Good News and Salt Licks

 G’day Fellow Travellers,

I think many of you might be on Facebook and so noticed the picture I took out the back of our house the other day… seven of the most majestic English-originated Red Deer you ever saw.  

It’s a bit of a mystery how they got there, since they are not native to Australia and DEFINITELY not welcome among the country’s flora and fauna. It’s believed they were introduced some time back by a wealthy entrepreneur with plans to start up a new industry. Nobody is saying for sure, but the only thing that can be said is that the deer love it here!

I know that the many of you living in Texas and those parts look at deer and think either “menace” or “venison” and perhaps both in the same sentence.  Fortunately for these folks here, although they’re listed as ‘feral’, as they are, everyone treats them like family pets.  Yes, they eat our flowers, but according to the layout of the floodplain we live on, they really can’t get into the traffic, so we all just enjoy watching them.

And not to be bested by my neighbour, who’s out there occasionally feeding them carrots, we decided to hang up a salt block for them. We found the block at a local horse supply store, but hesitated to say what we wanted it for. If word got out to the town council, we might find our back yard inundated by slouch-hatted Aussie blokes with permits to clear them out.  So in the words of Elmer Fudd, we laid out the treat in a half-hidden spot and are now waiting “Veeewy quietly”.  The deer haven’t discovered the salt block yet, and so we peek out the window every day and try to devise a way to get the word out to them. 

This, I realized, is a lot like what Tony and I have done for our whole missionary careers. We have Good News that’s a lot better than any salt lick. People who sample it discover a whole new world of joy and peace and life eternal. But how do you convince someone, as the writer of Psalms did in chapter 34 verse 8 to “Taste and see that the LORD is good”?

And speaking of which, Tony’s been pretty happy lately because our church is momentarily without a pastor, which means that he’s getting a lot of opportunities to ‘feed the flock’.  This is who he is and what he does, and he loves it. 

Last week at church, perhaps because it was the senior pastor’s last day, people were really tuned in. When Tony preached, people responded.  Nothing makes an old labourer happier than people wanting to know the Lord.  Again today after the service, Tony walked by a table of people at tea time and saw a young girl with one of our church members praying to receive Christ.

I think things are beginning to happen in our church because of this fresh injection of the Holy Spirit and the Good News!

Let’s think this week about how we can each be SALT to those around us.  Like those deer in our yard, people everywhere need to “taste and see”. Share with me some of your own “salt shakers”. 

Hope you’re all continuing to enjoy summer. Don’t forget to make a difference! 

Marsha


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