The Unpardonable Sin

I’ve heard different ministers expound on what they feel the “Unpardonable sin” really is. Over the years I’ve heard sermons about the “Unpardonable Sin” as a person in anger curses god or the Holy Spirit. To me, that has made no sense. I am sure that many people have in anger either taken God’s name in vain and cursed Him or have said they hated Him. It is only my opinion, but if Judas Iscariot had asked Jesus to forgive him, he would have been forgiven.

Recently I heard a message that made more sense to me. The minister talked about the grammar, syntax, and the history of the Pharisees and Scribes. Who should know the Old Testament and the prophecies of the promised Messiah? The Pharisees studied and taught the words, while the Scribes did nothing but read and copy the texts day after day. Certainly they should be aware of the attestations bound up in the revelation of the Promised One. These religious elitists chose to ignore the prophecies of the Scripture and accused Jesus of using the power of Beelzebub to cast out demons and to do miracles.

According to the preacher the verb used, cast accusations at Jesus for each miracle. The Pharisees and Scribes rehearsed this among themselves, ignoring the Word of God, to which they held allegiance, making repeated accusations, rejecting the truth that they saw unfolding before them. They chose to ignore the prophecies of the Scripture and hardened their hearts to the truth. It became a religious sin.

Jesus answered the Scribes and Pharisees on three levels. The first was at a spiritual level, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” The Jesus asks, “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.” He turns their accusations back at them. When he says, “All sins are forgiven and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.”

That sin is rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, rejecting the redemption offered, rebuffing the Holy Spirit, and dying without accepting Jesus as Savior. Once a person is dead, they cannot ask for forgiveness. They cannot accept the redemptive power of Christ’s blood. The sin unto death is refusing the gift of eternal life. This explanation of the “unpardonable sin” makes sense to me.

When a person’s conscience is pricked by the Holy Ghost, it’s proof that the sin unto death hasn’t occurred yet. Or if a person has accepted Christ as Savior, Satan will cause a person to question their salvation to limit that person’s effectiveness and testimony.

The Ever Changing Climate

As much as I dislike the cold and snow, God has designed the change of seasons to suit Him. He didn’t consult me or things of this world would be really messed up. I don’t like the heat and humidity either, so I would be left with a world that would be quite boring. It would be not too hot, not too cold, and there wouldn’t be any storms, but that isn’t the way God created the Earth. His Word says there will be seasons; a time for planting and a time of reaping. Genesis 8:22. “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

He describes cold, hoarfrost, and snow. Psalm 147:16-17 “He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?”

God describes the earth as a sphere much to the chagrin of the flat-earthers. Isaiah 40:22 “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” He lays out the details of the cycle of water from the oceans to the clouds, then rain that flows down in rivers. Job 36:27, 28 “For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly”

God describes the sun to rule the day and moon and stars to rule the night, Psalms 136: 7-9 and like a fine tuned watch, He hung heavenly bodies in space, causing them to rotate and orbit in a graceful ballet. He calls them by name. Psalm 147:4

By simply speaking, God created the universe and all that’s within it. The precision of creation is seen everywhere. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” Psalm 19:1. Even the atom was known. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do.” Hebrews 11:3 

Each part of His creation was specifically designed by His blueprint to replicate itself. DNA says what a creature or plant will be. His Word also states that he made two sexes. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27

Foolishly mankind looks for answers everywhere but where the truth’s been written for them thousands of years ago. God controls the climate and the universe.

 

Sometimes It Seems There’s Snow Way

Early yesterday morning I went outside to clear my driveway after another snowfall. It’s a habit I picked up while my wife Cindy and I had children at home. Kids are prone to accidents and I wanted to be able to drive them to the nearest hospital for care. I also kept at least half a tank of gasoline for the same reason. Back then gasoline stations weren’t open all night. I wanted fuel enough to drive to Pittsburgh should the need arise.

I bundled myself into my clothing and prepared to clean my driveway. The sun hadn’t risen yet and the snow glowed blue. A thin crust of ice coated the fresh snow. I sighed as I started to clear the forecaster’s “1 to 3 inches,” one of many warnings I’d faced over the past few days. The gusting wind was cold and heavy with dampness. I soon tired, felt chilled, and was about to head inside when several birds landed in a nearby tree and began to sing. It lifted my spirits and I thought, “If they can sing in this weather, I can shovel more snow.”

The sun rose, but the cold and moistness remained riding the wind. Chilling again I sat on my wood-hauling wheelbarrow in the lee of my house. After warming up I returned to the task at hand and felt disheartened when I chilled once again. Clearing snow takes extra steps for me. I carry the snow across the road to dump it. The wind wants to blow snow across the road into drifts, so I just help move it farther away.

Chilled and weary, my driveway was not half way done. I was thinking of heading inside and doing a second shift when a stranger stopped and asked if I wanted the pile of snow heaped by the road moved. He had a snowplow on his truck and I said “If you could.” In about eight minutes he shifted a huge pile of snow that would have taken hours for me to move, then he refused payment. No time to head inside now. I was recharged and went back to work.

I shoveled around my car, up the walkway, and porch before heading back to finish the drive. I’d just started when the state snowplow drove up the road scraping snow and salting. That meant only one thing…on their return trip, more snow would end up in my drive. I felt a large twinge of discouragement. I’d just cleared my drive, when they returned, the snow had already been pushed back and only a small trickle ended up in my drive. Blessings can be found even on a cold morning.

 

Slip Sliding Away

On snowy nights like this when I was living at home with my parents Carl and Sybil Miner Beck, Mom would hustle us into the living room to sit on the sofa. Our home was located along Route 711 between Normalville and Indian Head. The picture window faced the highway on a steep hill and when the snow fell heavily, it became coated and slick until the snowplows could clear the snow and lay down antiskid material. It was our perch while we waited for my dad to return from work from the afternoon shift at Walworth Valve Company in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

We would watch vehicles as they attempted to make the hill climb, safe and warm from inside the darkened room,. Back then, very few cars and even trucks had four wheel drive. A Jeep was the only SUV. Snow tires and chains were the “go to” for winter traction. Entertainment was hard to come by and it didn’t take much to create excitement.

Traffic wasn’t as heavy then and with the heavy snows, most people stayed at home choosing not to venture out and risk an accident. No businesses were open twenty-four hours each day like it is now. There were no open all night service stations and there were no such things as a mini-mart. The only gas stations and restaurants were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that stayed open when darkness set in.

We’d watch as some vehicles kept enough speed having snow tires or chains to climb the hill at the first try. We could tell cars that had chains. The clacking, ringing sound was distinct as the car passed before our eyes. Other drivers weren’t so fortunate and their cars swerved and spun to inch their way to the top. One thing those drivers seeking traction did was to make the road even more slippery for those who followed.

There were really some unfortunate drivers who would stop, unable to go forward. They’d back down the hill or turn around in the middle of the road to retreat. Sometimes they’d regroup to make another attempt other times it became a complete rout and the driver would chose to go back the way he came before challenging our the hill.

The entertainment would last only until the revolving amber lights from the snowplow would appear. The rotating lights announced the plow’s arrival. The staccato flash of the yellow beams would shoot though our living room window to shine on our faces and illuminate the inside of the room. The show was over for the night and Mom would close the curtains.

 

 

My Hip is no Longer Hip

As another birthday draws near my body continues to remind me that I’m no longer a child. In my youth, unless a toenail was nearly torn off, a knee completely scabbed over, or a second degree sunburn covered my back, I would pop out of bed and get on with the day and into whatever my energetic brain could devise.

To the person who said, “If I woke up and didn’t feel pain, I’d think I was dead,” you are so right. An accumulation of falls, strains, and other injuries have taken a toll on my chubby body especially my joints. While working at Frick Hospital, both of my shoulders have taken abuse. My right shoulder has a separated tendon for my bicep and my left has impingement. Years of lifting and moving patients has left detrimental effects on many of my body parts.

Both of my knees have been painful, especially in the colder temperatures. With all of the “winter frolicking” and shoveling snow from the driveway, hauling in firewood on a wheelbarrow, and hauling out the ashes it has also affected my left hip. In the hip joint itself, there’s pain with movement. I can’t stop the winter chores, but I’ll try to limit my outdoor activities. There has only one other time that my hips caused me this much pain. That was when I was stationed in Orlando, Florida and allowed my cousins to talk me into attempting to water ski. Although I was much younger then, I was no athlete and chubby to boot. Keeping the skis and my feet close together was nearly impossible. I managed to get to my feet and erect for a few seconds before tumbling beneath the surface of the lake. I tried several times, but never achieved Olympic status and rode in the boat instead. The rest of the day I was able to enjoy, visiting the rest of the day with Aunt Helen, Uncle Jake, and the other cousins,. Later that evening, I returned to base. When I awoke the next morning and tried to walk was a different story. My hip sockets felt as though someone had packed them with coarse sand and gravel. Each step was agony. Each movement grated and chaffed painfully. I was miserable, until the pain slowly diminished over the next few weeks. Perhaps if I would have tried on a single water-surf board I could have avoided the embarrassment of not being able to water ski and the pain that followed.