The Word

Matthew 5. 17 – 18

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

Read Full Post »

A B Simpson quote

“The deep secret of Saul’s [king] failure was that…

he had the power to witness and work

rather than to live and obey.”

– A B Simpson, from his book The Holy Spirit

Read Full Post »

Hell is SOOOOO different!

Far too many jokes have been made about hell (it is not a joke or a joking place). And too many cloud-top-cartoons have been drawn about “heaven.” We, in limited knowledge and a desire to be funny, have sooooo mistakenly seen them as a little worse than and a little better than earth. Not so Friend, not so.

– eab, 3/17/16

Read Full Post »

HORSE SENSE

 

We’ve missed something, who missed the age,

When horse, or horse and carriage, were the rage.

Be he black or white or shades of beige

(This main convenience o’er stone and sage)

He/she had a beating heart in their ribcage

(not merely wheels, gears and occasional gauge)

True, driven or not they needed their oaty “wage”

And you arrived in town at a slower stage

But Wesley (& others) astride read many a page.

Ah, We’ve missed something, who missed that age.

– eab, 3/18/08

Read Full Post »

Choir Tours

You, “Mr & Mrs John Q Christian,” may have recently traveled an hour one way to see/hear your “favorite” college choir sing (not “perform”) and were blessed as you did. Or perhaps you are a part of the church to which they came. You may even have been brave enough to tell the pastor “we’ll take two boys” or “three girls can stay with us” and had the bother of cleaning up the unused bedroom, serving an after-church-snack, giving them a “farmer’s breakfast” the next morning, remembering to have them sign your tattered guest book, and hurrying the kids back to meet their bus at nine. And – – – maybe you thought that was all that happened. Read on. “George,” who sang bass (Once upon a time yours truly was the youngest bass in God’s Bible School choir.) was having a great learning experience. 1. He learned the discipline of practice, practice, practice. 2. He learned what to pack/not to pack (maybe HOW to pack J) for a 10 day tour. 3. He learned patience as he traveled hour-after-hour, day-after-day with the same crazy seatmate/roommate. 4. He learned to stand on the back row of risers and KEEP his eyes on the director (well, most of the time L). 5. He learned to endure/enjoy(?) the required hour of quiet time on the bus. 6. He got to see states (When yours truly arrived in Cincy I had been in all of three!) he’d never seen before. 7. He enjoyed mountains/plains, confusing cities/open country and/or a neat museum he didn’t know existed. 8. He was exposed to a variety of church buildings, Sunday School rooms (in which to change clothes), and saw several pastoral pulpit-styles. 9. He was introduced to a denomination so new to him it will be locked in his memory. 10. And possibly, some on-bus-or-backroom choir prayer time, or some public service where the Holy Spirit moved, changed his relationship (salvation, heart purity, a call to full-time Christian service) with the Lord forever. There are benefits in the “service rejoicings” of choir tours but there may also be long-range memories/actions which only eternity will reveal.

– eab, 3/17/16

Read Full Post »