Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

• Daniel 3:16-18

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

• Daniel 5:16-22

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

• Acts 7:54-60

I have been called a religious kook recently, someone who must be ignored.  No big deal.  I have had people say that in the past.  It’s funny.  If someone recognizes you as being someone who takes his Christian beliefs with him to work, shopping, and home, they say you are a Bible scholar, but if they do not like you, you are a religious kook, and that even comes from church goers on rare occasions.

But look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They were ordered to an assembly.  Everyone else bowed down, but they did not.  They should have known that someone would be looking.  And when Nebuchadnezzar was about to throw them into the fiery furnace, they had no assurance from God that He would rescue them.  They were just not going to bow down to that statue.  Now those are some religious kooks.

Or when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego reached heaven, maybe God said, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

Now Daniel?  That was inexcusable.  Pull the drapes so no one sees you praying.  But, no, Daniel prays in the open when the king’s decree was to not worship other gods.  Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, and he survived.  Praying in the open when that was against the local law?  Now that is a religious kook!

Or when Daniel reached heaven, maybe God said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Now Stephen could have kept his mouth shut.  But no, he had to look up and tell everyone he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father.  They were upset before, but after he said that, they picked up stones and killed Stephen.  Now that is a religious kook!

Or when Stephen reached heaven, maybe God said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I have heard the story of a missionary who went to a tribe of cannibals.  The cannibals killed and ate the mission team.  Then a generation later, the son of one of those missionaries returned to the same tribe.  The tribesmen spoke of how they felt different after they ate the missionaries, and the young missionary was able to lead them to Jesus.  Now, going into a cannibal’s territory may classify you as a religious kook, but to have your father eaten by the tribe and you go to the same place?  Now that is a religious kook!

Or when the missionaries reached heaven, maybe God said, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

One of the members of my graduating class from high school was a Wycliffe Bible Translator.  She went from civilization on a two-day hike through mountains to reach a village in an African country.  The tribe in that village spoke a language that had never been put in print.  She learned the language and then she started translating the Bible into that language, but she had to teach them how to read their own language.  She got sick, her and her family, and they were not able to complete their mission, but she continued to translate, sending books of the Bible to the ones who took her place.

But maybe when she reaches heaven, God says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I have posted more than 3200 posts on this blogsite.  I have taught Sunday school off and on for many years, at least covering a few decades.  I have gone on lay witness mission trips.  I have done a lot of volunteer work.  But what I have done pales in comparison to the others just mentioned.

And someone calling me a religious kook does not know me at all.  I am far from religious.  I serve Jesus Christ, not some religion that may or may not follow their own confessions, creeds, and polity.  Do not get me mixed up with anything “religious.”  I just want to be more like Jesus every day.

And as for the kookie?  I might be guilty of that.  A quirk here or there never hurt anybody.

Regardless of all that, I want to someday hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.