You have probably never heard of Michael Stifel but he was a famous man in 1533. He was a German Monk, mathematician, and inventor of early forms of logarithms. It was he who coined the term “exponent.” That is pretty impressive, but that is not why this article is called “Uh-Oh.” To know that you need to read the rest of the story.
Mr. Stifel wrote a book called, “A Book of Arithmetic about the AntiChrist. A Revelation in the Revelation.” In it Stifel mathematically “proved” that the end of the world and Judgment Day would come at 8am on October 18, 1533. Now you know why the title of this article is “Uh-Oh.”
One cannot help wondering what people were thinking at 7:59 on that October 18 morning. We can only guess what they were thinking, but for any Christian living at that time, Jesus tells them what they should be thinking.
“If anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.” – Matthew 24:26
There will always be false prophets who think they know when the Lord is coming back but that ought not matter to a Christian. We should live our lives like Jesus is coming today!
The end of the story of Mr. Stifel is interesting and predictable. Because of his prediction, many of the townsfolk did not plant crops or store food that year. As October 18 arrived some people burned their homes and possessions. After the day passed and the Lord did not come, Mr. Stifel had to be taken into protective custody. Villagers outside his cell chanted death threats. That is the interesting part.
Here is the predictable part: After his prediction failed, Michael Stifel did not make any more predictions. I am glad he was able to learn from his mistakes. I hope the villagers also learned and lived each day like it could be the day that Jesus comes again. I pray that you and I live that way also.
Lonnie Davis
The people at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) are famous for the pictures they take. A few years back I stood on the line at the DMV to have my picture taken for my driver’s license. This is an important picture because you have to show over and over and over.
As I stood on the proper line I pondered what I could do to make my picture look its best. At the last instance I had a great idea. My lips were dry so I stuck my tongue out to wet them.
SNAP!
I heard the shutter on the DMV camera. “NO!” my inner voice shouted. The lady took my picture with my tongue sticking out. There was no going back. One cannot tell the DMV to take a second picture because you do not like the first one.
For four years I carried a driver’s license with a picture of me with my tongue sticking out. On more than one occasion a clerk would look at it and say, “Is your tongue sticking out?” I had a good line, “I stuck my tongue out so that when I am pulled over I could stick my tongue at the policeman.” It was a clever line, but I was smart enough not to actually do it.
This story reminded me of Ecclesiastes 10:1, “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” It doesn’t take much of a dead fly in perfume to run the whole bottle. It only takes a moment to ruin a lifetime of hard work. I was careless for a moment, but had to live with it for years. We all need to learn to guard our moments. Life does not come to us a year at a time or a day at a time. Life comes to us seconds at a time. Guard what you do in you seconds and life will take care of yourself.
As the four years term of the old license was winding down I waited with great joy for my new license. They finally sent me a new license. To my horror it had the old tongue-sticking picture on it. All I could think of is “Be sure your sins will find your out.”
Lonnie Davis
“Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will serve before kings; he will not
serve before obscure men.” (Pro 22:29).
Don’t be a Chumlee
The popular cable show “Pawn Stars” is about a pawn shop in Las Vegas, NV. It is fun to see what unusual item people are going to try to sell. The show starts off by saying, “You never know what is going to walk through the door.” If you watch the show you will agree.
One of the most enjoyable things about the show is watching the antics of one worker named “Chumlee.” The boss gives him assignments and then waits to see just how he is going to mess up. Chumlee has the best of intentions but he always messes up. The mess up is always something that really does not cost Chumlee anything, but costs those around him. In one recent episode they gave him a 40-year-old album of the singer Bob Dylan. They asked him to track down Bob Dylan and get him to autograph the album.
Chumlee tracked down Bob Dylan and as Bob Dylan was signing the cover, Dylan asked what he wanted it to say. Without thinking Chumlee said, “To Chumlee.” Chumlee’s boss was not pleased.
My son and I now refer to Chumlee as a type of person. A Chumlee gets things right some of the time, but has a high rate of mess ups. He doesn’t mean to mess up. It just happens!
A Chumlee character starts showing itself early in life. When in school the teacher would give an assignment and a Chumlee would do enough to pass the assignment, but will not go the extra mile to turn a “C” grade into an “A” or even a “B.” Chumlee is the one whose dog ate his homework. Poor Chumlee.
To be a Chumlee is a choice. We choose to be a Chumlee every time we chose to do less than our best or to accept just enough to get by without going the extra mile needed for excellence. The reason some make this choice is because they think it is just one little decision. In the end one little decision add up to a character – a character of being a Chumlee. Don’t be a Chumlee. Do you best every time. As the wise man wrote, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Lonnie Davis