Can you fill

in the next five words of that old hymn? If you can, chances are you might

just be a Baptist or some Christian group that believes the blood of Christ

saves you from your sins. For those who don't know the hymn, the next

five words are " than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

If you ever

attended Christian crusades in stadiums around the world, you would nearly

always hear that hymn. In seminary I remember a professor who claimed

that any sermon that was preached had to contain "the blood of Christ

in there somewhere or it was not a Christian sermon." I liked that

man.

My wonderful

Christian, ministry-supporting wife is always gathering information and

articles we can use in the ministry and I dearly appreciate that. The

only problem with that is that if I don't get to a newspaper or magazine

before she hits the mail box or gets to it, I will see gaping holes in

the magazine or newspaper where I was eagerly anticipating the reading

of an article. Clip on, sweetheart!

One of the

great articles she "snipped" was from the Zion's' Fire magazine

in the March-April 2002 edition. This magazine is produced by "Completed

Christian Jews." This article was entitled "Touch of Gold"

is symbolic of the presence of God."

Gold has fascinated

mankind since the beginning of time. I remember while living in Alaska

there were those whose hobby it was to search for gold on the weekends.

Some were fairly successful with it. They would go out to the streams

and pan for gold and often turn up several nuggets here and there.

In fact, Dee

and I and Nikki (11) and Robbie (9) were visiting a town south of Anchorage

called Hope, Alaska. There were only four or five buildings in this little

town just yards from a gorgeous stream coming off of Tournigan Arm, a

peninsula which bordered the ocean. In the background of this little town

were the beautiful snow capped mountains which to me gave Hope, Alaska

an unspeakable romance. What further made my heart fall deeper in love

were the hundreds of salmon that would choke this stream just steps from

the town buildings. If I ever mysteriously disappear, one of he spots

you can look for me will be in Hope, Alaska.

Anyway, we

all descended upon this only restaurant in town which was owned by a very

fine Oriental man. While we were eating, a very nice outback man with

full beard in his thirties sat down next to us and called for the owner.

The owner approached and this man asked for the "gold scales."

Out from under

the counter the owner produced a set of scales and weights for this customer.

The prospector then proceeded to reach into his pocket and pull out his

"poke of gold" and clunk it on the counter. I thought I was

being transported back in time to a western movie. I looked around for

a gunfight at any minute.

Then there

on the counter the customer began to smile and weigh his gold. Dee and

I and the kids were witnessing a prospector figuring out the earnings

of his labor for the summer. I questioned the prospector as to how much

he thought his bag of "digs" produced and he said over $3,000.

I have heard

Christians within the church say that "money is the root of all evil."

Yet we must look deeper into what God's Word says. It says that the love

of money is the root of all evil.

Money can do

wonderful and marvelous things for the good of mankind and the cause of

Christ. In fact if you have a spare $500,000 lying around, we could use

it to build Phase II of our church and move out of the "double wide

on 85" (not that we don't appreciate where we are at this point of

our church).

Isn't it interesting

that mankind goes at "getting what I want" backwards to God's

plan? God's plan says "seek you first the kingdom of God and

His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you ."

My hope is

built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Not gold, not

things, but Jesus blood & righteousness. Sing on, church, sing on!

The Rev.

Dr. Knox Herndon is pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). The Rev.

Greg Mausz is senior associate pastor. The Rev. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the

Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The

church is just below Fayetteville, on Ga. Highway 85, a mile south of

Ga. Highway 16, just below the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church

office and prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail

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