Scripture

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!

~Psalm 133:1, NKJV

Quote

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

~ Henry Ford

As David talks about the pleasure of unity in worship, he uses two illustrations: one that we are familiar with and one that we are not. In the Old Testament, the priest were anointed with a special oil. It was made from a special recipe and contains a fragrance. No one could reproduce the oil or use for themselves. It was holy [set aside] for the priest. You and I would not think of this oil as being refreshing or pleasant but things were different for the ancient Hebrews. The anointing could be compared [somewhat] to a shower. I take more than one shower per day. I do it to refresh myself. It is amazing how much more milage I can get out of this old worn out body by simply taking a shower.

The second metaphor or illustration is the dew. Again, dew is not as important to us as it was in the Middle East. Israel is arid and dry most of the time. The dew literally keeps plants and vegetation alive. They say the dew on Mount Hermon [on the border of Israel and Syria] is so thick that it is the next thing to rain. Both of these things; the anointing oil and the dew were precious to the Hebrew people. Both come down from above. Neither make any noise. By the way, there is 264 billion gallons of water in the atmosphere. Dew is formed with the warm air from the ground [caused by the sun] meet the cool air from above. This causes condensation.

By now you are probably thinking: why all the science? Just as the dew refreshes plants and keeps them alive, so worship refreshes believers and keeps us from growing stale. I love worship. I love unity. It is pleasant. It is highly refreshing. A man would have to be a fool to love disunity.

The names on the church sign don’t mean much in some cases. Like Unity, Harmony or Fellowship. I like the Junior Hill story. He was driving through a town on the way to a revival meeting and he passed Harmony Baptist Church. In a mile or two he saw another Baptist church named New Harmony. Then he passed a third, Greater New Harmony.  Something is wrong when Unity is a split off of Harmony and Harmony is a split off of Fellowship. You do know the difference between unity and harmony. You tie two tom cats together at the tail and hang them across the clothes line. You will have unity but no harmony. I know you have heard the one about the Baptist that got stranded on a deserted island. When they found him, they noticed he had built three crude huts. So they asked him why he needed three;  he said, “This one is my house, that one is where I go to church and that one over there is where I used to go to church.”

Extra

Good response on hosting the Pastors October 13. We have Terri, Carol and June on board and if push comes to shove, we can make it. Remember, you bring one dish and you get to eat with us. Let Terri or June know if you want to help.

Getting dry again at 1120. We will have to start watering plants again. I enjoyed those showers last week; a couple more this week would be great. I do have a praise concerning church attendance. Counting children, DBC had around 200 Sunday night. We had 150 in the sanctuary. It was very encouraging. I know East Highland’s parking lot is full every Sunday morning. Worship attendance is up and that is a good thing.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.