Secret City

From the outside, Oak Ridge, Tenn. seemed to be a town like any other. Neighborhoods consisted of single-family homes with white picket fences, parents doing yard work and mowing the grass while children played in the yard or rode their bikes. But the town of 75,000 held a darker secret.

The writer of Proverbs tells us that “whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (28:13)

It wasn’t a coincidence that no one on the outside knew about the town’s main employer, and that the workers weren’t allowed to discuss their occupations with their wives or children. In fact, it wasn’t until much later that the Tennessee city’s operation was tied to another city much further north, a city that lent its name to the research and work being done in Oak Ridge – specifically the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb.

We need community, and we are a family that should carry each other’s burdens. You aren’t alone in your struggles, and you don’t have to wrestle with your sinful nature by yourself. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, and seek the peace, guidance and freedom that can only come through Jesus.

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