Did You Know?

He was a fiery young Episcopalian preacher named Dudly Tyng. He was bold, fearless and uncompromising. His father, Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, was a "pastor" at the large Episcopalian Church of the Epiphany in Philadelphia. Dudly served as an assistant to his father and finally succeeded him in the pulpit. More and more people grew upset with him because of his bold and straight-forward speaking. He eventually resigned and with a group of faithful followers organized the Church of the Covenant. Tyng began holding noon-day services at the YMCA. On Tuesday, March 30, 1858, over 5000 men gathered to hear him preach. As a result, 1000 of these men responded by committing their lives to what was preached. The sermon was referred to as one of the most successful of the times.

During the sermon, the young preacher remarked, "I must tell my Master's errand, and I would rather that this right arm were amputated at the trunk than that I should come short of my duty to you in delivering God's message." The next week, while visiting in the country and watching the operation of a corn thrasher in a barn, he accidentally caught his loose sleeve between the cogs. His arm was severely lacerated and his main artery was severed. Four day later infection developed and as a result of shock and a great loss of blood, Dudly Tyng died on April 19, 1858.

George Duffied, a "pastor" of the Temple Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, preached his morning sermon as a tribute to his departed friend. As he closed his sermon, he read a poem of six stanzas that he had written stating it was a result of the dying words of his esteemed friend. The poem went like this: "Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross! Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory His army shall He lead. Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed." Did you know?

What Do You Think?

I would like to hear from you and find out what you think determines someone who is spiritual and someone who is fleshly. This is should make for a good discussion and hopefully some true insight, so write away......

Daughters Are Special!

Daughters are extra special! All my children are special to me, but my daughter, she is extra special. It is true that daughters are "sugar and spice and everything nice." I do not want my other daughters to think I don't think they are not special to me (the ones by marriage). They too have a very special place in my heart.

From the very beginning, my daughter had me wrapped around her finger. She could work her dad. It made her dad overly protective in some areas and putty in her hands in other areas. She could bat those eyes, use that sweet, simple tone and get her dad's attention. I protected her, even up to the time she married Darron. Darron doesn't know how lucky he is for me to "let" her marry him!!! :)

Enjoy this father's letter to his daughter's boyfriend....

"Dear Spike,

I have been unable to sleep since I forced my daughter to break off her engagement to you. Will you forgive and forget? I was too sensitive about your Mohawk, tattoo, and pierced nose. I now realize motorcycles aren't really that dangerous! Also, I really should not have reacted that way I did to fact that you have never held a job. I am sure, too, that some other very nice people live under the bridge in the park. Sure, my daughter is only 17 and wants to marry you instead of getting her college degree on a full ride scholarship. After all, you can't learn everything about life from books! I sometimes forget how backward I can be. I was wrong. I was a fool. I have now come to my senses and you have my full blessing to marry my daughter.

Sincerely,

Your future father-in-law

P.S. Congratulations on winning the Powerball lottery!!"

Daughters are very special! I love all my daughters and as those have come into my family, they too have learned the art of stealing the heart of this father! My flesh born daughter has taught them well and if they read this, I pray they will always know how I feel about them. I now have two granddaughters. One has learned the secret of maneuvering me and the other I am sure, as she gets a little older, will learn too. What is bad about all this, I know it happens and the spell they put me under is too great to fight against!!! To all my daughters......I love you very much and you will always be special to me!

Did You Know?

Horatio G. Spafford was born in North Troy, New York in October of 1828. He had deep religious roots and was a devoted student of the Scriptures. As a young man, Spafford established a successful legal practice in Chicago. Several months prior to the Chicago Fire of 1871, Spafford had invested heavily in some real estate on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Chicago Fire completely wiped him out. In need of some rest, he arranged a European trip taking his wife and four daughters in November of 1873. Due to an unexpected last minute buisness development, he had to remain in Chicago for a few days but he sent his wife and four daughters on ahead as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Havre. He planned to follow after his business dealings. On November 22, the S.S. Ville du Havre was struck by the Lochearn, an English vessel, and sank in twelve minutes. It took several days for the survivors to land in Cardiff, Wales where Mrs. Spafford wired her husband, "Saved alone." Spafford boarded a ship to join his bereaved wife. As his ship passed the area thought to be where his four daughters lost their lives, he penned these words: "When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."

We can hear the inspired words Paul wrote from God: "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col. 3:16) The songs we sing should have meaning to us as we sing with thankfulness to the Lord. That only comes if we allow the word of Christ to richly dwell within our hearts. It becomes more apparent in times of turmoil.

God Said No!

He stood up during the assembly. He was an older gentleman, quiet spoken. The words came out of his mouth, "I want to thank you for your many prayers offered on behalf of my son. He is 21 years young and he died yesterday of the hepatitis in Abuja. God answered our prayers and He said 'No!'" With tears falling slowly down his cheeks but with a confidence I had never seen, he continued, "Our God is a wonderful God. In my sons death, may God be glorified. To God be the glory in his death and in our lives!" As he sat down, the congregation in one accord said, "Amen!"

This happened at one of the assemblies where I was given an opportunity to preach while I was in Nigeria. I sat there, listening, with tears in my heart thinking to myself, "How many of my brothers and sisters in the states could do what he did? In fact, how many would give God glory and thank Him for saying 'No' in the death of one of their children?" My mind went further and I thought, "How many would even show up for the assembly when their son just died?" Many of my brethren would be in shock, wondering why God did not answer their prayer. We have great difficulty in God telling us 'No' but when something happens the way we ask God for, we rejoice and thank Him for answering our prayer. It reveals how little we really trust our Lord and understand our God. We rejoice when things are answered according to our requests and we question if God even hears us when He is really saying 'No'! Just look at Jesus who asked 3 times for the difficulty He was facing to be removed. God said 'No' three times. Paul asked God 3 times to remove the thorn in his flesh. Three times God said 'No'! David prayed fervently that his new born child would not die and God said 'No'! In each case, God was glorified in the life of the individuals. No moping about. No depression. No staying home because they just can't function today. Just giving thanks, rejoicing and finding a great strength beyond themselves to move forward.

I learned a lot in Nigeria that day. I am ever so thankful for what God revealed to me through these dedicated brothers and sisters. I found myself encouraged by their faith shown and it made me give thanks to God because I am His child. This Nigerian Christian man was at the lectureship each and every night (one full week) while I preached, glorifying God. It makes me ask, what would you do? That means some serious soul seaching and honesty in heart.

Cookies...A Love Story!

An elderly man lay dying in his bed. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With laboured breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven. There, spread out on newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted; the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth; seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand, shakingly made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife. "Stay out of those," she said, "they're for the funeral."

Some marriages are just about this cold and ungodly. I recently had shared with me a situation of a Christian couple where the wife thought she was having a heart attack. The husband was so unconcerned that he would not even offer to help by asking, "What do you want me to do?". Cold, hard hearted and calloused had become his nature. How do people become this way? They

have left God! They have turned with all their hearts toward serving the devil and his desires. What is worse, they are unhappy, trapped in their own misery while blaming their mate for their misery not realizing sin has completely mastered them. Until they desire to turn to the Lord with their heart, there will be no relief and find no freedom. Sin is a terrible taskmaster and it creates so many marital problems, personal problems and mental issues. The words of Jesus ring clearly, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) No rest from misery, game playing in the mind, depression and unhappiness until one comes to Jesus! And we have His word on it!!!

An Experiment!

I just want to see if this is worthwhile. This will be "OPEN QUESTION BLOG". If you have a Biblical question you would like to ask, write it and I will try to answer if from God's word. So go ahead, ask away if you want.....