Harmony

Scripture

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.

~I Peter 3:8, NASB

Quote

Tie two Tom cats by the tails and hang them over the clothes line and you have unity but no harmony.

~Calvin C. Inman

At first, I assumed that Peter was giving us a list of things every congregation needs: harmony, sympathy, brotherly love, compassion and an humble spirit. As I looked deeper, what every church needs is harmony and the way to get there is by being sympathetic, loving, compassionate [tenderhearted] and humble [understanding].

Harmony is a pleasing combination or arrangement of different things. Sounds like a strange definition but it is true. Harmony is not everyone singing the same note with the same voice; it is singing different notes with different voices that together produce a pleasing sound. We are not all to sing the same note but we are to be on the same song and page.

The unique thing about I Peter 3:8 is, we cannot get in harmony without being sympathetic, compassionate and understanding of others.

Seven Things Man Cannot Do

{Job 9}

1. Man cannot argue with God: Our infinite lack of knowledge or ignorance would make it impossible. [Job 9:2]
2. Man cannot stand up to God: We lack the power. Can we stand up to an F-5 tornado or a hurricane? God is infinitely stronger than a storm. [Job 9:4]
3. Man cannot understand God: Again the finite can not comprehend the infinite. [Job 9:10]
4. Man cannot see God. God is Spirit and no man has ever seen Him other than in Christ. [Job 9:11]
5. Man cannot stop God. [Job 9:12]
6. Man cannot force God to do something He doesn’t want to do. [Job 9:19]
7. Man cannot sue God; take Him to court. [Job 9:19]

• Today’s schedule: Deacon’s meeting @ 8:15, LCBS @ 9:15, Celebrate Jesus in worship @ 10:15 and 6:15. AWANA and Visitation @ 5:30.
• Mission offering goes to Youth for Summer Camp and Mission Trip.
• We have a communion coming up Sunday morning May 22 and a 5th Sunday Debt retirement offering on May 29.

Coming to DBC August 21, Dr. Junior Hill

Evil People

Scripture

Evil people sprout like weeds in the sun, like weeds that spread all through the garden.

~Job 8:16, GNT

Quote

He who has self-righteous friends, needs no enemies.

~Ya’akov

I love Job, I think he may be the best man in the bible other than Jesus, the perfect man but Job has no real friends and when he needed them most both friends and family either abandon him altogether or passed judgment upon him. Yet, all three of Jobs friends say some very interesting things. In chapter 8, Bildad uses two great analogies; one about reeds and the other weeds.

The first is found in 8:11, “Just as reeds need water so we need God [Jesus].” You cannot grow reeds in a desert. The second is found in verse 16–Evil people are like weeds:

1. They get their life from the same  sun that gives life to flowers, fruit and vegetables.
2. They sprout without being planted–they appear mysteriously.
3. They spread like gangrene all over you garden and they take deep root among the fragile plants. Weeds are hearty, they are easy to grow.
4. Weeds have no future, eventually, God’s angels are going to pull them out by the roots and cast into a fire.

The bottom line is: I had rather be a reed [totally dependent on Christ] than a weed which is forever rebellious.

• A Marathon weekend that began yesterday with a wedding and ends Monday night with a Revival Service at Oakridge, not Tennessee. This also includes a trip to Ardmore, Tennessee later this evening.
• Day Four of Phase-One went well as God continues to answer prayers. June and I will leave early in the morning to move Hope from the JOURNEY to the FOUNDRY. Today is her last day of Phase-One. Thank you for your prayers, they have made a huge difference.
• Saw something yesterday that I will never see again, I am sure. First I participated in an ALBAMA [Roll Tide] weeding. The bride wore a beautiful white satin gown with crimson trim. Prettiest dress I’ve ever seen. Then I went to a Roll Tide funeral. For some reason, I thought the Gillott boys {Dickie and Rod} were Auburn fans but according to them, they had no choice, Uncle John [Jr.] would have put out a contract on them had they rooted for Auburn.
• Sunday Schedule: Deacon’s meeting @ 8:15, LCBS @ 9:15, Worship @ 10:15, Business Meeting @ 11:00, AWANA @ 5:30, Visitation @ 5:30 and worship @ 6:15.
• Franklin Graham Prayer Rally this coming Thursday, April 14. I think Joe David said we could leave the church at 9:30 am.

 

NEW YORK – JUNE 25: Franklin Graham, with Bible in hand, addresses the crowd before his father Billy Graham speaks during his Crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park June 25, 2005 in the Queens borough of New York. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the site for Graham’s sermons on June 24-26, which looks to draw thousands of people from across the country, and will purportedly be the aging Christian evangelist’s final crusade. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

Satan

Scripture

When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the LORD again, Satan was there among them.

~Job 2:1, GNT

Quote

There are two extremes that we must avoid in relationship to Satan: one is to disbelieve in his existence and the other is to become obsessed with his person and power.

~Ya’akov

I was reading in Job 2 yesterday morning when three words exploded in my mind, “Satan was there.” God called a meeting of the heavenly beings and Satan was there among them. Isn’t that just like him, the diabolical intruder always showing up when he hasn’t been invited. When brothers and sisters in Christ gather for worship, Satan is there among them. Have a REVIVAL meeting and Satan will show up. Have a business meeting and Satan is there. Plan a prayer meeting and Satan will try to get it stopped but if that failed, he will show up, he will be there. He is always there.

I have no intention of saying anything good about the devil but I will tell you what I know. First of all, he is an angel, a fallen angel: he is not God, he is simply a want-to-be god. He is antichrist and he hates anyone who worships Jesus. Thus he hates all believers and does everything in his power to destroy our bodies, reputations, witness, testimony, joy, confidence, integrity and courage.

Jesus has changed things forever, He came to destroy the works of the devil and He was successful. We who trust Him with our sin and shame will congregate in heaven in the not to distant future and Satan will not be there.

• THE GATHERING TONIGHT at 6:30
• I saw something last night that I have never seen. In Ty’s game, a kid grounds out to first and made a home run. Normally, that would be impossible but it happens. The kid was out by three steps and the ump called him safe, then we commit a comedy of errors and the kid scores. The P.A. announcer [probably his mom] said, “Home run for Tommy, winner of a Firehouse Sub.”
• Dog Wood Winter is here and it gets cool with the sun goes down.
• Speaking of prayer–Franklin Graham Prayer Rally April 14.

NEW YORK – JUNE 25: Franklin Graham, with Bible in hand, addresses the crowd before his father Billy Graham speaks during his Crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park June 25, 2005 in the Queens borough of New York. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the site for Graham’s sermons on June 24-26, which looks to draw thousands of people from across the country, and will purportedly be the aging Christian evangelist’s final crusade. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

Hope

Scripture

But those who die in the LORD will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!

~Isaiah 26:19, NLT

Quote

Blessed are those who can live with unanswered questions, who can rest in what they see and who can wait patiently for God to reveal what they can’t see.

~Charles Rozell Swindoll

When it comes to questions, I have them and it took time and grace for me to learn to live with unanswered questions. There is a lot we will not know in this life. Our understanding of reality is very dim but God has given us this blessed thing called “Hope.” How miserable we would be if we had no hope. Job had questions, lots of questions. One is found in Job 14:14…Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death.

God created both the natural and spiritual world with the natural reflecting the spiritual. When it comes to the resurrection, our Creator has given us signs in all direction. A nights of restful sleep and then the awakening is a picture of the resurrection. Spring time is a picture of the resurrection–everything appeared dead but has sprang back to life. Plants are a sign of the resurrection. The same olive trees that Jesus prayed beneath are still in existence. Didn’t Titus the Roman have them cut to the ground? Yes, but that doesn’t kill and olive tree, they shoot branches from the stump. Seeds are another sign. I have all kinds of garden seed in the freezer. There is no apparent life in them but soon I will be planting them and they will come up.

Feed your faith, starve your doubt, cling to hope and trust God with all your unanswered question.

• EASTER SUNDAY…can you believe it!
• Sunrise @ 8:00…Breakfast @8:30…LCBS @ 9:15…Easter Parade @ 10:10 and Celebrate Jesus @ 10:15
• Today is your last chance to get SWAMP JOHN’S TICKETS.
• I finished Dr. Graham’s latest and probably last book, “Where I Am” last week and I highly recommend it. It would make a good gift for a lost friend who is seeking.

NEW YORK – JUNE 25: Franklin Graham, with Bible in hand, addresses the crowd before his father Billy Graham speaks during his Crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park June 25, 2005 in the Queens borough of New York. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the site for Graham’s sermons on June 24-26, which looks to draw thousands of people from across the country, and will purportedly be the aging Christian evangelist’s final crusade. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

Out Of The Storm

SCRIPTURE

Then out of the storm, the LORD spoke to Job.

~Job 38:1, GNT

QUOTE

We have all done things and said things that hurt other people.

~Selwyn Hughes

The book of Job is not a tragedy but it does begin with a tragedy. Job loses all ten children to a tornado, he loses all his possession to thieves and natural disasters and just when he thought, it could get no worse: it got worse–Job lost his health. His body was covered with ulcers which made him unclean. He is forced to a life in the wilderness. In a matter of a few days, he went from living in a mansion to living in a hole in the ground. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Job is alone. Relying upon his great wisdom and keen intellect, he begins to recount the details and try to make some sense out of all the tragedy. He begins to search his soul but he has no clue as to why the LORD has allowed such a horrific storm to come against him. What had he done? Was this a cruel joke that God was playing? Job searched his heart but he could come up with nothing. He had always helped the poor, stood for justice, been faithful to his wife, prayed for his children; what could he possibly have done to offend the Almighty?

Then his friends show up. They begin pointing out Jobs sins but this only makes Job angry. These blabber mouths don’t know when to shut up.  After these wind bags had said all they knew to say, Job was no less distressed but then comes chapter 38 which begins with “Then” which is a connecting word. Then means after all that has happened in Job 1-37, “Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.” Isn’t it amazing that Job’s four brilliant friends with all their words could not convict Job of a single sin, then the LORD speaks and Job repents.

There are a couple of lessons in this story. [1] There was not a better man on the face of the earth than Job but the best of us needs to repent just as much as the worse of us. [2] God’s words are infinitely more powerful than ours. God spoke and a life was changed forever.

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying: I hold Job in high esteem. I think that next to Jesus and possibly John the Baptist, Job is the best man in the bible but even the best of us needs mercy and grace.

• Johnny Burnett and eight other men from Morgan Baptist Association are headed to SC as a feeding team. They will be working with other disaster relief groups. SC suffered over a billion dollars in damages and 14 people lost their lives. Some of the 14 disregarded road blocks and warning signs. You know who I thought of when I read the article, myself, sounds like something Jack Bailey would do or Kay Orr. {JK}
• It was too late to bother Kane and Michelle when I did the blog so I don’t have a update.
• GOLDEN GIRLS this morning and then I have to lock myself in somewhere and study. Hasn’t been a good week for study.
• Tomorrow’s schedule is full: Deacons at 7:45, Donuts and biscuits at 8:30, LCBS at 9:15 and worship at 10:15 and 6:15. Zander Robinson will be baptized after the am worship celebration [Lord willing]. AWANA at 5:30 and Visitation at 5:30. David has prayed for God to give me more fruit in my last year than I’ve had in the previous 36 and I don’t mind if you join him. We do have around 8-10 candidates for baptism. Thank God for every one. We have some health issues with some of them but when they get able, they intend to be baptized. I am telling you: God is at work. You pray for me to have boldness in my personal witness.
• Don’t forget to sign up for TRUNK-A-TREAT and the cook out. I’d like to know what we are looking at so we’ll know what we need to do. Personally, I think it is going to be cool, maybe cold and I’m wondering if a stew would not be more appropriate.  One way or the other, we are going to have a supper and a fellowship. I am into fellowship.

Crisis

SCRIPTURE

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

~James 1:2, NLT

QUOTE

We learn more from life’s trials than we do life’s triumphs.

~Chip Ingram

The Chinese word for “crisis” (simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī) is frequently invoked in Western motivational speaking because the word is composed of two Chinese characters that can represent “danger” and “opportunity“. Some linguist accuse motivational speakers of taking liberties with the word.

One such case was in a speech by President John F. Kennedy, in Indianapolis on April 12, 1959. In his speech, Kennedy said that, “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.”

The word “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi and jī. . . . While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī does not literally mean opportunity but it can be translated “Critical or defining moment” which is most always an opportunity.

This same concept is what James has in mind, we should consider trouble [various trials] as opportunities for ministry, spiritual advancement and joy. How did Job respond when the bottom fell out of his world? He did respond nobly with sincere worship but you would not consider his first response one of ecstatic joy. Generally, when trouble comes our way, our first response is and intense struggle with our faith that may lend itself to doubt, discouragement and despair. With time we begin to see God at work in our crisis and we begin learning things that we could never understand a part from the crisis. The joy of the crisis is like the sonic boom that follows a super sonic jet. You see the plane long before you hear the sound. Our first response to crisis will most likely be fear but the joy is coming. In Psalm 30:5 David stated the principle like this: Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

I hate to agree with a democrat but I’m going to concur with Kennedy, a crisis is a critical point that presents both danger and opportunity. Remember the old adage, “Don’t waste your sorrows.”

• It is good to be back on line after being down for two weeks. I am no where near 100% but I am better PTL.  I hope this is not a premature celebration but Lord willing I will be blogging daily again: at least that is my prayer. I was able to attend the second service yesterday and see all the babies and children in their Easter outfits. I enjoyed the Praise and worship: The Band, David, the Choir and the Praise and Motion Team were fantastic. I thought Joe David had a great message and I enjoyed the entire service and that includes the offerings.
• At this time we do not know what the treatment will be for the back and sciatic nerve. They may do an MRI next week. I stay on the steroids this week. Barring a miraculous turn around, I doubt that I can be back in the pulpit for a couple of more weeks. We will play it by ear.

Integrity

SCRIPTURE

Jesus said, “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others…your task is to be true, not popular.

~Luke 6:26, MSG

QUOTE

When it comes to pleasing God, no work is better than any other. To wash dishes and to preach is all one.

~William Tyndale

Many people worry constantly about what others think of them. They are slaves to public opinion. They spend their lives trying to be politically correct and give no thought to pleasing Christ. As one performer said, “They need to kill the foot lights and turn up the house lights where they can see the only VIP in the audience, Jesus!” In the final analysis, His review is the only one that matters.

When I think of integrity, I think of Job. He would not yield to public opinion or social pressure. Job was unafraid to be himself. It is impossible to live on this sin cursed planet without having some anxiety but you will have far less when you focus on pleasing Christ instead of people. If you perform to please others, you may please some but it will come at the expense of your own integrity. Be yourself; be who God created you to be. Some will like it and some will not. The big advantage for you is that you will enjoy being yourself and God will be honored. He does not like pretense and when you stop and think; you don’t like it either. 

• I must be crazy: I don’t know what I was thinking when I planned this week: Senior Adult cook out this morning, we start the chickens at 6:00 am and then we will be starting the handicap ramp at 6:00 pm and then after that Graduation. Yesterday we cleaned out the Grace Barn and got it ready for VBS, finished all our props. I was so tired that I struggled to get home then had to go to Athens. We may have to do a rerun Sunday. I could preach the one entitled…Everything I Know About Women…It would take less than a minute.
• Sunday is June 1 and it is promotion day in LCBS for pre-school, children and youth. Our adults don’t promote, we just change the sign on the door.
• Along with a full schedule, we will be getting ready for VBS/VBX Sunday. Sunday morning after worship, we need to clean off the stage so we could use some muscle which is not easy to come by at DBC. We have men that will stand and talk while the women carry the weight. The few of us who are gentlemen are too old to lift much. I’m doing good to carry my own weight but I will do my part but I will need some help, some strong help. There is one problem, I will forget what I am supposed to do if someone doesn’t remind me.
• Big Mama’s forecast for new week is hot and humid. Let’s pray that she is wrong. She probably is not but I would like for her to be. I would like another week like this one.

 

Perplexity

SCRIPTURE

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair.

~ 2 Corinthians 4:8, NKJV

QUOTE

Never, never, never give up!

~Winston Churchill 

In my opinion, Paul is the greatest Missionary in history.  God used him in extraordinary ways but even he confessed to being perplexed from time to time. Perplexity is the inability to deal with or understand something complicated or unaccountable. Have you ever been in the state of confusion or what about wits end [Psalms 107:27] where you don’t know what is what? Job spent several nights at wit’s end trying to sort things out but he never understood what was going on. He finally accepted the fact that God is God and we don’t have enough sense for His sense to make sense.  I am no Job by any stretch of the imagination; neither am I in the league of an Apostle Paul but I can identify with their perplexity. There are times when I don’t understand what is going on or why.  I like to read 2 Corinthians 4 in the modern translations. The CEV reads, “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” I think Paul and Churchill had some things in common: neither would quit or allow anyone else to discuss quitting. Churchill once said, “When you are going through hell, keep going.”

• Checked on Kenny today: feeling fair. Did not have treatment on Wednesday, they rescheduled him for next week.
• Mrs. Eloise Maddox a long time reader of the blog and Subscriber to the DIGEST is not feeling well and really has not felt well for a month or so. Please pray for Mrs. Maddox, she is one of the sweetest ladies I have known. She has always refreshed me. When I need a place to retreat and rest for a moment, I could always visit Jack and Eloise Maddox. She is top-notch!
• I’ll try to do a phone message sometime today but I assume you know that we will not have a deacons meeting Sunday in honor of our Mothers and no pm service but we are having LCBS and I will [Lord willing] have the donuts and biscuits there by 8:30. Mandy sold a ton of roses so I am expecting a big crowd. We had a horde they played hooky on us last Sunday. I hope this Sunday is better.

 

Perseverance

SCRIPTURE

Water wears away stone.

~Job 14:19, NIV

QUOTE

By perseverance the snail made it to the ark.

~Charles Spurgeon

One of my favorite N.T. words is translated by AV as patience but NASB translates this compound Greek word as endurance. James uses Job as an example of both patience and endurance in chapter five of his epistle. In verse ten James uses the word makrothymia [AV, patience] which means slow to get heated or hot. This word relates to a self-control issue. In verse 11, the word hypomonē [AV, patience, NASB, endurance] is used. This word means the ability to stay under in terms of bearing a burden. It is this ability to stay under, stay focused and stay at it that separates the strong from the weak. Most of us are tempted to cast off our burden and flee as a bird to the mountains but the secret to success is to stay at it, keep pounding the rock. Recreation, hobbies and pleasant task are easy but to accomplish the difficult, the long-term and sometimes uninspiring is a horse of a different color. The LORD reminded Jeremiah, Is not my word like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? [Jeremiah 23:29] The hammer will break the rock eventually if we keep pounding. Water will erode a stone but it takes time. Persistence pays: Thomas Edison failed 999 times to create a light bulb but he did not quit and the discovery came on the next experiment. He was successful because he refused to quit.

• Kenny had another rough day, keep praying.
• GOLDEN GIRLS this morning at 9:00, Cracker Barrel in Hartselle.
• Men’s Breakfast Sunday Morning at 8:00 in Parlor.
• DHS girls won their area tournament last night. DBC has 7-8 girls on the team. They played especially well in the championship game.

The Ultimate Terrorist

SCRIPTURE

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

~2 Timothy 1:7, NLT

QUOTE

Anytime we open ourselves to fear, we fall prey to deception and intimidation.

~Francis Frangipane

Years ago, M.D. had an old bulldog chained to a tree. It was a good size chain and about 20-25 feet long. I stopped by one evening late, almost dark and forgot all about the dog. I got out of my truck and started up the side-walk. All of a sudden I hear this ferocious sound and I turn just in time to make eye contact with M.D.’s bulldog. He had already launched himself and was going for the jugular, mine and right before his teeth sank into my neck, the chain caught that devil and jerked him to the ground. He went down fast and hard. I was too afraid to laugh but not too afraid to pray, immediately I thanked God for the chain. The devil has power but he is not free to do as he pleases, he is on a chain so to speak. By that I mean he can only go so far as in the case of Job. Trust me, if he had free rein, he would have destroyed Job and he would do the same to us. He would invade every aspect of our life; I’m not talking about the circumstances surrounding us, I am taking about a personal invasion. He would come in and destroy from within. But he can’t invade us because he doesn’t have permission. He cannot come in against our will. He is in the world but he is not in us and greater is He [Jesus] that is in you, than he [devil] that is in the world. That my friends is a reason to celebrate.

• Beautiful day yesterday and another coming tomorrow I hope. I took a walk in the mid-day sun, it was perfect. TYJ.
• I checked the boards yesterday, attendance Sunday was not good but offerings were great.
• GOLDEN GIRLS meet Saturday at Cracker Barrel in Hartselle, 9:00 a.m.
• My Aunt Cora {99 in May} is very sick. I think she is tired and ready to go home. I ran up to see her Saturday. There are only two left in Daddy’s family: Aunt Cora and Uncle Floyd who lives in Douglasville, Georgia and still drives on the interstate. I think he was born in 1924 which would make him 90.

July 4, 2012

• I don’t think the video from Bobby that I posted last night worked. I am going to give you the address of this one; it is a tour of the space station:
  http://www.youtube.com/embed/doN4t5NKW-k
• The address for the one last night [people doing awesome and crazy things] is

  http://safeshare.tv/w/MRMDIWCFec
  
  

  

  Tybo in # 48

  

  Beautiful Blue Eyes

  

  Big L, running in the fast lane.

  

  Uncle Joe and Tybo in a turbo

  

  Trucker Reeves in #11

  

  Silly Girls