Come

I’ve always loved watching videos put together with preaching, pictures and music and have seen quite a few in the last couple of years, including things like the Revival Hymn which I have on CD here for safe keeping and future reference. Yesterday I came across a video that has stunned me for lack of better words. I can’t bring it up on this site but will put the link here.

http://www.braveheartedgospel.com/video-come

As time goes on I’m getting much more focused on what God is calling me to do, and the message in this video is about as close as it gets to that calling. Amazing how as a person gets closer and closer to understanding what the calling is, the answers are provided at just the right time. I praise the Lord for this and I praise Him for what He has done as the video clearly shows. And not in my plan or anything like that is the fact that Paris Reidhead, the preacher doing the preaching used to be a rural preacher in Minnesota. He went on to mission work around the world and died in the early 90s, and I am so thankful that there’s recorded sermons from him still around.

The video takes a long time to load, but is well worth the wait. I just put it in a separate window when I get home and let er load and keep it on the computer for the remaining time I have it on. Everyone in this family has viewed it and I know it teaches the most basic Gospel that there is, and its so badly needed! Its sad that there isn’t more of this basic preaching in church and outside of church. This is the missing key for me and now it has been found. Simple, straight forward as every Paris Reidhead sermon I ever heard has been. I praise the Lord for folks that know more about computers than I do and put things like this together. Amen!

Changes

This past year has been a year of change and I still don’t know exactly whats going on. In a whirl, so to speak. The biggest change was after reading the book, Saint of the Wilderness, the book about circuit rider Robert Sheffey. Nothing could have set a ministry course more than that book did in my life. I think I’ll even take a break from reading the journal of John Wesley and re-read the Sheffey book. The one thing that stood out to me in that book was that ministry is where ever a person is. Plus I have that kind of way in me not to be set in one place doing the same thing over and over all the time. Some folks are for taking care of the sheep and I’m not that good at taking care of a pen of em, just as soon be out in the wide open pasture and chase some runners down. Funny, when things start to pressure me a bit, different church activities and such, I just look to the vision that the Sheffey book instilled in me and I calm right on down.

Right now I’m down right busy with church stuff from our little country church. Got a community event to plan and figure out for the end of next month. At first I was very nervous but then thought, hey, if this helps even in a little way bring the Kingdom of God into a forgotten small town its an honor to do this. And so be it. This ain’t some glamor job, just simple country stuff. But it is God’s work for me and that’s that for that. Doors keep opening up and it doesn’t look like I will be rejected for a preachers license as Sheffey was on first crack. Funny, me being so unworthy for such a position and Sheffey did more than most preachers in his day and was rejected by the Methodist Conference in his area the first time he applied. Where will all of this lead? I haven’t the slightest idea, nor do I care. As long as I follow what God wants me to do. The one thing I’ve learned for quite a while now is that I don’t have to do much figuring or planning, God always comes up with something, every time bigger than I figured I could of done a few months before. There’s no wondering about what to do, in fact the problem is wondering how to do it all as things and events just keep coming up in front of me.

I remember a couple of years ago, there was such a desire to learn from the Word, which has never cooled down, and I wondered why should I be doing this. I’ll never be in any ministry. How could a simple farmer even toy with the idea of being covered by organized ministry? Totally impossible in my mind it was for a long time. But the hunger was burning in me to learn and learn. Much of what I read gave me a bad feeling deep in the gut and the changing moment was when I put most of the books written by preachers down and got into the Bible. And what an intimidating book that was in the beginning. I figured the kids in Children’s Church were way ahead of me in Bible knowledge, which they were at the time. But day after day, week after week and right up to this time a few years later I read the Word daily, never missing. Did it when I didn’t want to. Some might call it religious reading even when you don’t feel like it, but I can testify that is when its most important to keep going. Keep going even when the rotten flesh is bucking up a storm saying “not tonight”. After time went by the recall was amazing on many subjects that were read through the years. It began to flow when I least expected it and still does more and more.

The greatest ministry revelation for me was when it was shown to me the need in this region. Its unlimited. I read and read about different ministries on the internet and have much love for most of them. Many are totally different than the ministry I’m in, in fact most are, but a peace has settled in my heart in this matter. This is where God wants me to be, this is where the work for me is and here I’ll do it. There might not ever be a full fledged legal ministry that I have, never might get a plug nickel in donations, but the freedom that gives one is unbelievable. Do what needs to be done and only answer to our little church and our church’s covering. And the way it looks, I have allot of freedom in what I will be doing. I’d hope of about one third of it all to be regular church stuff and the rest outside of the walls.

As I do my daily things around the area here for the farm, revelation after revelation keep coming to me on the needs of the area. And there are many. What an absolute adventure being a servant of the Lord! I’ve been keeping very, very quiet about all of this and tonight I’m just letting a tiny bit of it out. Mainly because I was in utter confusion and wanted to see where this was all heading. I think I’ll forever blog because it releases so much that needs releasing in me when I sit down some evenings. The impossible is happening. Or what I once thought was impossible. Its incredible how God opens doors that I thought were firmly locked to folks like me. And its incredible how God puts a burning desire in a heart, a desire that I rarely run across in checking out ministries. How God supplied the fuel to get me going through friends right here on the old blogs. How I read the Sheffey book and thought, “if only I’da lived then”, then the very ministry that he did becomes reality in this day and age for this house. Oh Lord! Amazing, utterly amazing how God opens doors, how He plants the dreams and then delivers every bit of it. I think as time goes by, and I’m not holding my breath so much, this blog will become more of a journal about all of this. In other words not changing a whole lot, just not so tight lipped about the stuff that’s going on.

Whom Then Shall I Hear?

Permit me to speak plainly. If by Christian principles you mean any other than Scriptural, they weigh nothing with me. I allow no other rule, whether of faith or practice, than the Holy Scriptures. But on scriptural principles, I do not think it hard to justify whatever I do. God in Scripture commands me, according to my power, to instruct the ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the virtuous. Man forbids me to do this in another’s parish, that is, in effect, to do it at all, seeing that I have no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall. Whom then shall I hear, God or man? If it be just to obey man rather than God, judge you. A dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me, and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.

Last evening while reading the Journal of John Wesley I happened upon the quote from a letter he wrote to some religious church folks that were disturbed, to say the least, about him preaching outdoors to the common man. He was on fire to preach the simple Gospel but was being forbidden by the Church of England. He took it outdoors and the thousands upon thousands of simple folks that came staggers the imagination. For many it was there first time ever hearing the simple Gospel that was directed at them. An amazing fact that I’m discovering when reading the journals is that the call upon a person then is no different than the call nowadays. And with the call came the terrible realization that Protestant England’s Christianity was a mere empty shell of what Christianity is in the scriptures. Again, an amazing parallel to today’s modern Christianity.

I can only read at most ten pages a night, the print is small and I can’t go very far without being shaken deep in my soul reading about a man that had the same questions and concerns that I do today. The journey he undertook is amazing, the faith journey that is. And how he was despised by man because of declaring the simple Word of God. The churches, one by one told him to never come back and preach. Because when a person preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ the world gets offended, big time. And a worldly church most of all.

Can the same results happen today when the simple Gospel is preached? Not an ear pleasing, prosperity driven, watered down, me, me Gospel, but the Gospel of Scripture. And on the other side of the road, not an overly religious Gospel that depends mostly on the dry traditions of man, one that requires our own works to get us to heaven’s gates. Will God sweep down as in the times of Wesley and literally overcome thousands of hell bound souls, dropping the people to the ground screaming for mercy from a just God? I ask myself, why doesn’t this happen today? Are we so much better that God doesn’t have to make His Holy presence known to us like back then? Or was it the power of God Himself that would literally sweep through thousands of folks because His Word was being preached as it should be preached? What are we missing today?

I hear many say that God is going to be working in all new ways, and with this I disagree. God always works in the way that His Word says he’ll work. We don’t need a brand new experience, we need to get back to scripture and then I believe the power of God will descend upon us as never before. We need that simple faith, that simple direct preaching of God’s Word to shake this world to its roots. We need people that won’t look for the world to pat em on the back for their preaching and lifestyles, but only do as God commands us to do in scripture. Oh Lord, it was raining today and I couldn’t chop silage, and this afternoon so many revelations hit me while just doing some regular work around the place, so many questions answered that I stand amazed. I love when God does that, all of a sudden multiple things seem much clearer. The path is more visible. The old straight and narrow makes allot more sense.

Getting Back to Basics

I gotta just kick back for once around here! Take a break, not a blogging break, just a break from thinking a bit. Was thinking about that today while working, I don’t kick back like I used to. Getting to serious with stuff. Things are going fairly decent, the crops look good, but the calf crop is way smaller this year after two consecutive drought years. Had me worried till I realized even with the calf crop smaller than normal by a large percentage it’ll still be easier than last year. No feed to buy. No worrying where to buy hay when there is very little to be had in the region. Nope, looks allot different than last year. In a couple weeks the silage pit might be full with a heap a few feet high on it. Plus maybe make a smaller pile nearer to where I’ll winter over some cows.

Brad got me thinking about getting back into the Bible studies again, I haven’t done one since the beginning of June or so. I waited over a month for it to get graded and never got myself going again, but I think I’ll start up this weekend again. I have a few lessons done on paper, but have to get into the swing of it sending them back in. Also I figure I might just as well finish the World Harvest Bible College courses. I’m about 3/4 done with that at this point and finishing up won’t take all that much. In fact I’m listening to a CD from that as I type, these computers are kinda nifty at multi tasking. Learning about the old fashion praying through and its really good! Its some old school preaching! I could preach this stuff!

Oh Lord! These next couple of months will be kinda a lull. Nothing to do as far as entering any ministry things. Just wait. So wait I will and will enjoy it all! Praying through, the old fashioned way. Get back to some of the old school things of faith and farming. And praising the Lord through it all!