Thomas a picture of grace, integrity

I saw a picture of grace at the last Hempstead City Council meeting. It was truly an image of a Godly man in action.
It was the last regular meeting for Alderman Fred Thomas III. Just two days earlier he lost his seat by four votes to Charles Hegemeyer.
Thomas appeared to be very distracted at the meeting and made or attempted to make many of the motions or seconds. Afterward, I asked him if he was going to ask for a re-count. He said no and that he was going to do the Lord’s work and if God didn’t want him in office anymore, that was OK with him. Thomas is the pastor of Greater St. Peter’s Baptist Church.
After talking with me, he went over to Hegemeyer, shook his hand and gave him his congratulations and blessing. It was humbling and very gracious. I could see that Thomas enjoyed serving on the council and he will miss it. But I couldn’t help but be very impressed with the way he carried himself with the utmost dignity and integrity during this transition.
I respected Thomas before, but now I hold him in very high regard. He took the high road out of office and I admire with the way he did it. He could have been stubborn and called for a re-count. He could have given a rant about race, religion, age, or politics in general. He did none of those things.
In all of my few dealings with him, he has always been friendly, helpful and encouraging. The world could use some more people like him. I will miss seeing him at the big table every other Monday. It was always a pleasure working with him.
I do look forward to getting to know Hegemeyer. At 23 he is young and inexperienced, but he will bring a perspective to the council that it is lacking. His views as a youthful, political outsider should help give the folks at City Hall a slightly different take on the business as usual.

Rapture
Just in case you missed it, the Rapture was to have taken place Saturday evening. I was ready for it. But then as a believer in Jesus Christ, I am to be ready at any time. We do not have an appointment with God, but rather he has an appointment with us.
It’s kind of like having a doctor’s appointment. You know as you sit in the waiting room that you will see the doctor. The doctor, however, knows when he will actually see you, not the other way around. You could wait anywhere from five minutes to 50 minutes or five days, whichever comes first depending on a complicated mathematical formula that involves the number of patients in the waiting room versus tee times at the country club.
Seriously though, I pity those who genuinely believed that Jesus was coming to call home his followers at a predicted time. If they had actually read an actual Bible, they would have known that in Matthew 24:36 Jesus says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Paul reiterates that in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3: “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
The way I see it, if the angels and Jesus himself do not know the time, there is no way a preacher with a billboard is going to know. The secret is to always be ready for Jesus’ return. Like the Boy Scout motto says, Be Prepared.
It is safe to say that anyone who makes bold predictions about the exact time Jesus will return is going to be wrong. Unless of course you spend the rest of your life predicting that he will come now … now … now...
For those of you who do not believe that Christ is coming again, you’re in more eminent danger than you know because the world is scheduled to end next year as the Mayan calendar expires.
Toodles.