AMEN TRUTH BEING TAUGHT!

"A picture can be worth a thousand words" is an idiom that suggests actually seeing an object or event is more helpful for learning than hearing descriptive language. 

Think visualization over verbal.

As an "English as a second language instructor" on a short term mission trip learned, a "combo of words and pictures" can speak volumes.Amen!

Visual reminders to help one recall the gospel message. So Be It!

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, ESV)

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES!

Of all my blog entries through the years, this is right at the top of the list for blessing a grandmother's heart. 

"Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

Think words....prayerful words from a first-grader.

Just click below to see & hear.....

@ goodgollygal

......a prayer that shares a first-grader's version of John 3:16 to be heaven-bound, and thankful for dinosaurs, parents and his sibling as he hopes God has a good week. 

His words greatly blessed my heart; I hope they blessed yours.

*Thx to John McCormick of reminding me "out of the mouth of babes" label..

SPECIAL ONES!

Some kids are seen as special!

These last few months, I have encountered one who is special beyond measure. His smile is the biggest and brightest I have seen whether in a school play, leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the Special Olympics, running or throwing shot put at several track meets.....even seeing his picture at the prom in the town paper.

 Did I mention he waves every time he sees hubby and me!

At the most recent track event, I saw his backpack open with its contents spilling out----there on the ground was the special evidence of who and whose he is.

His black spoon is part of his everyday ID. He has it with him during his classes as he changes rooms or goes to lunch or track practice. He had it with him on the stage in all 6 productions of the Wizard of Oz. He probably had it in the pocket of his pink vest he wore to prom but I don't know that for sure. According to his friends, the spoon is always with him like a part of him!

His true ID is shown in the Bible he carries everywhere. A backpack essential. I know because he told me that God helps him because he knows His Son, Jesus! 

How special is that?! Enough said!

ROADSIDE REVELATION!

Movement is important........think critical for me........ during this new season of building needed muscle mass.

Often that requires exploring new places to peak my interest.

Recently that required a drive to the boonies. "

There in the scrub of small trees and tall grasses were 8 important words for all to remember!

GOSPEL MESSAGE!

What is the gospel message?

John 3:16 is answer we often see on placards at football games.

How does one see the gospel message in your life?

One of my favorite answers is from Mark 12:30-31.

Jesus is seen in one's life as they love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and neighbor as themself.

These commandments take God's grace to fulfill.

5 Words or less............

..............Gospel is message of grace!

I LOVE A PARADE!

I love a parade especially in Bryson City, North Carolina where Jesus is the reason for the season!

Candy might be shared with the children....

 but so are tracts passed out along the parade route and in store windows. 

From Mayor Tom, the Grinch in the Sheriff's car....

and Santa Claus to the Fire Department, high school bands, teams, floats and lots of horses, 

and others animals provided fun for all!

with a great reminder to close the parade! (John 3:16)

Merry Christmas from small town America!

FAITH-FAMILY-FRENDS!!!

Faith. Family. Friends.

What do those three words have in common? 

The funeral of David Reid Manley, an amazing man with a soft heart and a servant's spirit, who would have appreciated Elvis singing "Precious Lord!"

A true celebration of a life-well lived by a PawPaw who loved the Lord first and allowed that love to overflow in service to family and others! 

Many of those who loved him filled the sanctuary. Fellow wood workers, deer hunters, jokesters and furniture movers. Most all of us were clad in Memphis blue to honor David's passion, as a Highland Hundred Tiger Booster. Even his Ole Miss chum.

Pastor Rob Mullins (Crossroads Baptist Church) offered comforting reminders from God's Word to those in attendance.

Remember--   

• God's Presence---Do not fear, I am with you...(Isaiah 41:10)
• God's Promises---For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 
• God's Peace---We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
• God's People---I am confident I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13) His wife Nina & the family have seen that goodness from texts, emails, cards and of course, casseroles from the Baptists. (Rob Mullins)

Mr. Manley had such a generous, servant's heart. I know that first hand. I received one of his hand-carved comfort crosses to take with me to Texas for all my cancer surgeries in 2009. What a treasure for me!

David Manley was a John 13:35 man--- all knew he was a disciple of the Lord because he had love for others without ever expecting or needing a thank you.

Certainly faith, family and friends are proof of a life worthy of celebration!

GOOD FRIDAY!

GOOD FRIDAY!

For Christians, this day is part of something bigger.  It's a part of Holy Week celebrations of Christians and Jews focusing on the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ. 

How could such a horrific act be a cause for celebration? 

Christ's suffering points to a bigger redemptive picture.

Worshippers across the globe use it as a time for mindful reflection. 

Spiritual discipline of fasting can aid in this time of reflection, confession of sin and prayer.

Good Friday represents what Christ did in obedience to His Father which resulted in redemption for all who believe through the shed blood of Jesus. 

A true outpouring of God's love. 

Good Friday communion is done in remembrance of this.

Good Friday. 

An emphasis of devotion to God pointing the way to Resurrection Sunday!

STREET CORNER SERMON

Sidewalk evangelist, pictured below, has it down to a straight forward message of the gospel. 

We are all sinners and all need to repent. That's why Jesus laid down His life for us. He died that we might have eternal life.

Believe it and live.

The street corner messenger might be sitting in a chair but he's putting himself out there to lay out the "good news."

We all need the Messiah! 

Gospel message in a nutshell......raised up on a street corner.

SOUL FOOD

Soul Food. Not served just on Sundays in sanctuaries.  In some countries such service is against the law.

Soul food is also served throughout the week. 

On delivery trucks, think18 wheelers......

Like Travis' verse, John 3:16 & Bible pic on Wilson truck he drives

On products. On billboards. A way of conveying the product advertised with shared Biblical values of the consumer.

But..........Soul food served that way is done at a risk. Risk of being offensive to those of differing beliefs.

Bible verses used in NASB, NIV, and NKJV have been copyrighted since 1985 and long passages of scripture may constitute infringement. 

Serving Soul food is more than peddling religious beliefs; it's a courageous act!

True soul food is worth more than the economic "bottom line." It's trying to witness and communicate reverence to God.

"Clean up" on aisle 9 is familiar but a sack of potato chips, on said aisle, with a Bible verse on it can also get our attention if we have eyes to see. That my friends, is a gospelicious idea. 

Check it out just above the bar code!

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,"Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

Taste and see that God is good even in your neighborhood Kroger......right on aisle 9. 

Pick it up and read it. Soul food for ingesting right at eye level.

Soul Food that satisfies.....

Try it....you'll like it!

POSSESSIVE APOSTROPHES

Get out your hymnals......

Now that's a statement rarely heard in churches theses days. Usually words are on a screen or written out in the bulletin. Some churches no longer even have hymnals in their pews racks.  For those who know how to read music, I imagine that is a real loss especially if the hymn is unfamiliar to them.

.....and turn to page  517 Taylor said. In FEC hymnal it's listed by title, The Solid Rock.

In my old Cokesbury hymnal at home, it's listed by the first words, My Hope Is Built on p. 24.

Why did Taylor want us to turn to this old familiar hymn of assurance and faith? 

Taylor wanted us to focus on the apostrophe ' after Jesus' name. 

He wanted us to see the duality of the possession indicated by said apostrophe. The hope we have is in Jesus, who not only shed His blood for our salvation but He also imputed His righteousness to us.

Whose are we? We are His Beloved. Ownership of sorts. There is no "Sort of" ownership with Jesus. Believer, we are totally His possession forever. God see us through His Son's righteousness from now until eternity. Hallejujah!

Simply put................apostrophes are punctuation marks (not diacritical markings helpful in accents and appearing over letters) marks to indicate omission of letters/ numbers or to indicate possession.  Only when a word ends in "s" and is possessive does one place the apostrophe outside the "s." 

In the life of a believer that all important possessive apostrophe reminds us we are His. 

Our hope is built on nothing less than that---Jesus' blood and righteousness.

BOTH.....His blood and His righteousness!

"GOSPEL-ICIOUS" --WORD PLAY AT ITS BEST

3 yr. old grandson Jack has a language of his own. We call it "Jackanese." When he's out-grown it, we'll probably still remember it. A current word---Chok-it 'uhlicious! No verb needed!

For me, God's word is 'uhlicious!

"Thy Words were found and I ate them and they became for me the joy and delight of my heart! "(Jeremiah 15:16)

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)

His words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.....(Proverbs 16:24) when we consume them. 

In one word delicious!

What part of speech is delicious?

noun

adjective

adverb

All of the aove.

A descriptive adjective. Deliciously as an adverb. Deliciousness---a noun that says it all.

What about gospelicious?

 For God so love the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 gives meaning to that one word!

GOSPELICIOUS! (Cole Huffman, according to my marginalia)

A GIFT IS GIVEN: FROM THE CRADLE TO THE CROSS

Preparing for Christmas it's easy to focus on the warmness of the manger and the coming of baby Jesus.

However, just a few days ago we passed this roadside cross -- a big reminder of why God sent His Son. For us.

From the roadside cross to the front yard manger, compliments of Adam Templeton, the two together are the best reminder of John 3:16. 

His love for us!

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Eternal life is the BEST gift ever given.

GOSPEL MESSAGES!

Growing up in a small town, I often heard, "gospel truth" used figuratively and "nothing but the gospel truth" when used for emphasis. People weren't ashamed of the gospel. (Romans 1:16)

Some people live out the gospel.

Some people preach the gospel.

some people study the gospel.

Some people teach the gospel. 

Some people wear the gospel.

Last week on WKNO I saw the Temptations (all 5) "wearing the gospel."

Check out the "I ♡ Jesus" to right of lapel.

I love the Temptations toe-tapping Motown music and that's the gospel truth! Motown music has my all time favorite dance tunes. Hubby and I always dance to "Ain't True Proud to Beg" whenever the song plays---no matter where we are.  Just ask our kids. Even my cell # ends in 1966, the year "Ain't True Proud to Beg" was released by Motown Records. So.........imagine how excited I was to see them "wearing the gospel" on national TV.

The real undeniable. absolute, infallible gospel truth is the truth found in the well known verse,
John 3:16.
In 1 John 3:16 the gospel message includes living it out.

This is how we now what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others! (Good News Translation)

A self-sacrificing gospel message for all believers to live out is, "give" to others. 

CHOOSE: LOVE

Choose love and find joy!
Greeks had 6 words for love---3 of which were used in NT scripture.
Phileo love (deep friendship) John 12:25, Storge (like a family love) Romans 12:10, a combo of phileo & storge, and agape (unconditional, represented by God's love) John 3:16.
Hebrew definition for love in OT is 'ahabah (similar to GK Eros, romantic love) as depicted in Song of Solomon and Proverbs 5:18.

Today is a day to celebrate love. I celebrated with tea as I read cards & emails, and opened candy from loved ones.
I celebrate "morningtime" with tea. I love tea.
But God.....has shown me that "love" in scripture is not about inanimate objects.
In scripture, love is always the only kind of real love----relational.
So....I guess that excludes my cuppa. But.....I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like my morning cuppa.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!!

"Directionali-TEA"

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; (Psalm 37:23, ESV)

Have you ever struggled with finding direction for your life? Which way to go? Where to turn for help? Even when one knows the "direction to heaven," (John 3:16) she can still need direction for the daily grind. God's Word certainly offers needed direction.

So.....why is it so hard to "let go and let God?" Excessive over-planning can wear one out. So....why continue in that "insanity?"

I've decided to stop asking those questions in my mind and start reading:

Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Isaiah 30:21, And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

The Lord delights in the one who chooses to follow Him, as Psalm 37:23 reminds us. I like the comfort offered by that verse but I also hang my "faith hat" on the verse that follows, especially when I make poor choices or go off on my own path.

When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Psalm 37:24, NASB)

Regardless.....when one's life rests in the hands of the Lord, all directions lead to Him!

Directionali-TEA---to be sipped in that blessed assurance.

UNRECOGNIZABLE

11/1/13 Unrecognizable.....at least to most folks. When the masks are on, people don't knew what really lies underneath. Masks can make one feel safe. 

Only when the masks are removed can the "real" person be seen. So why is it so hard sometimes to take off the masks, especially in Christian circles. Inferiority. Shame. Fear.

Yet to those who truly know and accept them, warts and all, the person underneath those layers is visible and loved, regardless. Masked or unmasked.

God loves all His children in that way, even when our potential for goodness is unrecognizable by others. Masked or unmasked---just loved.

5 little (& not so little) Texans, recognized and loved by this grandmother.

HOPE

12/21/09 "Christ in you the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
Hope within. (Psalm 39:7)
Blessed hope. (Titus 2:13) Living hope. (1 Peter 1:3) Eternal hope. (John 3:16)

Hope you have time to ponder these verses today!

Hope I soon have more WiFi access* to share the one who is THE true Hope.

*Got it with full access to scripture citations!