Scripture Passage:  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  Genesis 11:4

 

Dear Friends,

 

     I have been having trouble with my cell phone.  It has been dropping calls and then will not let me call the person back.  At other times it will not let me receive or make calls.  It is very frustrating.  I am a person who says he would not even have a cell phone if it was not for the church, but complains when it does not work.  I made a trip to my local service carrier, but got no satisfaction or lasting solution to my problem.  It worked for a day and then started the same old thing all over again.  So I called the 800 number I found on the internet for my service carrier.  My technician was an African American with a heavy dialect and lingo.  He was very hard for me to understand but was nothing but patient and helpful.  I told him I was technically challenged and really did not know what I was doing.  He laughed and then led me step by slow step through the process where he could work with my phone where he was.  Once he gained access, it took only a matter of minutes and my problem was solved.  (At least for now.)  I asked him what I should do if it happened again, and he laughed and said, “Get a new phone.”  I had such a good experience with him I actually answered the survey concerning his performance.  It was a “thumbs up,” evaluation.  He could not help it that he was African American, and I could not help it that I was an East Tennessee Hillbilly.  Once we got past the language barrier, we did just fine.  The amazing part was that he fixed my phone from over five-hundred miles away. 

 

     There is a group of people listed in Genesis 11 that had accomplished a very high degree of technology for its day.  You could say they were building the first “sky-scraper.”  They had mastered the technic for making brick and chemically formulated the right components for mortar.  They had a level of genius and intelligence that God himself said that if He did not do something there would be no limit to what they would accomplish.  They were unified in their quest, cooperative in their endeavors, and cocky in their aspirations.  Genesis 11:4 says that they wanted to make a name for themselves, so they began to build a tower which would reach into the heavens. Every time anyone would see that tower it would cause them to say, “Look what we have done.”  The problem was not the tower but the prideful attitude of self-sufficiency.  They felt that with their intelligence there was nothing to stop them.  They were wrong and so are we.

 

     The United States is one of the most technologically advanced nations upon the face of the earth.  The old adage “The sky is the limit,” cannot be an adequate description any more.  We believe that nothing or no one can stop us or contain us.  Our technology is so advanced and our military so superior that we cannot be beaten.  We can outwit, out power, and out- perform anyone who comes against us.  This may be true, but let us never forget we serve The God who is able to confound the wise.  Paul wrote in his letter to the scholarly Corinthians, “Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”  (I Corinthians 10:12)  He also told Joshua, “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fights for you, as he hath promised you.”  (Joshua 23:10)  God has a way of foiling the best laid plans of men and scrambling the data to shut down our computers, phones, and satellite systems.  He scattered the people at the Tower of Babel and then left their tower to remind them that you cannot outsmart God.  My cell-phone is proof.

 

In Christ,

 

Pastor Johnny