Ken Loyd of Moore County, N.C., and I write about the "sign" fiasco:
“Officials at Beulah Hill Baptist Church in Moore County, N.C., want to make one thing very clear: They do not think Beyonce [a famous popular singer] and Jay-Z’s newborn baby is Satan,” wrote James Halpin, staff writer for the Fayetteville Observer.
Halpin reports that Dr. Curtis Barbery, pastor at Beulah Hill Baptist, says church leaders have been inundated at home and work by callers from across the country wondering about a photo circulating on the Internet that appears to show the church’s sign with the phrase, “Beyonce had her baby. Satan is on Earth.”
Callers, apparently learning about the sign from celebrity gossip websites like TMZ.com, have been so numerous that officials at the church had to turn off the phone at one point, Barbery said.
The picture is a fake, Barbery noted, adding that the church has no quarrel with baby Blue Ivy Carter or her parents, Beyonce and Jay-Z, both singers. Barbery said he believes somebody doctored a photo of the church’s sign and posted it to the Web.
Ken Loyd, a retired elementary school teacher and a pianist for Beulah Hill Baptist, wrote an article about the uproar over the doctored photo. Here is Ken’s article about the nationwide attention his church received:
The photo was a fraud and had certainly been “photo-shopped” by a clever mischief-maker, still unidentified. But it went viral, gaining attention from local newspapers, TV stations, and some national outlets. Some were offended; some were outraged; others took it lightly.
Our pastor, Dr. Curtis Barbery, handled the incident graciously. He pointed out to interviewers that our church is not an extremist group; that our message is of the love of Christ, not one of condemnation. He employed his wit and wisdom to defuse the situation, both for his congregation and for a public that wanted to be reassured what the church was all about.
He pointed out that although the perpetrator may have wished to imply that Beyonce’s baby IS Satan, that is a total falsehood. He stated that no little baby is the devil and that our church has nothing but love for both baby and mother. He went on to say that Satan has been on this earth for a long, long time – all the way back to the garden of Eden.
Therefore, whoever posted the Internet message, whether their intent was humorous or malicious, inadvertently made two true statements. Not only is Satan in this world, the Bible acknowledges he is “the prince of this world.” Dr. Barbery enumerated another twenty names by which various scriptures refer to Satan. Some of the most descriptive ones are Father of Darkness, our adversary, the enemy, the tempter, the destroyer, father of lies, sower of discord, and deceiver.
Here are some points Dr. Barbery made in his sermon the Sunday after the Internet uproar:
1. Satan, or Lucifer, went from being an Angel of Light to Father of Darkness.
2. Satan rebelled against God and was cast down from heaven (as some believe is portrayed in Isaiah 14:12). He was cursed in Genesis 3:15. Sin was first found in him, then transmitted to humankind.
3. Satan endorsed Herod’s attempt to kill the baby Jesus.
4. Through his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, he sought to destroy the Lord’s mission, ministry and testimony. He does the same thing to believers today: “The devil got into religious folks and hasn’t quit.”
5. God didn’t make sin, but He allowed it.
6. Satan wants to deceive the world as to the identity of Christ.
7. The devil also wants to pervert the Bible and make it of no effect.
In closing remarks, Dr. Barbery proclaimed that in His death and resurrection, Jesus took the keys to hell, death and the grave. Barbery chuckled and said, “The devil doesn’t even have the keys to his own house! What Satan thought was his victory [the crucifixion of Jesus] was his Waterloo.”
The prophet Hosea said: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The apostle Paul quoted those questions and answered them in I Corinthians 15: 56-57: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the end, the words on the church sign meant little in and of themselves. But they led to a renewed call for vigilance in a sin-sick world, where, as Peter says in I Peter 5:8: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
1 comments:
That is hilarious, UNLESS you happen to be Beyonce or kin to her!
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