What happens when you refuse to accept the facts God gives you breath and He controls your destiny? In the book of Daniel, the Tillamook (Ore.) Adventist School’s sixth, seventh and eighth grade Bible class learned that you either go into the furnace and meet God or go crazy and even lose your kingdom.
During their Bible classes, class members have been going through, chapter by chapter, the book of Daniel. In chapter three, they spent a little time making and painting (gold spray paint … oh, and it would have been wise to open windows to ventilate) their own personal statues, like Nebuchadnezzar. The statues were just 6 inches tall and sat on each student’s desk while they studied about God’s control of kingdoms and the tendency of humans to desire total control over their own destinies.
Students went with the three worthies into the fiery furnace and walked with God there. They saw the king go crazy until he looked up and acknowledged that “His [God’s] rule is everlasting and His kingdom is eternal” (Dan. 4:34). They decided to accept the truth about the kingdoms of this earth as shown in chapter two and to put away their pride by determining not to defile themselves with the things of this world. They decided to throw their 6-inch, gold statues into the fiery furnace forever.
With that in mind, the kids lit those statues on fire in the school’s front lawn. They did this with a pastor, Bible teacher and volunteer firefighter, standing by along with a borrowed fire truck from the Netarts-Oceanside Fire District and permission from the Tillamook Fire Department to tap into a fire hydrant. Not only did the students gain important spiritual lessons, they learned about fire safety and got to spray water from a fire truck. Memories made, indeed.
James and Hanna operate the fire hose, with Truck 61-47 in the background.
Mekenna opens a fire hydrant. Her dad is a volunteer firefighter.
Firefighters helped the Bible class bring part of the book of Daniel to life.
A firehose made short work of the fire.
