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Post by Rednek32 on Sept 28, 2008 9:09:44 GMT -6
Thanks fer the prayerseveryone.
ldysly I let my pastor know that I still feel called to preach and we have been praying about starting back up the nursing home ministry. I know my pastor worries about wearing me out because I am like his right hand man at the Church but he also knows that I will tell him if I need a break from things. My pastor keeps me busy with the kids at the Church and it is very enjoyable.
Duck ya know and Diana knows and just about anyone that knows me knows I have no sence of what colrs go with what lolololol
God bless
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Oct 20, 2008 20:07:51 GMT -6
Bill,
Just had to come and ask if you have preached at your childhood church yet and how did it go?
We are having revival this week at our church. Preacher is very good and preaches up a storm.
Said something tonight that I wanted to put here for safe keeping.
This life for the saved is as bad as it is ever going to get...
This life for the unsaved is as good as it is ever going to get for them.
Good thing for us to remember when things get hard and things get bad...this life is a fleeting thing... and then eternity
Good thing to remember when we hesitate to spread the Gospel and talk about Jesus when the opportunity presents itself to us...this life is a fleeting thing and then eternity...
From a Cave on Higher Ground Amen.
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Post by Rednek32 on Oct 25, 2008 7:05:57 GMT -6
Howdy all,
It went great. I preached last Sunday there and it was awesome seeing people I haven't seen in a long time. The biggest thrill besides preaching was to see my Sunday School teacher when I was oh not even 10 then. She remembered that I felt a call to preach way back when and it was a great testimony for her to see her hard work as a Sunday School teacher come full circle. It was great seeing all the past pastors there also.
God bless
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Oct 25, 2008 7:38:30 GMT -6
Bill, I know how your SS teacher felt in a way. The preacher that preached our revival this year...well, I kept looking at him thinking "he sure does look familiar."
Turns out I had him on probation some years ago. Lord called him and off he went...walking with the Lord. Amen!
His story is great and now he has a church in Roxborro, NC and a youth ministry called "Youth for Christ." I have asked him if he might have a place for a retired PO to work. He told me to come see him...
Gospel group came to sing at our revival the last evening, and I reconized one of the singers right away. They sang a beautiful song titled..."Walking across Heaven with You." They dedicated it to a brother who died in an automobile accident a few years back. He also was one of my probationers. Charlotte, his sister and one of the singers, remembered me and her mother was there. She told me that Kevin had kept some things we had worked on...she told me I made a difference in Kevin's life.
She told me Kevin came to the Lord in jail and she knows we all will be walking across Heaven one fine day! Amen!
Talk about tears...we all cried and hugged...partly out of sorrow and partly out of joy in the Lord...
We were standing on the promises!
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Post by Rednek32 on Oct 25, 2008 7:45:24 GMT -6
Amen sister,
I had to kinda shorten the sermon due to everything running late so I only preached for 20-25 minutes lololololol. of course we had to eat fried chicken afterword lololololol.
I think about my Sunday School teacher and your story and then think about the kids that ride the Church van I drive and teach in children's church and pray one day I can feel the same way.
God bless
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Oct 25, 2008 7:53:46 GMT -6
Gonna date myself now. Tim who preached revival, is now 38 years old and a real fire brand in the pulpit...clearly Spirit driven. (remember I am a Juvenile PO) The sermons were remarkable and I was amazed both at the sermons and that Tim had learned so much so fast. Love it when the Lord is on a roll! And He clearly is with Tim.
Anyway, we started the week at the Cross and then went to the tomb. We buried the old man and put on the new. We talked about spreading the Gospel and the last night when I showed up at chruch there stood Tim in a Izod shirt and bermuda shorts...btw, Tim now weights 325 pounds...which is why I didn't reconize him right off. Tim said the Lord had taken the smoking, alcohol, fighting, and drugs...Tim asked Him to leave the food for just a little while longer.
He had come early to have dinner at his parent's home. They live in Alton where our church is. He had eaten a stake he said was so tender he cut it with a fork. Friends had come by to visit and they sat and talked...
Then it was time to go to his car and get his suit and sermon notes...he had locked his keys in the car. Locksmith was called and he couldn't get there till 7:30PM...revival time.
So Tim preached the sermon that night...dressed just like he was with no sermon notes. Spirit took over and Tim preached one of the most beautiful sermons on Heaven I have ever heard coming from a man in a pair of bermuda shorts...
Anyone who is the Lord's family got a little glimpse of Heaven that night...and I pray those who aren't saw a bit too of what they will be missing...
one plants and another waters...but time is rapidly running out...so we pray harder and talk faster...
From a cave on higher ground, Amen?
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Oct 25, 2008 8:44:17 GMT -6
In our everyday lives when we are in Jesus and reflecting Him in our lives we never know who that will affect and how...
Bill I expect that you will have no idea just how many young people, those you counsel in prison, how many of the older people you preach to...you have had some effect on...not till you stand before the Lord.
I think that is true of all of us...
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Oct 25, 2008 8:47:35 GMT -6
I also think Revival preachin' and fried chicken go together...
Baptist can't have one without the other!
Amen!
Heard the other day that Baptist are so organized that we will line up gravel...thought that was funny 'cause to an extent it is true.
;D
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Post by Keith on Oct 25, 2008 9:40:59 GMT -6
So glad you got to preach there Bill. And Marilyn, that was a touching story about Kevin.
Now, did somebody say fried chicken?!? ;D
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Post by Caretaker on Oct 25, 2008 16:08:52 GMT -6
*Smells some fried chicken and has to "duck" his head in da door*.. The testimonies are truly awesome, and how blessed your hearts must be. Praise God!!!!
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 5, 2008 7:02:21 GMT -6
What has happened is going to be a sure test in faith. Went to bed last night in one Nation under God and woke up this morning in a foreign land...not my country. I know that the Lord raises kings up and puts them down and I know He has a reason for all this. I have read about it. I will have to have faith and wait on the Lord.
Went to morning prayers and didn't know what to say, but know the Lord knows what is in my heart...
opened my Bible to resume reading and found some peace there in 1 Kings...reading about David and Solomon. Message to me and to us, I think is to be strong in the Lord...and keep His commands, walk in His way.
I can't imagine what the next few months are going to bring...I will pray more...and talk more about Jesus...and watch.
From a Cave on Higher Ground, Amen.
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Post by Caretaker on Nov 5, 2008 7:19:54 GMT -6
God bless you Sis;
The Brethren are feeling this same thing, a feeling of dread and alienation, a true sadness.
The US has become an Obamanation. We must spiritually prepare fr the days ahead as we become more and more alienated.
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Post by Keith on Nov 5, 2008 8:57:54 GMT -6
What a time to be alive and serving the Lord! What a blessing to be living during this time in history and see God's Word come to pass. Yes, we are hated because He is hated, but opportunities to witness of Him will still come and we must do it without hesitation. That the Spirit would lead us in that witness in my prayer, just as it was with the Apostles and brethren that have gone before us.
Oh how they would have enjoyed this moment in time, seeing the prophecies of the end coming to pass! How they must have longed for it then as we do now. We see the end approaching quickly, so we must hasten our efforts.
Thank You Jesus for the opportunity! Thank You Jesus for Your sacrifice! So now, forward into battle!
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 5, 2008 16:54:22 GMT -6
Thank you Lord,
Just when all I can see is a glass that is half empty, brother Keith comes along and reminds me that in You, Lord, my cup runneth over...Amen
Several verses out of Psalm 27 come to mind,
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ...Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."
Yes! It is quite a time to be alive...awesome, frightening, thrilling, amazing and all at the same time...
When I was a child my Grandfather read to us often from the big family Bible. We gathered on the floor in front of him and he would ask us what story we wanted to hear. He read the same stories over and over...about King David and his adventures...and Moses and the Hebrews...about Abraham and Issac on the mountain and how God ...well, you all know the stories...
No matter how many times we heard them...we all sat on the edge of our seats waiting to hear what was going to happen next even though we had hear the stories over and over.
That is what it is like now. We know what the Bible says in the prophecies. We have read and heard the prophecies over and over...Still we all sit on the edge of our seats waiting and listening for what is going to happen next...
But it is not what we are reading and hearing...we are seeing it with our own eyes. Yes it is very exciting to be alive today...in these end of days.
From a cave on Higher Ground Priase the Lord, Amen.
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 5, 2008 17:06:03 GMT -6
"That the Spirit would lead us in that witness in my prayer, just as it was with the Apostles and brethren that have gone before us.
Oh how they would have enjoyed this moment in time, seeing the prophecies of the end coming to pass! How they must have longed for it then as we do now. "
Keith, ever since reading that, I have been thinking about Paul...how thrilling it would have been for him to be on the earth today...get goose bumps thinking about it all...even though he has been with the Lord all these many years, I still think he would have loved to be here now.
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Post by Keith on Nov 5, 2008 21:26:53 GMT -6
I believe they are witness to these things from their Heavenly abode Marilyn:
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," (Hebrews 12:1)
Billy Graham said many years ago he believes this could be all the brethren who are already with the Lord, watching us as we persevere. They might be cheering us on in our race just as we may be doing for the Trib Saints during that time.
I can hardly wait to find out!
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 5, 2008 21:52:37 GMT -6
I would suspect that the Saints in that gallery are beginning to rise to their feet...we are nearing the end of the race...
the phrase the Church at rest...rings in my ears!
Like Heavenly music...
"Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war, She waits the consummation of peace forevermore, Till, with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest."
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heart
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Post by heart on Nov 13, 2008 11:39:48 GMT -6
Pretty neat!
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Post by veterinarian on Nov 14, 2008 10:31:38 GMT -6
I agree with Heart, Duck. You paint a wonderful picture!
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Murph
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Post by Murph on Nov 14, 2008 16:16:48 GMT -6
The cave is a favorite place for me. In my mind it is perched high on a hill top...so high that sometimes we are sitting right in the clouds. When I am very sad, very happy, troubled or jublient...I come to the cave to reflect...or ramble on. It helps to make myself put thoughts and feelings into words...
makes them tangable...focused...as focused as my aging mind can get on 3 firing brain cells...
Then ya'll come along and write things and make the cave really special...like Caretaker's front porch and DB's Polecat Creek...they are places for the brothers and sisters to put special things for safe keeping...
From a Cave on Higher Ground, Amen
gonna scoot now, on call...
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