Birthdays and History

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. It also marks for numismatists (coin collectors) 100 years since the famous minting of the 1909 VDB pennies. In August of 1909, the initial offering of the Lincoln cent was revealed in the various forms produced by mints in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Mintmarks from Denver and San Francisco were noted with a D or S beneath the year. Philadelphia adopted the “plain” or no additional letter format for the penny. In this initial year of this new version of the one-cent coin, succeeding the earlier Indianhead pennies, the initials of the engraver, Victor D. Brenner appeared on the reverse at the bottom edge of the coin. Protests arose over the initialed inscriptions, with some suggesting that it was commissioned work and therefore not to be artistically identified. Protestors won out and while the coin faces remained the same in following years, the initials were dropped. Interestingly, the 1909 became something of a novelty. Even more so was the fact that the San Francisco mint produced significantly fewer pennies of that year and thus the 1909-S VDB penny became a collector’s delight, both for its scarcity and value.
This year, to honor the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, four different reverses are being minted and released at different times during the year to commemorate Lincoln’s birth in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois, and his Presidency in Washington, D.C. Each new reverse of the Lincoln cent will bear the initials of those who designed the work and produced it initially. Interestingly, now the V.D.B. for Victor D. Brenner can be found under the shoulder of Lincoln on the face of the coin.
While remembering the details seems interesting to some and less so to others, in similar ways, we often take the ordinary and routine of our days and forget the significant history that enabled our own opportunities and blessings. As our church celebrates 175 years, we would do well to pause and recognize the gifts of many along the way that have remained less known perhaps, but nonetheless significant contributors to the life and work of the congregation that has blessed untold numbers through the years. Our discoveries in researching the past will mark interesting days of ministry and service. The names will be many, the offerings to each generation significant, and with clear voice and intention our aim has been to bring glory to our God. So together let us with one voice and one heart, unite to lift up the name of Jesus Christ our Lord…proclaiming the Gospel and sharing with all the good news. The details do matter. The lessons to be shared are important. The story to be told…is life changing…forever.

The Evolution of Greed

It doesn’t take much to find evidence of greed in the marketplace or the boardroom these days. Greed has apparently become the motivation for many people’s self-ruination. The ultimate source of greed is the willingness to bow down to false gods. ….of all descriptions. It is a misplacement of trust in that which is ultimately incapable of being a source of trust. To call such things false gods is simply to understand what many have allowed to have control of their lives, whether it is their possessions or their obsessions, or their lusts for power in the worlds they choose to “rule.” Sadly the descriptions of those false gods would easily fall into that biblical description of idols written of in Psalm 115:4-7:
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.”
Such descriptions relate the truth about those things we place before ourselves to worship and bow down to, rather than God. The “punch line” in this Psalm however is the next verse that says: “Those who make them (idols) are like them; so are all who trust in them.”
Greed is but one evidence of misplaced faith. It is the mark of a “taker” not a “giver.” It is the characteristic of one whose possessions take predominance over relationship. The results of greed are never attractive, but typically exploitive, corrupt, and abusing. Greed destroys those who are its victims and those who in bowing to “false gods” become overwhelmed with the never fulfilling nature of seeking what cannot be found apart from a relationship with the true Lord of all.

The Measure of a Man

When Tom Wolfe wrote his novel, A Man in Full, it was a satirical view of a high-flying Atlanta real estate tycoon. More than a few of his descriptions were familiar places or venues, with names only slightly changed. But the story conveyed the often
sad story of those who pursue financial gain at the cost of their family relationships and personal integrity, accompanied by their own moral and ethical downfall.
A recent issue of Forbes Magazine highlights the richest Americans. Mostly billionaires who have made fortunes in everything from cosmetics to oil pipelines to chicken sandwiches. But the measure of these individuals is poorly judged by the dollars that are associated with their business endeavors. The real measure of these persons is in the character of their lives. It is in the visible fruit of their existence and their impact for good upon the world. It is the real measure of the individual that meets of the tests of the times and remains confidant in something more than their accounts at the local bank.
The challenge to those with wealth is the same as it has always been. Where do you put your trust? Poor men, while having little, should be equally impressed to recognize that their hope is not in what they do not have, but whom they might know as their help and their strength for life.
Ultimately, our Maker will judge our measure of worth. He is our perfect judge…He knows us best…and fully. If that is whom you are preparing to stand before to give account…it should challenge your actions and commitments of stewardship daily.
But the good news is this, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works. Lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV)