Are You Serving?

We serve God by choice or

      we don’t serve Him at all.  – 5/21/08

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Lincoln S. Bryan – birth, Dec. 29, 1966

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – LINCOLN !

 

His hair was the color of new-mown straw,

His eyes were the color of ice, in the thaw,

His cheeks were the color of a fresh, pink rose,

And His teeth all stood in nice even rows.

I had a little kid.

 

He was the second in our family line.

He was “blessed” with a laugh just like mine.

He could eat like a man off a two-day fast;

And win my heart, the punishment past.

I had a little kid.

 

Lincoln Scarbrough Bryan was his full name;

Lincoln – that man of pure and honest fame,

Scarbrough – the maiden name of his NICE mom,

Bryan – the Irish ancestry that he came from.

I had a little kid.            – eab, 4/’70             ^[1]

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^[1] Our second son, born 12/29/66, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati; named for the greatest US President and my wife’s maiden name.

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Philip Bliss – death, Dec. 29, 1876

“Almost Persuaded”

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On Thee I’ll call.”

“Almost persuaded,” come, come today;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away;
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are lingering near
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wanderer, come!

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
“Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
“Almost,” but lost!

Philip P Bliss died this date 12/29/1876, near Ashtabula, Ohio, in a train wreck.  It is said that he escaped death once (with the fall) but death caught him when he turned back into the burning train to try to rescue his wife.  He was only thirty-eight.  Of his many songs “I Will Sing of My Redeemer,” is interesting because it was discovered in trunk on different train that night.

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Word not in the WORD

Are we adding to God’s Word

 

          by insisting on using a word (rapture),

 

                             not in His Word?                   – 5/26/08

 

 

 

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Devotions – Family Style

At times – who can but honestly admit the stage?

The family altar would be calm and dry.

No quiver filled the voice, no moisture trimmed the eye.

Yon Ancient History stayed just that – flat as the page.

Distant battles were read, but did not seem to rage.

Light, the soul of poetry, was not freshly lit.

Finally – devotions closed, they closed with a sigh.

 

Ah, but those other nights – precious, dear other nights,

In moments for which no dad or moma prepares;

A son [1] leading out in prayer, thanks God for his stairs.

Verses once seen but darkly, take on brighter lights,

God illuminates truth which once held no delights.

His Word will not return to Him void

He Himself, so solemnly declares.         – eab, 9/97

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[1] Our second son, Lincoln, about the time he started school, did this – it brought a smile to my praying face and then (as I realized his sincerity) it brought tears to my eyes.  This family altar was on Goodbread Street, Nevada, OH.

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N B Vandall – birth, Dec. 28, 1896

“My Home, Sweet Home”

Walking along life’s road one day,

I heard voice so sweetly say,

“A place up in heav’n I am building Thee,

A beautiful, beautiful home.”

 

Chorus

Home, sweet home, home, sweet home,

Where I’ll never roam;

I see the light of that city so bright,

My home, sweet home.

N B Vandall (N stood for Napoleon) was born this date 12/28/1896, in Creston, VW.  He was converted to Christ at a camp meeting in/near Sebring, Ohio in 1920.  He also wrote “After” (“After the toil and heat of the day.”  Vandall died 8/24/1970.

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Get beyond the sounds

No more than you would equate mite with might

 

Please do not confuse “rite” with “right”  – eab, 12/27/08

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Cathedral of Oaks

Today I sat in a cathedral – of oaks,  

And watched the mighty sun,

Enter in devotion-like rays,

Before he began his run

Of supplying ever welcome days;

His slants came through like so many spokes,

Light strokes, in the cathedral of oaks.  – eab, 12/27/7 9    ^[1]

^[1] Written while deer hunting in the “steel stand” off the edge of Lookout Mountain in north Georgia. (Fellow hunters were probably Carson W Scarbrough -my late father-in-law, Carson, Dan Roush, and Andrew.)

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Cyrus Nusbaum – death, Dec. 27, 1937

“Would You Live for Jesus”    (aka “His Way with Thee”)

Would you live for Jesus, and be always pure and good?
Would you walk with Him within the narrow road?
Would you have Him bear your burden, carry all your load?
Let Him have His way with thee.

Refrain

His power can make you what you ought to be;
His blood can cleanse your heart and make you free;
His love can fill your soul, and you will see
’Twas best for Him to have His way with thee.

2.

Would you have Him make you free, and follow at His call?
Would you know the peace that comes by giving all?
Would you have Him save you, so that you can never fall?
Let Him have His way with thee.

3.

Would you in His kingdom find a place of constant rest?
Would you prove Him true in providential test?
Would you in His service labor always at your best?
Let Him have His way with thee.

Cyrus Silvester Nusbaum died this date 12/27/1937 in Wichita, Kansas.  He was a Methodist minister who served churches and a college in Kansas, was a Red Cross inspector in France (WWI) and did evnagelistic work in several mid-west,western states.  He was born in Indiana, 1861. 

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God Knows Motives

Holy humanity will, inadvertently on occasion cause a hurt.

                   Carnality purposely causes hurts!

These “hurts” may seem the same to one receiving them,

But they are Oh, so different in the eyes of an all knowing God.

          – eab, 12/26/08

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