People

Old Doctortown and God’s Old Paths

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments
Railroad Bridge over Altamaha River at Old Doctortown (SE Georgia)

Railroad Bridge over Altamaha River at Old Doctortown (SE Georgia)

This railroad bridge and Old Doctortown are isolated in the back reaches of land owned by the Rayonier Paper Mill outside Jesup, Georgia. The Altamaha River that the bridge crosses is one of the largest along the Atlantic coast and for decades was filled with barge traffic bringing lumber and naval stores down to the coast.

Doctortown was once a thriving community located at one of the few crossings of the Altamaha. There’s nothing left now except a few mounds and some signs that denote where a few of the buildings were, and oak trees huge enough that it’s obvious they were growing there long before there was a Doctortown.

Being an engineer, I sure would like to see the drawbridge work (if it still does?)

As I get older, I seem to notice more places called “Old” something. In this busy, technological, digital age we can think things were so much different long ago, and “old” was just, you know, so old. But, as Solomon wrote “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV).

People are still people. Doctortown, before it was Old, had good people, middle of the road people and bad people, sorrows and joys, life and death, just as we have today. But, the greatest thing is the Living God back then is the same Living God we have today (“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”)! For that reason, we need to remember the old days and learn from them, changing things that need to be improved, but making no changes just for the sake of change, or especially, not making changes because the culture demands it. We need to follow the old paths when they are God’s paths.

“Thus says the Lord:  “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV

Doctortown Historical Marker (Southeast Georgia)

Doctortown Historical Marker (Southeast Georgia)

Here’s the Historical Marker for Doctortown. It’s located upriver from the actual site, at a location that’s accessible to the public.

We Sinners Sometimes Need an Electric Fence to Keep Us In.

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments
Electric Fence Around Pasture

Electric Fence Around Pasture

My cousin began shimmying, shook his shotgun in the air, and let out a yelp that sounded like a turkey gobble. We were walking through a section of tall grass and I was afraid a snake had bitten him. But, as I cautiously stepped closer, I saw a thin wire in a clear spot about two feet off the ground. The shock of walking into an electric fence caused his gyrations.

Several years later, I discovered what he felt like when I cut across our neighbor’s cow pasture. The electric fence that surrounded the pasture was clearly visible so I easily avoided walking into it. One spot had insulators in the three wires as a “gate”. The insulators formed a handgrip you could move from one side and hang on the other while you went through.

But, I didn’t notice one insulator was installed incorrectly. The wire wrapped around the end, as it should, but there was an extra inch or two that curled behind the handle. As I grabbed the insulator to open the gate, I touched that protruding piece, got a good jolt, and quickly dropped it. I don’t think I shimmied, but a yelp or two did escape.

An electric fence keeps animals in a pasture, most of the time. The three or four strands of wire attached to insulators on stick-like fiberglass posts, are less expensive than a full fence, and are simple to rearrange when necessary. The shock received when the animal touches the wire is usually enough to keep them contained (My cousin and I understand why.)

But, having observed the cows next door, I can say sometimes they will suffer for an instant to gain what they want. Once, I watched a calf stand before the fence, hesitate, and then walk back and forth a bit, appearing to be making a go-no go decision. Then, he stuck his head down, pushed his nose through, stretched the wires out, and walked through with a jerky motion as the intermittent jolts hit him. After coming through the other side, he shook himself from head to toe like a retriever coming out of the water, then put his head down and started munching the clump of grass that had apparently been his target outside the fence.

One night my wife, Sharon, and I heard clomping on the side porch. When I opened the door to check, two huge cow eyes stared back at me. The full-grown cow they belonged to moved toward the open door, but thankfully stopped when I yelled and slammed the door. That night the animal apparently decided to leave the pasture and meet the neighbors, no matter how painful the shock of the fence might be.

Christians are sometimes described as being like sheep, but, from those incidents, it seems we can be like cows too. God’s Word gives us boundaries, and the Holy Spirit guides us to stay within them.

Yet, like the cows, we sometimes push our way through anyway. We think we just have to get to that greener grass promised on the other side. But, rather than barreling through the boundaries, our responsibility is to take heed of the first tingle in our conscience, or especially react to the shock that makes us shimmy and yelp a bit, and turn around, and stay “inside the pasture.” After all, God’s pasture has the greenest grass and is the safest and most secure place to be.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures…” Psalms 23:1:2 ESV

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalms 4:8 ESV

The One Another’s in the Bible Tell Us What to Do

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments
Tibouchina 2013

Tibouchina 2013

One of the daily devotionals on John MacArthur’s website (www.gty.org) mentioned the “one anothers”. They did sound like good things to do today.

Edify one another (Rom. 14:19).
“Serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).
“Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2).
Submit to one another (Eph. 5:21).
Forgive one another (Col. 3:13).
Instruct one another (Col. 3:16).
“Comfort one another” (1 Thess. 4:18).
Rebuke one another (Titus 1:13).
Encourage one another to do good (Heb. 10:24-25).
Confess our sins to one another (James 5:16).
“Pray for one another” (James 5:16).
“Be hospitable to one another” (1 Peter 4:9-10).

Choosing Your Reference Point in Life

/ Bill Jones / 8 Comments
Time zone tracking

Time zone tracking (Photo credit: sarahdillon)

The engineering project is in the middle of nowhere, several miles from a crossroads called Cedar Springs, Georgia. The industrial plant sits on the Georgia side of the Chattahoochee River, which is the boundary between Georgia and Alabama, and where the Eastern and Central time zones meet.

Because it is so isolated, the closest decent motel is twenty-eight miles west in Dothan, Alabama. That makes it interesting from a “what time is it?” standpoint. The work is in the Eastern Time zone, so you show up and leave according to that. Lunch is on Eastern time.

But, otherwise, you’re living in Central time. The clocks in Dothan show one hour earlier than across the river. Cell phones register Central time. That might help if you want to get in an extra hour of sleep, but not if you have an appointment back on the other side.

There are ways to handle the time warp. One is to try to remember the hour difference and factor it in when you look at a clock. However, the simplest way is to leave your watch on Eastern time, and set the clock in the motel room up an hour to match it. Then, eat and sleep according to Eastern time. You choose which side of the river you want to be your reference, and live by it.

The conflicting time zones are much like us Christians living “in the world”. On Sundays, we get a good dose of God’s Word, and fellowship, and we can spend devotional time the other mornings to stay close to Him for a few minutes. But, much of the other time, we are across the river, so to speak, in the world.

The Bible teaches that even though we live in the world, we aren’t to be “of the world.” That means our words, actions, attitude and motivation throughout the day should be different from the unbelievers around us. The simplest way (and really the only way) to do that is to set God’s Word as our reference, and rely on the Holy Spirit to help our efforts to live by that reference. That way, it won’t matter what “time zone” we’re in, because our spiritual clock will always be correct.

These are Jesus’ words of prayer to the Father – “I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth. As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” John 17:16-18 KJV