CIV

FOR THERE IS NOTHING COVERED THAT WILL NOT BE REVEALED, NOR HIDDEN THAT WILL NOT BE KNOWN

LUKE 12:2

SEVEN SALLIE

My brain reeled as I processed what Oscar Olney had told me. Stacey Porter and Felix Floyd had been having an affair! It didn’t make sense. Felix Floyd was quite religious. He used to regularly rebuke Oscar and myself for our hedonistic lifestyle, even when he was out having a drink with us as his eyes roamed to cleavage and shapely legs. Maybe that should have been a clue.

Stacey Porter was a serious, about business, career oriented woman. By all appearances, she was loyal to her husband and devoted to her daughter, at least for a woman who worked seventy to eighty hours a week.

Stacey and Felix seemed like an odd pairing, even though they got along famously at work. Stacey was big boned, just over six feet tall, and rather muscular. Felix was just under six feet, slim, and wiry. It wasn’t exactly a Jack Spratt situation for Stacey wasn’t fat, just a big girl. However, she could snap Felix in two if they ever had a physical altercation.

“Oh, don’t look so stunned,” Oscar said. “How many married women did you bed down during our heyday?”

“Not many,” I snapped. “I never cheated on my own partner in a relationship anyway.”

“What difference does that make?” Oscar snorted. “You’re a religious guy now. Isn’t adultery, adultery?”

“Back then I wasn’t a follower of Jesus,” I defended. “The way I saw it, it was between the woman and her husband or partner, whatever. Point being, I didn’t care if they were married, single, or had a boyfriend. If a good lookin woman wanted to fool around, I fooled around.”

“Isn’t adultery, adultery?”

“I… It,” I stammered, then chose the humble route instead of getting defensive. “You’re right, adultery is adultery. No matter how I justified it, it was a sin to be messing around with other men’s wives. Okay? Other women out of wedlock, period.”

“Lighten up, I’m just hackin’ on ya,” Oscar snorted a laugh. “Ya gotta love hypocrites though, they make it so much easier for us honest folks…Ah, Felix, my dear departed friend. You almost persuaded thou me to be a Christian. Turns out you couldn’t keep it in your pants just like the rest of us mere mortals. God speed anyhow, Brother.”

Oscar kissed two fingers, looked up, and saluted, his watery eyes spilled a tear. If his words seemed snarky and sarcastic, they were. But you have to know Oscar, he meant no ill will, he loved his old friend. Brash, unfriendly, and streetwise was how he was raised. Trust me, he was hurting and getting quite emotional.

I also picked up on something else. When he said ‘you almost persuaded thou me to be a Christian,’ I perceived he had perused the Bible at some point. I suggested this, and he shrugged and nodded. “I guess I was looking for loopholes.”

“So you….”

“Ah, ah, ah,” he interrupted, holding up a hand. “Not now, dude, I’m tired. Could you please just take me to a hotel?”

“Nothing doing,” I replied. “You’re staying with me.”

“I appreciate the offer,” he said, and then sighed. “But you have a family, you’re sober, and I still like to have an adult beverage or four in the evening.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “I don’t have any booze to offer, but you’re welcome to be yourself, even though I don’t approve of you being a drunkard.”

He squinted his eyes at me, and then laughed. “Alright, I’m too tired to argue.”

As soon as we exited the airport, Oscar pulled out a one hitter case. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s a container about the size of a flip phone that holds marijuana. It has a slot for a cylinder tube. That tube holds a pinch of pot in the end, just enough to take one puff at a time. A little cavern down the other side of the case holds the substance.

“Dude, what are you doing?” I asked anxiously, as I looked around for possible witnesses.

“Hey now,” Oscar frowned. “A minute ago you told me to be myself.”

“I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to smoke pot out in public, especially at a place crawling with cops and security.”

“Who’s smokin pot?” He frowned. “This is tobacco. I’m trying to quit smokin, and taking a hit or two at a time takes the edge off. Smell it.”

He put the case up to my nose and I sniffed. Sure enough, I smelled the earthy sent of tobacco, rather then the pungent odor of marijuana. I laughed and said. “You probably want a cop to confront you, don’t you?”

“It’s happened a time or two,” he grinned. “I do find it satisfying.”

When we entered my house, I found my daughter sitting on the couch reading her Bible. “Sweet Pea, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine.”

Sevenia smiled warmly and greeted Oscar, shaking his hand. Her hand seemed like a delicate piece of China in his meaty paw. “You are indeed a sweet little thing.”

“Oscar, please step away from my daughter,” I said. “As a matter of fact, please remain at least ten feet away from her at all times.”

We both laughed, as Sevenia arched an eyebrow and smirked. Then my wife entered the room, holding our baby boy. Oscar’s face went still and his mouth gaped open. Zella was in black and pink yoga pants, with matching top. Her ebony skin glistened with a light dew of sweat, and I knew she had been doing some sort of exercises as our son cooed contentedly nearby. She said, “What’s going on out here?”

“Zella, this is my old friend from the ‘Showdown,’ Oscar Olney,” I said.

Zella handed Sevenia her half-brother, and he giggled at the exaggerated happy face my daughter made at him. My wife on the other hand, eyed me coolly, even as she gave Oscar a warm smile. “Why didn’t you tell me we were having company?”

“It was spur of the…” I began, but Oscar interrupted me.

“Hubba, Hubba,” Oscar growled loudly, with a grin of admiration as he engulfed Zella’s hand with his two catcher’s mitts. “Nice to meet you, young lady. What did Seven do to deserve you?”

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Oscar was the type to whistle at passing women. He was also prone to shout something like “hey baby,” or “what’s up hot mama.”

Zella giggled. “I like your friend, Honey.”

“Careful,” I warned. “He’s the cad I told you about.”

“Which one?” she replied.

“Oscar, I’d like you to also stay at least ten feet away from my wife at all times,” I said.

“How about I stay ten feet away from you instead?”

We all laughed. Zella once again politely asked the reason for Oscar’s visit. I explained, and the merriment we had been enjoying seemed to disappear like a whisp of smoke in the wind.

But then we sat down and began to reminisce. Eventually we had supper, reminisced some more, and went to bed. The next day, Oscar and I drove to Missouri to attend Stacey’s funeral which was scheduled for eleven in the morning. Then we attended Felix’s service at two in the afternoon.

I hated going to funerals as it was, let alone two in one day. Plus there was not only the sudden, premature aspect of both demises, but the pall of scandal hanging over both. It turned out to be one of the longest days of my life.

I felt both stressed and relieved when Oscar and I headed to my car to depart on our two hundred plus mile trek back to my place. As we walked, he pulled out his one hitter of tobacco and took a drag. Then a second, and a third.

“Why don’t you just bum a cigarette off someone?” I asked.

“I’m done, for now,” he replied impatiently. “Today’s not a good day to be quitin smokin, okay. I’m kinda of proud of myself though. When we stopped to get gas on the way down, I almost bought a pack of cigarettes.”

“Good for you,” I said.

“But, I’m glad I still got this little baby,” he added, waving his one hitter case. “I don’t like to rush things, ya know.”

“I know, I’m walking by your side, you slow poke.”

“Hey, is that a fat joke?”

“No, it’s a lazy joke.”

We climbed into my car and headed up the highway, discussing the day’s events.

“Man, I felt bad for Stacey’s husband and Felix’s wife,” Oscar said.

“The kids too,” I added.

“Yeah, I felt for them too.”

“I didn’t know you had feelings.”

“Oh, c’mon, you know I have feelings. Typically, it’s hate and anger, hunger, and lust. But I have feelings.”

I laughed. “My bad, I guess you do have feelings.”

“Man, what a way to find out your spouse is cheating on you,” Oscar said with a wince.

“Well, you don’t know if they knew or not.”

“Yeah I do, I asked Felix’s brother.”

“You what?”

“Yeah, neither had a clue.”

“Oscar, that’s tacky!”

“What is?”

“Asking if the spouse knew the corpse was having an affair at a funeral.”

“What of it? Felix didn’t know. Of course, you probably thought he was gazing down at his own funeral.”

“No I don’t.”

“Oh, that’s right, you probably think he’s burning in hell for his sins.”

“I definitely don’t think that either. The concept of an eternally burning hell is the most twisted false doctrine in all of Christendom.”

Oscar looked at as if I had two heads. “What, do you have a one hitter with better stuff than I do in it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean every church scares people with hell, that’s one of the reasons I don’t believe.”

“Not every church, Bro. Mine doesn’t, nor do other churches that adhere to the Bible and what it really teaches.” I replied. “But I know where you’re coming from. That’s one of the main reasons I back slid from church when I was a younger man.”

“Dude, Felix had me reading the Bible for a time, and I recall reading a text that called hell everlasting punishment.”

“Correct, punishment, not punishing. The wages of sin is death, only the righteous in Christ have immortality.”

(A few scriptures that prove the wicked are obliterated and not tormented: Romans 6:23, Job 21:30, Malachi 4:1, Psalms 21:9, 37:9 37:20, 37:30, 62:3, 145:20).

“You know what?” Oscar said. “You ought to have me on your podcast. You and me could discuss religion like me Felix used to do.”

“I don’t know, I’m by no means an expert on the Bible,” I replied hesitantly. “Cynicism on this world, yes, theology no.”

“I said discuss, not debate. I have a lot of material I think you would be interested in. I’m more on your side than you might think. So how about it? Bringing back ole Oscar might boast your ratings.”

“Alright,” I heard myself reply. “But I don’t care about ratings.”

Did I just lie? I needed my wife and daughter!

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH: LUTHER’S SEPARATION FROM ROME (Part 1 of 2)

Foremost among those who were called to lead the church from the darkness of popery into the light of a purer faith, stood Martin Luther. Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures, Luther was a man for his time. Through him God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.

Hardship, privation, and severe discipline were the school in which Infinite Wisdom prepared Luther for the important mission of his life.

The gloomy, superstitious ideas of religion then prevailing filled him with fear. He would lie down at night with a sorrowful heart, looking forward with trembling to the dark future and in constant terror at the thought of God as a stern, unrelenting judge, a cruel tyrant, rather than a kind heavenly Father.

Yet under so many and so great discouragements Luther pressed resolutely forward toward the high standard of moral and intellectual excellence which attracted his soul. He thirsted for knowledge, and the earnest and practical character of his mind led him to desire the solid and useful rather than the showy and superficial.

Luther had an abiding sense of his dependence upon divine aid, and he did not fail to begin each day with prayer. “To pray well,” he often said, “is the better half of study.

He led a most rigorous life, endeavoring by fasting, vigils, and scourging to subdue the evils of his nature, from which the monastic life brought no relief. He shrank from no sacrifice by which he might attain to that purity of heart which would enable him to stand approved before God.

But with all his efforts his burdened soul found no relief. He was at last driven to the verge of despair.

When it appeared to Luther that all was lost, God raised up a friend and helper for him. The pious Staupitz opened the Word of God to Luther’s mind and bade him look away from himself, cease the contemplation of infinite punishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus his sin-pardoning Savior.

Luther was still a true son of the papal church and had no thought that he would be anything else. In the providence of God he was led to visit Rome. At a convent in Italy he was filled with wonder at the wealth, magnificence, and luxury that he witnessed. Endowed with princely revenue, the monks dwelt in splendid apartments, attired themselves in the richest and most costly robes, and feasted at a sumptuous table.

With painful misgivings Luther contrasted this scene with the self-denial and hardship of his own life. His mind became perplexed.

Everywhere he looked, scenes filled him with astonishment and horror.

“No one can imagine,” he wrote, “what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed. Thus they are in the habit of saying, ‘If there is a hell, Rome is built over it: it is an abyss whence issues every kind of sin.’” (Ibid, b. 2, ch.6)

Luther was one day devoutly climbing stairs on his knees, when a voice like thunder seemed to say to him: “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17). He sprang to his feet and hastened from the place in shame and horror. This text never lost its power upon his soul.

After his return from Rome, Luther received at the University of Wittenberg the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Now he was at liberty to devote himself, as never before, to the Scriptures he loved.

He had taken a solemn vow to study carefully and to preach with fidelity the word of God, not the sayings and doctrines of the popes, all the days of his life.

Luther saw the dangers of exalting human theories above the word of God!