Text: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Gen. 1:1)

According to the text, if is clear that God is at the beginning of history. He is before time. Therefore time as well as the deeds done since the beginning, what we call "history", is part of the creation.

Since history has a beginning, it therefore has an end. If history were endless it would have no purpose and therefore would have no meaning.

At the end of history is judgment --a time when God will forever separate the just from the unjust. "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

And again, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." (Matt. 25:46; Lk. 13:28)

History, or the deeds done in time, has eternal consequences. Each act done in the present whether it is good or evil has consequences that will last forever.

God Himself directs history toward the goal of judgment. Therefore, judgment is inescapable. "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, ‘As I live,’ saith the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God." So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:10-12) Each person must appear in judgment before God.

Life is therefore a stewardship. Our life is on loan to us from God. Therefore, God Himself shall demand an accounting of the deeds done in our life.

Time, then, affects eternity. We pray according to the degree that we believe this. Time and therefore history has purpose because they share the same goal. That goal is judgment.

History moves like a line through time admitting no repetition such as the Hindus and Buddhists teach (and the Greeks before them). History is not reversible but as one has written,

History allows for no lingering because God is guiding all time toward His goal. Judgment is the goal of History. If time has no end, it would have no purpose, and therefore all who believe time is endless lack meaning for their lives.

God is the Creator of time and is therefore its Lord. As such, He is the Guide, Overseer, Ruler and Keeper of history until such time as He shall choose to put down every rival. For this reason He entered history.

This act known as the incarnation is the focal point of all history. Men in time before this event looked for redemption in it. It is so significant an event that history is divided by it. Acts that were done before it are said to have occurred "BC" or "before Christ," and those that have been done since are registered as having occurred "AD" or "Anno Domini" -"In the year of our Lord."

An act committed in the present, whether it be a good or an evil act, sets up a rippling effect until the end of time. For this reason, final judgment must come at the end of time, for only then will the extant of the good or evil be known.

Although man seeks pleasure without pain, there is judgment at the last day. It will be a judgment of unquenchable fire in an unalterable state throughout eternity. Christ --God In flesh-- entered history in order to redeem it. Therefore the redemption that is in Christ is the one thing needful.

Text: "Thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates ...as of the roebuck and as of the hart." (Deut. 12:15)

Although I am proficient in neither hunting nor fishing, it is by these means that I have been enabled to spend time with my children, for after my wife, my children are my best friends.

Some people do not like the out-of-doors. It is by the wise design of God that people are different. However, a father who does not regularly spend time with his children has his priorities out of kilter. Humanly speaking, I can do nothing of greater importance for the next generation than to leave it my children. Therefore, if I were to preach weekly to 100,000 people but were to lose my own children to the world, I would be a failure.

A widow has kindly extended to me the privilege of hunting on her land. For this I am very grateful. The prospect of putting a hundred pounds of meat on the table is a great incentive for hunting, but if our family were dependent upon the prowess of this Esau, my family would be gaunt, sullen and pale. Nevertheless, by means of hunting, I have been able to spend precious time just being with my children.

The out-of-doors provides vast treasures. A large paper wasp nest and a root resembling a torch adorn (Catherine says "clutter") our home. After 6 years, I have just discarded honeybee nest made up of 7 combs that was built in a pine tree. This alone makes it a great rarity, but this bee nest has a bird nest built upon the top of the combs. It was given to me by friends hunting near Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Reader, have you ever studied the texture of tree bark? What treasure this is! The numerous colors and numberless shades will amaze you. Such a study could cause an atheist to blush if he were not blinded by sin.

What things there are to learn! Did you know there are over 652 trees native to North America? How many can you identify? –And we think we are so educated! On the property where we hunt, we have licorice and pawpaw plants, sassafras and the wonderfully permeating aroma of rabbit tobacco.

Now, a hunter learns to identify sounds. He must distinguish between the approach of a squirrel and that of a deer; between the movement of a snake and that of a lizard. He learns not to watch where he walks so much as to look for game. Some people spend more time looking for signs of deer than for deer, but a deer print makes for a rather lean supper.

The hunter must "study to be quiet." (I Thess. 4:11) He must blend into the surroundings and become part of the scene, but when your fingers and toes become petrified with the cold; when your body shakes uncontrollably and your teeth begin an incessant chatter; when on account of the wind your eyes fill with tears or when rain drops cover your eye glasses impairing your vision --at such times, your mind rather absurdly rehearses the two lessons taught you by your father:

"Quiet!" and ’Don’t move." One observation: man suffers more with the cold than the deer or the trees.

What adventures I have had! One morning I was in a tree.

Behind me was a stand of hardwoods in the center of which was a large oak. It stood near the horizon probably 300 yards distant. It was the time of year when the leaves were just beginning to fall.

When I looked behind me, I stood face-to-face with two large, round, fiery eyes. They looked as if they belonged to a colossal demon, but it was only the friendly sun emitting its first rays through two "sockets" left by failing foliage. There were no other openings to reveal the sun’s rays.

One November morning I was sitting in a swamp when 100,000 black birds landed around me. For more than 30 minutes, wave after wave of these birds descended from the skies. Several had to dart to the side to avoid hitting me. They left 2 hours later taking with them their deafening raucous. Two years ago, I sat enraptured one morning listening to scores of wild turkeys chanting so loudly the woods reverberated.

John tells he was once amused by a fawn that showed no fear of him but that jumped nervously about whenever a squirrel scampered through the leaves.

Actually, I am a poor hunter. Perhaps it is the land I hunt, for the dear vanish into the swamp at first light leaving only their prints as proof they exist. I have often wondered if the profusion of prints might be made by a neighbor who had a cruel sense of humor. I am left to compose songs with my mind, such as,

But I am a poor hunter, One day a few years ago, a friend invited me to hunt with him. By day’s end, I was tired and despondent at my lack of success for the season. I sat beside a tree and felt I could do nothing better than to sleep.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a gray form darting through the woods. Although groggy, I determined not to let this deer get by, and as it was buck or doe day, I aimed where I thought his foreleg lay, and I shot.

It was then I heard a car door. Reality crashed upon me. I ventured to the edge of the woods. My friend was in shock standing beside his automobile. He had driven his car across the field, and his headlights had illuminated the evening fog.

My first thought was to retreat into the woods to a different quadrant, but I did not know the extent of injury I may have done to my friend or to his property. In my heart I knew I had to face up to the shame and disgrace of what I had done. I approached him with apprehension. David and I tremblingly embraced each other, and rejoiced in the wondrous mercy of God. Had I been intent upon murdering my brother the bullet from my 30-06 was dead-on, but in His gracious providence, God had spared me from having to live with a fate worse than death. The bullet was stopped by his car door!

Some would call David stupid when he again invited me to go hunting with him. I saw in it his forgiveness of me and his confidence in God’s ability to preserve him.

Over the next 3 years, David gave our family 6 deer. That is the kind of man he is; but I must bear the shame and folly of discharging a bullet when I did not clearly see the target.

It is an ominous sign that God is not with a people when for fear of losing a few church members a pastor win refuse to declare himself against what is positively evil. If people cannot look to their minister for direction in times of upheaval, to whom among the sons of men can they go? I refer to this year’s rebellion at Augusta Christian Schools that has resulted in the formation of the Georgia Christian Academy.

Using slanderous charges of fiscal mismanagement, Marion Wayne Freeman, the Headmaster discharged by the Augusta Christian School board, led an uprising resulting in the unlawful occupancy of the ACS campus. Office locks were changed, and incoming tuition monies were seized as parents were told ACS had merged with GCA. The insurrection deserves some sober considerations.

First, I am aware some dear people have been beguiled and led away in the dissimulation, but I am not so naive as to believe all the people know the Lord Jesus Christ. Besides, Scripture forbids us to follow a multitude to do evil. (Ex. 23:2)

Second, I have no intention of excusing the ACS board for its methods or management. It would be foolhardy to pretend any man or any number of men on earth is faultless, but God has designed a proper way to deal with members of the household of faith who appear to be walking disorderly: they are to be confronted. Although no one finds such confrontations enjoyable, they are necessary; and it is evident most of the parents as well as the faculty and staff have not confronted members of the board about the purported improprieties. (See: Matt. 18:15-17)

Third, The arguments being used by the newly formed GCA to justify their actions are basically two-fold. 1.) It is argued that if ACS board members are guilty of fiscal improprieties, or appear to be unresponsive to parents, then parents and staff members have the right to rebel and seize control of school property. Now, assuming ACS board members to be criminal in the highest degree, GCA has no right to occupy their property after being asked to leave. And, 2.) It is argued that if ACS is truly a Christian school, then everyone owns the campus anyway. This is to accept the elimination of private property within the Christian community.

Fourth, Under a charter granted by the state of Georgia, Augusta Christian Schools is a non-profit institution owned by the ACS board. However, no individual or individuals can profit from a sale of the property. It is written into the charter that should the school ever be sold, the monies would be given to missions.

Fifth, If a family or any number of families is dissatisfied with ACS and wishes to leave that is their right. However, to sow discord, to imply to faculty members and to parents, that Charles Whitney, 91, has been using school monies to buy CD’s, and that Robert Halvorsen when serving on the board of Georgia Railroad Bank cancelled a 3 million dollar note owed the bank by the S.M. Whitney Company; and then to seize school property and claim it belongs to them anyway --this is to do the work of the Devil.

Sixth, Is it really godly to forgive these people and to forget their wickedness when there is no repentance, no godly sorrow? Does God forgive people when there is no repentance?

Seventh, It is positively wrong to seek peace and harmony with the workers of iniquity. It is the Devil who teaches the doctrine of "Divide and Conquer." When truth is compromised, with error, truth is lost. Error has nothing to lose. When right is compromised with wrong, right is lost. It is a greater evil for Christian people to argue in defense of evil than it is for the unsaved. This is to call evil "good," and good "evil." It is to put darkness for light and light for darkness. It is to call the bitter "sweet", and the sweet "bitter." (Is. 5:20)

Eighth, Until there is confession of sin coupled with godly sorrow for having offended the Son of God, the prayers offered by members of the Georgia Christian Academy are hypocritical, and their prayer meetings are a farce. All fellowship with them can only be a pretence.

Since January, GCA has been playing ball illegally under the name of ACS. GCA cannot graduate seniors with accreditation so they will try to use the ACS name again. Perhaps parents who have blindly followed the GCA leadership should reconsider whether their decision is of God.

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STONE MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA --A Calvinistic Baptist church in being formed in this community just outside Atlanta. Interested families can telephone Pastor Keith Richardson at 404-413-0077.

I first met Pastor Richardson a dozen years ago when he was a member of the Bible Baptist Church here in Augusta, which continues to be pastored by my friend, Bro. Jim Oates

Brother Richardson is a diligent student of God’s Word who does not use "grace" to countenance a spirit of worldliness. Give him a call.