From the Arkansas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans:
Army of
Trans
Mississippi
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Information for the Army on the Move !!!
Brothers and fellow Compatriots:
Below is my message for Sunday, March 20th. As always, please feel free to forward or reply. Your comments are most welcome. It may also be used as a Chaplain's article for your camp or other newsletter.
To those who forward this message to other people or groups, I thank you. It is very much appreciated.
May our Lord bless you all in His service and in service to our most worthy Confederation.
Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D.
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
Member, Chaplain's Corps Committee
Sons of Confederate Veterans
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Work In Progress.
This morning, as I walked around outside, coffee in hand, trying to think of a subject for this morning's Sunday Message, a neighbor came by walking her dog. I made a nice comment about her dog (I never met a dog I didn't like), and we exchanged a few brief pleasantries. She then said, "You have a nice house." I couldn't help but wonder, Compared to what? I thanked her, and replied to her very kind remark, "It's a work in Progress."
When my wife and I bought this house I knew there was some work to be done which I felt could be accomplished before we moved in, and for the most part it was. However, as the work was being done, I began to realize there was much more needed to improve the efficiency and appearance of our new home. So now, seven years later it's still a work in progress.
This applies to people as well as houses. No one knows more about life than a sixteen-year-old who has never had the responsibility of providing a loaf of bread for a family. No one knows more about the Bible than someone who has read a few verses and went to Sunday School a time or two. No one knows more about what's going on in a church than someone who never attends. And of course, no one knows more about the Sons of Confederate Veterans than someone who doesn't know a thing about who we are or what we do. We sometimes call them "Armchair quarterbacks" or "Jailhouse lawyers."
It seems the less someone knows about something, the more they think they know, and unfortunately, the more willing they are to express their ideas. As someone once said, "I little knowledge is a dangerous thing." We learn about life when we begin to live it. Then we realize how much more difficult it is than our parents made it seem. Again, it's been said, "The older I get, the smarter my father becomes." We gain knowledge about the Bible when we begin to study it. Then we learn that it's deeper and much more complex than we imagined. The more we learn, the more we know, and the more we know, the more we understand, and the more we understand, the more we realize we don't know, and the more we realize we don't know, the more we study and learn. It's a work in progress.
It's called growth. Through experience and study we are all growing in life, and in knowledge. But, we should also be growing spiritually. The best explanation for spiritual growth I know of was spoken by John the Baptist, when He said, "He (meaning Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3: 30) As our Lord becomes more and more important and central in our life, and we become less and less, we grow . . . and that's a work in progress.
Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
Army of
Trans
Mississippi
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Information for the Army on the Move !!!
Brothers and fellow Compatriots:
Below is my message for Sunday, March 20th. As always, please feel free to forward or reply. Your comments are most welcome. It may also be used as a Chaplain's article for your camp or other newsletter.
To those who forward this message to other people or groups, I thank you. It is very much appreciated.
May our Lord bless you all in His service and in service to our most worthy Confederation.
Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D.
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
Member, Chaplain's Corps Committee
Sons of Confederate Veterans
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Work In Progress.
This morning, as I walked around outside, coffee in hand, trying to think of a subject for this morning's Sunday Message, a neighbor came by walking her dog. I made a nice comment about her dog (I never met a dog I didn't like), and we exchanged a few brief pleasantries. She then said, "You have a nice house." I couldn't help but wonder, Compared to what? I thanked her, and replied to her very kind remark, "It's a work in Progress."
When my wife and I bought this house I knew there was some work to be done which I felt could be accomplished before we moved in, and for the most part it was. However, as the work was being done, I began to realize there was much more needed to improve the efficiency and appearance of our new home. So now, seven years later it's still a work in progress.
This applies to people as well as houses. No one knows more about life than a sixteen-year-old who has never had the responsibility of providing a loaf of bread for a family. No one knows more about the Bible than someone who has read a few verses and went to Sunday School a time or two. No one knows more about what's going on in a church than someone who never attends. And of course, no one knows more about the Sons of Confederate Veterans than someone who doesn't know a thing about who we are or what we do. We sometimes call them "Armchair quarterbacks" or "Jailhouse lawyers."
It seems the less someone knows about something, the more they think they know, and unfortunately, the more willing they are to express their ideas. As someone once said, "I little knowledge is a dangerous thing." We learn about life when we begin to live it. Then we realize how much more difficult it is than our parents made it seem. Again, it's been said, "The older I get, the smarter my father becomes." We gain knowledge about the Bible when we begin to study it. Then we learn that it's deeper and much more complex than we imagined. The more we learn, the more we know, and the more we know, the more we understand, and the more we understand, the more we realize we don't know, and the more we realize we don't know, the more we study and learn. It's a work in progress.
It's called growth. Through experience and study we are all growing in life, and in knowledge. But, we should also be growing spiritually. The best explanation for spiritual growth I know of was spoken by John the Baptist, when He said, "He (meaning Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3: 30) As our Lord becomes more and more important and central in our life, and we become less and less, we grow . . . and that's a work in progress.
Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi
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