Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 12:28
He was born at Frankfort, Maine, in 1817. After leaning the railroad business in Pennsylvania, he headed south with a dream of forming a railroad hub to connect cities in the emerging south. He chose Marthasville, Georgia and started forming the railroad. He bought land and owned six hundred acres in Marthasville before the name was changed to Atlanta. A colonel in the Confederate Army, he was in charge of the fortifications of Atlanta during the Civil War.
He wanted to leave a legacy, so in 1881 he, Lemuel P. Grant donated 131 acres to become Grant Park, a recreational area for future generations to enjoy. I recently visited the home he built in 1856 and went to his grave in Westview Cemetery. On his grave monument I found the inscription that said his legacy was Grant Park. He was my great grandfather.
L.P. Grant home circa 1856
As I drove away, I thought about the many children I have seen playing in the park while others strolled in the park, a legacy that has lasted for nearly 150 years while the city grew up around it. I asked myself what will my legacy be 150 years from now. What am I leaving for future generations?
I thought of Proverbs 13:22 that says, A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. Is it money? Is it prestige? What if it is spiritual?
That’s it. What greater legacy than spiritual? I found another great grandfather’s will from the 1700’s and in it he left his following generations his belief in God. That’s my inheritance to my future generations.
We raised our three children in the church and in a Godly home and they have done likewise in raising their children. A few weeks ago, our ten-year-old Wyatt, some 62 years my junior walked down the aisle and gave his heart and life to Jesus.
Now that’s real legacy!
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Jim McGuire, an alumnus of River Valley High School in Marion County, Ohio, has sparked public outrage over his commencement speech to the graduates recently.
“My jaw dropped to the floor, and I honestly thought I was hearing it wrong,” said a 2018 River Valley graduate, Alexis Osipow. She said she was “outraged” and was further dismayed when people were clapping in approval of McGuire’s statement.
So, what did he say that was so outrageous? Along with advice about life and pursuing future goals, McGuire encouraged the students to spend time “learning God’s Word.” Then he made the following comment regarding romantic relationships. “Choose a spouse, I suggest. I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose Biblical principles, you know, a male with a female and female with a male.”
One critic said it was “inappropriate.” Another suggested this thinking was so outdated and was like going back to the 1950s.
Now, one might argue that McGuire used poor judgment in using graduation to mention what the Bible says about marriage. Yet, the local response, which included the school board issuing a statement that McGuire was not an official representative of the school district and sharing his own personal views, is indicative of how sin has become normalized.
Last month was dubbed by homosexual activists as “Pride Month.” And Google won’t let you forget as this holiday is embedded in your Google calendar.
When sin is normalized, people as the apostle Paul penned “become enemies of the cross of Christ,” and “glory in their shame.” (Phil. 3:19).
When sin is normalized, religious organizations like Mennonite Church USA, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians condone same-sex marriage. When sin is normalized, righteousness is scorned, wickedness is praised, and sin becomes a reproach to our nation (Prov 14:34). When sin is normalized people are criticized for simply citing what the Bible says.
It’s a sad day when sin is normalized. Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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Stress levels are at an all-time high today. For some, it never stops. The constant state of fight or flight is a heavy load that our bodies bear, and it leads to many of today’s common diseases.
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I know that I don’t have the answers about how to fix the ills of society, especially a society where human life seems to mean so little and hate seems to run so deep. But I think I know where to start. It begins with you and me… with us. It starts with faith, hope and love. It continues by stepping up and shining a light into the darkness, and truly loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and then, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Marty Stubblefield
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
We must run to God because we can’t run from him. Bob Sprinkle
We may think we are right sometimes, but no one is ever righteous. Jomo Cousins
Encouragement is oxygen to the soul. Nothing breathes new life into a discouraged person like an encouraging word or deed. George M. Adams
The applause of a single human being is of great consequence. Samuel Johnson
Correction does much, but encouragement does more. German poet Goethe.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. Dr. Seuss
The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become. Heraclitus
When you are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger. Epictetus
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. Thornton Wilder
I don’t care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don’t have any of their own. Nikola Tesla
The gifts given to us by God must not be relinquished to those who speak ill of them and who are moved by envy or ignorance. Filippo Brunelleschi
Truth, and goodness, and beauty are but different faces of the same all. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Let us conduct ourselves so that all men wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies. Alexander the Great
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. George Washington