It's On My Mind

November 25, 2019 (Monday)

Have you heard the joyful sound of good news? When you feel you are at the end of your road and cannot take another step, the good news is, “Jesus saves!” What a joyful sound are those enthusiastic words: Jesus saves! When He saves you, he forgives your sins, he prepares a place in Heaven for you, He gives you a new nature, He begins to live in you through His Spirit, He makes all things new. Jesus saves!

JESUS SAVES!
(WE HAVE HEARD THE JOYFUL SOUND)
Priscilla J. Owens (1829-1907)

We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the gladness all around:
Jesus saves!Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land,
climb the steeps and cross the waves;
onward! ’tis our Lord’s command:
Jesus saves!

Sing above the battle strife:
Jesus saves!Jesus saves!
By His death and endless life,
Jesus saves!Jesus saves!
Sing it softly through the gloom,
when the heart for mercy craves;
sing in triumph o’er the tomb:
Jesus saves!

Give the winds a mighty voice:
Jesus saves!Jesus saves!
Let the nations now rejoice:
Jesus saves!Jesus saves!
Shout salvation full and free;
highest hills and deepest caves;
this our song of victory:
Jesus saves!

November 24, 2019 (Sunday)

Today we come before the Lord to worship Him as our wonderful, merciful Savior who is our counselor, comforter and keeper–the one we adore, who offers hope when we feel hopeless and have lost our way. He gives us healing and grace. We are always hungry to know His divine presence in our lives. Let us fall before Him in praise.

WONDERFUL, MERCIFUL SAVIOR
Songwriters: Dawn Rodgers / Eric Wyse

Wonderful, merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would have thought that a Lamb
Could rescue the souls of men
Oh, You rescue the souls of men

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost our way
Oh, we’ve hopelessly lost the way

You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

Almighty, infinite Father
Faithfully loving Your own
Here in our weakness You find us
Falling before Your throne
Oh, we’re falling before Your throne

You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

A wonderful song, “It Is Well With My Soul,” was written by Horatio Spafford as he experienced loss of possessions in a fire followed by the tragic loss of his family.

As Thanksgiving approaches this month, let us thank the Lord for all His blessings. Let us remember that the greatest blessing of all is the very presence of the Lord in our hearts and lives.

Even in times of need, we can be thankful that the Lord is with us and will see us through the hard times.

Perhaps we should follow the example of the child who tried quoting the Twenty-third Psalm by saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd; He’s all I want!”

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
Horatio Spafford

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

November 22, 2019 (Friday)

Today is the 56th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas. Just like today, it was on a Friday. My family and I were living in Dallas, and I was pastor of the Vickery Baptist Church. We had lived there two and one-half years. David was nine years old, Danny was eight, Debbie was four, and Dianna was only six months old. Dwight was not yet born. Wanda and I were 32 years old.

The papers and the local news had been full of information about the president’s visit to Texas, and the route of the motorcade in Dallas was pictured on the front page of the paper. I watched the local channels that morning as the Kennedys were honored at a joyous breakfast in Fort Worth’s Texas Hotel, where Jackie was presented a spray of gorgeous Yellow Roses. Then JFK made a speech in a light rain on the parking lot of the hotel. It was cloudy and rainy early in the day, but a cold front came through making the sky look like a giant hand and arm had swept away the clouds to reveal a beautiful blue cloudless sky, making possible an open car for the parade of dignitaries.

Between the Fort Worth appearances and Air Force One’s arrival at Love Field, I went to a Sterling’s store a couple of blocks from the house and bought some records on sale. One of them was Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, which was played often by radio and television stations over the next few days. I got back home in time to see on TV the crowds lining Lemmon Avenue, Main and Elm Streets in Dallas, and to hear the awful news that a shooting had taken place near the underpass on the way to Stemmons Freeway, which was to take the presidential party to Market Center Trade Mart, where crowds awaited them. Instead, the limousines headed straight for Parkland Hospital Emergency Room.

One of the members of my church had a son who was a neurosurgeon at Parkland Hospital, and he later told his father that the wound was fatal and the president was dead upon arrival at the ER.

I was watching and listening to TV when Walter Cronkite made the announcement that “the president is dead.”

Our church, normally only partially filled, was full of worshipers Sunday morning, and at the end of the service someone told me that Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin, had been shot and killed.

There was a heaviness in the air around the world but especially in Dallas, where it seemed to me that those of us who lived there were being blamed. Subsequent assassinations in other cities eventually dispelled that misconception to a degree.

That was my day, November 22, 1963. What kind of a day was it for you?

(This blog was first published on November 22, 2013).

November 21, 2019 (Thursday)

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother”(Proverbs 18:24 KJV).

Question: “How can a friend stick closer than a brother?”

Answer: “There are ways that a friend can be more faithful than a brother.”

The ESV translates the first line of the proverb this way: “A man of many companions may come to ruin.” A person with many friends may still have problems. The number of friends does not necessarily mean they are the kind of friends who stick with you. Famous people have been known to live lonely lives.

The word,”friend,” is used nine other times in the Proverbs. Wisdom is called a friend (7:4), a friend loves at all times (17:17), a poor man is deserted by his friend (19:4), everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts (19:6), a person with gracious speech has the king as his friend (22:11), faithful are the wounds of a friend (27:6), the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel (27:9), and do not forsake your friend and father’s friend (27:10).

One might become your friend because you have something to offer (like material gifts or influence),but you want a friend whose love and admiration is real. Some people just profess friendship, but others really love and appreciate you.

A wonderful example of genuine friendship is that of David and Jonathan. They were faithful to each other as friends and protected one another from harm. Jonathan even risked his life interceding for David before King Saul, who sought to kill David. After Jonathan’s death, David wrote a lament for his friend (2 Samuel 1:25–26). Their friendship was stronger than David’s relationship with any of his own brothers.

Jesus was known as a “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34), and He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus is truly the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, and blessed are those who have Him as their Friend. Jesus said, “You are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14).