Philip Gulley's Home to Harmony: Underneath the Left Staple of the Rand McNally Map

Most folks don't know about us (Harmony) because, when you open the Rand McNally map to our state, we're hidden underneath the left staple.  That's fine with us.  We're modest people, inclined to shun attention.

But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Matthew 6:3

When I went away to college and other students asked me where I wanted to live after school, I would tell them Harmony.  They said I lacked ambition, which wasn't true.  They confused contentment for stagnation, a common mistake.  Even at a young age I knew contentment was a rare gift and saw no need to seek it elsewhere when I had found it in Harmony.

Yet true godliness with contentment is great wealth. 1 Timothy 6:6

It was grace-full preaching.  I even pounded the pulpit.  Twice.  Many pulpits have been pounded in the name of hellfire.  I thought it was time to pound one in the name of grace.

God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  Ephesians 2:8-9

She (Fern) was not a big believer in grace. As theories go, grace was good, but in reality it lacked satisfaction.  Fern was a disciple of retribution.  In her opinion, Jesus was a bit too quick to forgive.  She wanted God to punish sinners and had strong opinions about with whom He should start.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.  Leviticus 19:18

This is how foreign grace was to her, that when she heard it she mistook it for heresy.  There are some people, I am sorry to say, who wouldn't recognize grace if it stood at their door wearing a name tag.

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.  Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.  Hebrews 12:15

Excerpts From Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley

Scripture references were inserted by the blogger - me