A Parable

A man owns a house, and enjoys it. One day it is seriously damaged by a storm. How does he go about reclaiming his house?

First, he determines if it is salvageable. It is. He spent a precious fortune purchasing it and he has unlimited resources.

Next comes the clean-up. The storm made a mess and when the house was damaged nearly everything was affected. This is detailed work and can take quite a while.

Then, when everything is clean again, the damage must be repaired. This can be painful. Hammers, saws, drills, nails and screws. New pieces brought in, fitted, installed, sanded and painted. This is delicate, time consuming, and messy.

Finally it is finished. Everything is bright as new. The work is done, the workers have all gone home. But is this the end of the story?

No. The house is still empty. The owner needs to move back in and take possession. The house is filled with his things but awaits his presence. What a difference this makes. His presence fills every room and places his stamp on every possession. His presence cheers the house. What a difference between an empty house and an occupied house. An empty house, even though everything is new, tends to fall apart. But an occupied house, it’s as if the presence of the owner animates the wood, the drywall, the furniture.

All the cleaning and repair would be wasted without the presence of the owner. After all, that’s why he bought the house. There is always the memory of what happened in the storm and often a memorial is created, a photo album or a damaged piece is left. But all has been restored and the house reclaimed.

That's my parable!

My dream

It is now 4:30 am. I had the following dream tonight. I woke up from the dream just before 4 am. It was still so vivid I decided to write it down.

~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~

I was driving the blue Taurus and heading for Walmart (which was actually in my thoughts and plans for when I woke up). I was driving along and came to a stop sign. When I tried to stop, the brakes were made a funny sound. I turned right and this road had a lot of mud across it. Then I encountered road construction, as in the road ahead was closed. I turned into a lot on the right to turn around. The entrance back to the road was very steep and the traffic at this point, where the road was actually blocked off, was very heavy and fast. It was so steep that I could not wait there for an opening in traffic, but began sliding back down. I couldn’t stop sliding back and in fact slid into the river that suddenly appeared behind me.

It had been night previous to this, but now it was day. And I was in the back seat! I was fully in the river, so I decided to roll all the windows up, jump into the front seat, and hope for something good.

The car began slowly spinning around in the water. There was another vehicle in the water with me. I couldn’t tell if he was also spinning. The river forked ahead of me. The other vehicle went right and for some reason I went to the left, now no longer spinning. Suddenly, I was aware that I was leaving the water and on a road again. And the window on the driver’s side was like one of my jeep windows, only it trimmed in blue to match the Taurus. It had come off. I was holding it in my hand as I drove along, trying to put it back on.

The road was parallel and a good bit below (20-30 ft below) the road I had recently been on. The road got narrower and narrower and then entered an area over-run by tree branches. It was now a railroad track. I couldn’t turn around so I pressed on. Ahead of me was the faintest glimmer of a trail. I could go to the right to some houses or to the left to a building. Both choices went down a good-sized hill. I went left, because I felt like I had been that way before and knew it better. As I went down hill the car became a yellow girl’s bicycle!

When I reached the bottom of the hill, what I thought was an opening in the fence, was not. But there was a man standing there and he lifted the fence up for me and I went through. He looked like a Latino so I thanked him in Spanish. As I rounded the building he began to talk to another man, in perfect English. They were talking about New Jersey and how he was communicating with someone up there who would somehow help him out of the jam he was in.

Behind the building, the drive-way/road that led into a trailer park was also blocked, but I had the feeling I knew where I was. As I was lifting the yellow girl’s bike over this barricade, I could hear the man behind saying it was a sorry thing that I had to ride a girl’s bike.

Then I woke up.

Wow! I am amazed at how clear this still is to me and how I have no idea what it means. But I think I will wait until daybreak to go to Walmart, just in case.

Why I needed to find a church

When I started my blog I made a couple of posts about my search for a church. I had a few responses to them. One brother, a pastor down in Florida, made vague threats of physical violence if I didn’t find one quickly! (I wasn’t really worried. I mean, he is in Florida and doesn’t know where Rock Hill is.) Someone else told me that I didn’t need to find a church or go to one for that matter. This person also sent me an e-mail saying they had attended a Bible study, learned the Bible and didn’t need church anymore. THAT scares me.

Since then I’ve found a church. Actually, I became a member of that church, without even applying and much to my surprise. That is a different story. But…

Why do I need church? I’ve been born again, Spirit-filled, studied the Bible and know it pretty good. I have taught nearly every book in it, and what I don’t know I am able to study and find out. Can’t I say I’ve graduated from church? No. Nope. Or as the Apostle says, μη γενοιτο (God forbid / By no means! / Certainly not! let it not be! – pick one)

So why do I need the Church? Well, Jesus built it - this is why He came. Jesus loves the church and gave himself for it - I love Jesus but I don’t love what he loves? This is what Jesus is doing in this age – I am a follower of Jesus but I am not interested in what he is doing?

The church is the pillar of truth. Now, I’ve read the Bible from lid to lid and have a fair grasp of it, but I can still be taught. And more importantly, I can be reminded, and exhorted, and encouraged in the Truth.

The church is called a body, a temple, a family. Am I, by myself, the whole body? The entire temple? The complete family? Now that is a stupid question! Even if I am the center of the universe, then I need to be in a church so that they can be blessed by my contribution. Ah, but then I need to be in church so I can be blessed by their contribution. You see, I have exercised several gifts, but not all. I have a ministry, but not every one. I am not the whole. I am only one very small part. I need the other brothers and sisters.

Another aspect of church life, of community, is the one anothers. One thing that church provides is fellowship and accountability. This is a fundamental part of the Christian life. Without this I am playing a game at best and deceiving myself at worst. If anyone thinks living an unconnected life is normal and biblical, they clearly do not know the Bible nearly as well as they think they do.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves. If I am not a part of a local fellowship, how can I do this? Or this, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Not obeying is known as disobedience. Disobedience is called sin. I do not want to live in sin.

That’s why I was looking for a church. And now I have found one. Is it everything I would look for in a church? No. Are they doing everything like (I think the Bible says) they should? No. Maybe I can help them. Maybe I can contribute something to them. Maybe. But they will definitely contribute toward my growth, Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. And, For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established [strengthened]; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. The point being, he had something to contribute to them and something to be gained from them.

That’s why I needed to find a church.

My Communion Journey

When I’m at work I think about a lot of things. And the other night I got to thinking about the Lord’s Supper.

Over the past 5 years I have celebrated the Lord’s Supper mostly with churches who strongly emphasize, “This is just a remembrance.” After 25 years of pastoring, I had forgotten. I confess, that view and approach to the Lord’s Supper seems to me to deprive it of it’s richness.

That’s what I was thinking about.

I began my Christian life in the Baptist Church, the home of the memorial view of the Supper. At Bible College they told us about the Catholic view, the Lutheran view, and the “right view.” The heart of the issue is the question of the Lord’s presence in the Supper: Is He somehow present in the elements or is this simply a time to remember?

So, at the beginning I held the memorial view (“simply a time to remember”). Then something dreadful happened – I read!

I read my Bible (the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?), and Derek Prince, and John Calvin, and John Wesley (on the means of grace), and the Fathers. And my view changed! A lot!

I now believe Christ is indeed present in the bread and wine, that it is His desire to impart grace to His people when they partake of the Supper, that the Supper is in fact a communing with Him. (How? The Holy Spirit makes Him real as we partake by faith.)

Yes, we remember. We remember what He did for us and we remember when we first received Him as our Savior. But we also receive. As we eat the bread and drink the cup we receive Christ – His wholeness, His life, His forgiveness. Amen! We look around and see our brothers and sisters receiving the same Christ and we are one in Him. And our hope is rekindled as we remember that this is only “til He come.” And on such a note of His presence, we always ended Communion with an invitation to any and all who wanted to be anointed with oil and prayed for.

I compare that with the impoverished, “Nothing is happening here but remembering” approach I have encountered. My heart is grieved.

Does it really matter? I thought about this comparison:

-You go to a restaurant that has pictures of every item on the menu. You are instructed to look over the items and remember what they taste like. Then you go home. “Great meal.”

-You go to a restaurant that has pictures of every item on the menu. And then you dine on your selection. Big difference!

Remember and receive. Commune with our Lord Jesus Christ. What richness! “Take the bread and feed on His body, broken for you that you might be whole. Drink the cup and receive His blood shed for you. Receive forgiveness. Be cleansed. Drink in his life.” Oh, Amen!


How in the world did I get here?? How do I get anywhere at night??? ☺

Is there a problem in Romans 2?

In the past few years I have read about Protestant theologians and scholars who are now teaching justification by works. And they quote this passage in Romans 2 in support of their message. Is there a problem in Romans 2? Is Paul saying that we are made right with God by our good works?

The Passage
2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

What is this passage saying? I think it’s real clear, God will give eternal life to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality. Any way you slice it, this verse tells us that we can receive eternal life by patient continuance in well doing. And I believe it. But there is a problem.

The Problem
3:9  …for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13  Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips:
14  Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness:
15  Their feet [are] swift to shed blood:
16  Destruction and misery [are] in their ways:
17  And the way of peace have they not known:
18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.
And as 3:23 says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Did you notice that in 2:6-10 there is no mention of grace? or redemption? or forgiveness? or Jesus? That’s because this passage is presenting a principle of  judgment. Judgment is always about works. In the Day of Judgment we will be rewarded for what we actually did, and we will be punished for what we did and didn’t do.

Notice the context of this passage: Chapter 1 sin; Chapter 2, sin; Chapter 3, sin. Yes, this is the principle, If you will obey God and by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, He will give you eternal life. But this principle should itself convict us – I have not done this. I have failed. What can I do about my sins?

And this brings us, also in context, to

The Gospel
3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.
21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22  Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Paul was the one who wrote 2:6-10, notice his conclusion: by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. And why not? for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

And now the good news: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Amen! God demands righteousness and I am unable to produce it, so He provides it.

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. This is one of my favorite verses. It is so full!

† God has prepared an acceptable righteousness - the righteousness of God

† He makes it available to us by faith of Jesus Christ

† It is promised unto all them that believe

† It is actually given upon all them that believe

Chapter 2:6-10 tells me about the coming Day of Judgment. Justification and Condemnation are judgment words. My sins have rendered me unable to be right with God, consequently I have no hope of passing the judgment. But God (are these not the greatest words in the English language!), because of His great love for me, has provided redemption through Jesus Christ, Whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood. So now I am justified freely by his grace when I believe in Jesus.

Is there a problem in Romans 2? No. It is designed to lead me to Jesus, so that I would return to God by repenting of my sins and believing in Jesus, the Son of God, whom He raised from the dead. And when I believed He gave me the righteousness of God. Amen!

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,

Who from the Father’s bosom came,

Who died for me, e’en me to atone,

Now for my Lord and God I own.

The judgment of God in Romans 2

As I mentioned in my last post, I am reading the epistle of Paul to the Romans. In chapter 2 (I know, I should have posted this before any comments on chapters 3 & 4!) Paul speaks about the Day of Judgment. I don’t want to appear to be preaching, so I will just list the principles of judgment that I got out of Romans 2, and let you develop each one and apply it to your own life. God’s judgment is:

1. According to truth
2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

2. Righteous
2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God

3. According to our works
2:6-10 Who will render to every man according to his deeds

4. Without respect of persons
2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God

5. Our secrets will be judged

6. By Jesus Christ

7. According to the Gospel
2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel

I realize that is possible to understand according to my gospel to mean, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, just as I preach when I preach the gospel. If that is so, it means preaching about the day of judgment is a part of preaching the Gospel. This is significant because many/most today do not even mention the judgment, much less preach it. I like to think there are seven principles of judgment, so if according to my gospel means like I preach, then the seventh would be in the day signifying that there is a set day for this judgment.


While this is a definite future event, God takes no delight in this coming judgment, and affords us ample opportunity and time to escape it!
2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God

In other words, there is a way to escape the judgment of God, or better, to be accepted of God in that day. And that is what the gospel is about.

Justification

I’m reading the epistle of Paul to the Romans. I’ve read it before, several times. Still, I’m trying to read it as the first time, asking of the text, “What is he saying?” rather than, “Yeah, yeah, I know all this.”

I am doing this with another brother. We were both amazed at the judgment theme in chapters 1 and 2. Then comes the good news in chapters three, four, five: Justification.

I know a little about justification from a theological standpoint, but it is refreshing to listen to Paul with a fresh ear. Paul doesn’t exactly define justification, as in “justification is the act of God whereby He…”, yet he does describe it’s results.

3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
3:22  Even the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
3:25  Whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
It is always interesting to keep in mind that righteousness is the noun and justification is the verb of the same word. Obviously then, justification is related to righteousness. Are you already impressed by my insight?

There seem to be two thoughts in 3:21-25 associated with justified:
(1) the righteousness of God    – Just-as-if-I’d-always-obeyed
(2) the remission of sins           – Just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned

In Romans 4 Paul adds another aspect to justification

4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
He brings forth Abraham as an example of and support for justification by faith and not by works. Paul says Abraham’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness. His faith was imputed to him, was credited to his account, as righteousness.

4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
This is not only true of Abraham, but true of each of us who believe on him that justifieth the ungodly” our faith is counted for righteousness.
Is this not interesting? Righteousness is what God demands of me, what I am unable to produce, and what God gives me through faith in Christ. That is justification. Paul tells me that God counts my faith as the righteousness he demands, just like He did for Abraham.

4:6  Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
4:7  Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
4:8  Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
And then he falls back on this, imputing righteousness is the forgiveness of sins. (Imputing and counting are the same word.) Again, justification seems to me to be:
† the forgiveness of my sins
† the counting of my faith as righteousness
And thus God imputes righteousness to me or justifies me. And it is the very righteousness of God that is imputed to me (3:21-22).

And if we did not get this, he sums it up again in 4:23-25

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Amen! I am a sinner, condemned, unclean; with nothing to offer God. Yet I am justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood.

And he sums up this glorious good news in 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
This is the death knell of any hope of righteousness by my own works or efforts. If justification consists of forgiveness of sins and imputed righteousness, and is already mine by faith, how can I do anything to be justified more? If justification is God imputing to me His own righteousness, how can I improve on that by my own good works?

What love! What grace! What a blessed state indeed!

Not the labor of my hands

Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification

This word in the Greek means . . .

We are blessed to have the Word of God in our own language. We are also blessed to have many tools to aid us in our study of the Word of God, such as lexicons and concordances. And computers! I don’t even own a concordance or a lexicon anymore. I have BibleWorks for Windows, which comes with multiple translations and tools. It is so much faster than using a book – I just did a search for “and” in the entire Bible and got the results in 3 seconds: 51,714 occurrences! This is what I wanted a computer for!!

But I have noticed a dangerous tendency in the use of these otherwise wonderful tools: Laziness. That’s harsh and maybe I should say sloppiness. Or carelessness.

You see, Greek and Hebrew words do not have one and only one meaning each. They often have multiple meanings, shades of meaning, as well as being used in a variety of related ways. People often look up a word in order to get a better idea of the meaning of a passage. They notice that it has several meanings, arbitrarily (so it seems) pick one and then make a pronouncement, “The Greek word in this verse means…” And an inspection reveals that is does not!

This concerns me. I have seen such people give out erroneous information, all the while claiming, “This Greek word means.”

Well then, should only “professionals” or “scholars” use these tools? Absolutely not. Too often the “scholars” are not men of faith, so all their learning does them very little good. So, what is the answer?

Diligence.

If you are going to look up a word and determine it’s meaning in a particular verse, then by all means avail yourself of the many tools at your disposal.

If it has several meanings, shades of meaning, or usages, try to locate the verse under consideration – Where does your lexicon place it?

If it has several meanings or usages, then look them all up. Nothing beats seeing how a word is actually used. I mean, look up every occurrence. This is time consuming work.

Be careful. Often people using these tools come up with a “new interpretation” of a passage. If you are the first one to understand a verse a certain way, there may be a good reason for that!

And remember, if you don’t know the original language (Greek/Hebrew), just knowing a word will not give you a sudden depth of understanding hitherto unknown by the Church!

I’ve not even mentioned the Septuagint. It is very helpful, when studying a Hebrew word, to see how they translated it into Greek. And when studying a Greek word of the NT, to see how it was used in the OT. So, and therefore, as well as in conclusion: Use the tools we are blessed with. Be diligent. Be careful. Be thorough. And respect the ancient wisdom of those who were much closer to the Apostles than we are – the Fathers.

I thought these were the two best

I just finished Hymns of the Eastern Church, translated by John Mason Neale. I have mentioned J.M. Neale before (translator of Latin and Greek hymns/carols). In this little book he gives us some of what he considers the best of the hymns of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I was impressed by two images encountered in these hymns:


Now the Virgin-womb...Containeth Him, the Uncontainable : What a powerful image!

(God) The uncreated Light     Is this not an awesome picture?

The following two poems/hymns were my favorites.

Adam’s Complaint
"The Lord my Maker, forming me of clay,
By His own Breath, the breath of life convey’d
O’er all the bright new world He gave me sway,
A little lower than the Angels made.
But Satan, using for his guile
The crafty serpent’s cruel wile,
Deceiv’d me by the Tree;
And severed me from God and grace,
And wrought me death, and all my race,
As long as time shall be.
O Lover of the sons of men!
Forgive, and call me back again!

"In that same hour I lost the glorious stole
Of innocence, that God's own Hands had made;
And now, the tempter poisoning all my soul,
sit, in fig leaves and in skins arrayed:
I sit condemned, distressed, forsaken;
Must till the ground whence I was taken
By labor's daily sweat.
But Thou, That shalt hereafter come,
The Offspring of a Virgin’s womb,
Have pity on me yet!
O turn on me those gracious eyes,
And call me back to Paradise!

"O glorious Paradise! O lovely clime!
O God-built mansion! Joy of every Saint!
Happy remembrance to all coming time!
Whisper, with all thy leaves, in cadence faint,
One prayer to Him Who made them all,
One prayer for Adam in his fall!—
That He, Who formed thy gates of yore,
Would bid those gates unfold once more
That I had closed by sin:
And let me taste that holy Tree
That giveth immortality
To them that dwell therein:
Or have I fallen so far from grace
That mercy hath for me no place?"

Adam sat right against the Eastern gate,
By many a storm of sad remembrance tossed
O me! so ruined by the serpent's hate!
O me! so glorious once, and now so lost!
So mad that bitter lot to choose!
Beguil'd of all I had to lose!
Must I then, gladness of my eyes,—
Must I then leave thee, Paradise,
And as an exile go?
And must I never cease to grieve
How once my God, at cool of eve,
Came down to walk below?
O Merciful! on Thee I call:
O Pitiful! forgive my fall!"

<>< <>< <><

Art thou weary, art thou languid, 

Art thou sore distrest ? 

'Come to Me' — saith One — and coming, 

'Be at rest!' 

Hath He marks to lead me to Him, 

If He be my Guide ? 

In His Feet and Hands are Wound-prints, 

And His Side.

Is there Diadem, as Monarch, 

That His Brow adorns ? 

Yea, a Crown, in very surety, 

'But of Thorns ! ' 

If I find Him, if I follow, 

What His reward here ? 

Many a sorrow, many a labor, 

Many a tear.

If I still hold closely to Him , 

What hath He at last ? 

Sorrow vanquish'd, labor ended, 

Jordan past ! 

If I ask Him to receive me. 

Will He say me nay ? 

Not till earth, and not till heaven 

Pass away !

Finding, following, keeping, struggling, 

Is He sure to bless ? 

Angels, Martyrs, Prophets, Virgins, 

Answer, ‘Yes ! ' 

Isn’t this fun?

Last night at work I had a sense of impending evil. A funny feeling that someone was interested in robbery. Most nights are fine, but every once in a while I have a strong feeling of robbery. Anyway, it was a pretty strong sense, so I was very careful to leave my drawer with as little money as possible. Nothing happened. In fact, after a couple of hours that “sense” completely went away.

This has happened before. A couple of years ago, a police officer, who is a Christian, came by and asked if everything was OK. I said yes. Then he told me that he had a feeling that he needed to pay special attention to the store that night. How did I respond? Roll my eyes and dismiss it and him? Nope. I thanked him and Him. Nothing happened then either.

What’s this all about? Am I just weird? OK, that’s a different post altogether!! I have no definitive answer, but I do have a thought on this. I think that at such times there are indeed evil intentions fomenting, and the Lord graciously makes me (and occasionally, even officers of the law) aware of them. My response of preparedness seems enough to quench that smoldering flame.

I also have this senses from time to time concerning checking IDs. I always try to be careful and especially so on Saturday nights or holidays. But every once in a while, I have a strong sense of danger – SLED likes to trick and trap clerks – and become especially diligent. One night I had that feeling and a customer, whose ID I checked, told me SLED was indeed out that night. Another night, same feeling and diligence, and one of our other stores called me and told me SLED was out. (Y’know, it has been a long time since I was green carded by SLED - green card means you passed the test; red card means you’re fired.)

All that being said, I think every clerk probably has that moment of fear when you sell tobacco or beer to someone that you didn’t ID and you watch them walk out the door – Do they go around the building to a hidden car? Do they nod to some unseen person? Does that next customer look especially authoritative (and gleeful)?

Isn’t this fun?