Tag: Alaska

“May Your Silver Perish With You”

Neal Pollard

Brian Castner has written an excellent book called Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike. In it, he chronicles the history of the gold rush to Alaska that occurred at the turn of 20th Century. There had been an economic depression in the 1890s that was just starting to lift around the time reports came out of the Klondike that people were striking it rich way up north. Castner tells of disease, death, and dismemberment from typhoid fever, violence in cities like Skagway and Dawson City and on White Pass and Chilkoot Trails, avalanches, exposure, starvation, and drownings in the white water rapids of Lake Bennett. They called it “gold fever” because men (and women) with no experience with the elements and no real plan threw all caution and common sense to the wind in order to strike it rich. The overwhelming majority of them wound up broke and broken. 

Peter told a new Christian, “May your silver perish with you” (Acts 8:20). You may remember that Simon the sorcerer was a big shot in Samaria before the traveling missionary, Philip, came to town with the transforming message of Christ. The gospel turned the heads of men and women, including Simon (12-13). Peter and John come from Jerusalem to impart the miraculous gifts of the Spirit on the new Christians, and Simon was tempted by his past when he saw this (18-19). Did he see this power as a cash cow or a way to build his already renowned reputation as “someone great” (9-10). Part of his sin was the abuse of his money. 

There is more than one way that our “silver” may “perish” with us.

  • Loving it (1 Tim. 6:10).
  • Making it the stuff life is made of (Luke 12:15).
  • Storing it up for ourselves and not being rich toward God (Luke 12:21; Mat. 6:19-21).
  • Making it an idol (Psalm 115:4).
  • Being greedy (Col. 3:5).
  • Trying to find satisfaction by it (Ecc. 5:10). 
  • Letting it motivate us to do wrong (Amos 2:8; Mic. 3:11; Mat. 26:14ff).
  • Choosing it over wisdom (Prov. 16:16). 

It is said several ways, but God is trying to ensure our spiritual survival. He knows that wealth can become our god when it drives us or becomes our central purpose. He knows that not only is that futile and unsatisfying, but He also knows how destructive such desire is for the other people in the lives of those who are suffering from “gold fever.” Paul describes it vividly, saying, “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:9-10). Let’s not perish with our silver or with an unholy pursuit of it! 

A Light In The Dark

Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

Wherever light is, there is no darkness. That almost sounds silly and maybe a little obvious. Light and darkness in the Bible often depict the concept of good and evil but nowhere is the impression given that the dark is equal to light. In both the Old and the New Testaments, we find the concept of light and darkness. It represents the believers and the nonbelievers and it also represents good and evil. Biblical writers understood God to be the ultimate Light— the ultimate goodness of the world. When John refers to Jesus as “light” in his gospel this is the concept that he is trying to get across. Jesus is pure. He’s a beacon of hope— he is Light. Strangely, scientists are still baffled by light. NASA spent a mountain of money attempting to come up with a color so dark that it could even consume light but it just isn’t possible. 

No darkness can stifle the light of Jesus.

To this day He is shining bright through His followers to ensure that this dark world can see Him and that means we have an important job to do. In gospel of John, we find this profound statement, “…the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). At this point John begins another section on light and more is revealed about the two contrasting realities. There is the light, who is Jesus, and those who did not love the light because their deeds were evil. The reason they rejected the Light was because they were separated from it by their own wickedness. Evil is done with ease in the dark and we tend to fool ourselves into thinking that we are hidden and secure under its cover. 

Alaska’s crime rate significantly drops in the summer because the sun shines continually, but in the winter months the crime rate is much higher. It’s easier to get away with evil in darkness. Notice the bold statement following this, “Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:20). Light exposes the wickedness, and exposure is not something an evil person desires.

 Today lights are used by doctors to shine down your throat, in your ear, and to expose any potential problems. We have automatic porch lights and flood lights as well as “brights” for those backroads. Jesus is here to expose the sins of others and welcome those that come to Him. This also goes to show that an individual can claim to love the Light, while living in darkness— this person hates the Light. Action speaks louder than words and in a spiritual sense this could not be more accurate. Do your actions reflect that you love the Light? 

Dale Pollard

Rehoboam’s Folly

Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

One of the facts I remember and retained from elementary school is that the purchase of the Alaska Territory by the United States from the Russian Empire was known as “Seward’s Folly.” $7 million for a frozen wasteland thousands of miles from Washington, D.C., right after the Civil War surely must have seemed bizarre (at the time, it was also called [President Andrew] “Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden” and “Walrussia,” among other things)(a few details from History.com).  History has long since vindicated the wisdom of Seward’s vision.

Rehoboam’s folly was folly from beginning to end. Though God’s foreknowledge and providence caused Him to work through these events to keep His promise of bringing the Messiah, Rehoboam was no willing accomplice. Instead, he committed an inexcusable blunder that proved him to be an apple falling light years from his father’s tree. How could he be so foolish?

First, let’s quickly review what happened. Jeroboam hears about Solomon’s death, and he leaves his exile in Egypt to return to Israel. The nation had high regard for the son of Nebat and summoned him to go with a delegation of them to ask Rehoboam to lighten the yoke of taxation his father, Solomon, had levied on them in order to fund the building projects the chief of which were his own house and the temple (cf. 9:15). Rehoboam asked for three days to consider their request. When they return in three days, he not only refused their request but answered them harshly (10). 

So what contributed to his foolhardy decision at the start of his reign? There are several implications. Cronyism appears to have played a part. He favored the flatterers from among his own friends and associates, “who grew up with him” (10).

Ego likewise factors in. Their flattering suggestion was to tell the people, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (10-11).

Akin to cronyism was his bias against the older, wiser counselors who served his father. It’s certainly not unique to Rehoboam to consider the counsel of the aged to be out of touch and irrelevant (cf. Job 12:12).

Then, there was a lack of empathy. Leadership is doomed where leaders fail to hear and grasp the plight of the people.

Finally, there was divine foreknowledge. God knew the arrogance and pride of Rehoboam and He used it to fulfill His divine will. The writer ends the paragraph, saying, “So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of events from the Lord, that He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat” (15). 

God’s people today do well to revisit the folly of Rehoboam in order to be reminded of the wisdom of impartiality, humility, empathy, and compassion. Failure to do so is foolish indeed!

Is Your Life “Award Winning”?

Neal Pollard

CBS News reports on 19-year-old Chris Strickland, a very ordinary young man who seems unaware of how heroic his split-second action was. In his first job, Chris, working at a Home Depot in Anchorage, Alaska, happened to turn around and face a shopping cart at the moment an unattended baby fell out of a baby seat sitting atop it.  Store surveillance video captures the whole thing, as Strickland rushes over and reaches out to catch the falling infant.  For this simple, profoundly important act, Strickland will receive the Home Depot Angel Award, “reserved for those who perform exceptional acts of heroism” (via http://www.cbsnews.com/news/quick-thinking-home-depot-employee-saves-falling-baby/).

If all goes well, some day that baby will grow up, maybe get married and have children, and, optimists might say, do some great thing—become president, save an entire burning building full of people, or, better yet, become a faithful Christian responsible for scores of folks getting to heaven.  No matter what happens with the child, it will not diminish the heroism of this young man who, at the right place and right time, chose to save another human being and one literally helpless.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul speaks of Christ giving an unequaled reward on the Judgment Day.  It will be for those heros and heroines who loved His coming and appearance, who fought, finished, and kept the faith (7).  In a parable about the Judgment, Jesus speaks of the award winning “sheep” who will enter heaven.  What did they do?  Cared for those who had needs.  James 1:12 speaks of a reward Christ will personally give to those who persevere under trial.

You didn’t consider yourself a “hero,” did you?  Passages like those above speak of how ordinary folks like us can receive the highest honor of all time and eternity.  How?  By faithful endurance, service, and response to Jesus, the Lord!  Congratulations!