“I have come in the name of Christ”

Jess Walker, a circuit rider of the early nineteenth century, entered St. Louis in 1818 with the words, ” I have come in the name of Christ to take Saint Louis, and by the grace of the God I will do it.” God was with him in his efforts, for within a year he had a church of sixty members and a free school for poor children. It was this same man who introduced Methodism to a tiny settlement perched precariously on the south shore of Lake Michigan in 1830; the cluster of cabins later became known by a universally recognized name-Chicago.

I found the statement above on the internet and it interests me greatly. Over the last few years I’ve read book after book on faith and matters that pertain to it. I’ve studied with Bible College studies and such, but nothing has struck me as deeply as the faith these folks had that spread the Gospel over our land. How could a bunch of basically unschooled ministers make such a tremendous impact on Christianity as they did? This is the question that I keep asking myself. They were scorned by many of the “established” churches for not having seminary training. And what could drive men to go and go and with any luck at all receive fifty or sixty dollar for their years labors? Many times it wasn’t even that much. The married ones would more than likely have a farm where their wife and kids would work trying to raise enough to stay alive. And when the husband was home he’d work like a bear trying to get the place in order, the crops put away and all so he could get back out in a land of people that didn’t know very much of God.

The statement above struck me though, what he said as he came into St Louis, he proclaimed to the heavens and earth that Christ’s Kingdom had arrived. And that gets me back to so many books I’ve read over the last few years, about speaking out your faith. They kinda give the impression that its almost a new discovery, but the more I dig back, the more apparent it becomes that these folks were much more advanced than modern day Christians give them credit for. In fact, maybe more advanced than modern day Christians. It almost looks like the modern day church has taken a step or two backwards. It seems like nowadays folks are busy “binding” demons, but when I look back, or read the Bible, they weren’t doing that. They were much, much more advanced than that. They were walking in authority, on the offense for the Kingdom, not the meekly defense that’s the norm nowadays.

This will probably dig me down deeper, but I want to be on the offense! And I am so blessed that our little country church understands and encourages this. Every once in a while I give a little report on what we are doing, quietly to those with authority over me, and there’s always encouragement and support. By quietly I mean I don’t go bellering it to everyone in church, in fact most don’t even have any idea I’m even in the ministry yet. And that’s fine with me, cause my job ain’t in the walls anyhow. Its outside of the walls. Over a year ago I wrote something titled that without the slightest idea that it would become our ministry in a way. Funny how that works. Never had the slightest hope that I’d ever be in ministry for that matter.

And writing and writing about circuit riders became a passion of mine, mostly because I saw something so incredibly different in their manner and faith. And the end results were staggering, just like in the Book of Acts. I was pumping water for a half hour today and just skimming through the Book of Acts while the generator was roaring away out in some nice seventy degree sunshine. And it floored me, I’ve read the book of Acts time after time, I’ve even studied it here and there, the same principles they used are what the circuit riders used. They proclaimed Jesus Christ to any and all! And they boldly proclaimed Christ to the most powerful folks there were, without hesitation. They weren’t hiding in the walls, on defensive, they were offensive all the way. Now this is just an observation I have come up with and I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. The folks that are hiding behind the walls are always binding demons, figuring there’s demons coming in from every direction. Which might be true as far as that goes. And them demons just love it when the church folks are busy binding demons. Quite simply because if the church folks are busy doing that all the time, they ain’t doing any harm to the powers of darkness. In the Book of Acts they rarely wasted their time doing these defensive measures, they were on the offense. They were proclaiming Christ and one way I read it described it as the spiritual warfare H-Bomb. This is what the powers of darkness never want to see a Christian do, never. They are happy as little devils keeping folks hiding in church, doing church stuff, having programs, but never doing the one thing Christ commanded them to do, spread the Gospel.

” I have come in the name of Christ to take Saint Louis, and by the grace of the God I will do it.”

The circuit riders were light years ahead of much of today’s church. They employed the H-Bomb of spiritual warfare!

Some Old Time Preaching

I’m just in one of them moods where I’m plain happy! Nothing special, because really, nothing special has happened that I know of. Just things keep moving on. Nothing earth shattering going, just content is all. Survived three days of church going ons and don’t feel all that drained from it all. That’s a big plus in itself for me! Just content to do what we do, the old time way and that’s good enough for me! Of coarse with fall being about my favorite time of the year that might have something to do with it. The days are getting shorter and the work load does cut down somewhat, more time in the evenings to just do other things than plain old labor. More time to get back studying the Word and all which is what I love to do! Just drive to church a couple times a week minimum and I love looking around at all the small farms that dot the countryside in these parts. I love the small towns with their different culture, not very mainstream these days to say the least.

Gonna run the final lap with the Bible College courses now. I’ve been meaning to get to them but a million other things have kept me away from them. Funny how that all works, but there’s no pressure to hurry and I like to remember what I learn, just to dig in at my own pace and all. I think tonight I’ll throw a video on here. Its just something I like to watch once in a while, my kind of preaching. The kind I cut my spiritual teeth on. The kind that lit the fire, so to speak a few years ago and has never stopped. This video shows some of my spiritual roots and some might not quite figure out why things like this made such an impression on me, but they did and I’ll never really get aways from this being my favorite kind of preaching.

The World is Our Parish

Well Glory to God I think I’m done for the day! Now to get cleaned up and head into the hills for Children’s Church in a little while. Its been raining and raining, a cold rain and this afternoon about all I did was corral the cows we have grazing across the county road. thought I had em all till a short while ago I get a telephone call saying one was out. OK, will go, in the rain we go. But I figured what was wrong before I even left. The cow truly wasn’t out, she was just a hider, sneaky thing that hid in the deep brush when everyone else was being corraled up for the night. So officially she wasn’t “out”. She was just separated from the rest. So me and number one daughter headed out in the rain with the rusty but trusty Chevy pickup, (two wheel drive), and I moved the corraled cows into the wood corral, daughter opened the outside gate in the holding area and that lone cow came running in on her own, thank you Lord! A little mud and rain never hurt nobody, but I was sure thankful the job was quick and easy, the cow doing most of the work.

This afternoon, while it was raining, I stayed home most of the while. I don’t have a good enough vehicle to go anywhere when the cars are gone, plus I didn’t want to clean up before chores were done, so I searched the internet for things that have been interesting me and have been on my heart for a while now. Searching for Bible Studies, mostly beginner kinds. Searching circuit riders and such. Came across allot more interesting stuff with that. I’ve been putting that sort of information over on the side bar of this blog in different pages so I retain the information I find. Slowly building up information here.

The vision will be put into reality now. There’s places to go, besides church activities, places every direction from here. One thing stuck in my mind from the searches today. One of the reasons for the tremendous success of the old circuit riders. They were not above the people. They were the people. They knew how the people talked because they were one of them, they knew what the people thought and could communicate at the same level, They were not educated so much that they lost the effectiveness, nope, they were regular folks that were on fire for God. Many were rough necks that led pretty rough lives before coming to Christ, (sounds familiar), and they knew how to handle themselves in most situations.

They put up with allot of things that would have made a lesser man quit. Not only the hardships, but in reality they were not accepted with open arms every where they went. Many were beaten or killed preforming their calling. But they when on and on despite it all. What Brian commented on today was a reminder to me that we cannot let false doctrines and things of that nature sway us from our duty to the Lord. We can’t let it eat our insides up worrying about it. We have to look straight ahead and do what we are supposed to do. It won’t be easy, it won’t be popular, but then again it never was.

Its to the point where going to church is considered relaxing in comparison to going out. Even teaching Children’s Church which can tire me out so much sometimes is like a vacation compared to going out. But going out is where a person comes alive, the spirit wakes up and wants to do what its supposed to do. There’s nothing else quite like it, going out. The world is our parish and there’s plenty of it to go around.

The World Hates That

I pray, for what pay could we procure men to do this service?-to be always ready to go to prison, or to death?

This is a quote from the journal’s of John Wesley and  its on page 473 of the first volume in my seven book set of thick books. Its at about the half way point of that book and the time frame is October 16th 1744. He had just written down a letter in his journal that he received from one of his preachers who underwent tremendous persecution, in England. This journal is becoming more and more interesting every page. I wasn’t kidding a while back when I wrote it might take me a few years to finish the set. For what its worth I’d recommend  these journals and sermons to anyone with plans on following a call of God on their life. I know I’m maybe a little different for even being interested in things like this, because its sure not what’s considered “normal” Christianity nowadays reading things like this. But then again these books are always in the Christian Book Distributors  catalog every time I open a new one. So someone besides me must buy and read them.

Back to the book. The persecutions were mounting, growing stronger daily against someone who would even dare to proclaim that Jesus saves. Church don’t like stuff like that, when one realizes a person doesn’t have to jump through the religious hoops to be saved. They didn’t like that when common folks had a fast track to the Saviour that by passed the established church. And that old snake Satan sure does have enough folks ready to go after anyone proclaiming the truth. The movement that was started by the Wesleys literally changed England and a bit later changed the United States big time. And all it was, was the simple Gospel being presented to everyone and anyone.  When I read these things late in the evening I almost start to shake there’s so much courage shown following Christ by these men.

In the mean time today I received the latest issue of Charisma magazine, which I sent to last winter for a trial issue and when we got it, didn’t feel all that hot about it. Today’s issue is the same as always, some “big name” preacher, this time a lady, wearing furs and jewels up the ying yang, on the cover. The inside is full page ad after ad with about all the televangelists having big named Christian Conferences somewhere in the United States, soliciting folks to arrive at these big events and receive their blessings. Maybe I’m just a poor Christian because it turns my stomach paging through this stuff.  Am I a sinner because I don’t follow the bright lights and talk of receiving your financial riches from these super anointed  distributors of God’s blessings? No wonder young folks and so many older folks just walk away from the church if this garbage is what is presented to them. I know if I’da been presented this as the way of Christian life when I was down and out, seeking the truth, I’da been better off staying a heathen, and I truley mean that.

They can have their bright lights and many blessings. I like the old paths, the paths set forth in the Word of God, no phony baloney.  I’d like to see preachers again roaming the countryside, probably not earning a plug nickel, proclaiming the Gospel  because there’s a fire in their heart to do so. Some that could take on the established phony church and spread forth the Word without regard to the consequences. Some that would blast the phony prophetic movement that keeps on promising riches and wealth to those that follow them and their semi occult ways.

Some folks think they have “new” ways of doing things, but they are all just sin. There’s so few movements of God that its shocking. Where are those that would preach for next to nothing and literally hundreds would be on the ground in agony because of their sinful ways were brought in the open. In studying the past Awakenings one thing really shows through. Powerful, sincere preaching of the Word sparked tremendous conversions. Preaching that wasn’t afraid to offend or take on phonies. In my own experience, the most powerful moves of God were when the Word was being preached. Not milk, but the truth being proclaimed for regardless of the consequences. There doesn’t have to be a show with special lights and special music. Just lay out the Word, the truth, and God will do the rest.

Nowhere in history since the reformation was this more apparent than in the circuit rider era, nowhere. What many do not realize was the tremendous moves of God in those times as the Word was being preached forth as it was written. It changed whole nations! They weren’t promising riches, they were promising Jesus, salvation and eternal life to that same human spirit that we have today that is hungry for the truth, not the garbage being promised by such self absorbed, humanistic, self serving preachers today. Hungry for God, not man’s man made religion of me, me….bless me. I wonder how folks would handle the truth if the truth was spread forth by preachers that weren’t afraid to hammer out heaven and hell, fire and brimstone and not afraid of any man.

The quote above is one of hundreds I have underlined as I read on. I’ve learned more in four hundred and fifty pages so far then I learned in a years worth of Bible college. These were men that were doers of the Word, not conference chasers, movement chasers or what ever else man can come up with to avoid the one command Jesus gave. To spread this Gospel to every creature. These men were beaten, murdered, mocked. And they went forth with fire in their hearts, to tell all men about Jesus. The world hates that.

Just Like An Old Country Preacher

Oh Lord! I’m still in a whirl from last evening’s Children’s Church where the presence of the Holy Ghost was strong. Stronger than for a long time, Glory! Was making wood most of the day today with an extra spring in my step! now, sometimes Children’s Church can drag a feller down, bit by bit, but last night all that dragging down just got blowed away by the Holy Ghost! Yee Haw!! I’m on fire today! Even with these sore old bones doing farm work all day and cutting and splitting wood.

So tonight after eating a good supper, some roast beef and taters, gravy and peas, and a fresh warm loaf of homemade bread, (for dunking in the gravy), and firing up the wood furnace for the night I just gotta sit back a few minutes and dwell on all of this. Don’t even have my heavy work boots off yet, just came in and settling down. Glory to God, I don’t know what’s happening in Washington, I don’t know what’s going on at Wall Street, but I do know what’s happening out in the countryside as far as the Holy Ghost coming on strong! Now, I keep track and do my best in what I believe in as far as this country goes, but I do realize I’m only one person and I can’t make a hill of beans difference in Washington, even though I do always vote and do all of my duties. No, there can be a difference in spreading the Kingdom, one person at a time if that’s what it takes!

Wall Street will come and go, nations will come and go, but the Kingdom is forever and ever! Wall Street will never have anything for me, neither will Washington, never have anything of lasting value, only God does. Retirements aren’t safe, nothing is safe except for a person’s standing in God!

This Sunday will be my third birthday in Christ. Oh I went to churches here and there all my life but three years ago October 19 I was born again to the bone in our little country church on a dark Wednesday night. The next day I knew I was born again but didn’t feel to much different but as days went by a never ending hunger was gnawing at me and it has never stopped to this day. A driving force that literally drives me to get into the Word, to investigate faith matters tirelessly. It has never stopped or slowed down. Oh, sometimes I wanted to just throw everything out the window, just give up, but that driving force would always get me right back up and running the race, whether I felt like it or not. A force that pushes me to share Christ with folks. A force that wants me to speak out every thing that I absorbed from the Word of God. It just doesn’t stop, ever.

Now three years later I’m in the ministry. Never, ever, did I think this was possible, never! I used to read about them old country preachers that were on fire with the Holy Ghost, how they got converted and just dug into the Word and very soon were preaching the Word. How they’d just be simple farmers or country folk that didn’t have much learning but that never slowed em down, nope not one bit! And the Kingdom grew because of these simple folks that let nothing stop em from spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many were just plain poor folks that worked very hard day in and day out, but always had time to do what they had to do for the Lord! Oh how I wrote about them folks, how I dreamed about that, how I wished that I could have been in those days where such a thing as that was possible. But to my surprise, in this day and age, it happened!

Yup, making wood, digging taters, picking pumpkins and squash today I feel like them old time Holy Ghost preachers, work hard and when the work is done, do the Lords work, the work He called me to do! I was thinking about all of this today while still on a high from last night’s Holy Ghost Children’s Church! Thank you Lord for allowing such a simple person as me to serve you!

Thou Shalt Be Saved

Just got done printing off tomorrow night’s Children’s Church lesson and will go over all of that shortly this evening. Also I’m trying to straighten up in this here office and hoping to find all the different tracts and booklets I’ve accumulated through the last few years here. There’s some pretty good ones that get to the point of what they’re trying to get across. Major job trying to find something in this office and there ain’t no one to blame except me!

Just found a little booklet by Kenneth Hagin titled “In Him”. I’ve read it numerous times before but was just paging through it while I was copying down lessons for tomorrow. Interesting and absolutely biblically sound also. I’m kinda a picky guy that way, about everything being backed up strongly by the Bible, not man. Speaking of which, today in the mail, besides all the political fliers that plug up the mailbox, I received a catalog and was just paging through it a few minutes ago. Its supposedly a Christian catalog but it turned my gut sick paging through that thing. Some of the hard lined, very religious writings that made me almost want to burn the thing. I tell you, them folks don’t believe in anything but their own little religion. They don’t believe in miracles, they don’t believe in any prophecies, they don’t believe in end times, to tell you the truth its hard to figure what they believe except that they are pre-destined by God and saved, and nobody else is and they don’t give a hoot about anybody else who they figure ain’t pre destined because the way they figure it they ain’t wasting their time on folks that aren’t pre destined like they are. Whew, that was a mouthful! Or two fingers full, which ever may be the case.

But I don’t know, its hard for me to even glance at their religion that is so twisted and man made. My Bible says different, much different all over the place. Take the old Children’s Church number one Bible verse for example, John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Or take Romans 10: 9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

That don’t sound to me like only pre selected folks are the only ones to get saved, sounds more like whosoever believes in Jesus and confesses with their mouth and believes in their heart that God raised Him from the dead, well, they shall be saved. I noticed reading through the catalog that I mentioned a pull on my heart as I read it, a pull that said everything I believe and follow is wrong. That I shouldn’t be concerned about others and should just join a church that believes these things and forget all ministry and every calling I thought I ever had. But I just say out loud, and on type, “get away from me Satan, cause I follow Jesus my Saviour and not none of this man made garbage”.

They can have their religion, I’ll take the Lamb! In fact the opposite has happened just from paging through that catalog, I’m on fire for the Lord tonight and just want to shout it out! As I dwell on this little thing today it comes to my mind what so many had to go through in the past in these same circumstances. Fighting the high and mighty that declare man’s wisdom in religion and either don’t follow the Bible or else just use the verses that are convenient for their agenda. Over the last few years on the Northern Farmer blog I had many a run in with these kind of folks and all I found was racism, hate and just general evil as they tout up their form of religion. But through it all, after all this time they never got to me and now after actually entering the ministry officially and legally I am so happy to be following Christ they way we do! By His Word! Not man’s agenda.

It ain’t folk’s job to come crawling into church and repenting, its the church’s job to go out to the sinners and pull em into the Kingdom. What greater honor could any man or woman have then to serve the living Christ in this way! There is nothing more important, nothing. Christ died for every single person that ever lived and ever will live and to claim its only for me and a few select folks is an abomination in the sight of God! Funny, this is exactly what John Wesley went through, exactly and to this day those folks still call him a heretic publicly for going against their man made religion and reaching out to the poor and the lost. As I wrote, there is no greater honor than to spread the Gospel to the lost. That’s what Jesus did.

Setting Back

Just got done with one of my “stomp and snort” posts over on Northern Farmer. Whew, haven’t done that for a bit. That’s what making wood most of the day does to me I probably will lose 99% of my readership on that one, but that never stopped me before. I tell you, when I get that stomp and snort, hellfire and brimstone feeling watch out. These typing fingers can really move, both of em.

Wrote about the old Holiness, about the moves of God back then that are so very rarely seen today. About the faith they had and the small remnant that’s around today. But I’m calming down now and just came in from putting the ducks away for the night so they don’t become food for something other than humans. Plenty of predators around here let me tell you! Even the Bald Eagles have been eying my dozen ducks, then the ducks go hide in their shack for quite some time. Gotta give em credit for that!

Well, I’m all tired out now. Hard day of working. I do want to get back to both of my different studies, the Bible studies and the Bible college studies. Maybe I can finally finish off them college studies this winter. I must admit, they’re much easier now than when I first started them a couple years ago. Still on schedule with the daily Bible readings too. Hard to believe I almost made the year. Especially after the rough start through the books of Moses. Although all these prophetic books don’t really hold my interest either. But you never know until a person reads em over and over. I figure I’ll stick to the books that make sense to me when it comes to teaching and preaching.

Yup, just give me that good old Gospel and I’m happy with it! I know the other parts are really important but there ain’t nothing quite like reading about Jesus Himself, or reading about the Apostles and all they did after Jesus rose to heaven.

Nothing but….

A 19th century American weather proverb was “there’s nothing out but crows and Methodist preachers”, when the weather turned rough. Well, I was out today in the early morning and then again this afternoon and that’s the kind of day it was and still is. Cloudy, gloomy, sometimes raining with a wind. There’s traffic out there on the roads but I got to thinking, if we didn’t have them nice cars there wouldn’t be a whole lot of movement on a fall day as we have had today. When I’m outside, (not in a car or truck), I’m pretty much all alone where ever I am. Not a friendly day to be outside for extended periods of time.  And this saying just kept coming back to me over and over all day! Low and behold as it kept coming into my mind I looked around the area I was in and the only birds that were flying around and landing here and there were crows! The day didn’t seem to be bothering them all too much and in reality it wasn’t bothering me much either.

Now I know that the interests I have are not always the same as every one else and on this blog I keep setting up things that interest me and somehow help keep me going, going more and more in the Lord’s service. In all reality I don’t read much about things like this anywhere and by all rights should just become “normal”, but naw!  I keep track of a few ministries that I have here on the links on the sidebar and personally they help me quite a bit as I just read what they are up to. They’re different than what I do or probably ever will do, but they are of great interest to me never the less. To put it bluntly, I get fired up knowing what others are doing in the Lord’s service even if its much different than what we do. Because the similarities are there too. I’m just a flat out, Bible believing believer and as I check out the other sites I believe that they are in tune with the Word and that’s good enough for me. The circumstances are different, the locations, the people, the lifestyles, but they are fellow workers in the field, a durn big field at that. The only one I ever met personally, many times, was J.C. Smith and his family whom we all love. Now the only bone I have to pick with J.C. Smith is the time when he laid his hands on my belly and said if I get to feeling hot down there that means I have the proclamation anointing. To make a long story short it didn’t get warm, it got hot. A fire shot through my whole mid section that I’ll never forget. That was all said and done and I thought, oh boy, of all the anointings  out there this is the most off base one I could possible get. I can’t talk in front of folks a lick. Yup, that was the major thought in my head. And it was a very real and truthful though too! Not just timid Tom.

But time went on and our pastor had me do a few things in front of the church here and there. Just little things and each time it got better and better. In July I got the unexpected request to do a Wednesday evening service while our pastor was out of town. OK, will do but in the week leading up to it I was so nervous that words have a hard time to describe it. All the way to the preaching time I was wondering if I was just going to fall over dead from nervousness. But a strange thing happened. Once it started I lost the nervousness, and I went 45 minutes straight and felt at home. I opened with the second half of Matthew 25, about how we treat the poor, the prisoners, etc. And then just kept going and going. The time, well the time didn’t seem to exist while up there and it was smooth. I know that what I felt when James put his hand on my belly was real, there ain’t anyone on earth can tell me different and it amazes me to this day. (Plus I thank the Lord for faithful servants like James).

The one thing about all of this is that it takes over. Almost every moment its the number one thought. Sometimes I’m ready to burst it gets to me so. When in public I’m almost ready to start preaching anywhere and everywhere. In spare times I can’t get enough of the Word in me it seems. 2nd Timothy is really a book dear to my heart and I read it over and over.

This brings me back to “nothing but crows and Methodist preachers” out on a day like this. I’m not a Methodist, but just love their tactics in the days of old. Its hard to find more of a Book of Acts type of evangelism since the reformation then they had, and for some reason its pulling at my heart very strongly too. So I kind always have that in the back round around here. I don’t see anything out of order for a person in ministry that is from the Full Gospel side of Christianity employing these tactics. Notice I said for a person in ministry. I guess I am now, legally that is and its hard for me to adjust to that reality, being licensed now to preach. Never, ever, in my wildest dreams did I ever think that this was even remotely possible. But now I’m licensed through the same outfit that our church is and our pastor and associate pastor. I never even told any except for a couple of very dear friends at church, (who read this blog ), and probably won’t tell anyone myself. If the church wants to say it, let em say it. But from the beginning I requested this for going outside the walls of church. To bring church to folks that would never be induced to go there on their own. And it is being done. Its burning me up inside!

So today I had to smile while getting wet and chilled on the Honda four wheeler way out far away from the main farm, herding cattle back to the corrals in the gloomy, rainy and windy afternoon. Nothing but crows and a Full Gospel preacher out in this weather

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Sunday, May 30th 1742

At seven I walked down to Sandgate, the poorest and most contemptible part of the town; and, standing at the end of the street with John Taylor, began to sing the hundredth Psalm. Three or four people came out to see what was the matter; who soon increased to four or five hundred. I suppose there might be twelve or fifteen hundred, before I had done preaching; to whom I applied those solemn words, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.”

Observing the people, when I had done, to stand gaping and staring upon me, with the most profound astonishment, I told them, “If you desire to know who I am, my name is John Wesley. At five in the evening, with God’s help, I design to preach here again.”

At five, the hill on which I designed to preach was covered, from the top to the bottom. I never saw so large a number of people together, either in Moorfields, or at Kennington-Common. I knew it was not possible for the one half to hear, although my voice was then strong and clear; and I stood so as to have them all in view, as they were ranged on the side of the hill. The word of God which I set before them was, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely”. After preaching, the poor people were ready to trend me under foot, out of pure love and kindness………

I came across that last evening reading the journals that I’ve been reading for quite some time now. I definitely marked those paragraphs as I have so many others in just the first part of the first volume that I have been reading. What it doesn’t say above, because I don’t feel like typing the whole durn journal is how Wesley was denied preaching in the local church and look what happened! Over and over again this seems to happen in the journals and I have a long way to go. I think the biggest thing I’m getting from all this reading is the fact that a person willing to do the Lord’s work should just do it. Don’t matter if they’re accepted or not by the mainstream, because there’s plenty who ain’t in the mainstream! The vast majority in fact.

The reason I write some of these quotes is very simple, when I write something I remember it, quite possibly for life, and this is an exercise that I employ to help me out. Works. It also helps give me courage when I write and dwell on the saints of the past and the courage that they had in doing the Lord’s work. Yup, it works!

Friday October 3rd, 2008

The week is wrapping up and who knows what the weekend will bring? Not all to worried about it anyhow, just try and keep the cows in the fence and make some wood during the day is all. I let the cows out today for the first time in the fall pasture I fenced in and after a couple hours they went on down into a swampier area and chased up a couple of deer. I was across the drainage ditch from all this excitement and I seen the deer running towards me pretty durn fast and then they veered a little to the side and took out the fence with the cow herd in hot pursuit. Well, by the time I got all the way around the drainage ditch with the four wheeler some of the cows were in the neighbor’s corn field, (make my day), and I promptly called the herd, and most followed me and I locked em up, then I came back and got the escaped ones without a hitch. Now if anyone wants to make deer extinct on our farm they are welcome to do it Gave me a headache, those government goats!

Other than that all is well and quiet as far as I know. The changes I’ve written about lately are in progress and rapidly proceeding. Ministry takes off more and more as the days go by. Studying when there’s a moment here and there also. Busy. Things are falling into place and the burning in my gut gets hotter as the days go by. Gas is going down around here and that will make traveling around the area here much cheaper and I welcome that. Of course if things get real tough I always have our horse, and a brand new saddle to boot so God got us covered as far as transportation goes!

No church activities this weekend except for Sunday service and that’s kinda welcome for once. There’s plenty of other things to do in the Lord’s service and we’re going out as much as possible now in October. Just do it, is what we’ll do. We have several places to go, none of them remotely churchy, and there’ll be more as time goes on.