At the Sea

All our children at the sea
June 2015



"Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, my soul.

I will praise the LORD all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live...

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the seas, and everything in them...

Praise the LORD."

Psalm 146

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Open Doors

illustration from Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer
By my friend and talented artist, Dawn Copeland




"I have opened a door for you that no one can close."
(Rev. 3:8b NLT)

I must confess that I'm hurrying today as I write this post. Because  the door opened to submit Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer to LifeWay Christian Stores, I'm eager to get Mr. Greenleaf in the mail. 

LifeWay's Nashville corporate headquarters receives thousands upon thousands of submissions. So what are our chances of being selected? 100% or 0% - one hundred percent if God opens that door, and zero if He doesn't.

Never forget that our God is the almighty, powerful, in control, sovereign, omnipotent. Job said to Him, "When You give quietness who then can make trouble" (Job 34:29)?

Beloved, what door of opportunity stands before you today? Go for it! "If God is for us, who can ever be against us" (Romans 8:31 NLT)?

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The 4 Question Gospel

Classroom reading of Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer

"God promised this Good News long ago through the prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about His Son....He is Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:2-4 NLT)



Because I bumbled and stumbled through the door of opportunity to present the Gospel to children at the N. Avondale Library last Monday, this morning I asked Jesus for a simple, clear way to tell His Good News to kids. His answer: the 4 question Gospel.

Question #1 - What is sin? 

Answer: Sin is breaking God's law by doing something He says not to do (like lying) or not doing something He says to do (like obeying your parents).

Verse: "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." (1 John 3:4 NLT)

Question #2 - What happens when you sin?

Answer: Your sin separates you from God. 

Verse: "It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore." (Isa. 59:2 NLT)

Question #3 - Who has sinned?

Answer: Everyone has sinned.

Verse: "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Romans 3:23 NLT)

Question #4 - Who can get us back to God?

Answer: Only God's Son, Jesus, can get us back to God.

Verses: Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6 NLT)

"For this is how God loved the world; He gave His one and only Son [Jesus], so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NLT)

Next time, I'll be ready! Beloved, are you ready to tell God's Good News?

(Please share this important post with family, friends, and enemies.) J

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Fruit of the Vine

the Fruit of Phillip's garden

Jesus said, "Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NLT)










My superman is having fun playing Farmer Phillip this summer, and his family is enjoying the luscious fruit of his labors.

People are fruit-producing gardens. When we follow the desires of our sinful nature, we produce rotten fruit: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Gal. 5:19-23 NLT)

Fruit check! Are you abiding in Jesus and producing a Holy Spirit harvest?

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Did the devil make guns

Mr. Greenleaf and I with precious children
N. Avondale Library

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand." (Isa. 41:10 NLT)

As promised, the rest of the story....


Yesterday, Mr. Greenleaf and I read chapter one, Mr. Greenleaf's Not-So-Typical Day, from our book Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer to children at the N. Avondale Library. In the story, a bullfrog, the largest frog in North America with the severe reputation of eating any small animal it can stuff down its throat, invades the small goldfish pond where Mr. Greenleaf lives; and the poor tree frog grows terrified beyond horrified.

I asked the children if they ever feel afraid. They all nodded fervently. One little one then asked a piercing question, "Did the devil make guns?"

Oh, dear Jesus, I thought, these precious, little children should be thinking about no school and swimming pools, fireflies and blue summer skies, but instead, they're distressed over guns! What a mess our country is in.

Because these kids were Christian day campers, I could say, "When you feel afraid, pray, 'Help me, Lord Jesus!'" (Jesus is unwelcome in some places I visit). We quoted Isaiah 41:10 together, prayed together, and together sang,

The Lord is good to me

And so I thank the Lord

 For giving me 

The things I need

The sun and the rain and the appleseed

The Lord is good to me.

Amen!

As the old prophet pleaded in Daniel chapter 9:

O Lord, You are a great and awesome God...But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations...our faces are covered with shame...we have sinned against You...So now the solemn curses and judgments...have been poured down on us because of our sin...O our God, hear Your servants' prayers! Listen as [we] plead. For Your sake, Lord, smile again on [us]...Open Your eyes and see our despair. See how [our country]...lies in [spiritual and moral] ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act! For Your own sake, do not delay, O God, for Your people...bear Your name.

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N. Avondale Library

Jesus said, "Let the children come to Me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children." (Mark 10:14 NLT)



Mr. Greenleaf and I are visiting the N. Avondale Library at 10:30 this morning to tell little children about our fascinating adventures. Come join us! (Stay tuned for the rest of this story.)

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Pecking Order

L-R three grands: oldest to youngest and tallest to smallest

"Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand." (Phil. 2:3-4 The Message)

"Me first!"

"I get the front seat!"

"It's my turn!"

Nobody had to teach me to be selfish; and for 59 years, Somebody has been and still is at work teaching me not to be. 

"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second..."Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:36-38)

"I give you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are." (Romans 12:3a NLT)

"Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." (Phil. 2:3-4 NLT)

Scripture clearly defines God's pecking order: 

God first,

Others second,

Self last,

an order designed for His glory and our good.

Proper priorities take practice, and today is dress rehearsal, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next...

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The Fatherhood Manuel

My daddy and me, 1977

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)

John Watson fathered John Watson in 1753

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John Watson fathered Calvin Watson in 1801

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Calvin Watson fathered William Alvin P. Watson in 1831

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William A. P. Watson fathered William Clayton Watson in 1861

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William C. Watson fathered William Winfred Watson, in 1895

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William W. Watson, Sr. fathered William W. Watson, Jr. in 1921

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William Winfred Watson, Jr. fathered Tamara Jill Watson in 1956

Down through the ages, new moms and dads have bemoaned the fact that their babies did not come with an instruction manual. I beg to differ. God's "Everything You Need to Know about Parenting A to Z" has been around for centuries. It's called The Bible.

"My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don't neglect your mother's instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck (Prov. 1:8-9). Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take" (Prov. 3:5-6).

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses... Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and committing yourself firmly to Him. This is the key to life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long...." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Beloved, are your kids driving your crazy? Are you at your wit's end? Read the Bible. It's good for the soul - yours and theirs!

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Storyteller

Our oldest grandson,

"You will be able to tell wonderful stories to your children and grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing." (Exodus 10:2 NLT)

One of my oldest grandson's creative stories:

One day, I ate ice cream, and I turned into a wizard and I could do anything. One day, I missed being ordinary so I ate that same kind of ice cream, and I turned back into a normal human. I never ate that kind of ice cream ever again!

Jesus was a storyteller. To clarify truth, He painted marvelous word pictures on parable canvases.

One of my Savior's lovely stories:

"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep!' In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine who are righteous and haven't strayed away!" (Luke 15:3-7)

Beloved, have you wandered away from God? Jesus, the Great Shepherd, is earnestly looking for you!

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Slave Labor

(seated) My Rebecca AKA Pearl Shellfish

"Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up...For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as slaves because of Jesus. For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:1,5-6) 

Last week, while my Rebecca sparkled on stage as Pearl Shellfish, a second grader leaned over to his teacher and whispered, "They must pay her a LOT of money." "No," she replied, "actually, she does this for FREE."

In the New Testament, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, and even Jesus' own half brother, James, referred to themselves as slaves of Christ or bondservants bound in service to God without wages. These holy men did not serve Jesus because they were forced to or paid to. Out of hearts of love and devotion, they served Him because they longed to.

Paul wrote, "Don't you realize that you become a slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living...Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using this illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy...now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life." (Romans 6:16-11)

Beloved, whose slave are you?

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Keep Running

My great-grandparents: William Clayton and Mentie Cox Watson
pictured with 10 of their 12 children and a relative, Emma Hamilton
1909

"Do you see what this means...all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running, and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who began and finished this race we're in. Study how He did it. Because he never lost sight of where He was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - He could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now He's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourself flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" (Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message)

I found treasure hidden in my attic last week - a Watson history book written in the 1980s with family stories recorded back as far as 1740 when Watsons immigrated to the United States from Wales and Berwick, Scotland. The author, Shirley Watson Bain, wrote, "I have not found any royal blood, nor have I found any sorry people. The majority of them are just good, hard-working, and God-fearing people."

Someday, the readers and writer of this little blog will be history. Will those who come behind us find us good, hard-working, and God-fearing people?

Keep running, beloved! Don't quit! Set your eyes on Jesus and the exhilarating finish line with God!

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Give Yourself a Face Lift

My grandson and pals
VBX 2015



"A cheerful heart is good like a medicine..." (Proverbs 17:22)

Smile for the day:

Yesterday at the Harpersville Library, I read Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer to lively preschoolers through fifth graders.  Kids say the cutest things!

When one little fellow answered a question correctly, I said, "You are so smart," to which he replied, "Yeah, I'm a genius."

After reading chapter seven where Mr. Willowkins attempts to explain one God in three Persons by comparison to a water molecule, I asked, "So children, a hydrogen atom, plus a hydrogen atom, plus an oxygen atom makes what?" A little girl raised her hand enthusiastically and said, "A woman!" (Well, maybe 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen "Adams" might, sorta, kinda make a woman. Hehe.)

Beloved, give yourself a face lift today - SMILE!

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In Adam or In Christ?

(Picture from Cousins, Watsons and Relations by Shirley Watson Bain)

"So consider yourselves to be dead in sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11)



I never knew my paternal grandfather. William Winfred Watson, Sr. was born in Ragland, Alabama on October 3, 1895 and served overseas as an army sergeant in World War I. After the war, he returned home, married Jessilee Robison, and worked with a mining company in Nauvoo, Alabama where my father, William Winfred, Jr., was born. In 1922, they moved to Akron, Ohio. My grandfather worked with the Goodyear Tire Company until his untimely death in 1925 at the age of 29 from influenza and pneumonia. Aunt Dot was born four months later.

Had my grandfather died in WWI, neither my father, my aunt, my brothers, nor I would exist. Moreover, our six biological children and nine biological grandchildren (thus far) would never have been born. So by birth, all of us are "in" William Winfred Watson, Sr..

Likewise, by birth everyone on planet earth enters life "in Adam" and spiritually dead in our inherited sin nature.

"Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned...so then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men...For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners." (Romans 5:12,18a,19a)

Jesus Christ, however, gave the remedy for our doomed condition: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

How can this be????

It's truly possible to be born again because "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many...So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness [Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection] there resulted justification of life to all men [who believe]. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One [Jesus] the many will be made [alive and] righteous!" (Romans 15b-18.)

So, beloved, where do you stand today - condemned and dead "in Adam" or raised to newness of life "in Jesus Christ"? (God offers you His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life, but it must be accepted by your faith.)

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One Pearl of Great Value

Our Rebecca, AKA Pearl Shellfish

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." (Matt. 13:44-16)

Our grands are treasure hunting this week at VBX's (Vacation Bible X-treme) Sontreasure Island, and our "pearl-of-a-girl" Rebecca, AKA Pearl Shellfish, is one of the ongoing drama stars.

According to Wikipedia, Vacation Bible School started in 1894, when Sunday school teacher, D. T. Miles in Hopedale, Illinois began teaching daily Bible lessons to children during the summer. Today, thousands of churches and thousands upon thousands of volunteers continue the practice - for the sake of tradition? NO, for the sake of bringing millions of little sons and daughters into the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

One Day, there will be a kingdom on earth with the laws which Christ set down - the Day King Jesus returns in power and great glory and establish His throne, AKA the Kingdom of God, a pearl of great value.

Beloved, have you found God's treasure? Treasure hunt today in the Bible's New Testament Gospel of John!

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God's Choice

My favorite son-in-law baptizing his daughter - my precious granddaughter
Summer 2014

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." (3 John 1:4)



From the time she was two, I asked the Lord to guard my Rebecca against marrying any man other than His choice; and praise Jesus, He chose Stephen - her "ano duo," companion in the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As teenagers, together they taught a toddler Sunday School class; as husband and wife, together they are children's ministers.

Oh, mother, continually lift fervent prayers for the life of your little ones. God's answers may blow your mind and bless your heart!

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Happy Trails to You

Miss Daisy, 5 weeks old

"And they began to weep aloud and embrace Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again." (Acts 20:37-38)

Well, the time has come. Bell's precious puppies move to new homes this week. Tonight, Boomer belongs to a family on the Coosa River. Tomorrow, Chance moves to a family-owned cattle farm in Wisconsin. Friday, Buck travels to a family in north Alabama; and Saturday, little Daisy goes home with a young couple in Mississippi. 

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

As Roy Rogers and Dale Evans used to sing, "Happy trails to you [little ones], until we meet again!"

 

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Lord, You've Got to be Kidding

"Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?" (Isa. 43:18-19a HCSB)

"Lord, You've got to be kidding," I said.

"No, I'm quite serious. You draw the illustrations for Chancellor Ferry's Praying Hyde," said the Lord.

"Me? But the other books have beautiful pictures by very talented artists," I said.

"I know, and this book will have simple, pen and ink cartoons by an obedient servant," said the Lord.

"Oh Lord, You'll have to help me!" I said.

The Lord smiled and said, "I always have to help you, My child."

Beloved, what impossible task is God telling you to do? Fear not! The Lord will never leave you or forsake you. The Lord is your helper (Heb. 13:5-6).

From storybook-in-the-making, Chancellor Ferry's Praying Hyde:

              Long, long ago in eighteen hundred and ninety-two, a fellow named John “Praying” Hyde

 sailed across the ocean blue to the far-away land of India.   In the depths of India's Punjab, 

the hard-of-hearing missionary labored throughout the villages from sunup to sundown - praying fervently for lost souls to turn from darkness to light, escape the devil’s clutches, and come into the everlasting arms of God. Well, as grace would have it, the Lord answered Hyde’s prayers in a powerful way and snatched hundreds from the flames of judgment.

But this story isn’t about “Praying” Hyde, the missionary. Nope. This tall tale, flavored with an ample portion of truth, is about a “praying” bug – yep, a little, brown mantis, named Norman Hyde, that lived along the Coosa River during the Great Depression of the U.S. of A.

So, what in this whole, wide world, you’re probably thinking, does the missionary Hyde in India have to do with a small-town bug Hyde in Alabama?

Well, I’m glad you asked. The story’s told that on a hot July day in the little town of Childersburg…1

1 CHANCELLOR FERRY'S PRAYING HYDE.  Copyright Jill Glassco, 2015.

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