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GOOD MORNING MY FROGLETS & FROGSTERS!
My little chats with you are about things that are important to me because when you have lived as long as me,
many things are not as important anymore.
The most IMPORTANT THING ABOUT GOD
IS THAT HE IS GOD, AND HE IS MY GOD.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE BIBLE IS THAT IT IS GOD’S WORD TO ME.
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT GOD’S WORD IS THAT IT IS TRUE AND NEVER CHANGES,
AND WE SHOULD TAKE TIME TO LEARN WHAT GOD EXPECTS OF US.
I want you to never, never, NEVER forget that God made you, and He knows how life works best for us, for you and me.
The guide lines, instructions, or rules God gives us, in this Book are for our good,
And when we disobey those instructions, God calls it SIN
“S-I-N”
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| LITTLE WORD~A SERIOUS THING |
Sin is a small word but with a big meaning.
SIN is a very serious thing because God is HOLY. God HATES SIN.
SIN is serious because if we sin to much, we soon forget what is right.
SIN grows secretly, and then it can become a part of your life.
So what is SIN?
SIN IS DISOBEYING GOD.
SIN IS DOING WHAT GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO DO.
OR SOMETIMES NOT WANTING WHAT GOD DOES WANT US TO DO.
SIN IS A VERY SERIOUS THING!
And many unpleasant things can happen when we sin.
I have messed up in life too and most of it was because I disobeyed. We all make bad decisions, have bad thoughts, and don’t always do what we should. We might get spanked, have “special talks” or even time outs.
TELL STORY OF CUTTING FINGER WITH MACHETE.
WAY BACK IN TIME, TO 1959, when I was a young Frogger….
AFTER READ THE STORY:
But the most amazing thing is that no matter how huge the SIN or bad things we have done, God is a big FORGIVER AND A FORGETTER, and THAT IS CALLED GRACE.
But sometimes we have to live with the consequences.
Yes, God loves you and He loves me but God is HOLY and cannot be friends with SIN.
God so HATES SIN and cannot tolerate sin that he created a place for people who SIN AND CONTINUE in their SIN. That is the place where people who reject God will live forever without God.
The Bible is very clear that GOD HATES SIN.
God does not kind of dislike SIN.
God is not just irritated by sin. GOD HATES SIN!
Yes, I have messed up many times in life.
My GREAT-GREAT- GRANDFATHER SOLOMON MESSED Up just like JONAH.
THE YEAR WAS 1893
Great, Great Grandpa Solomon S. Ediger huffed out of a church business meeting and announced to his family that they were moving to Oklahoma. It was a very sudden decision after the elders had approached him to be their pastor. He felt called and knew that God wanted him in the minstry to pastor the church in Inman, Kansas, however, like Jonah, he figured that the best way to get out of it was to leave Kansas and travel the other way.
Little did he dream of the consequences which would transpire and a chain of unfortunate events to follow.
As soon as the canvas-covered wagon was ready they set off for a ten-day journey. The family travelled 300 miles from McPherson county in Kansas in Washita County, Oklahoma with two boys (6 and 8) and a baby.
They soon found themselves on the Oklahoma frontier on a claim.
The nearest town was 60 miles away.
Self reliance was a requirement for these pioneers.
The claim he filed turned out to be the worst, full of rocks and gullies. Having nothing to build with he built a sod dugout on the bank of a river only to have it cave in one night during a first rain. They moved back into the covered wagon until another dugout was made.Dirt floors and dirt walls. Centipedes, scorpions, and snakes would come in, especially at night.
The young mother gave birth to another baby within those dirt walls. When that baby was two months old he screamed so loud one night waking up the whole family to find a scorpion in his cradle.
Poverty and hardship struck every part of their lives. During dry season, they had to haul water from a creek two miles away. Two attempts to dig a well failed with bad water. Other People with good water would not share. They kept their wells locked up as water was so scarce.
As time went on the family was wondering why they had even moved to Oklahoma. The truth came out as he sadly told the family he had run from God.
Troubles in Oklahoma seemed to grow. They had to sneak out at night to get fire wood because of fear of the Indians. They had a good crop of sorghum and some wheat one year.
The nearest town, El Reno, was 60 miles away. A round trip would take them a week and they had to cross the Canadian River. There was danger of quicksand, they lost a haybaler but saved the horses. Another time they were crossing that same river in the winter while it was iced over. They did not realize how thin the ice was as it was covered with sand that the wind had blown. The whole wagon and everyone tumbled into the river in the dark of night.
That ordeal nearly cost him his life and many years of suffering. Finally he said, "We are going back to Kansas." They packed up their belongings and headed back to Kansas, taking the toll bridge over the Canadian River.
When they arrived back every one welcomed them back and another farm was started. The Lord began to bless them spiritually and financially. Crops were good. There was much crying and praying when again he was elected to be the pastor of that same church. “Great,Great Grandpa Solomon dedicated his life anew to God and admonished his family to live a life pleasing to God and to let their lives shine, as they were now preacher's children."
The Lord blessed him with a big family, 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls. AND ONE OF THEM WAS MY GRAND FATHER AARON or POP as we all called him.
In the fall of 1910, they all moved to Dallas, Oregon. In 1912, He organized and became the first pastor of the E.M.B Church in Dallas. He was ordained as a minister by the conference of the Hebron Church(Mennonite).
This is what was said about great grandpa and great grandma by one of their children: "Being with them one always sensed their love and devotion to their Heavenly Father. Grandpa was always to share a new truth he discovered in the Word always he would apply it in some way to his own live or to ours.
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| Late 1800's to early 1900's What the church looked like when G.Grandpa Solomon, G.Great,Great Grandpa S. was the Pastor. |
He never failed to warn where necessary, but always with an added lot of encouragement. Grandpa took the words in Psalms 126:6 literally and never failed to remind his family of its truth when harvest time came. Psalm 126:6 (KJV)
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him..
Some of his boys remember how Grandpa wept and prayed while seeding his fields in the spring."
(The following accounts were gleaned from what had been described in the October 12,1961 issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review.)
IN CONCLUSION
We can not keep God’s guide lines or rules on our own and that is where we need Jesus.
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| 2004, The Crumbling Church Building |
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| The original sod building |
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| Great, Grandpa,Dad Loren Standing next to the original sod church building, the church where his Grandpa Solomon first began his ministry of preaching God's Word and where the family first worshiped when they came from Russia. |
“What is sin?
It is the glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected
. The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized
. The person of God not loved. That is sin.” YES, THAT IS SIN!!!!!!!
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| Great, Grandpa, Solomon S. |
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