GREETINGS
in the blessed name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Kay and I
continue to pray for you. As we ask God to comfort and
protect you, we also ask God to comfort and protect all
who are precious to you. May each of you know God’s
gifts of joy, gladness, assurance and peace through all
of the coming days.
I want to congratulate
Mill Creek’s Brotherhood for the wonderful Baptist Men’s
Day that we observed last month. The men did an
excellent job in leading us in our worship on 22
January. Along with our guest speaker, Billy Hogge, our
Brotherhood blessed each of us on that day. And, along
with them, our Children’s Department (children and
adults) certainly blessed us by serving such a wonderful
lunch after the day’s worship service. All in all, 22
January was a great day for Mill Creek Baptist Church.
Let me change directions with this newsletter article.
As you read this, we are now in the month of February.
February is a wonderful month of the year. Part of that
wonderfulness rests in the fact that we celebrate
Valentine’s Day on the 14th. This year, Mill Creek’s
Family Life Committee will host a Valentine Banquet for
our church. On Saturday, 11 February, make your plans to
join us for a fine meal at 6:00 PM and then a program of
entertainment beginning at 7:00 PM. You know that you
will be blessed by coming. I do hope to see you on that
evening.
Some people will tell us that the church has no business
promoting Valentine’s Day in any way. They will point
out that they believe that the ancient Christian Church
usurped the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was
a pagan Roman holiday that was associated with cleansing
the pagan temples and the practice and importance of
hedonism. But, don’t you think that Valentine’s Day is
something different from all of that?
Do you remember passing out Valentine cards when you
were in grade school? Do you remember how wonderful it
made you feel to receive a Valentine card from a friend,
or even from someone on whom you had a secret crush?
Likewise, do you remember how you felt when you did not
receive those Valentine cards? So, on one hand,
Valentine’s Day provides us with the opportunity to be
especially kind to others. And, such a thing is always
in great demand in the world in which we live.
But, there is one other thing that makes Valentine’s Day
a special time of the year. The day received its name
from the Ancient Church celebrating the martyrdom of an
early saint of the Church. There are at least six (6)
different Christians of the early Church who are
associated with this day. However, it seems that the
most likely candidate of the six was a Roman priest who
was martyred during the reign of Claudius II, otherwise
known as Claudius Gothicus.
Valentinus, this early Christian who lived and served
God in Rome, was known to have married young Christian
couples which was a practice that Claudius had outlawed.
In addition to that, Valentinus and another Christian by
the name of Marius helped Christians who would shortly
suffer martyrdom under the rule of Claudius. In the year
A.D. 270, Claudius ordered the arrest of Valentinus. By
all accounts, Claudius liked Valentinus. But, when
Valentinus witnessed to Claudius that the Emperor should
abandon his pagan religious beliefs and accept Jesus
Christ as his Savior and Lord, Claudius ordered that
Valentinus be killed. Upon Claudius II’s order,
Valentinus was nearly beaten to death with clubs. The
beating was stopped short of killing Valentinus, so that
the Christian priest could be killed by beheading.
Once again, we are brought face to face with the idea
that Valentine’s Day is associated with the act of being
kind to those who are in need of kindness. After-all,
that is exactly what Valentinus of Rome was doing as he
married young Christian couples who were forbidden to
marry and Christians who were facing martyrdom.
This Valentine’s Day, let us take the day’s opportunity
to be kind, not only to those we love, but also to
someone who is in need of kindness. All we have to do is
look around and we will see them. Our world is full of
people who need kindness.
May the Lord, our God be with you throughout all of the
coming days. May you, and all who are precious to you,
be greatly and warmly blessed throughout your days.
Amen.
God’s Blessings,
Phillip