Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

B.B. and I were praying in the “green room’.  The ‘green room’ is Aunt Pink and Aunt Gwen’s restroom outside the den where the Sunday school class was now held.

Arabella burst into the restroom, “What have I missed?”

I gasped, “I thought my heart just stopped!”

B.B. laughed, “Belle, tone it down.  You nearly gave Stinker a heart attack.  We were just praying.  We’ll let the class know what is going on.”

I raised my head, “No, I was silently praying that Arabella would come in and change the mood.  Thanks, kiddo!”

Belle turned her head to one side, “Am I always going to be ‘kiddo’?  You know, I am in high school these days.”

B.B. turned to me, “Have you heard of any three-alarm fires at Flintheart High School?”

Arabella huffed, “I am not an arson.  I like school!”

I groaned, “But your codename is Fireball, kiddo.  And if you occasionally substitute for the Turtle when you are going the veterinarian school, then maybe we can drop the kiddo, but you will have to refer to us as Dr. B.B. and Dr. Stinker by then.”

Arabella moaned, “I can’t win for losing.”

The three of us were laughing when we entered the classroom.

Joseph led us in prayer.

The lead was sung by Sally Mae, Wilma, Arabella, Menzie and Carla.  At alto, there was Brooke, Mercedes, and Mags Lothrop Kildare.  At tenor, Michael, Mike Lothrop Kildare, Samuel, and Emmett.  Dr. Ben, Fred, and Darrell sang baritone.  And then Dr. Kildare and Goober sang bass.  The song was Like Jesus by A. D. Ellington.  Mike Kildare had been given permission to hide his “junk” in the corner of the den, with a black curtain around it.  But besides a few chimes, he slid a drum stick through some wind chimes at the end of each chorus.  Mags played the cello.  Darrell played the guitar.  And Emmett was at the keyboard.  We were going to have to start having our classes in a concert hall if Emmett’s band kept growing.

Emmett added, “Did that set the mood, Aunt Jemima?”

I asked, “That was lovely.  I see Mike is continuing to add to his percussion section.  Are you writing these arrangements on a weekly basis?”

Emmett shrugged, “Yeah, my brain hears the music, and then I just put the notes on paper.  So far, our little orchestra is made up of quick studies.  And this week, Mrs. Kildare changed her part a bit.  What I wrote got her fingers tied into knots, so she changed a few transitions.  But I’m learning.”

Samuel said, “Aunt Jemima, what Attribute of God are we studying today?”

I laughed, “Samuel, we are in a new series.  The MacDougals found a blog on Sweet to the Soul Ministries. It seems that this ministry creates, or created since I cannot find anything within the past two years…  Well, they made lists of Bible verses based on one theme or another.  They would come up with 31, so there were enough verses to focus on one verse each day of any month.  One of those was 31 verses about the Attributes of God, but they went in a totally different direction.  According to the blog site, they sell this stuff on Etsy.  But Professor Angus and Mamma Missy covered the first two.  I want to continue that with God – the Conformer.”

Arabella asked, “Aunt Jemima, doesn’t Romans 12:2 state ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’?”

I laughed, “Wow!  I would have expected that response from a lot of people, but not you.  Blaise comes to mind, but might I ask you, Fireball, if you have read the verses that I e-mailed everyone?”  She nodded.  “Okay, then we need to start by defining conformed and transformed.”

Easy, my husband, a.k.a. Mr. Dictionary, said, “Oxford Language says that conform means ‘comply with rules, standards, or laws.’  Oxford language says that transform means ‘make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of’.  So, without looking at a biblical definition, conforming is following the rules, but whose rules?  The verse you quoted, Fireball, states the conforming to this world.  But be transformed in our minds to God’s set of rules, God’s way of doing things.  Aunt Jemima says we will get to transformation later, but we can look at conforming as sanctification here on earth.  We cannot become exactly like Jesus until we die, but if we have really committed our lives to God, we will get to be more like Him every day.  So, that is conforming to the likeness of God.  So, when we look at conforming, we have to be careful what rules, standards, or laws we are conforming to.  We should be looking toward the heavenly things.”

Arabella giggled, “Thank you, Mr. Dictionary.  I got a little confused when Paul tells the Romans to conform, but not conform.  You cleared that up nicely.”

I smiled, “Before we go further, Penny and Blake are not here today.  She is back home, but she has been put on bedrest.  She has preeclampsia.  That is a high blood pressure condition brought on during pregnancy, usually in the second half.  She also has gestational diabetes.  Both of these are serious conditions.  We need to pray for her and her unborn child.”

As I finished, I was hearing a whirring sound.  We all turned to see Penny riding a motorized wheelchair.  Blake was behind her.

Penny said, “I wouldn’t miss this class for anything if I was in the building.  Aunt Gwen came by with GrandPa’s scooter.  He can walk more than I can.  And before anyone starts crying or something like that, I am carrying a miracle baby.  The doctors said that Blake did not have enough sperm, but we kept saying that it only needs one.  So, now, I am praying for another miracle.  Nothing comes easy in this life.  If it does, it wasn’t worth it.  I was an athlete.  I played high school basketball.  The doctors think I had a slight high blood pressure problem that was masked by my athleticism.  I found out that I had an aunt who had preeclampsia.  Those two things are markers for ‘Hey, you’re next.’  I refused to quit work.  I know Mommie Pinkie would reduce our rent since I am bedridden, but as long as I can run this scooter, I can do something.  Now, besides Arabella starting us of with humor, what have we missed?”

Easy shrugged, “For the short definition to God being the conformer, we are to be made more like Jesus here on earth.  The big transformation bodily comes at death, but we’ll get to the transformation of the mind later on.  Definitions and the song are all you missed.”

Penny laughed, “Somebody flipped a switch, and I have been listening all the way down the hall in the apartment building.  I only didn’t hear when we got to the covered walkway and the Big House.”

Julia groaned, “I will have your husband work on that.  Maybe I just didn’t set the switches right.  I have been hearing from a lot of people that they wanted to hear what went on in the class, but they weren’t in a couple status.  They hear that the classes are fun.”

B.B. winked, “Fun?  I would hope that we keep interest up for the topic and do some education.”

Arabella mumbled, “Wait!  I thought Aunt Jemima and Mr. Dictionary taught the class.  Are you the Bossy Boss of the classroom, too!”

B.B. snickered, “I was using the royal ‘we’ Arabella.  I think we all attend because we enjoy it, but it would not be as important as Penny just said unless we learned something.“

Penny smiled, “This class means everything to me.  Blake and I both became Christians right here in this class, just not in this room.  We keep growing until we don’t fit.”

“But thinking about learning something…” I added.

Blake (Romans 8:29) “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Blake said, “Everybody that God chose to be His, they should all be conformed to the image of Jesus.  When it says image, I am thinking that is not a physical image.  We don’t need to grow long hair and a beard, but we do need to love one another and do what we can to care for those that can’t get around.”

Easy asked, “Since Penny has a scooter, how do you help her get around?”

Blake shrugged, “I mostly try to get her to slow down, but if she drops something, I pick it up so she doesn’t have to bend over.  Aunt Gwen fixed us up with a shower bench.  So, we do not have to worry about falls in the shower.  Penny can do a lot, but that’s the problem.  Because she can, she wants to.”

Penny growled, “I have always had to do for myself.  It takes some getting used to.  But I will admit that Blake does a great job with the cooking, laundry, and cleaning.  In that aspect, he is being the hands and feet of Jesus. And he checks my vitals and keeps it on a chart to give to the doctor.  Blake does a lot.”

Blaise (Colossians 3:9-14) “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Blaise said, “Thank you so much, Sister of mine.  You entrust me with the longer passage.  This talks about taking off the old self and putting on the new.  That is another way of saying conform.  We get rid of worldly things and set our sights on Godly things.  But those things are not for the next world.  The compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are for this world.  And just as God gives to us in this world, He also forgives us.  We must also forgive.  And God also commands us to love.  Paul tells the Colossians that if we love, we can attain unity.”

I smiled, “Very good, little bro, but you were a bit syrupy, and do not puff out your chest so much when you are talking about being humble.  But the conforming was in the first sentence.  I wanted Blaise to continue to show some attributes of God.  God is compassionate.  God is kind, humble in that He allows us free will.  God is gentle, and He has tons of patience.  God shows Mercy in that He forgives.  And in these verses, the Apostle Paul is telling us how to conform to the image of Jesus.”

Brooke (1 Corinthians 15:49) “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”

Brooke smiled, “This is kind of a different way of saying we get rid of the old and we get the new, but what if the old keeps hanging around?”

Joseph smiled, “We are made new creations, but we still live in the same old body.  We have to see in ourselves what is sinful.  Most of that is straight forward, but sometimes, we might not think we are doing something wrong.  But that wrong thinking leads to wrongdoing down the road.  Thus, anything that takes our eyes off Jesus can be considered a sin.  The Holy Spirit guides us, but sometimes we have so much that needs cleaning up, the Holy Spirit has to work with us slowly.  Remember what Aunt Jemima said about God being patient.”

Fred asked, “Does everyone call Stinker Aunt Jemima?”

Easy said, “I don’t, but remember.  Since Jemima was the daughter in a second family for Rev C.S.L., she was an aunt the moment she was born.  And it helps with the younger kids to call her something other than ‘Stinker’.”  Fred nodded.

Goober (2 Timothy 3:16-17) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Goober said, “Aunt Jemima, thank you for calling on me.  This verse gives us the source of those things you mentioned before.  We can be more like Jesus by being compassionate, kind, and gentle, which is hard for me to be on the football field.  But we find out how Jesus lived His life and the way He carried himself by reading the Bible.  When Paul wrote this, when he said Scriptures, he meant the Old Testament.  But the Old Testament points to Christ Jesus.  And at times, we need rebuking and correcting.  Life is not always teddy bears and lollipops.”

I cringed, “Goober, thinking of you with a teddy bear is frightening.”

Goober snickered, “Honest, Aunt Jemima, I have never eaten a teddy bear.  Lollipops, that’s a different subject, but I do that in the dark or my teammates would laugh at me.  But I got four sacks in the home opener yesterday.  I think God is helping me find a way to glorify Him.”

Joseph said, “I watched the game, and you were pointing skyward a lot, and kneeling in prayer on the sidelines.  God is using you, but it puts a target on your back.”  Goober smiled and nodded.

I said, “I have no more Scriptures, but is Grannie Fannie here?”

Grannie Fannie snickered, “You know I am right behind you, Jemima”

I asked, “Grannie Fannie, can you lead us in our new benediction?”

Grannie Fannie (Romans 15:13) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Lauren ran up to Menzie and Samuel, “Mommie!  Daddy!  The buses!  The bus driver is here.”  Then she ran to Grannie Fannie and hugged her.

Everyone went by Penny’s scooter and gave her a hug.

Brooke came over and picked up Stormie’s carrier and went with me to the bus.

Credits

The nature of the blog from Sweet to the Soul Ministries gives only one verse.  I used various searches and cross references for the other verses.

Preeclampsia is not as rare as you may think, and gestational diabetes is not uncommon.  Diet, rest, and carefully selected medication can usually be successful to get the pregnancy to go full term.  Gestational diabetes babies may be on the larger side.

Here is Fountainview Academy, British Columbia, Canada singing Like Jesus.  They are in Hawaii for this video.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.