So Thankful For The Blood!

When I was a little girl a missionary visited our church every year.  I always looked forward to hearing him because he told such wonderful stories about what Jesus was doing in foreign lands.  

I will never forget him speaking one night about the blood of Jesus.  He said in some countries talking about blood was the same as cursing and that some translations of the Bible were taking the word blood out of the Holy Scriptures.  

But for Believers the blood of Jesus is power.  In fact, as a child we sang, There Is Power In The Blood quite often.  It was one of our Top Ten Tunes!

Without the blood of Jesus being shed, there would be no remission of sins.  That's why I'm so thankful for the blood!  It has power to wash and make the vilest sinner clean.  There truly is power in the blood of Jesus, so I will not stop talking about the blood.  I will forever praise the One who shed His blood for me, because the blood of Jesus is yours, mine, and the whole wide world's victory!

Mississippi Moon

Uncle Arthur and Dad

The above picture was taken when my dad was a ten year old boy on his family's farm in Mississippi.  That's where he was born and grew up until age 15 when he left home and headed north.  He said he left because... "I didn't want to pick cotton the rest of my life."  I picked cotton half a day one time, so I can totally relate to my dad's reason for leaving and looking for greener pastures.  Picking cotton was the hardest work I've ever done.  It was cotton pickin', back breakin' work.  None of it was for me either!

This picture gives me a happy feeling, because it shows my dad as a little boy with his family and his dogs, Mattie, Mutt and Jeff, doing what boys do, hunting being one of them.  That's his older brother, Arthur beside him and his older sister, Miffie is standing on the porch holding her baby girl, Martha.  This photo brings back fond memories of visiting his family in Mississippi.

We would leave home in Indiana as soon as dad got off from work at the plant.  We'd load our clothes,snacks, pillows, and blankets into the old family Chevrolet and head south.  It was at the end of summer, extremely hot and humid and we had no air conditioning in cars back then. It was in the 1950's.  Dad liked to drive at night because it was cooler and all of us children would sleep.  Except for me.  I was the oldest of 7 children and I could never sleep.  It was too hot and too crowded in that car.  However, I'd pretend to be asleep.  I still remember the hum of the car engine, fumes burning my eyeballs because we drove with the windows down, and the whir of passing cars.  Other than that, it was dark and quiet except for the country songs playing on the radio. Dad liked country music, especially the Grand Ole Opry. He was wearing his white cowboy hat.  My dad was tan, with curly black hair and green eyes and his first name was Kelley.  That was his mother's maiden name and her family was of Irish descent.

We'd drive for hours until dad would turn right and start down a long, dirt road passing through cotton fields on both sides.  Then he'd pull the car to a stop and get out.  I peeked over the front seat to see what he was doing.  In the still darkness of the night I could see him by way of the car headlights opening a metal gate and swinging it back.  He then got back in the car and pulled it through the opening.  He got back out of the car.  I peeked out the back window and saw him shut that metal gate and walk back to the car and drive on down that country road.  It all seemed surreal.  A huge white moon hung above the white cotton fields on both sides, illuminating them in such beautiful simplicity.  It's kind of ironic that I still find cotton fields so beautiful to this day after the fact that dad left his home state because he didn't want to pick cotton. I call cotton, "southern snow".

Soon we pulled up in front of a small, country farmhouse and dad honked the horn.  I can still hear the creaking of that old screen door as it swung open and pa and ma came out to greet us with smiling faces. Soon children were wiping their sleepy eyes, laughter and warmth was spreading around like warm butter dripping off a hot biscuit as we entered that little abode and laid our tired bodies down on those huge feather beds.

I looked out through the window after everyone was asleep and again I think I was the only one awake, but I felt that peaceful feeling covering me like a warm cloak.  In the sky I saw that big, happy, Mississippi moon and a million twinkling little stars in the sky smiling and I smiled right back!

God Uses Ordinary People

Are you ordinary?  Yes?  Then, I've got good news for you!  God can use you!  Yes, you!  Just look at the 12 Jesus choose.  Peter, Perpetuous Peter.  He stuck his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion.  The Sons of Zebedee, or Sons of Thunder.  They wanted to call fire down from Heaven on some people, one time.  Have you ever wanted to do that?  Judas, who was a thief and the one who betrayed Jesus.  Just a word of advice for you Pastors.  Don't ever choose a thief for your Church Treasurer.


The point is, these were ordinary people that Jesus chose.  Why?  Because that's all He had to choose from.  We're all ordinary.  There were and still aren't any extraordinary men, or women.  He has to use ordinary men.  Jesus prayed all night about His choices.  The next day He called them.  They were ordinary, but chosen men of God.


There are no supermen, except in comic book's and men's imaginations.  Jesus chooses ordinary people, then equips them with His power and might  to do extraordinary things!  He turns the ordinary into extraordinary.  The Holy Ghost is the extra---the Power!  This Power from on High gives us the anointing to do great and mighty things for the King of Glory.  It's the greatest honor to be used of God. 


Just think about it.  Mortal hands build His immortal Kingdom.  Mortal lips, speak His immortal words of life.  When Jesus is number one in our lives, we who were once a 0, become a 10, with Him beside us. 


Seek the honor of God and not the honor of men.  Please God and not man.  All the wisdom of man will not save man.  Become immune to the praises of man and become immune to the criticisms of man also. 


God recognizes the human factor, that's why He factored in the Jesus factor.  Be faithful unto death and He will give you the crown of life.  It will be worth it all!

Praise Him, Not Man

How many times have you been to church and during worship time you just got tired, bored, and wanted to sit down?  It's happened to me more times than it should and I think the reason is because the worship is not on God, it's on the Praise Team or Worship Leader.

Worship is about praising God for who He is.  It's entering in to the Holy of Holies, the very throne room of Almighty God.  Too many times, however, it's about the performers (whoops, did I say that?), I mean people on the stage.  They may be jumping around, dressed inappropriately, singing songs that are in a key too high to sing, or singing songs that are not focused on God, or songs that are just too difficult to sing.  When anyone of these things happen, it's easy for the congregation to loose interest and just sit down.

Male worship leaders don't need to be up on stage in too tight jeans, or with the the top 2 or 3 buttons not buttoned.  Female worship leaders should make sure their dresses or tops are not so low they are showing cleavage, or that their pants, or dresses are too tight.  Please make sure to dress modestly.  You don't want to bring attention to yourself.

Make sure you pick songs that are focused on Christ and what He did at Calvary.  He is the only One worthy of praise.  The songs should lift Him up.  The song key should also be where most of the congregation can sing it.  The songs should also be fairly easy so the congregation can join in and sing.  Too many times, the song choices are so difficult that it ends up just being a performance.

We come together to worship God, the Creator of Heaven and earth and Jesus Christ, so let's make it about the Holy Trinity of God.  A good worship leader will pray and select songs accordingly.  When this happens it will truly be a time of worship.

You've Already Got It!

Andrew Wommack

This is a great sermon by Andrew Wommack, entitled, "You've Already Got It."  It's part one of a series of messages he's done and I have listened to it a dozen times.  It has blessed me.  Andrew is a mighty teacher of the Word of God.  I invite you to listen to it.  I believe it will bless you also.

It's funny that some people on the internet are calling him a dangerous man!  To me that's just proof that he's on the right track.  The devil is mad and doesn't want the truth of God's Word preached.

This type of teaching is foreign to the church world today, but it is truth and the truth will set you free.

Family~A Beautiful Thing

My dad, mom, me and little sister

There's nothing more beautiful in my eyes than a man who is priest of his home, a loving, faithful wife, and their precious little children sitting together in God's house worshiping Him.  God made and ordained the family.  It was His idea, therefore, it was a God idea-a good idea.

God created a man and a woman to live together in a covenant relationship with each other with total devotion to Him.  That's the Biblical way.  With Him as the center of that relationship, all is right with the world.  Children are happy and secure.  When earthly father's lead in the ways of God and love their wives as Christ loved the church, then children have a model, a concept of what their Heavenly Father is like.  They see that God is love and God is good.

My heart is so burdened today for the family.  There are broken families all around us lying in ruins.  Why?  Because individuals make choices.  They make selfish choices.  It's about "me" in this day and age.  That's why we have millions of babies aborted, divorce is rampant, people are addicted to drugs, pornography.

The good news is you can change!  When individuals humbly bow and admit they need a Savior, who is Christ Jesus, He can restore that individual back to Him and thus restore the family.    When America has strong families, America will be strong.

Take Me To The King (a beautiful song)

I heard this song only a few weeks ago while listening to an online radio station.  I went around the house humming this tune all day.  That very night one of the contestants sang it on American Idol.  She did a fairly good rendition of it, (much better than I could do), but Tamela Mann sings it perfect and with much feeling.

If you haven't heard this song, give it a listening ear.  I believe it will bless you too.  We need King Jesus.  He's our only help and our only hope in this world.