OK. You probably know by now, my name is not Roscoe.
You call me Jim, my wife and close friends call me Tip, my family (Four sisters!) call me Rodney. My great-grandson’s nickname is ‘Roscoe’, and no, he is not happy with the moniker. When I call him ‘Roscoe’ he quickly reminds me that “My name is HUNTER!” But the name Roscoe is the nickname that I gave him, and I really can’t remember why. But it was in reference to James Best’s (Not our Jim Best.) role as ‘Roscoe P. Coltrane’ the ‘Sheriff of Hazard county’. I started this series using his name because in my journey to become a Christian in Training there were thoughts and feelings that I had about the church that some people might take offense to. I also wanted to make sure that God got the glory for any goodness that comes out of this blog.
So let me start out by saying ‘”Glory to God in the highest. For it is by his hand that we live and perceive the beauty and wonder around us.”
The idea was to tell the story of my journey to become a Christian in Training. What I know of the Bible and the Gospel you could put in a thimble and still have a lot of room. But I am learning, my faith is growing day by day. Sure, I have setbacks, I have doubts but I always choose to ‘Hope’.
Hobert Perdue, when he was ‘Deacon of the Week’ a few Sundays ago asked what the name ‘Jesus’ meant to each of us. Several people answered and shared their thoughts. But I didn’t stand. I didn’t rise up and tell what he meant to me. I just sat in my seat.
After the service, I whispered to Hobert what his name meant to me. I told him “Hope“.
Jesus means ‘Hope’ to me because that was a pivotal point in my journey. I had a lot of trouble understanding what exactly faith was, and I wanted to believe in Jesus Christ but there was always some nagging voice telling me this or that to keep me away from Christ. But one evening, when Cindy had gone to Florida to see her mother I was watching a movie on TV.
The movie was ‘Blood Diamond’ with Leonardo DeCaprio. Set in Africa, it is a story about greed and the pursuit of a priceless diamond. Scene after scene in that movie shows the terrible conditions the people of that area live in and the daily atrocities that occur. So many thousands of people… Watching that movie, it occurred to me that believing in ‘Man’ is a false hope. The world is in a state of entropy. Our natural values and morals are being washed away to the point that no single human life has value. Men kill and steal from each other with abandon. In the lust for political power and money, human lives are being squashed without regard.
Life has no value anymore. Corruption is taking over our government and our lives. Businesses are sacrificing the morals and values that the human race has lived by for thousands of years in the interest of making more profit. This is the world of man, the world we live in.
There is no hope in this.
That one thought,a scene in a movie where there are countless men and women being killed, manipulated, persecuted and a million other wrongs are being carried out just left me empty inside. Believing in anything in this world or anything produced by man is to have a ‘False Hope’.
To have real ‘Hope’ is to turn to and place your trust in Jesus Christ. When I had this epiphany, it changed everything for me. That is when I began getting ‘involved’ in the Church. I started attending events. I began enjoying my fellowship with you and working to draw closer to God everyday.
I am a Christian in Training.
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