Gerald Hill, a Baptist pastor in Powderly, Texas, tells about a friend of his who was serving in a mission church in Alaska. The water was so bad in this particular Alaskan community that a thick red scum would appear over the top of it. This little mission congregation was in the process of building a new church building. Since this was a Baptist church, the baptistry [a small pool in the sanctuary] was installed and being used even though the building was not complete.

On this particular occasion, the baptistry had been filled, and the red scum had appeared. It would be skimmed off on Sunday morning before the service began. The building inspector happened to show up and began to inspect the premises. "What is this red rug doing back here?" he asked as he stepped onto the red scum, and …