Our whole life, then, needs to be committed to pursuing purity in everything we think, say, and do. We have been made blameless by His Son, but we still have a responsibility to live blamelessly until we become like Him in glory. And that must motivate us to pursue holiness in the fear of the Lord. As you fix your eyes on Christ, identify the sins that entangle you, repent, ask for His help to overcome them by His Spirit, and then take diligent effort to mortify them as we renew our minds with His holy Word.

You have been entered into the marathon. You have been given a number. You have taken your mark. The starting gun has been fired.
Uh oh.
This particular marathon will prove to be much harder and longer than the norm. Twenty-six miles, shortness of breath, leg cramps, and moments of regret somewhere in the middle will seem mild comparatively. Because, while the race has a clear starting time and location, the end point plus the terrain and challenges in between is entirely unknown.
Single believer, how do you feel about being signed up for this marathon called “The Christian Life?” Unlike the tug of war where you are at the mercy of whichever team proves the strongest, the results of this event are entirely up to you. Instead of being stuck on a rope and mercilessly tugged back and forth, you are running to break a rope at the end of this marathon that says in big letters CHRISTLIKENESS. (Be honest…did you think I was going to say marriage?)
Whether you knew what you were getting yourself into or not, you’re in this race for the long haul. Therefore, it’s important to know how to run it well. How you train will make all the difference whether you’re on the track, in the mountains, or on the pavement at any mile marker (at least that’s what I have been told…).
So how do we train well and thus help ourselves continue pressing on regardless of what’s along the route?
Cultivate habits of godly obedience (1 Cor. 9:25-27; 1 Tim. 4:7-8).
Do you consistently practice the spiritual disciplines?
Do you regularly attend and serve the local church?
Men, do you seek to emulate the 1 Timothy 3 elder qualifications?
And women the Proverbs 31 woman?
Do you faithfully use your time and money?
Do you work for the glory of God?
Make these actions and attitudes a normal part of your training routine. Every good runner has specific exercises and diets to help increase their strength and stamina. Neglecting our spiritual muscles will only make it harder to get back into the routine or to run the race later as the terrain changes and the challenges come. Identify where you are weak and then discipline yourself to pursue obedience in that area. Let it become natural and a joy to open the Word, go to church on Sunday, be a faithful steward and servant, and let your light shine before men in all aspects of life.
Pursue discipleship (1 Cor. 11:1; Tit. 2:3-6; Heb 11:1).
Do you have at least one person in your life that you can learn from as you both seek to imitate Christ, either formally or informally?
Do you seek to gain wisdom from older saints in how to continue pursuing godliness?
Have you humbly acknowledged you desperately need others’ perspective into your training schedule to help you see your potential weaknesses?
Every good runner needs a coach. Take time to identify who can be that for you. Pray the Lord would help you find a man or woman in your life that is a little ahead of you in their race. Perhaps it’s a parent, a pastor, or an older saint.
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Many refer to baptism as “an outward sign of an inward profession of faith.” While professing believers and their children certainly receive baptism as a mark of discipleship (Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Cor. 7:14) in obedience to Jesus, the covenant sign is not first and foremost pointing to something we have done. Rather, it is the sign that points to what God has promised to do in Christ by the Spirit. Coming to a settled understanding of this is vital if we are to understand how baptism functions as a means of grace.

A Christian family once approached the late Dr. John Gerstner and asked him to baptize their newborn child. As the time approached for the ceremony, the mother of the child asked if they could hold off until she could get the baby a white gown for the service. Gerstner asked the mother what the significance of the white gown was. The mother replied, “To symbolize the baby’s innocence.” Gerstner replied, “If the baby is innocent, then why are we baptizing him?” This anecdote captures something of the widespread confusion about the nature of baptism.
Many view baptism as a mere religious and ceremonial formality. Others invest far too much efficacy to the outward act of baptism, suggesting that it imparts saving grace to every recipient. The truth is that baptism is both a simple act and a complex act. It is simple in that it is a ceremonial washing in the name of the triune God, instituted by the Lord Jesus to be a mark of discipleship. It is complex regarding the precise meaning of its nature, its subjects, and its efficacy. To come to a right understanding of how baptism works in the lives of God’s people, we first need to consider the nature of the act of baptism.
Baptism, like its old covenant counterpart, circumcision, is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace (Rom. 4:11), pointing to the promise of the credited righteousness of God by faith in Christ. It is a sign insomuch as it points beyond itself to the promised regeneration of the Holy Spirit and cleansing by the blood of Christ. It is a seal by which God affirms the truth of this promise to professing believers and their children. Christian baptism is a divinely appointed sign and seal of God’s covenant promises. This, in turn, makes baptism a means of grace.
When considering baptism as a means of grace, we must first recognize it to be a divine act. The triune God applies this sign and seal to His people in the new covenant. Many erroneously view baptism, first and foremost, as a sign of something they have done (i.e., a sign of the act of their own profession of personal faith in Christ).
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This was a building where former slaves had worshiped, where planning meetings were held in advance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s arrival for the Selma-to-Montgomery march, and where the church’s pastor served as a peacemaker in bringing blacks and whites together during the Civil Rights era.

–Civil rights landmark is a total loss–Three worshipers escape–Leaders say they will rebuild
(Selma, Alabama) There’s nothing left standing of the Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church building except a portion of the basement. The wood-frame landmark that had been built for freed slaves to worship in, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had planned civil rights initiatives, and whose members had started a school, a hospital, and a YMCA when equal access to public services was still a dream—that landmark is dust.
In that building three people were studying the Bible and praying in a basement classroom on January 12, 2023 when a tornado struck.
Rev. Winston Williams, a supply preacher for the congregation for the past five years, had heard a forecast for severe weather but decided not to cancel the prayer meeting because a new couple had come the previous week, and he knew they would be there at 11:30 a.m. looking for him. Some members of the church decided not to leave their houses after hearing the forecast.
So it was just the three of them, and they opened the Bibles to the book of First John. Just after noon there was a sudden quiet that was quickly followed by a sound like a rushing train. Rev. Williams’ first impulse was to lead the group to a room he thought would be safer. “We tried to get into the room and couldn’t. The suction wouldn’t let me open the door.” It all happened fast, he said.
They hit the floor as the building rumbled. Dust circulated in the air, and papers flew around. But their senses didn’t fathom the gravity of the tornado’s impact.
Before long, they heard voices outside, and the sound of chain saws. They left the building and saw that the building above them had been flattened. “I was shocked when I went outside and saw the destruction.”
“At no time did I ever feel any fear or that I would die,” Williams said. “I put that to our confidence in Christ.”
The woman who had been in the church building injured her leg as she hit the floor, but otherwise the three were OK.
Rev. Williams’ next thought was for the children at the school next door—the school that the Reformed Presbyterian Church had founded to provide education for children of freed slaves. Later, Knox Academy became a public school and is now known as the School of Discovery. Williams said there were over 300 children in the building when the tornado struck.
He found the children all safe, but scared. Some cried. Three trees had been toppled, and large air conditioning units had been picked up by the storm, but the classrooms were intact. Williams and the other adults stayed with the children a long time until parents came for them.
Next Steps
“Our plan is to rebuild,” said George Evans, clerk of session for the Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church and a former mayor of Selma. “We do not plan to call it quits.”
This was a building where former slaves had worshiped, where planning meetings were held in advance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s arrival for the Selma-to-Montgomery march, and where the church’s pastor served as a peacemaker in bringing blacks and whites together during the Civil Rights era.
Organized in 1875 as a place for freedmen to worship after the Civil War, the Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church arose out of Knox Academy. That school eventually grew to over 600 students and trained many future leaders. The first principal was George Milton Elliott, first black pastor in the Reformed Presbyterian Church and first pastor of the Selma congregation. Nearby, a hospital was started by one of the church members to provide equal access to good medical care.  The local YMCA grew from the boys’ club founded by Selma pastor Claude Brown and was eventually named for him.
Dr. King was present at some of the planning meetings in the church building. The building had also held the only planning meeting for a group of whites who went on the Selma-to-Montgomery march. The church was later honored for “courageous support of the voting rights struggle in the ’60s,” and a plaque was installed at the back of the auditorium. The plaque was recovered from the rubble. The church building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (https://www.ruralswalabama.org/attraction/reformed-presbyterian-church-selma-al/) .
Church members don’t say much about their past accomplishments or present ministry, preferring to live quiet lives for Christ. “We’ve always been a low-key church,” George Evans said.
Leaders have met once with the insurance company, and another meeting is scheduled next week to form an action plan. Some debris removal needs to be done before they can assess the full extent of the damage. When they do rebuild, they’ll have many guidelines to follow for a historic building.
Insurance will cover the depreciated value of the building, so there will be some costs to be borne by the church, as well as a lot of work. In the meantime, Selma University has offered its cafeteria space to the church for their services, and another Presbyterian church has offered its chapel for future services as needed.
There was no loss of life in Selma, and no member of Selma RP Church was injured or had dwellings damaged. George Evans is grateful for the mercy of God in that. Of course there is no way to replace, with lumber and nails, the unique history of the church building or to reproduce the courage and sacrifice to which the building was a testament.
Along with the collapse of the 145-year-old wood-frame church building, the manse next door received major damage, as well as Rev. Williams’ car.
When Williams left the school building and returned to the church basement to gather his belongings, he could look up and see nothing but air where a tall church structure had once stood. When he entered the area of the basement that had protected him and two others, he found the Bible he had been using still open to the same page in First John that they had been studying when the EF2 tornado blew through.
Selma Reformed Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (reformedpresbyterian.org), a 230-year-old denomination that banned slaveholders from membership and that supported the Underground Railroad. That story, and where the Selma church fits into it, is told in the book A Candle Against the Dark.
In the next several days, an account will be set up for anyone wishing to donate online to the church. Information will also be available for anyone wanting to help in person once arrangements are made. Currently, checks for Selma relief can be sent to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 7408 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15208.
Drew Gordon is editor of Reformed Presbyterian Witness. 412-805-4999

PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT THIS LINK OR BY REQUEST
https://assets.adobe.com/public/95bf0061-a579-4e05-50c4-b04faf37ddfd
SelmaBasementRoom.jpg—Where Rev. Winston Williams and two others were meeting when the tornado struck (credit: George Evans)
SelmaChurchSide.jpg—Basement with church structure collapsed into it (credit: George Evans)
SelmaChurchAndManse.jpg—Original buildings, pre-tornado
SelmaInterior.jpg—Looking from the basement into the collapsed sanctuary (credit: George Evans)
SelmaManse.jpg—Showing the manse and Rev. Williams’ SUV (credit: George Evans)
SelmaPlaque.jpg—civil rights plaque mentioned in the article
HistoricGraduation.jpg—Knox Academy students on graduation day in the Selma RP church building (credit: Reformed Presbyterian Witness)
HistoricChurch.jpg—Old photo of the church when it had a steeple (credit: Reformed Presbyterian Witness)

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