under the guise of tolerance, to determine standards of morality for the church, for we are called to be “a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” [1 Peter 2.9] “So I tell you this… that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.” [Ephesians 4.17] “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” [Ephesians 5.8]
Let us live as children of the light. a