Hymns

 One of the things that I love to do may sound strange to some of you. You see, I love getting in a car late at night and turning on my music. When we did evangelistic work, Julie would crash on our long trips. I would do one of two things. The first was to enjoy the silence for a while and spend time in prayer. The second was to simply put on the tunes. I was thinking about that today when I was at work counting parts for inventory.   

      When I was a kid, one of my favorite memories was that of being in the car as a family. My Father, even before he was saved, loved to sing some of the old hymns. All four of us would sing.  It truly was terrible. My Father’s singing could only be stated as that of a joyful noise. The wild part is, I miss it. I still love to hear my brother’s voice and his ability to harmonize and make even the worst of singers look good.

     Other than the Word of God, music can encourage me quicker than anything that I know. I am still amazed at some of the old hymns and their influence in my life.  Daily, I am reminded of the grace of God that has been shown. Almost every day, two songs that remind of the grace of God are constantly played within my mind.  My favorite line in all of the great hymns is found in the song,” The Comforter has come”. I am brought to the point of tears when I hear these words, “That I a child of Hell, should in His image shine, The Comforter has come.”

     The other is that of a former slave trader, who found the grace of God could even be bestowed upon him. I understand his gratefulness to God when he would write, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.   I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see.” There is no way that I could ever repay Him for His grace that has been shown. I do not, to this day, understand it nor will I ever.

     I am reminded of an older gentleman, by the name of George, who I met earlier in my ministry. He had lost the dearest thing in the world to him only a couple of years earlier, when his wife had died. His health was not all that great and you could tell he was surrounded by the sounds of silence in his home. We talked much about his love for his wife and about seeing her once again. He then looked at me and began to sing these words, “My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine.” We both sat in the silence and sang that song together as the sun slowly began to set over the hills of Arkansas.

     When I was in Bible College, I had received some pretty heavy news. I walked past all the students and sat out on a rock. I sat out there for about 20 minutes and headed back to the chapel where the students now gathered for services.  When I opened up those chapel doors, I heard these words being sung, “My sin not in part but the whole, it is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my Soul.   And Lord, haste the day, when my faith shall be sight the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, even so it is well with my soul, It is well, It is well, with my soul.” This is still my favorite Hymn of all.

     Here of late when have been looking for the Lord’s guidance as we seek His will in what He would have us to do next. Praying, asking, seeking His face and waiting is never easy to do. Once again though I am reminded by what Brother Dorsey said and it brings the greatest of comfort. “Precious Lord take my hand, lead me on help me stand, I am weak , I am worn, through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light, take my hand precious Lord and lead me on.”

     We have been blessed by so many of you as brothers and sisters. You have been praying, caring and watching out for us. It has truly been a humbling experience. We understand what the songwriter meant when he said, “Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love.” Thank you can never be enough we are blessed to have you as our spiritual family.

     It’s one of those nights that I wish that I could just load on up in the car. Listen to some Christian music and sing as loud as I can. How I pray that, “You will speak to one another in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”  Ephesians 5:19

ALIVE AND KICKING

    Well here I am sitting on one of the couches in the middle of the week. I had to come back home as our boss with the temp job finally succumbed to one nasty cold. I wanted to tell all of you thanks for praying as I was able to get a temp job doing inventory work for one of the local companies here in Lincoln. The Lord was very kind in allowing me a job that so far I have been able to understand and be faithful at. I like the guys that I am working with as well. Pray that I might keep a good testimony.

     Julie has been able to spend time with her mom, dad, sisters and her brother Lyle. Haddy has taken full advantage of spending some weekend time with her aunts and has had a blast. (One of her highlights was getting a ride on her uncle’s Harley all the way from Omaha to Lincoln.)

     We have been going to Calvary Community Church since we have arrived here. This is the church that Julie grew up in. We have been so grateful for the kindness shown to us by the pastors. (Pastor Carl has been with the church as their founding pastor for around 38 years.) Julie has also been able to visit with old friends and loved ones who impacted her life for the Lord.

     As of right now we will be leaving for Grand Rapids on Friday the 11^th – 14^th in view of a call to the pastorate there. I have been at the church already one time and this time Julie will be going with me. So as usual I ask that you might pray for us that the church and we will be sensitive to the Lord’s leading. I so badly want to preach again but more importantly I want to do what He would have us to do.

     The weather here is starting to cool down and Hannah has told us that she has had a snowfall of about 6-8 inches. She is doing great and we are so proud of her as she is enjoying her classes. I think she said that she got about a 3.2 on her mid-terms. We are planning on seeing her for Thanksgiving.

     My quiet times have been great here of late as I have been going through II Kings and studying the life of Elisha. I am amazed at a man who is constantly called a man of God through all the passages. Many times his name is not even used but the term man of God is often used. One woman who knew him well says to her husband, “A holy man of God passes by our way continually.”

     I think the above is true because Elisha had a constant awareness of the presence of God. One of my favorite passages about Him dealing with this issue is found in II Kings 6. The king of Syria has had enough of Elisha being told by God about his plans against Israel. The king’s solution is to seize Elisha with an army. Think about it an army with horses and chariots to just bring in one man. There were so many of them that they surrounded the city of Dothan.

     I wish that I could say that I had Elisha’s awareness of the presence of God. I am afraid I would have acted like his servant who in seeing the situation with only his physical eyes asks, “What shall we do?” There is where I get into trouble. I want to know what I CAN DO about the situation. The Lord though wants us to get to the point of there is nothing that I CAN DO. It’s His battle and not mine. I need to shout out at times, “Open my eyes that I may see.”

     The situations, moments of desperation and fears will never be larger than the God who surrounds us.  When the servant’s eyes are open he sees God’s army has filled the mountain side with horses and chariots of fire surrounding their enemy.

     Elisha’s servant eyes are open while the King of Syria’s men are blinded. The one who just moments earlier was to be a captive is now the conqueror. Isn’t that just like God? He wants to show Himself strong to us. He takes joy in setting the captive free. I believe that it thrills Him when we humble our hearts and allow Him to display His glory.

     May we see the presence of the Lord. May we allow Him to show Himself strong in our lives. 

SHE IS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL.

OK. THEY ARE A LITTLE WARPED!!

WHAT A GIRL!