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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
In two days we will remember the horror of that day four years ago when we found out just how vulnerable we really are. Since that time so many things have happened related to that day that have had far reaching effects on our entire society. We have lost a number of our people in military actions around the world as we have embraced the need for preemptive actions to prevent something like the World Trade Center attack from ever happening again. But are we truly safe?
We build houses that are sturdy and then surround them with glass. My father used to say that the only reason you put a lock on a door is to keep an honest person honest. Anyone else could care less about the lock. If they want in your house they will enter it whatever way they deem fitting. The back door to my home is all glass with one of those vinyl doorlight inserts that makes it look like there are a number of smaller panes of glass. Someone could easily jump through that door if they wanted into my home badly enough. So, am I truly safe?
A friend of mine has an alarm system that was professionally installed for him and is monitored by a service which automatically calls the police. He confessed to me that all it was good for was to catch a burglar. If someone wanted to do him or his family bodily harm they could probably break in and do their violent deed and get away before the police would respond. So just how safe is safe? We felt safe and secure as a nation four years ago today. How safe do we feel now?
If I were to invoke the names of Columbine, Grayson (KY) and Oklahoma City, what would be your reaction? We weren't safe then, were we? In all truthfulness, safety is a final thing not an intermediate thing. We demand safer cars in which to travel and yet a portion of the America driving public have their airbags disabled and do not wear their seat belts. The end result is when you know whether or not you are safe. So, again, I raise this question, are we truly safe?
Let me phrase it another way. If someone were to break into your home this evening and kill your entire family would they be saved? Remember, the proof of safety is in the end result. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" Matthew 16:25, 26 We can think temporally all we want. Alarms and locks might help us sleep at night. But the end result is when you know whether or not you are safe. So, again, I raise the question, are you truly safe?
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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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