Tennessee Drifter

In 1968, I was a child growing up in Harvey, Illinois, and we attended Oasis Missionary Baptist Church. The pastor at that time was Reverend Thorton. I believe that his first name may have been James, but I could be wrong. In 1968, children did not refer to adults by their first names and really had no need to know an adult’s first name.

Reverand Thorton, or as he was often called, Brother Thorton, was a tall, lanky man, probably over six feet tall, but when he stood on the stage, my nine-year-old self thought he was at least eleven feet tall.

Brother Thornton was a ‘hell fire and brimstone’ preacher, and when he got on a roll, it felt like he could reach down into the bowels of hell, grab the Devil by the hair, and snatch him up for all to see.“`

Brother Thorton made the Devil real.

I believe that over the decades, perhaps in an effort to keep butts in the pews, preachers have focused more on the Goodness of God, and less on the Evil of the Devil, less on making the Devil real. They are two sides of the same coin, God and the Devil. You may choose not to look at reverse side of the coin, but it is still there.

While our society worked to maintain a separation between ‘Church and State”, we have allowed the Devil to work his way through our society–too often unchallenged.

The Devil used that phrase, “Separation of Church and State” to divide and destroy. The words, “Separation of Church and State” are not our Constitution, or other founding documents. Our Constitution does serve to protect religion from government, not to strip it from our society.

Today, we see the Devil’s work on display in our cities, in our schools and in our government. His work is evident in the breakdown of our families and our institutions. His work is in every child, who grows up without a strong family who teaches about good and evil. But too many parents are more focused on themselves and the moment, than their children or their future welfare.

Children, and our nation, need parents who love their children and teach them about the Goodness of God, but who also flip the coin and show them the face of the Devil,

…because he is there whether you look or not.