Taking Time Off

I will be on vacation until July 11.
Look for new posting to begin on the 12th.
Have a safe 4th of July
God blessings on you all....
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Handel - The Messiah

This music stirs me deeper than my flesh or mind. It goes to the very depths of who I am and causes me to want to break forth in praise to God to whom I own everything.
My life.
My past.
My Present and future.
The very breath I breathe and the next heart beat should He decide to give me on.
Praise God!
You are worthy to receive our praises!
God on you............
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Brother Lon

Here he is! Lon Woodrum. Dapper isn't he? Lon liked bow ties and the Word of God. He would have rather talked about Jesus than eat. And how that man could talk about Jesus.

I wrote about Lon in the previous posting and how I first met him at Central Methodist. He would come up to teach and speak at the church and make the trip to Brahser Springs to take part in the services. He was old fashioned by todays standards. Come to think about it, Lon didn't think to much about today's standards either. His only standard was the Bible.

I wish that you could have heard him speak. Being a journalist, Lon had a gift with words. He was what I guess I would refer to as an orator. He knew how to master and allow the Holy Spirit to guide him as he spoke.

I remember one sermon he gave in particular. The title was "Who Is On Your Rope?" It was about the apostle Paul who was lowered over the wall one dark night in order to escape being caught and killed. Bro. Lon said that anyone could teach on Paul. If you couldn't teach on Paul you might as well pack up all your books and Bible and get out of the ministry. Well, Bro. Lon wanted to speak about the two men who lowered Paul out that window and down that wall. Two men who were never named in scripture but who had as great a responsibility for seeing the Gospel put down in writing as Paul, who wrote it did. If these two men had not lay hold of that rope and took responsibility for seeing that Paul made is safely from the city, the greatest books we have in our Bible might not have been written.

Bro. Lon took that idea and asked "Who is on your rope today?" Who is it that God has placed in your path that you are suppose to be obedient to so that the Kingdom of God might be extended?

I marveled at this man who could take words and paint as vivid a picture as any artist with paint and brush. I am richer to have known Bro. Lon.

God on you....

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Brasher Springs Camp Ground

David Finlayson and Florrie Noojin have both been writing lately about their experiences at Camp Bethlehem. Their family made the trek each years and many friendships and stories were made and came out of these family trips.

I didn't get to participate in such events until after Vicki and I started going to Central United Methodist Church and found out about Brasher Springs Camp Ground. Funny part was that I knew about Brasher Springs having grown up nearby in Gallant. Truth be told, I was Baptist and believe it or not, there was an unspoken "thing" between Baptist and Methodist back in the day. We Baptist viewed the Methodist as "out there"....."You know they don't immerce you they just kind of tickle you with water, they sprinkle" We would say. We baptist go whole hog....you're going under all the way if it breaks the ankles of every frog in Rocky Hollow (or Holler if you're really southern). As the years roll by I find such antics to be...well, I'm not going there.

Once Vicki and I joined Central Methodist we found out about the meetings each year at Brasher Springs. They are held in what is referred to as the Tabernacle. It is an open air meeting under a huge pavilion. There is something truly wonderful about going and singing the old hymns and hearing preaching and teaching that is not watered down or held back.

I first encountered Brother Lon Woodrum at Brasher Springs. By the time I met Bro. Lon, he was 83 years old and still going strong. Now if you referred to Bro. Lon as a Pastor or Preacher, he would be quick to let you know he wasn't any of those. He was an accomplished Journalist who loved God and talked about Him. I will tell you without reservation that I have never heard anyone share God like Bro. Lon could. Bro. Lon passed away a number of years ago and I do miss that man.

It was always good to meet up with friends at Brasher Springs. Gavin and Ellen Harris, Johnny and Connie Burttram and Jennifer. There was always a strong contingency from Central who attended each year. I haven't gone to Brasher Springs in a number of years, but you know what? I think I might this year.

God on you...

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The Revival Hymn

I posted this video last year.
I need to revisit this again and understand that the body of Christ is not confined to the United States of America but the world. We in America do not hold a franchise on Christ. He did not look like us. He came to rescue, to save, to redeem and bring into His Kingdom those who were lost. Those living outside the will of the Father.
Those of you who happen to find your way to this blog, know that I am honored that you would stop and visit here. I pray every morning as I post here on the Greene Street Letters that what is written would be used by God. That it might awaken someone today, to the fact that God wants to change you. To take away the curse and power of sin in your life. To put His Spirit inside you as a compass or true voice that can guide you today right where you are and right where you live.
May you find this God who has so radically changed me!

God on you....
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What's In Your Mouth?

The title of today's posting comes from the commercial about the Capital One Credit Card. The catch phrase is "What's in your wallet?" The inference is that your wallet has no use or purpose without the Capital One Credit Card in it.
What's in your mouth? What is it that you speak daily? Does your words give value to what you believe or are you simply imitating what you hear on the daily news.

Paul writes in I Thesssalonians 4:18:
Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The word "therefore" is a connecting word. Paul is tying two thoughts together, so for us to understand what the verse is referring to, we have to look back at the context given in the preceding verses.
Paul is referring to the rapture.
The rapture has fallen out of favor with a lot of churches today.
The rapture is old had. antiquated and out dated.
My friend, be careful about what you allow to roll around in your brain. Be careful about the subtle voices that you listen to that don't disallow for the rapture. They simply don't teach it or speak on it.
They speak on the fact that we should be focused on what needs to be done now.
They promote a social gospel of doing good works and helping people.
This kind of teaching, while not evil, carries with it a trap that snares us. What trap? The trap of feeding our flesh. Inflating our ego. Putting us at the center of God's will and not God himself.

I am not here to debate or discuss the position of the rapture in relation to God's plan. I am simply here to say that if Paul says we should comfort one another concerning the calling up by the Lord Jesus Christ of his church, then we should be speaking on the subject.
In fact the word "Comfort" used in the verse carries with it the idea of teaching or exhorting each other. Why? Why speak out on the Rapture?
Because it builds hope within us. It tells us that no matter how hard or bad things get here on earth, at some point the Lord Himself. Do you see that? The Lord Himself will descend. He isn't going to send angels after us. He will come.

The custom in Jewish Weddings was for the husband, during the betrothal period, to work and prepare a place for the couple to reside in. Did Jesus not say that he was going away to prepare a place for us and that it he was going away, would he not come back and get us? I think the answer is yes. This brings comfort to us on so many levels. It soothes my spirit and lets me know that what I am going through here on planet earth is temporary.

Some say the rapture is pie-in-sky-theology.
My friend, I say it is Jesus-in-the-sky-truth.
Read the words of I Thessalonians 4:13-18 for yourself.
Take heart!
Jesus is coming back to call his bride unto himself.......and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
God on you..........
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Love?

Sometimes you think you are getting along pretty well in your relationship with God. I mean you may actually think you're on the super highway to making progress when all of a sudden you will read a verse and you experience a spiritual blow out. When this happens you have to stop, pull over and replace the tire you have been traveling on. You replace it with the spare tire. One that you knew was in the trunk but you didn't really pay much attention to it. That is what happened to me today. I came across a verse that I knew, kind of like knowing where the spare is, but I had not really studied it. Had no need to because I was traveling on the tires that I knew about. Well, when I came across the verse this morning, I had a blow out. I had to pull myself over and change tires, so to speak. What am I talking about? You have a concept or idea from something you either read in Scripture or were taught. You filed this idea away and have tried to live by it. You felt like it was truth and you desired to make it a part of your life. Well, my blow out forced me to take the spare (which was the real truth of God) and put it in place of the tire that was flat.
I Thessalonians 4:9
But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are TAUGHT BY GOD TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
I highlighted the part that blew my tire out for effect. Concerning love, we are taught by God to love. I had the notion that it was simply something I was called to do. You know....love everyone. Well how has that been working out for me? Not to good. Oh, I put forth the effort but you know, you just run into people who are, how shall I put this? Unlovable.

When I came to this verse, I found out that the category of "unlovable" does not exist. I only put people in that category because I don't know how to love them. Oh, I can say it with words and it sounds all flowery and good and spiritual, but the truth is, I don't love them. If this was the end of this posting or thought, it would leave us in a precarious place, but praise be to God he didn't leave us stranded on the side of the super highway with out a spare.

I have read the verse from I Thessalonians multiple times but never saw or made the connection that God teaches us to love. Of course He does! That is the fruit that Holy Spirit brings forth that we read about in Galatians 5. I hear many people teach and talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit but they do so under the mistaken idea that fruit is "multiple" as in many fruits. But if you read the verse from Galatians, it says "fruit"...singular. All the character traits that follow the word Fruit of the Holy Spirit are different shades or types of love.

Galatians 5:22
But when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, or controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: Love
Joy - This is love that is excited

Peace - This is love that is at rest. Love that is at peace with everyone around us.

Patience - Love that waits. We are always in a hurry. Hurry to do this or that. Hurry to see something happen that we have prayed for. Love is patient.

Kindness - Love that responds gently. Love that does not repay evil for evil.

Goodness - Love that gives away and is not based on what it can get in return.

Faithfulness - Love that trust and carries out the duties and calling of our heavenly Father without question.

Gentleness - Love that is balanced. Love that suffers with no thought of revenge.

Self Control - Love that is restrained. Love that is tempered with the heart of the Father and does not run without purpose of direction.

When will I get through my thick religious skull that the highest calling God has given us is to love. I think I will chase this today and see what happens.

God on you........
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