The Way of the Cross

Hebrews 12:2 - Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The word "despise" in this instance means something like "to not pay attention to." The scripture is telling us that Jesus did not let the shame of the cross keep him from doing the will of his father. He came to this earth with a purpose - to restore sinful humanity to a right relationship with God. There was never a thought in his mind about turning back. That decision was made long before he was born. He was conceived in the mind and plan of God before the foundation of the world. The human part of him, no doubt, had reservations. But the God inside of Him gave him strength to endure the agony of the cross for our sakes.

In the same way, there are times when all of us have to face a cross. It is not a literal Roman cross that I speak of. But it is still a place of crucifixion or dying out to our fleshly desires. We must all come to a place of decision; will I choose my own path or will I follow the one God has chosen for me?

The world we live in is making it increasingly harder to identify oneself as a Christian. There was a time when to identify oneself with Christianity was to identify with all that is Holy, noble, respected and pure. The concept of many in our world today is that Christians are bigots, intolerant, and hard to get along with. The pressure is on to conform.

There are those who try to make us ashamed of our "old-fashioned" ideas about what is proper and what isn't. In such times Christians have a choice to make. It is not a new choice. Jesus' disciples made it, Christians in the dark ages made it, and we must make it now. We must follow Jesus at any cost. Christians should be a peace loving people. We should treat everyone we meet with respect. But we should not allow the world to dictate our morals or lifestyles. The way of the cross might be a shameful one but it leads to Jesus. I say we should choose the cross. How about you?

In Christian Service,

Sullivan Jones

Imagination - A terrible thing to waste!

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The imagination is a powerful thing. If necessity is the mother of invention then imagination is the fuel that fires the engines of our mind. Thomas Edison used his imagination to invent the Phonograph. George Washington Carver used his imagination to bring us more than 300 uses for the peanut. The list goes on .....

The imagination can also be used for evil. The examples in our world are so numerous that they don't need naming.  The imagination itself is neither evil nor good. A good person will conceive of ways to help people. An evil person  will think up mischief or crime.

The imagination can also cause us to believe things are a certain way when they aren't. I'm sure we've all been scared by a ghost story or horror movie. Our logic tells us one thing but our imagination convinces us otherwise. There are people who have been scared into having heart attacks because their imaginations were working overtime. What we put into our minds is fuel for the imagination.

The best way to ensure that our imaginations and motives are pure is to be careful what we feed on. We should be careful about what we read, watch, and listen to. These things enter our minds and become food for the imagination. Ultimately they will guide our thoughts and help to shape our destinies. We've all heard the term "food for thought." Truthfully everything that enters our minds is "food for our thoughts." I want my thoughts and imaginations to be true, honest, just, pure, lovely and so forth. (Philippians 4:8) After all, the imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

Thank God for CMMC

Good Morning Everyone,
This is not my usual post but it was in my heart. I submitted the following article to the Clarion Ledger and I pray that they post it. Thanks and have a great day.

Sullivan Jones

I have lived in the Jackson are for a little over three years. During that time I have repeatedly heard horror stories about Central Mississippi Medical Center. Since my wife recently had surgery there, I only felt it fair to tip the scales in their favor.

Last fall we began a search for a primary care doctor and surgeon in the Jackson area. We had been driving to Hattiesburg for her care. After calling several clinics and finding out that they either weren’t taking new patients or wouldn’t take her insurance we got connected with CMMC.

In October Gail had knee replacement surgery. The care was the best we could have hoped for. The nurses were kind, the therapy exceptional, and the facilities clean. One night there was a slight problem with some of the equipment. The next morning the head nurse was in our room to apologize and make sure that everything was well. Unfortunately bad experiences do happen everywhere but that was not our experience. I know that for us CMMC was a life saver. To all those who work so hard on a daily basis to give good medical care to this community, we say thank you.