Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram - Chair, Commission on Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, Editor
1. A FINAL REMINDER - THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING & THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS WILL BE HELD JUNE 26 – 29 IN DALLAS, TEXAS:
This link: http://www.ame-church.com/newsevents.html#generalboard will give you additional information.
Bishops’ Council / General Board Hotel:
Wyndham Anatole Hotel2201 Stemmons FreewayDallas, Texas 75207Phone: 214-748-1200
2. A WORD FROM THE EDITOR:
A few days ago, The Christian Recorder Online addressed the issue of pastors and other caregivers taking care of themselves and their families. One reader responded that a cruise is a great option because it gets leaders away from their cell phones and forces them to relax and get away from business. The Reverend Joseph Jenkins responded by sharing a superb website, http://www.cruisecompete.com/ , where travel agents compete to give you the best price. Reverend D. Jenkins says that he and his wife have used that website for a number of cruises. He is the associate minister of Bethel AME Church in Bay Shore, New York. He and his wife, Carolyn, were married on the Carnival ship Fascination. He pointed out that the costs of cruises are affordable.
As an example, in January 2002, as a fundraiser for Women's Day, Bethel AME Church, Bay Shore sponsored a four- day, three-night cruise. The ports of call were Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico. The cost for the cruise was only about $400 per person. The cost included meals, 24-hour room service, and all entertainment. That is reasonable.
Preachers, take time for YOU and YOUR FAMILY.
Editor’s comment: I went on the website http://www.cruisecompete.com/ to plan a cruise and the responses were phenomenal and the costs reasonable. I have no excuse. I am getting ready to book a cruise!
Reminder: The General Board Meeting / Bishops’ Council does not count as a vacation.
3. ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH:
Rules: Questions must be answered within 24 hours of the posting of this issue.
Question 1: What year was Bishop Nichols elected and consecrated a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church? Who was the Senior Bishop of the AME Church when Bishop Nichols was elected and consecrated a bishop? At which General Conference did he deliver the Episcopal Address?
The Prize: The book about Bishop D. Ward Nichols authored by Jeanette T. Johns, a retired librarian from Farmingdale, NY entitled, “The Upward Journey: A Centenarian's Chronicle.”
Question 2: In what year was the first Bishops’ Council held? In what year was the AME Church divided into Episcopal Districts? Into how many districts was the Church divided? Name the bishops and their Episcopal assignments. You must answer all parts of this question fully.
The Prize: Any Bible in the AMEC Bookstore.
4. WOMEN IN MINISTRY EVENTS AT THE GENERAL BOARD / BISHOPS COUNCIL:
Prayer and Praise Worship Sunday & Installation Service: Sunday, June 26, 2005 at 5:45 p.m. at the Wynham Anotole Hotel. The guest preacher will be the Reverend Dr. Lois A. Poag Ray, Connectional President
Seed Gift, $100.00
The Fifth Annual Jarena Lee Appreciation Award Breakfast will be held on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 7:00 a.m. at the Wynham Anotole Hotel, L'Entrecote Room, 2201 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas. The guest preacher will be the Right Reverend Sarah Francis Davis, Presiding Prelate of the 18th Episcopal District and Chair, Commission on Women In Ministry. Seed Gift $35.00.
5. BRIDGE STREET AME CHURCH, BROOKLYN CONTINUES TO BUILD:
“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah 4:6 (KJV)
The officers and members of the historic Bridge Street AME Church in Brooklyn New York greet our brothers and sisters who continue to toil in the Master’s vineyard. We are grateful for the opportunity to share with our Zion some of the blessings the Bridge Street Church Family have realized during the past year.
The Quincy Senior Residence, scheduled to open in the fall of 2005, is a 93 unit senior housing project of The Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC) an affiliate of Bridge Street African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal (AWME) Church. Dr. Edison O. Jackson chairs the BSDC and Rhonda A. Lewis serves as President/CEO.
The “757” Housing Development Corporation (HDFC), an affiliate of Bridge Street AWME Church is in the process of renovating a 23-unit apartment complex that represents a commitment of Bridge Street Church to provide affordable housing opportunities for the residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. A service of dedication will b e held on Sunday June 26, 2005 at 3 p.m. to start the renovation of this project. Dr. Robert J. Williams, Jr. serves as President of The HDFC.
The Bridge Street Church family solicits your prayers that we may continue the vision and the mission of the church to provide both spiritual guidance and quality of life services for those in need. God has been good to us and we give God the praise, The Reverend David B. Cousin, Sr. is the pastor of Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church.
6. LANGUAGE IN THE GLOBAL CORNER ARTICLE SEVERAL DAYS AGO:
The language we used in the article is called Nama, and it has four clicks, almost similar to the bushman language. The Nama can be understood by the bushman, but many who speak Nama cannot understand the bushman language
7. THE COLLEGE CORNER:
Editor’s note: Brother Brandon Karl Allen, Licentiate and a student at Paine College, in Augusta Ga., delivered the sermon below. He is a psychology major with an emphasis in children's psychology. He has been preaching for 2 years, and is a member of the Mt. Zion AME Church, Round O, SC, where Pastor Toney J. Slater Jr., serves as the Senior Pastor. He is a member of the Seventh Episcopal District where Bishop Preston Warren Williams II., and Mother Wilma Delores Webb-Williams, is the Episcopal Supervisor.
“Hell Is Real”
Luke 16:19-31
As we look at the gospel of Luke this morning, we see that our Lord is ministering in the area of Perea on the east side of the Jordan, teaching his disciples the secrets of the kingdom of God. The tax collectors and sinners gathered around Jesus to listen to his teaching, and a group of Pharisees surrounded him grumbling and upset to the point that they charged Him with receiving sinners and eating with them (15:2). Our Lord went on to tell the story of a certain rich man who had an unrighteous but shrewd steward who was eventually caught and fired. However, before he was fired he went around to the men in the community who owed money to his master and cut their debts so that in the future, when he had nowhere to go, they would take him in because of his kindness towards them. Jesus used this story to warn the disciples that the “sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” Continued Jesus: “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by the means of mammon of unrighteousness that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:8-9). However, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, scoffed at His words.
Now, from His heart of love and mercy, Jesus is about to open the curtains of eternity once again in order to show this crowd of Pharisees, sinners, and disciples gathered around Him, as well as all of us, that our lives are not merely lived out on this earth, but in time we must all appear in eternity and give an accounting. Our Lord’s conclusion will not be the same as our present-day New Age prophets. They say that when we die, a warm light at the end of a long tunnel will meet us. We will feel love all around us, and our family and friends who have died before us will meet us. Some have said there is no pain over there; everybody is happy. Some have said that the streets are paved with gold and there is shouting all day long; oh over in that city I heard that every day is like Sunday. But I am here to tell you that if you do not live right, you will find out that “Hell is real.”
In this text, we meet two men, one of which we know very little about. We know that Jesus uses the term “a certain man.” Most biblical scholars believe that Jesus is referring to someone he knows or someone with whom he has some firsthand knowledge. He is not using this merely as an illustration. It is okay to say that these two men once lived out their lives on earth, one in splendor and one in poverty.
First, we meet a rich man. Please do not ask for his name or where he was from, the Bible does not tell us; but we do know that he was rich. This was a self-indulgent man. He was what we might call filthy rich. But, that was not his problem. Jesus never condemned anyone for being rich, but rather for being “lovers of money.” The Bible says, “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.” You cannot serve “God and riches” (Matt. 6:24). Paul wrote to Timothy, “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). As you can see the rich man’s lifestyle blinded him so that he could not see God not the poor people around him, some of who laid beside his gate.
The second man we meet is named Lazarus. Lazarus was a godly man who believed in the God of Abraham. He was so sick that apparently some people placed him against the gate of the rich man’s home, so the rich man would have seen him everyday. Lazarus sought nothing more than the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, but the only comfort he was provided was by the stray dogs that came and licked his sores. In time Lazarus and the rich man both died. Lazarus was carried in Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man found out that “Hell Is Real”. To make a long story short, because most of you probably know the story, the rich man had nerve to ask Abraham to let Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue because he was in agony in the fire. But, Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. There is an old saying that say, what goes around comes around. Church, I am here to tell you that, “If you dig one ditch you better dig two because one of those ditches might be for you.” I do not know if you know it or not, but what goes around comes around. If you sow good seeds you will receive a good harvest, but if you so bad seeds you will reap a bad harvest, so I hope you understand that Hell Is Real! If you know that hell is real, let me hear you say, “Yea!”
Now, since we all know that hell is real, I want to tell you how not to go to that place. Hell is a place of fire and brimstone. Many youth today do not understand that in hell once you are in you are in! Youth that are here today, you were made for greatness and not mediocrity. For you see, if God had of made you, to get your shake on, He would have made you a saltshaker or a Polaroid Picture. If God had of made you to get your drink on, He would have attached a funnel to you neck. If God had of made you to get your smoke on, He would have attached a chimney to your back. If God had of made you to get your sniff on, He would have made you a bloodhound and if God had of made you to get your freak on, when you were birthed out of your mothers womb, he would have attached a mattress to your back.
But, God did make you to fight the good fight of faith. He made your feet to walk the good walk and your mouth to talk the good talk. He made your knees for you to fall on to pray until you get a breakthrough. You need to P.U.S.H., which is “Pray Until Something Happens”. You were made to praise the God from which all blessing flow! I wish I had a church in here!
But, I am so grateful, that the Lord our God who is strong and mighty overlooks our faults and sees our needs. But as Jacob said “as for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord” and I just want to give him my personal praise, and it is simply Jesus I will never forget what you’ve done for me, Jesus, I’ll never forget how you set me free, Jesus, I’ll never forget how you brought me how, Jesus, I’ll never forget no never.
In our society, we have some people who are just like Lazarus and the rich man. We have the rich, famous, poor, and needy. We have brothers and sisters who for some reason have a hard time praising God when God has blessed them or sent some prosperity their way. They want to get mad, not answer the phone, and try to look down their noses at you, but they do not realize that if Jesus has blessed you, then Jesus is in the neighborhood.
Lies, backbiting, and going against what is right are all ways to lead a person straight to hell. But, if you live right heaven belongs to you. If you trust God at his word, heaven belongs to you. If you pray daily heaven belongs to you.
There were many instances in the Bible where people where in some hellish situations, but God delivered them all. If he can save the three (3) Hebrew boys out of the fiery furnace, I know He can deliver you, if He can be a mattress & pillow for Daniel who was thrown in the lion’s den, then I know He can deliver you, if He can save a woman at the well, then I know He can deliver you. The man that I am talking about is named Jesus. He is the God who hung the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, He is the God that has put running in your feet, joy in your heart, clapping in your hands. He is the God that held you when you thought you were going to loose your mind. He is the God that blessed you regardless of your past; He is the God that loved you unconditionally in spite of everything bad that you could have ever done. This God that I am talking about sits high and looks low, He is high enough to stand under, but low enough to stand on, I dare you to lift Him up, because if you lift Him up, He will lift you up, go ahead and give him praise for what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
It is time out for excuses. It is time out for playing, if you want to play go to the park and leave those who want to serve the Lord alone. Hell is a real place, and many people will die and go there, but you can make the decision to go where Lazarus went. Lazarus went to a place where there is no more pain, no more suffering, heartache or grief. The songwriter wrote, “Nobody told me, that the road would be easy, but I don’t believe He brought me this far just to leave me. Give your life to Christ, and know that there is peace in heaven and that Hell is real.
Editor’s comment: It is refreshing for young people to share what they are doing. The Christian Recorder is happy to encourage them and to encourage their participation in our Zion.
8. THE EDITOR WILL BE LEAVING NASHVILLE ON FRIDAY TO ATTEND THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING / BISHOPS’ COUNCIL IN DALLAS.
The Christian Recorder Online will be published from Dallas.
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, Editor
1. A FINAL REMINDER - THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING & THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS WILL BE HELD JUNE 26 – 29 IN DALLAS, TEXAS:
This link: http://www.ame-church.com/newsevents.html#generalboard will give you additional information.
Bishops’ Council / General Board Hotel:
Wyndham Anatole Hotel2201 Stemmons FreewayDallas, Texas 75207Phone: 214-748-1200
2. A WORD FROM THE EDITOR:
A few days ago, The Christian Recorder Online addressed the issue of pastors and other caregivers taking care of themselves and their families. One reader responded that a cruise is a great option because it gets leaders away from their cell phones and forces them to relax and get away from business. The Reverend Joseph Jenkins responded by sharing a superb website, http://www.cruisecompete.com/ , where travel agents compete to give you the best price. Reverend D. Jenkins says that he and his wife have used that website for a number of cruises. He is the associate minister of Bethel AME Church in Bay Shore, New York. He and his wife, Carolyn, were married on the Carnival ship Fascination. He pointed out that the costs of cruises are affordable.
As an example, in January 2002, as a fundraiser for Women's Day, Bethel AME Church, Bay Shore sponsored a four- day, three-night cruise. The ports of call were Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico. The cost for the cruise was only about $400 per person. The cost included meals, 24-hour room service, and all entertainment. That is reasonable.
Preachers, take time for YOU and YOUR FAMILY.
Editor’s comment: I went on the website http://www.cruisecompete.com/ to plan a cruise and the responses were phenomenal and the costs reasonable. I have no excuse. I am getting ready to book a cruise!
Reminder: The General Board Meeting / Bishops’ Council does not count as a vacation.
3. ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH:
Rules: Questions must be answered within 24 hours of the posting of this issue.
Question 1: What year was Bishop Nichols elected and consecrated a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church? Who was the Senior Bishop of the AME Church when Bishop Nichols was elected and consecrated a bishop? At which General Conference did he deliver the Episcopal Address?
The Prize: The book about Bishop D. Ward Nichols authored by Jeanette T. Johns, a retired librarian from Farmingdale, NY entitled, “The Upward Journey: A Centenarian's Chronicle.”
Question 2: In what year was the first Bishops’ Council held? In what year was the AME Church divided into Episcopal Districts? Into how many districts was the Church divided? Name the bishops and their Episcopal assignments. You must answer all parts of this question fully.
The Prize: Any Bible in the AMEC Bookstore.
4. WOMEN IN MINISTRY EVENTS AT THE GENERAL BOARD / BISHOPS COUNCIL:
Prayer and Praise Worship Sunday & Installation Service: Sunday, June 26, 2005 at 5:45 p.m. at the Wynham Anotole Hotel. The guest preacher will be the Reverend Dr. Lois A. Poag Ray, Connectional President
Seed Gift, $100.00
The Fifth Annual Jarena Lee Appreciation Award Breakfast will be held on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 7:00 a.m. at the Wynham Anotole Hotel, L'Entrecote Room, 2201 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas. The guest preacher will be the Right Reverend Sarah Francis Davis, Presiding Prelate of the 18th Episcopal District and Chair, Commission on Women In Ministry. Seed Gift $35.00.
5. BRIDGE STREET AME CHURCH, BROOKLYN CONTINUES TO BUILD:
“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah 4:6 (KJV)
The officers and members of the historic Bridge Street AME Church in Brooklyn New York greet our brothers and sisters who continue to toil in the Master’s vineyard. We are grateful for the opportunity to share with our Zion some of the blessings the Bridge Street Church Family have realized during the past year.
The Quincy Senior Residence, scheduled to open in the fall of 2005, is a 93 unit senior housing project of The Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC) an affiliate of Bridge Street African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal (AWME) Church. Dr. Edison O. Jackson chairs the BSDC and Rhonda A. Lewis serves as President/CEO.
The “757” Housing Development Corporation (HDFC), an affiliate of Bridge Street AWME Church is in the process of renovating a 23-unit apartment complex that represents a commitment of Bridge Street Church to provide affordable housing opportunities for the residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. A service of dedication will b e held on Sunday June 26, 2005 at 3 p.m. to start the renovation of this project. Dr. Robert J. Williams, Jr. serves as President of The HDFC.
The Bridge Street Church family solicits your prayers that we may continue the vision and the mission of the church to provide both spiritual guidance and quality of life services for those in need. God has been good to us and we give God the praise, The Reverend David B. Cousin, Sr. is the pastor of Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church.
6. LANGUAGE IN THE GLOBAL CORNER ARTICLE SEVERAL DAYS AGO:
The language we used in the article is called Nama, and it has four clicks, almost similar to the bushman language. The Nama can be understood by the bushman, but many who speak Nama cannot understand the bushman language
7. THE COLLEGE CORNER:
Editor’s note: Brother Brandon Karl Allen, Licentiate and a student at Paine College, in Augusta Ga., delivered the sermon below. He is a psychology major with an emphasis in children's psychology. He has been preaching for 2 years, and is a member of the Mt. Zion AME Church, Round O, SC, where Pastor Toney J. Slater Jr., serves as the Senior Pastor. He is a member of the Seventh Episcopal District where Bishop Preston Warren Williams II., and Mother Wilma Delores Webb-Williams, is the Episcopal Supervisor.
“Hell Is Real”
Luke 16:19-31
As we look at the gospel of Luke this morning, we see that our Lord is ministering in the area of Perea on the east side of the Jordan, teaching his disciples the secrets of the kingdom of God. The tax collectors and sinners gathered around Jesus to listen to his teaching, and a group of Pharisees surrounded him grumbling and upset to the point that they charged Him with receiving sinners and eating with them (15:2). Our Lord went on to tell the story of a certain rich man who had an unrighteous but shrewd steward who was eventually caught and fired. However, before he was fired he went around to the men in the community who owed money to his master and cut their debts so that in the future, when he had nowhere to go, they would take him in because of his kindness towards them. Jesus used this story to warn the disciples that the “sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” Continued Jesus: “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by the means of mammon of unrighteousness that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:8-9). However, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, scoffed at His words.
Now, from His heart of love and mercy, Jesus is about to open the curtains of eternity once again in order to show this crowd of Pharisees, sinners, and disciples gathered around Him, as well as all of us, that our lives are not merely lived out on this earth, but in time we must all appear in eternity and give an accounting. Our Lord’s conclusion will not be the same as our present-day New Age prophets. They say that when we die, a warm light at the end of a long tunnel will meet us. We will feel love all around us, and our family and friends who have died before us will meet us. Some have said there is no pain over there; everybody is happy. Some have said that the streets are paved with gold and there is shouting all day long; oh over in that city I heard that every day is like Sunday. But I am here to tell you that if you do not live right, you will find out that “Hell is real.”
In this text, we meet two men, one of which we know very little about. We know that Jesus uses the term “a certain man.” Most biblical scholars believe that Jesus is referring to someone he knows or someone with whom he has some firsthand knowledge. He is not using this merely as an illustration. It is okay to say that these two men once lived out their lives on earth, one in splendor and one in poverty.
First, we meet a rich man. Please do not ask for his name or where he was from, the Bible does not tell us; but we do know that he was rich. This was a self-indulgent man. He was what we might call filthy rich. But, that was not his problem. Jesus never condemned anyone for being rich, but rather for being “lovers of money.” The Bible says, “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.” You cannot serve “God and riches” (Matt. 6:24). Paul wrote to Timothy, “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). As you can see the rich man’s lifestyle blinded him so that he could not see God not the poor people around him, some of who laid beside his gate.
The second man we meet is named Lazarus. Lazarus was a godly man who believed in the God of Abraham. He was so sick that apparently some people placed him against the gate of the rich man’s home, so the rich man would have seen him everyday. Lazarus sought nothing more than the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, but the only comfort he was provided was by the stray dogs that came and licked his sores. In time Lazarus and the rich man both died. Lazarus was carried in Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man found out that “Hell Is Real”. To make a long story short, because most of you probably know the story, the rich man had nerve to ask Abraham to let Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue because he was in agony in the fire. But, Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. There is an old saying that say, what goes around comes around. Church, I am here to tell you that, “If you dig one ditch you better dig two because one of those ditches might be for you.” I do not know if you know it or not, but what goes around comes around. If you sow good seeds you will receive a good harvest, but if you so bad seeds you will reap a bad harvest, so I hope you understand that Hell Is Real! If you know that hell is real, let me hear you say, “Yea!”
Now, since we all know that hell is real, I want to tell you how not to go to that place. Hell is a place of fire and brimstone. Many youth today do not understand that in hell once you are in you are in! Youth that are here today, you were made for greatness and not mediocrity. For you see, if God had of made you, to get your shake on, He would have made you a saltshaker or a Polaroid Picture. If God had of made you to get your drink on, He would have attached a funnel to you neck. If God had of made you to get your smoke on, He would have attached a chimney to your back. If God had of made you to get your sniff on, He would have made you a bloodhound and if God had of made you to get your freak on, when you were birthed out of your mothers womb, he would have attached a mattress to your back.
But, God did make you to fight the good fight of faith. He made your feet to walk the good walk and your mouth to talk the good talk. He made your knees for you to fall on to pray until you get a breakthrough. You need to P.U.S.H., which is “Pray Until Something Happens”. You were made to praise the God from which all blessing flow! I wish I had a church in here!
But, I am so grateful, that the Lord our God who is strong and mighty overlooks our faults and sees our needs. But as Jacob said “as for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord” and I just want to give him my personal praise, and it is simply Jesus I will never forget what you’ve done for me, Jesus, I’ll never forget how you set me free, Jesus, I’ll never forget how you brought me how, Jesus, I’ll never forget no never.
In our society, we have some people who are just like Lazarus and the rich man. We have the rich, famous, poor, and needy. We have brothers and sisters who for some reason have a hard time praising God when God has blessed them or sent some prosperity their way. They want to get mad, not answer the phone, and try to look down their noses at you, but they do not realize that if Jesus has blessed you, then Jesus is in the neighborhood.
Lies, backbiting, and going against what is right are all ways to lead a person straight to hell. But, if you live right heaven belongs to you. If you trust God at his word, heaven belongs to you. If you pray daily heaven belongs to you.
There were many instances in the Bible where people where in some hellish situations, but God delivered them all. If he can save the three (3) Hebrew boys out of the fiery furnace, I know He can deliver you, if He can be a mattress & pillow for Daniel who was thrown in the lion’s den, then I know He can deliver you, if He can save a woman at the well, then I know He can deliver you. The man that I am talking about is named Jesus. He is the God who hung the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, He is the God that has put running in your feet, joy in your heart, clapping in your hands. He is the God that held you when you thought you were going to loose your mind. He is the God that blessed you regardless of your past; He is the God that loved you unconditionally in spite of everything bad that you could have ever done. This God that I am talking about sits high and looks low, He is high enough to stand under, but low enough to stand on, I dare you to lift Him up, because if you lift Him up, He will lift you up, go ahead and give him praise for what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
It is time out for excuses. It is time out for playing, if you want to play go to the park and leave those who want to serve the Lord alone. Hell is a real place, and many people will die and go there, but you can make the decision to go where Lazarus went. Lazarus went to a place where there is no more pain, no more suffering, heartache or grief. The songwriter wrote, “Nobody told me, that the road would be easy, but I don’t believe He brought me this far just to leave me. Give your life to Christ, and know that there is peace in heaven and that Hell is real.
Editor’s comment: It is refreshing for young people to share what they are doing. The Christian Recorder is happy to encourage them and to encourage their participation in our Zion.
8. THE EDITOR WILL BE LEAVING NASHVILLE ON FRIDAY TO ATTEND THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING / BISHOPS’ COUNCIL IN DALLAS.
The Christian Recorder Online will be published from Dallas.
