Devotionals

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Off The Flannel Board

They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive!
Luke 24:23 (NLT)

In January of 2008 I wrote a reflection on Peter and received a very kind response. My friend Jimmy told me I had taken Peter off the flannel board and out of the first century. Do you know that that comment has been on my mind since then? So it is about time I take that thought out of my head and put it paper. The idea of off the flannel board really struck me, but Jimmy does have a way with words.

When I was a child I remember going to Sunday school and having flannel boards or bulletin boards with cut-outs of Bible characters. They were all just pictures at that time, people in history, and just that, characters on a flannel board. I guess I really missed the point as the bible was read, movies were shown and cut-outs stapled to a flannel board. These cut-outs and people in history were more then a story to keep us kids busy.

Today, these heroes of the Bible have jumped out of the Bible and off the flannel board and have leapt into my heart and mind. Today each and everyone I read about or see on a flannel board is alive to me, they are someone I can learn from. There are Early Christians who died in the movement, whose name never made it into the bible or cut-outs made for them but their stories and their testimonies have made it into my heart. Our brothers, sisters, forefathers of the church have shown us how to live and have left so much more than a legacy, they have shown us how to live, think, pray and behave. They have cleared the way and shown us what it is like to be human and one of God’s children.

The more we read, the more we pray and meditate and the more we share with one another the more our brothers and sisters who have come before us come alive. Peter, Paul, David, Moses Jesus and all written about in the Bible need to jump out of the Bible, off the flannel boards and into our hearts. Bible History needs to be shared not as old and ancients texts but as fond memories of our relatives who are no longer with us in body. Although they may not be with us in body they are still alive in our memory, thoughts, minds and hearts. We remember relatives and friends who have passed on fondly and with admiration. Shouldn’t that be the way we think about our spiritual relatives, our forefathers of the faith, and Jesus Himself, share these accounts fondly and with gusto because they are people we love, admire and have learned from. Let’s all our loved ones out of the Bible and off the flannel board and bring them to life, we need them.

God Bless
Ken Jones
THS-Tilted Halo Society
From the Book A Prodigal Return

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