Thanksgiving Ponderings

Here it is the evening before Thanksgiving and all is well in this house. Allot of work got accomplished these last few days on the farm and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. now today in the mail I finally received the Autobiography of Peter Cartwright. I was paging through it the last hour and I get a feeling this book is going to teach me much more than I had ever dreamed it would. Almost every page he describes situations and problems exactly like we run up against today in spreading the faith. Things sure haven’t changed much at all. So as is custom around this blog, be prepared for me to write about some of it as time goes by, or apply it to what happens day to day around here. Funny thing is, after reading many books from men of faith in the past, this Cartwright book, which was written by him, is just like reading something from someone today out here in the country. The man has exactly the same grammar we use, and the same country ways. So I can get down right comfortable reading this stuff!

Yup, just follow that old straight and narrow! Its amazing how many paths lead off of the straight and narrow. In glancing at this book this evening old Peter really has his hands full with folks forming every kind of nut case religion a person could ever think of. Here I thought that only happens nowadays, but I sure was wrong. But he was a defender of the faith and would openly challenge anyone to a public debate, and he would win. Now with all the folks going any direction nowadays that they feel like, and this is in that autobiography too, this book is kinda a guide for ministry to handle all these folks. How to tell false prophets and so on. The forward in this book, a modern forward, states that this book is very valuable to the modern minister of the Gospel and now I sure can see that ain’t no lie!

As much as we say times are rough or things are getting out of control in the church its interesting to read that its nothing new at all. What is interesting is how folks can get ensnared into so much of this garbage going around today, just like back then. But from the little I read it looks like the answer is to do what your supposed to do and not get to overly bothered by all the folks following false religion nowadays. Belt out the truth, never compromise with them, ever. And don’t ever let it get you down, just keep on keeping on. As folks that know me well can see, I’m writing this to myself more than anyone. There’s so much garbage being peddled nowadays I get sick to my stomach. I try to tell folks but to no avail, or so it seems.

I can see clearer and clearer the answer and its doing just like they did in days gone by. Never stop doing what we are doing. Preach that Gospel and shed those false prophet folks like a duck shed water. Go to the real folks, just like Jesus did. Forget the folks that do nothing, and I mean nothing but go to conferences and follow some guru that bears no fruit what so ever. We’ll hand out Bibles to the junk yard dogs, go to farms, feed stores, whatever and don’t stop! Get away from the religious phonies that want a person to observe Jewish holidays and rules. Hell bound is all that is. My New Testament says we are under a new and better covenant. But some always want to drag people into eternal damnation with them.

We’re in a war. A war for souls, including ours and a person can only do what’s right in the eyes of God or else. There are no other paths, there are no better ways out there no matter what these folks say. I’d much rather take up the banner of Jesus Christ and proclaim the Gospel to the poor, to the needy than to get confused by these religious folks that will only drag a person into bondage and into the pit. This is war, and the carriers of the Gospel are the front lines.

I am thankful for Jesus saving us. There is nothing else in the world more important in reality, nothing. The free gift. No one deserves it, not a one. Salvation, what a wonderful thing to be thankful for. His burden is light, not heavy like so many make it to be. The Gospel that frees us. Oh Lord, thank you!

Some Links and Stuff

Tonight I’m kinda bushed. Was making fence today with the ground frozen around four inches deep, took allot more pounding getting them little electric fence posts in, three quarter mile’s worth. Plus wearing heavy coveralls and a winter Carhart jacket with hood don’t really make a person flexible like summer time. Plus triping over corn stubble, but before dark the job got done and even though I’m all tired out, I’m well satisfied. This evening I sat down and am having a cup of coffee to keep me going till an early bed time, (I hope).

Just before starting to write I stumbled upon a site that has me thinking. Its about bi-vocational pastors and church planting. Here’s another. As usual I’m putting links here for when my wonderful Windows Vista crashes and I lose all my links and history about once a week. (Grumble, grumble.) Also, another link, (for me), one with some good music for downloading especially if your country folk like me. There, that should take care of working around a crashing computer.

This week later we’ll be working the calves, Friday to be exact, cause folks ain’t working too much that day at their jobs so I can get some help. That’ll be another load off of my mind. Lets see, corn is done, fence is up, corn stalks are baled, yup the work load is dwindling. Praise the Lord. Of course there’s about fifteen cord of wood to make yet.

On the ministry side things are developing, there’s places to go, folks to see. One thing I gotta do is get more organized and I think I’ll start to attempt that as soon as I get done writing here. Get some Bibles in order for giving away and some other stuff.

Well, I’m flat out tired and its harder than heck to even attempt writing so I’d better end it all right here. Get some sleep in a little bit.

Declaring the Kingdom of God

We’re going into deep fall around here and the temps just keep edging downward. And through it all we’re trying to get the jobs around the farm done before winter hits. Corn picking was finished up yesterday and today I chopped corn stalks with the hope of making that field into big round corn stalk bales for both feed and bedding for the cattle. Let me tell you, you spend a whole long day in full dress coveralls and its below freezing with a strong wind and that’ll make you tired in the evenings!

Once in a while a person walking the Christian walk gets hit with things. And the other day I got hit! Now on these blogs I never hardly truly talk about what we do because of issues of privacy for folks. Just general thoughts and all of that. Things are expanding rapidly in many different directions with ministry. All small potatoes I reckon compared to other ministries but I don’t really care or worry about it all too much. Last summer when the area was beautiful green and things were growing we went to a high school graduation party that was put on by some church folks who are very good friends of ours. It was in a small town a few miles away, a town I’ve know well all of my life. It was a great get together and being run by real church folks it was good for every age. On that beautiful summer Sunday afternoon I was standing outside in front of the community building that held the get together and across the street was an old bar that I used to frequent many years gone by. There were folks going into it and some motorcycle folks stopped in there too.

As I stood outside I remember saying that God would be moving in this town. And believe me, it sure didn’t look like it. I also said there would be Full Gospel church services there in the future, something totally unheard of in that neck of the woods. Well, the other day I was floored, all these months later. The bar owner changed the bar from serving drinks and getting everyone into sin to changing the whole place over into a cafe that served home cooked meals!

Now I know to some this is really not earth shattering, but to me, well it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was almost impossible for the human mind to believe. That bar was there what seemed like forever. And now the bar owner, or should I say, former bar owner is Christian and totally changed the place for the good! The other night I stopped in there and was more impressed than before! Now I know there’s really something to all of this, something to speaking out the Kingdom in the open air, declaring the Kingdom of God in the most unlikely places! I’ve known this as head knowledge for quite some time, about speaking forth the Word, or declaring the Kingdom in the most unlikely places. But to see it come true before my very eyes is just awesome!

As I said, there’s allot to do in this area, more than I can possibly imagine, but a person just gotta do what they gotta do! Funny, before all this came together the last couple of posts were about a preacher in the olden times speaking forth the Word and declaring the town for God’s Kingdom. Funny how this all fit together for me. I had know idea that something similar would pop up, similar to what I’d been writing about but God’s ways ain’t my ways and I’m humbled and also deeply in awe! Today while going out to the field I grabbed a little booklet written by Kenneth Hagin called “In Him”. An incredible little booklet that I’ll send to anyone that asks for it. (I gotta whole bunch from church), and this booklet covers what happens when a believer declares the Kingdom of God, starting with declaring Jesus as Lord to just about everything in life. An excellent booklet!

True Citizenship

A couple of posts ago I wrote a little about circuit rider Jess Walker. The post for some unknown reason came out in such a small print that its even difficult for me to read with my five dollar reading glasses. But when ever I think about the situation that was written about I get so caught up in it that its hard to explain! To me this is right down to the nitty gritty, real Christianity! How difficult it is to imagine, being an on fire preacher, not much education, just faith in his Saviour Jesus Christ, armed with a Bible, a hymnal, and the Methodist Discipline, crossing the Mississippi when the country was an untamed frontier and entering a godless outpost where anything went. Back tracking here a little, many folks like to talk about how Christian America was years ago, but in all reality it was a far cry from it, very far. On the frontier as I said, anything goes. Back east there was a form of religion, churches were settled in, but had very little interest in anything outside of their walls.

What was it like to enter the main hub of trade in the frontier and declare openly, “I have come in the name of Christ to take St Louis, and by the grace of God I will do it!”. Now that took guts! And he did it, the impossible! Later the same man established Christianity on the southern shores of Lake Michigan at a tiny windswept settlement, which later became a hub for Christianity, called Chicago. I truly am amazed at this, the work of one simple man who’s faith in God would not let him stop and think it over in human terms.

Nowadays there’s allot of talk, and allot of gloom after the elections, in fact I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my lifetime. Church folks down and out like never before, worrying about what will all happen as things progress down and down. I was working on fence the day after the election, a bit bothered myself, when it hit me like a ton of bricks,”you were born for a time such as this”. Well, I’ve read that in the bible, I’ve heard it preached here and there over the years, but that inner voice had authority and truth in it. Is it something to be timid about, or scared about! No! I thought back to Jess Walker, in his day and time, entering St Louis with a population of cut throats, where life meant very little, and how he openly declared war on Satan, and won! People are no different today than they were back then. Evil is still evil, sin is sin. And when left unrestrained the same thing always happens.

Times look dark now in many ways. Evil is openly showing itself once again, unafraid, and folks are worried. But, we were born for a time such as this. Ambassadors of the King! As citizens of heaven that makes us ambassadors on earth. And an ambassador’s job is to let the citizens of this country, of this world, know the will of our King. To proclaim the Good News! Oh, the world doesn’t like that, but no matter what the world does to us we will never lose our citizenship in our Lord’s Kingdom!

I truly have a hard time containing myself tonight because this is exciting for me. I won’t go to plan two, where the church folks say we should pray for our leaders no matter who they are, no I won’t go there because we should have always been there. I won’t get all down and out, I won’t cry gloom and doom. I won’t try and pick it apart to make myself feel better. Nope. Things are happening, evil things and I won’t let any of it get me down. Why, because I am not a citizen of this mess! The Bible says that we are ambassadors of the King!

2 Corinthians 5:20,

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Philippians 3, verse 20,

…for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sunday Evening

I’m hoping the print on this post is allot bigger than the previous post because I have to wear my five dollar reading glasses to see that one! I still have no idea what went wrong with that and I think I’ll just forget about it anyhow, why worry over something like that. I ain’t out to impress anyone anyhow, don’t rightly know why I blog in the first place, but I do. I’ve already finished the Peter Cartwright book that Brad sent up this way and have one chapter done of the Asbury book under the belt. I was curious about Peter Cartwright and looked up if there was any more books about him and low and behold there are. In fact I ordered one last evening, his personal autobiography and will let it be known when I get it and especially when I read it.

Its been a beautiful Sunday in these part with very little wind and warm temps to boot. Church today was one I’ll never forget, a good service to say the least. I think we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic three different times through the service. Got home and all after service, mo0ved some cattle quick and headed to the county seat twenty miles away and spent the rest of the afternoon in the old folks home. Just visiting them folks. Visited quite a few too. very humbling and that sure wasn’t bright lights ministry, but tonight I have a calm feeling in my soul. This is just a very small part of our ministry here but I think it does more to a fella to keep him on the straight and narrow than anything else. No glamor in that ministry, heck, half the folks can’t even remember me while I’m with em. But there’s a satisfaction deep down that’s hard to explain.

There’s a passel of other things we are up to outside of the walls, but that one effected me allot. I’ve been to nursing homes many times, but it was always for folks I’d know. Now it was just strangers, quite a few of em, and most were very happy to have visitors. Funny part is, when reading Wesley’s Journal, he sure did allot of those low glamor jobs, all the time. There’s just something about em.