Thank You, Lord
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Mind of Christ
November 27, 2019 (Wednesday)
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus..”
What a wonderful thought. If you learn to think like Jesus, you will be able to walk in his footsteps, and where do they lead? They lead to people who need the Lord in any one of thousands of ways. Jesus placed importance on simple acts of kindness to our fellow human beings. These charitable deeds shall be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
A lady by the name of Kate B. Wilkinson, wrote a beautiful poem about this Christian experience that all of us should share.
MAY THE MIND OF CHRIST, MY SAVIOR
May the mind of Christ, My Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By his Love and pow’r controlling
All I do and say.
May the word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through his pow’r.
May the peace of God my Father,
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.
May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory.
May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.
May His beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.
A musician, A. Cyril Barham-Gould, composed music for this theme. Click here to hear the song.
Old Friends
November 26, 2019 (Tuesday)
I once wrote a blog about Dale and Ann Pogue, and I called them, “Old Friends.” Dale served on the staff of First Baptist Church, Rockport, with me as pastor, for several years during the 1980s.They are my old friends. I am theirs. For 55 years. They care about people and have lots of friends all over the country. They make me feel special. But they are the ones who are special.
Other “old friends” who served on a church staff with me as pastor were Troy and Ruth Conner, who served Timbergrove Baptist Church of Houston for many, many years before I became pastor, and then served there with me for about six years. Ruth was pianist and an indispensable spiritual leader in the church.
I met Troy in 1939, when we were in the 3rd grade. Troy and his family
made me a part of their family as a young boy, taking me to church and
introducing me to Christ as my Savior. We have been friends now for
80 years. Hard to believe.
OLD FRIENDS
Words by Gloria Gaither
Music by Bill Gaither and J.D. Miller
Old friends, after all of these years,
Just old friends, through laughter and tears,
Old friends, what a find, what a priceless treasure,
Old friends, like a rare piece of gold,
My old friends make it great to grow old,
Old friends, with all I will hold to old friends.
Now God must have known,
There’d be days on our own,
We would lose the will to go on,
That’s why he sent friends like you along.
Old friends, you’ve always been there,
My old friends, we’ve had more than our share,
Old friends, we’re all millionaires,
In old friends.
Words by Gloria Gaither
Music by Bill Gaither and J.D. Miller
Old friends, after all of these years,
Just old friends, through laughter and tears,
Old friends, what a find, what a priceless treasure,
Old friends, like a rare piece of gold,
My old friends make it great to grow old,
Old friends, with all I will hold to old friends.
Now God must have known,
There’d be days on our own,
We would lose the will to go on,
That’s why he sent friends like you along.
Old friends, you’ve always been there,
My old friends, we’ve had more than our share,
Old friends, we’re all millionaires,
In old friends.
At the close of each Tuesday blog I will write about the presidents, in the order of their service.