Gone Fishin'

Phillip's 18th and my 17th birthdays, 1973

“Come follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him. (Matt. 4:19-20)

            Yesterday was my sweet Phillip’s birthday, and tomorrow is mine. Our sons have planned a crappie-fishing tournament at our river land for this year’s birthday celebration.

       

Catch of the day

    
              On Thursdays, I teach a women’s Bible study at the Foundry Community Center in Bessemer. Yesterday, the men’s teacher didn’t show up for some reason, so I asked the gentlemen in the room if I might have their permission to serve them also from the Word of God.  At the end of the lesson from Daniel chapter 9, about ten men and women raised their hands that they would like to have a relationship with Jesus Christ!

To God be the glory, great things He hath done,

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,

Who yielded His life our redemption to win,

And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice;

Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!¹

¹ TO GOD BE THE GLORY. Words, Fanny J. Crosby, 1875. Tune, William H. Doane, 1875.

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Saved to New Life!

My flower garden, 2004

“Therefore if any man is in (Jesus) Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!”

            Over the Easter weekend at my church, Church of the Highlands, approximately 38,000 people attended the services held at various times and multiple campuses, including five correctional facilities around the state of Alabama, and 4,998 of those precious souls prayed asking Jesus for His free gift of forgiveness of their sins and eternal life with Him! In Biblical terms, 4,998 men, women, teens, and children were saved!

“To God be the glory forever! Amen!” (Rom. 11:36)

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son!” (Rom. 5:10)

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved! For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved!” (Rom. 10:9-10)

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved!” (Rom. 10:13)

Are you saved or condemned in your sins?

Listen to the Church of the Highlands’ Easter message “He Holds the Key of Death” by Pastor Chris Hodges at:

www.churchofthehighlands.com

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Treasures of Darkness

Lighthouse Sanibel Island

“Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations…I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places!” (Isa. 45:1-3)

            One hundred and fifty years before its fulfillment, the Lord prophesied through Isaiah that He would empower a Persian king named Cyrus to conquer all kingdoms before him. In the book of Daniel, we see Almighty God’s forecast come to pass when Cyrus defeated Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt and then seized the riches of those nations.

            Isaiah prayed in 45:8, “Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness; let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and the righteousness spring up with it.”

            Today, God is searching for lost treasures in darkness: people separated from Him by their sin. Jesus calls His followers to join the rescue mission to bring lost souls out of the darkness of their sin and into God’s marvelous light of forgiveness and salvation (1 Peter 2:9) so that He may declare them to be His people, His own treasured possession (Deut. 26:18).

My Phillip, a faithful follower of Jesus

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The Day the Church was Born

My newborn granddaughter, 2007

Jesus said to him, “Peter, upon this rock I will build My CHURCH and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!” (Matt. 16:18)

            Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting!

            And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

            Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised His voice and declared (to the crowd that had gathered), “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

            So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,  to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved!  (Acts 1:12,2:1-4,14,38-42,47)

Jesus, the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:14,20)

Oh come, come, come, come,

            Come to the CHURCH by the wildwood

                        Oh, come to the CHURCH in the vale

                                    No spot is so dear to my childhood

                                                As the little brown CHURCH in the vale!

Illustration by Donny Finley, for my new book in the making

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Let's Get to Work!

Mommy's little helper, 1983

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

(Matt. 28:19-20)

            Jesus presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to (His disciples) over a period of forty days. He commanded them to not leave Jerusalem , but to wait for what the Father had promised: the Holy Spirit.

            “You will receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Jesus said, “and you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

            After He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight!

            While they were looking up, two angels appeared and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:3-11)

On this Monday after Easter Sunday, let us go forth into our neighborhoods, towns, and countries and tell the Good News of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ! Amen and Amen!

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