By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Images
Larry Steffee


 

        People today appear to be obsessed with their images, particularly their physical images.  They join gyms to enhance their physical strength and their physical appearance.  They visit hair and nail salons to achieve the perfect look.  They use air brushing and other techniques to improve their image on social media, and they select certain stories to post on social media to improve their social image.  There is no limit to which people will go these days to portray the best possible image.

        “Words from Above” tell us that the God of the universe created the human race with the most perfect image possible.  The Bible tells us in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 26, that the members of the Holy Trinity made the conscious decision to “make man in our image and after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every thing that creeps on the earth.”  Verse 27 goes on to say that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, and male and female created He them.”

        Not only did God create the human race in the perfect image, because there was no possible image better than the image of God, but God put the first human couple in a perfect paradise.  That perfect paradise was called the Garden of Eden, where they lived in perfect harmony with God.  Every day God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, and there He walked with them and talked with them.  Unfortunately, the perfect paradise and perfect harmony was short-lived, because the first human couple chose to violate the one single rule that God asked them to follow.  He forbad them to touch or eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, but Satan took on the form of a serpent and deceived them into breaking God’s rule.  Their image was ruined and their relationship with God was broken.

        Fortunately, God made a promise to the human race that one day His Son Jesus would appear on the earth in human form to become the Messiah, the one who would deliver them from the consequences of their sins.  Jesus voluntarily agreed to be crucified on a Roman cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the world.  All who accept this payment and seek for their sins to be forgiven, have the good fortune of having their spiritual image restored and see it improve day by day until graduating to the heavenly home of their Creator.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

Driving Someone up the Wall
Stan St. Clair

Well, Halloween is upon us, and I guess a lot of people are not crazy about it, but hopefully not many are driven up a wall preparing for it at the last minute, or wishing it didn’t exist.

Very seldom have I experienced being “driven up the wall,” but occasionally there is a person who manages to do this to someone else. Of course, this is not an intentional endeavor, but, nevertheless, it is real.

“Driving someone up the wall” is an idiomatic expression which means that someone or something is extremely annoying. It derived from the idea of two people being together in a locked room with no way to escape and one annoying the other to the point to wish for a means of escape. Since there is no way out, the person is ‘climbing the walls’ figuratively. Like many other metaphors, there was a similar phrase before it came into being. This one was used in Tales and Novels by Maria Edgeworth, 1833 in ‘Drama’ on page 239:

      “…since you drive me to the wall I must say no, and I do say no.”

Here the meaning is somewhat ambiguous. The actual phrase started showing up in writing about 1970. A very early example is found in Desperate Characters by Paula Fox, published that year:

     “They drive me up the wall. Don’t make wife jokes to me.”