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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
Ever look at the ingredients list for a bar of soap? I use Irish Spring (for long, long deodorant protection). According to the box it has a great invigorating scent and helps keep me clean and fresh. As for the ingredients I was a little shocked. Guess what is the first listed ingredient for my bar of soap. Soap. No kidding. The first listed ingredient is soap.
There are a lot of other things added that make it distinctly my bar of Irish Spring. Stearic acid and glycerin are added as skin conditioners as well as coconut and/or palm kernel acid. The nice green color is accomplished through D & C Green No. 8 and FD & C Green No. 3. Then there is an ingredient which is called tetrabutyl pentaerythrityl hydroxyhydrocinnamate. Yeah, that stuff. All this extra stuff goes to make plain soap into Irish Spring. But it all starts with getting clean. The extra stuff is not actually all that important and would make no sense if there were no soap to make it get me clean.
So explain to me how people can call themselves "Christian" without the primary ingredient. Face it. Would you buy a bar of soap if it were not soap to begin with? Who wants to buy a bar of tetrabutyl pentaerythrityl hydroxyhydrocinnamate? The primary ingredient of a Christian is Christ. Yet so many claim to be Christians who have never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. They may seem like the right texture and smell the same as others who really are Christians, but something is missing. They aren't "clean". If they were they wouldn't be opposed to attending church, adopting a different lifestyle than before and sharing the truth of Jesus with other people.
The apostle Paul had this little controversy nailed. "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:1,2 Paul was saying, "Check my list of ingredients. The primary ingredient is Jesus Christ and Him crucified." What's ours?
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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