Although we got some relief this week, for the past few weeks we have all been living in the “dog days” of summer. The dog days are marked by the hottest and most humid days of the year…those days when air outside is so oppressive that we receive warnings to stay inside. Have you ever wondered where that term comes from? Many folks believe that its’ because the hot weather causes dogs to just lie around, but it has nothing to do with our canine companions.
To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the day that the dog star Sirius began to be noticed in the sky. Sirius is the “nose” of a larger constellation that somewhat resembles a dog. Since that historically coincides with the hottest days of summer, we get the dog days of late July and August.
So where did the idea that the dog days got their names from Fido and Spot being lazy come from? Best as anyone can tell, people just made it up, and since it was plausible it stuck. We have a lot of phrases in our language that are like that – the original meaning is lost, but the phrase lives on. For example, why do we say “going bananas” when someone acts crazy or tell someone to “cry uncle” as a means of surrender? Why do we tell nosy people to “mind your own beeswax” or tell people who ruin a surprise that they “let the cat out of the bag?”
Here’s the deal – we have those types of phrases in our church as well, and they can be pretty confusing to someone who isn’t familiar with our lingo.
We have inspirational sayings like:
God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.
He is Risen! He is risen, indeed.
Don’t tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!
We have cute sayings like:
Blessed, not stressed!
God bless this mess!
All I need this morning is a little coffee and a whole lot of Jesus!
The manger was the first king-sized bed.
We have funny sayings (and let’s be honest, most of them are real groaners) like:
I want to be so full of Jesus that if a mosquito bites me, he’ll fly away singing “There’s power in the blood.”
If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.
Our church is like fudge, sweet with a few nuts.
We talk about “finding Jesus” and “asking Jesus into your heart.” We pray for a “hedge of protection”* and talk about God closing doors and opening windows. We have acronyms like FROG and PUSH and WWJD.**
We know what we mean when we say them, but let’s be honest, a lot of our Christian clichés and sayings don’t make a lot of sense to nonbelievers (and frankly, some of our clichés really aren’t Biblical to begin with).
So be careful when you use those Christian or churchy phrases…we don’t want people to just make up their own ideas about what they mean because you never know what may stick!
Here’s what’s happening:
- Men’s Breakfast on August 27th at 8 am at the world-famous Hometown Kitchen.
- Bible Adventure Ministries (formerly known as Released Time) are starting back up in the Solanco School District. They are looking for volunteers to help at Bart, Clermont, Quarryville and Providence Elementary schools. If you are interested in learning more, contact Tammy Brown (Solanco Coordinator) at tammyjoyel@gmail.com.
- Thank you to everyone who turned in a service survey on Sunday. The picture of where we are at as a church is becoming clearer and clearer! If you haven’t done so, please fill one out and place it in the wire basket by offering box this Sunday, as I’d like to begin reforming committees and Commissions soon.
- Thank you as well to everyone who checked the new church directory on Sunday. We noticed that quite a few entries were updated, so we are going to have it in the lobby again this week. PLEASE make sure your information is correct (particularly your cell phone # and email address). After Sunday it is headed for the printers.
- 8/28 is “Back to School” Sunday at the Bridge. We’ll be having a special time of prayer for all of our students.
- The church corn roast is set for Sunday, September 11 after church at Lloyd and Mary Lois Kreider’s home.
- Another Save-the-Date: 9/17 – Drive-In Movie Night (Rain Date 9/24)
This Sunday, August 21st , ABCF missionary Charles Smoker will be with us. Charles will be sharing about the Smoker family ministry in Japan during the Sunday School hour and giving the message on John 21 during the worship service. We would encourage you to come and support Charles with your presence. Adult and youth SS classes will all be meeting in the sanctuary that morning.
Blessings,
Scott