First things first, I want to thank a fellow blogger for sending the funds to pay for a year’s worth of ad-free blog posts. I won’t name him on here, but it was a serious blessing. May the Lord bless in return!
Next, to the point of this short post,
I want your help in determining the posts/articles/papers I will write over the next few weeks. It’s not that I have writer’s block; I want to write what you want to read.
You see, there are things I would like to address, including why it is understandable for a Christian to vote for Donald Trump – in response to all the other articles from the Left and left-leaning Republicans who pontificate otherwise.
But some of the things I think are important may not be important to you, or at least most of you. There may even be some subjects about which you would really like to hear my opinion.
And since I don’t have a lot of time to write in the first place, I’d like to make my time count.
Here’s your opportunity to fill the calendar.
Starting this Tuesday, August 17th, and all the way through Tuesday, the 29th of September, I will only write about what YOU suggest. And, if you get it in early enough, I WILL write about it (the best I can, depending on the subject matter).
I’m looking forward to seeing what you suggest. Just leave your suggestions in the comment section.
And who knows? Your suggestion could lead to something groundbreaking, an inspiration that could change the world, even save lives! Millions of them!
One of the activities that occupies my time is learning the history of the area where I pastor. Believe me, there’s more than enough to keep one learning for a long, long time.
But learning local history is vitally important for getting to know the people one’s called to shepherd. And being that I’m not a local, not even close, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to go on some adventures in order to get a “lay of the land.”
That is why, after learning of the existence of an abandoned mental hospital, I had to learn more, and if possible, in person.
The Unofficial History
The place that I’m talking about is Central State Hospital, founded in 1842 as the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum. At one time this was the largest mental hospital/asylum in the world, “serving” up to 13,000 people.
Central State has a long and sorted history with a mixed reputation for healing and horror. From what I have been told by locals (you know, the kind that sit around in the barber shop even when it’s not time for a trim), strange and unexplained things have happened since the “residents” of that place were “let loose.” And when you read the stories that hit the news in the years leading up to the hospital’s closing, you’ll understand.
This hospital was HUGE. We’re talking a self-supporting town! There were a couple of hundred buildings, including a power plant and a cemetery with 25,000 graves! And really, what more needs to be said?
Sadly, even though the hospital was founded as a place to help people, the help they offered for generations was nothing short of horrific. At one point there were 100 patients to every 1 doctor – and NO psychiatrists or psychologists! Common treatments of the confined, those who suffered from anything from depression to schizophrenia, were things like electro-shock, surgeries, and straight jackets.
What’s worse, parent’s in Georgia used to use this place as a threat to make their children behave. They would threaten their unruly children with, “I’ll send you to Milledgeville!” Horrifically, it was a threat with weight, for it’s been said that Central State Hospital was a place “where you sent people away to be forgotten.”
The Unofficial Tour
If you look up Central State Hospital on YouTube, you will inevitably find videos of people exploring the abandoned ruins of this facility. And what’s more, many of those are focused on the creepy and “haunted” aspects of the property. As a matter of fact, Central State is considered one of the most haunted places in America.
However, if you go to MY YouTube channel, what you will find is the video I’ve attached to this post. It is a video of what an unnamed friend and I saw when he offered to give me an unofficial tour.
The only thing is that what started off as a drive around the place ended up with me deciding to get out of the car for a closer look. And once we did that, and once I saw that there were no locks and no signs saying “KEEP OUT!”, I went in.
WARNING: Don’t do this!
“Break’n the Law”
After about an hour of walking around in an abandoned prison essentially meant to house handicapped and elderly prisoners until they died … and after several times of mimicking TV ghost hunters by calling to the unseen down black, unlit hallways, “Is anybody there?” … we retraced our steps and found our way out into the sunlight.
Before we made it to the car, a female security officer in a van came down a weedy, overgrown single-lane drive and rolled up beside us. “You are not allowed to be here…you need to leave now,” she said with all the seriousness of somebody being paid to guard Area 51. “Oh, OK. We were just looking around and about to leave,” we replied.
“Just so you know, we’re not giving warnings anymore – we’re just calling the police and they’re taking people like you to jail,” the security officer then informed us. But then she let us go with a warning.
Back in the car, my friend, also a preacher, asked, “Would your church had fired you if you’d gotten arrested?”
“Probably not,” I said. At least I hoped.
“We literally could have gone to jail,” my friend said. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I replied. “But it feels a little adventurous knowing we broke the law and got away with it.” I couldn’t help but remember MTV’s Beavis and Butthead from back in my younger, stupid years: they’d do something moronic, then act like would-be renegades while singing, “Break’n the law! Break’n the law!”
I have decided to do a research paper addressing the doctrine of separation. You could help by forwarding any relevant source material, such as books, articles, denominational publications, etc.
Specifics
Specifically, I need material published by denominations who prohibit fellowship with believers in other denominations. In other words, if you have access to published material that says stuff like, “We will not associate or worship with Southern Baptists because…,” I would greatly appreciate a copy.
You can reply here, or you can forward copies of source material to my email: PastorACBaker@yahoo.com.
The Recovering Legalist 