Slinky Day is observed annually on August 30 to honor Richard James, who designed the toy in 1943 in Philadelphia. James was an American Naval engineer who discovered the Slinky toy by knocking a spring off a shelf by accident and watched it as it stepped in a series of arc to a stack of books, a tabletop, and finally to the floor, where it recoiled and stood upright. Slinky has also been used as a teaching tool, a portable radio antenna, and in a NASA physics experiment. The first 400 units of the toy sold out in less than 90 minutes., and proved to be a very versatile toy.
“Words from Above” in the Bible tell us in the words of the apostle Paul that followers of God should be very versatile in sharing the message of the gospel with unbelievers. Paul was born and raised as a member of the Jewish race, but became a Roman citizen. When the Christian faith was beginning to grow by leaps and bounds, Paul totally objected to its spread and set out to destroy it and its followers. He searched for Christians to arrest them, as well as to persecute them and execute them when possible., but that all changed when he was traveling to Damascus. Jesus stopped Him in his tracks and called him instead to be a preacher of the gospel to both Jews and non-Jews.
Paul’s life dramatically changed, and soon he was selected to travel on missionary trips to preach the gospel and to establish a number of brand new congregations of believers. He traveled primarily throughout the province of Asia Minor, where he encountered people who practiced heathen religions and worshipped idols. After establishing new congregations, he moved on to new locations, but began to write letters to them to encourage them to be strong in their faith and follow his example in reaching out to unbelievers .
Paul described his mode of operation to be one of what he called “making himself all things to all men so that he might by all means save some.” He said that if he was dealing with Jews, he dealt with them in a way that was appropriate to them and in a way that they understood. If he was dealing with people who put a great dela of stress on keeping the law he tried to identify with them as a keeper of the law. He went on to say that he approached people the same way when they were not Jews, and that he did it always for the sake of the gospel. In other words, he put himself in their shoes.
Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville. Everyone is welcome to attend. For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.
