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Letters to
the Editor
The Madison County Journal
August 11, 1999
Says Broad River is an invaluable resource
Dear editor:
I would like to thank Margie Richards and The Madison County
Journal for the excellent August 4th feature article on the Broad
River Watershed Association. The BRWA, like most community groups
and non-profit organizations, is run by a handful of volunteers,
and we really appreciate the Journal's assistance in getting
part of our message out to its readers. Margie did a fine job
of condensing the information available about the BRWA down to
a full-page feature article (someone could - and should - write
an entire book about the Broad River). BRWA members and volunteers
have done an incredible amount of work over the last nine years
in protecting and preserving the Broad River and its watershed,
and in working with and educating landowners about their options
for protecting this invaluable resource. If anyone wants to find
out more about the BRWA, please attend our annual meeting at
9 a.m. August 28 at the pavilion at Watson Mill State Park near
Carlton.
I do need to expand on a few points from the August 4 article:
No one wants the Broad River to end up like the Chattahoochee
River in Atlanta, where pollution and unplanned overdevelopment
have caused water quality problems and rampant flooding of neighborhoods.
The robust redhorse fish, though to be extinct for nearly 100
years, was reintroduced into the Broad River in 1996 and 1997
after being rediscovered in the Savannah and Oconee Rivers in
Georgia and in the Pee Dee River of North Carolina. The first
conservation easement granted to BRWA was donated by Bud and
Mary Freeman along a wooded area of the Broad River. A landowner
who places a conservation easement on his or her property keeps
ownership of the land - the conservation easement controls the
type and amount of use and development that can occur on the
property (or on parts of the land) according to the landowner's
wishes, and a land trust such as the BRWA that receives the easement
has the duty to ensure that the conditions of the easement are
followed in the future.
The Broad River is an invaluable natural resource and an important
part of our history and our heritage. Meriwether Lewis, who led
the Lewis and Clark expedition across the Rocky Mountains from
St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific coast and back in 1803-1806,
learned many of his wilderness skills as a boy growing up on
the banks of the Broad River in Georgia. As a young man, he traveled
on foot and alone between his Virginia plantation and his mother's
lands along the Broad. This pristine and beautiful river system
deserves to be protected and preserved.
The Broad River Watershed Association is a regional, non-profit
land trust created to preserve the Broad River as a free-flowing
river system and to support land use compatible with the maintenance
of water quality, scenic rural character, and the preservation
of sensitive natural and historic areas and wildlife habitat.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and donations are
tax exempt to the extent allowed by law. We welcome all new members
or volunteers who want to help preserve the Broad River and its
watershed. Again, a big thank you to Margie Richards and The
Madison County Journal for showcasing the BRWA on its features
page.
Sincerely,
Victor Y. Johnson
Says U.S.
is not a Christian country
Dear editor:
I read where someone called America a Christian nation. Why would
anyone in their right mind think we live in a Christian country?
Or even in a Christian state or a Christian county? There is
no such thing.
In a Christian country, state or county, the politicians would
publicly confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and live for
Him. Other people who claim to be real Christians would be willing
to stand up and take a stand for Christ. I have yet to see a
politician advertise their faith in Jesus Christ.
That does not mean some of our politicians or all of them are
not Christians. I only think it strange that I have never read
where any politician, anywhere, in my lifetime, ever made a real
public profession.
When someone runs for public office, they usually have something
printed in the paper to let people know they plan to run for
election. Sometimes they might mention what church they attend.
They try to convince people they are nice, sweet people, and
their wife/husband/children are nice and sweet. That means little
or nothing except to get votes. That is not taking a stand for
Christ.
Going to church does not make you a Christian. Going to church
does not mean you are living for Christ. Being nice and sweet
does not make anyone a Christian.
A Christian is a person who has trusted Jesus Christ as their
Savior and has asked Him to save them, believing in their heart
that Christ died on the cross for them. Some people go to church
only to cover up their evil ways.
To live for Christ is something else entirely. Jesus died for
all of us. If we had no other reason, we should love Him enough
to be willing to live for Him because he loved us enough to die
for us.
There are a number of obvious ways we can show Christ that we
want to live for Him. I mentioned politicians, but I am not picking
on politicians today. These things apply to everyone.
"Love thy neighbor." We should lift up our fellow man
and not try to hurt him/her.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
We should never say any untrue thing about our fellow man. Even
if we know something bad, the first thing we should do is to
love our neighbor and try to help him/her in private instead
of beating him down. Otherwise, you would not be showing Christian
love.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?"
Because we are Christians (if we are), we should not yoke ourselves
up with people whom we know are not living right. If we know
someone is doing some obvious sins, we should remain friendly,
but not be social friends. We are known by the company we keep
and by the kind of friends we have. Jesus Christ socialized with
unsaved people, but His purpose was to get them saved. Many times
we socialize with unsaved people or with Christians who we know
are living in sin. We do this to serve our own purposes. Does
this apply to you?
"Thou shall not commit adultery."
"Thou shall not steal."
"Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
Take stock of yourself. Are any of your friends guilty of any
of these things? (It does not matter if that friend is a Christian
or not.) If you are a Christian, you have no business spending
much time with them. You have no business having business dealings
with them. Most of all, you, yourself, have no business breaking
any of these commandments.
"Honor thy father and thy mother." This Commandment
does not say to love thy father and thy mother. That is taken
care of in other parts of the Bible. The word is honor. You bring
honor or dishonor on your parents by the way you live, even if
they are no longer alive. For example, if you were to murder
someone or rob a bank, you are bringing dishonor on your parents.
On the other hand, if you honestly lived for Christ, you would
bring honor on your parents. You can bring honor or dishonor
on your parents no matter what kind of people they are by the
way you live.
If you are a Christian and are living in sin, let me encourage
you to repent and ask God to forgive you. "If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If you are not a Christian, let me encourage you to pray to God.
Tell Him you believe Jesus died on the cross for you and ask
Him to save you. If you will do these things believing in your
heart that He died for you, He will save you, and you will never
have to face your sins when you get to your judgment.
Hope to see you in heaven.
Sincerely,
George Boutwell
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Frankly Speaking