Christian Resources

November 1, 2024

Wash Your Hands

Is hand washing important according to the Bible? There are around 100 scriptures on washing. Many of those scriptures mention washing hands. Here are some scriptures that deal with hand washing:

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Exodus 30:17-21 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Psalms 24:3-4 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Washing of hands and feet is symbolic of making yourself clean for God.

Today we know many reasons for washing hands. When God made the rule is said we were to wash hands so we would not die.

Washing hands prevents illnesses and spread of infections to others

Hand washing with soap removes germs from hands. This helps prevent infections because:

People frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick.
Germs from unwashed hands can get into foods and drinks while people prepare or consume them. Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks, under certain conditions, and make people sick.
Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, like handrails, tabletops, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.
Removing germs through hand washing therefore helps prevent diarrhea and respiratory infections and may even help prevent skin and eye infections.

Teaching people about hand washing helps them and their communities stay healthy. Hand washing education in the community:

Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-40%
Reduces diarrhea illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%
Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%
Reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%

Not washing hands harms children around the world

About 1.8 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diarrhea diseases and pneumonia, the top two killers of young children around the
world.

Hand washing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia.
Although people around the world clean their hands with water, very few use soap to wash their hands. Washing hands with soap removes germs much more effectively.
Hand washing education and access to soap in schools can help improve attendance.
Good hand washing early in life may help improve child development in some settings.
Estimated global rates of hand washing after using the toilet are only 19% .

Hand washing helps battle the rise in antibiotic resistance

Preventing sickness reduces the amount of antibiotics people use and the likelihood that antibiotic resistance will develop. Hand washing can prevent about 30% of diarrhea-related sicknesses and about 20% of respiratory infections (e.g., colds). Antibiotics often are prescribed unnecessarily for these health issues. Reducing the number of these infections by washing hands frequently helps prevent the overuse of antibiotics—the single most important factor leading to antibiotic resistance around the world. Hand washing can also prevent people from getting sick with germs that are already resistant to antibiotics and that can be difficult to treat.

God knew about germs before we did. He created a law that involved hand washing to save His people from deadly disease.

People are People

My daddy was a long-haul truck driver. He traveled all over the continental states, a little into Mexico, and a little into Canada. This was mostly during the 1990's and early 2000's. He was born in the 1940's.

As a child, I asked him what the people in other places were like. I lived in a small town.

I still remember his answer. People are people. Some are good. Some are bad. It doesn't matter where you go, you will find people that are nice and people that are mean. Skin color doesn't matter either. People are people.

The Boat Ride

Many years ago, it rained for about 1 month. My grandfather (Marcus) was just a boy. He was the youngest of his siblings. He lived in a 2-room house with his parents (Berry and Pearlie Mae) and his 3 sisters. Yes, I said 2-room house. There was a kitchen and a living room. They cooked and ate in the kitchen. They lived and slept in the living room. The bathroom was in the outhouse behind the house.

During this month of rain, they all went stir crazy. The only excitement was counting the chickens through the floorboards. They didn't own a television.

On the day that the sun finally came out, Berry suggested that they go on a boat ride. Pearlie Mae agreed. She fixed a picnic Lunch. They all quickly got ready. Now they didn't own a vehicle, so they got the small boat and the picnic basket and started to the flooded Pearl River.

They put the boat into the river. They put the basket into the boat. Pearlie Mae gets into the boat. The 4 children get into the boat. Lastly Berry gets into the boat. The boat is barely above the water. They row around on the river for about 2 hrs. While on the river, they eat lunch. Water keeps splashing into the boat.

Finally, the come back to shore. A man runs up to them. He is so relieved. He had been there since they had gotten into the boat. He explained that he had not taken his eyes off of them so he could tell rescuers where the boat went down. He had been so afraid that the boat, which was barely above water, would sink from the weight of the 6 people and 1 large picnic basket.

My grandfather, Marcus, told this story many times. He said that God takes care of children and crazy people.

It still amazes me that 6 people could even fit into a boat that size. The boat was only about 5 or 6 foot long and about 2 foot wide.

Friday Night Church Service

My great-grandmother was a youth leader and a Sunday School teacher for many years. She finally had to stop teaching because of age related health problems. A few years before she passed away, the church was talking about not having church services on Friday night anymore. They thought that having church services on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night would be enough.

My great-grandmother did not agree. She said that if you quit having church on Friday nights you might as well close down the church because the youth needed something to do on Friday nights other than get into trouble. If the youth didn't come to church on Friday night, they would eventually stop coming to church. She was very vocal about this. Everyone knew her position and thoughts on the matter.

The church still voted to stop having Friday night youth services. This was in the early 2000's. Has anyone noticed the current state of the churches here in the United States? Here is a link to an article about youth and church attendance. Church Attendance Dropped Among Young People, Singles, Liberals - Christianity Today The youth has now mostly left many of the churches.

Maybe my great-grandmother was right.

Locked Church

My great-grandparents helped to clear the land for the brush arbor that then grew into a church. As the church grew, they helped to build the church building. They were very active in the church. My great-grandmother was a youth leader and a Sunday school teacher. My great-grandfather was an ordained minister and a deacon of the church. They put many things in the church such as a fellowship hall with kitchen, a nursey, the pews, and classrooms. The one thing that no one had ever installed was a lock. The people of this church believed that the church should always be open. This was for several reasons.

What if someone was caught in a rainstorm? They could use an unlocked church for shelter.
What if someone needed to pray? According to Jesus, the church is a house of prayer.
What if someone was passing through and needed a place to rest?
What if the women wanted a place to meet?
What if the men wanted a place to meet?

They had the church unlocked for all of these reasons and possibly a few more. This went on for many years. This church was founded in 1940. That is until about the late 1980's or early 1990's. A new preacher came in. The preacher asked for the keys to the church. The deacons explained that there were no keys because there were no locks on the doors.

The new preacher was from the city where locks were everywhere. He insisted on locking the church because of the valuable equipment (speakers, microphones, etc.) The preacher insisted so much that he, without anyone else knowing, installed the locks.

The next Sunday the preacher was surprised to see an angry crowed waiting for him. They complained that they had been waiting for the last hour. They complained that the church had never in all their days been locked. Some complained that breakfast was now very late, and the children were hungry. This preacher had thought he was arriving 1 hr. early. He did not realize that this group of people normally came 2hrs earlier than the service for fellowship that including breakfast and prayer.

The dispute was settled by giving a key to every member household.

3rd grade math topics and resources

The 3rd grade math student:

Adds 3-digit to 3-digit numbers, subtracts 3-digit from 3-digit numbers, and solves word problems with carrying and borrowing.
Learns multiplication facts 1–9 with timed drills and oral drills.
Reviews numbers in place values of 1s, 10s, and 100s; writes numbers to count on a number line. reviews and writes on charts; and learns to use picture tables to determine height.
Reviews telling time and learns half-hour, quarter-hour, and 5-minute increments.
Learns Roman numerals.
Reviews measurements of weight, liquid, and length; converts inches to feet, feet to yards; reads scales in pounds; and learns the abbreviations in., ft., and yd.
Writes ordinals first through tenth.
Learns to divide objects or sets into halves

Resources:

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Short Prayer

I had just turned 16 years old. My mom and I were on 16th avenue in Laurel, MS. We were in a 1977 Ford Maverick that we had recently bought for $100. It barely worked. You had to use both feet to drive even though it was an automatic. The car would die at the red lights if you didn't keep gas going to it. So, you held the brake while tapping to gas at red lights. This was the best car we could afford at this time.

We were stopped at a red light when an 18-wheeler was making a right turn. We could see that it was turning too sharp. There was a car beside us and a car behind us. There was nowhere for us to go. We screamed, "God help us" Our car turned sideways and the car beside us slide over. We heard the screeching of car wheels. It took two light changes with us figuring out how to turn the car back straight. Not one car honked at us. Everyone waited patiently for us to move. Later we heard people talking about this event. It turns out that they were in too much shock to honk or yell at us. The people 1 month later were still trying to figure out how the car turned sideways and how we did not get hit by the 18-wheeler.

God does hear Prayers. Prays don't have to be long or eloquent. Prayers only have to be sincere and from the heart. Having a relationship with God before you need help is important.