YOU and GOD

She is my oldest sister, born about eight years before I became the fourth of five children of Theodore and Margaret in Van Buren County, southeastern Iowa. Mary Ann was the first born, and she has always demonstrated an individualistic spirit. She is an avid reader, a loyal friend, a lover of fine china, a people-person, a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, a loving mother and grandmother, a leader by nature, and a consummate learner.

I could never begin to tell Mary Ann’s story; it so jam-packed full of life’s ventures and adventures. But I want to share a slice of it that might encourage someone reading this to “do right.”

When she graduated from high school in 1952, Mary Ann enrolled in Baptist Bible College of Springfield, MO. Arriving in Springfield, she had nothing and knew no one; but with her resourcefulness, she was able to quickly find a job, make a good friend, and meet teachers in this start-up Bible college who were willing to help her. That was the era when the likes of Jerry Falwell, Greg Dixon, and other notables from around the country were students in this Baptist Bible Fellowship college, and W.E. Dowell, David Cavin, G.B. Vick, Noel Smith, the Donnelsons, and other men and women of stature were leaders.

Mary Ann met and in 1954 would marry Tom Wilson, who attended BBC for a year before moving to Denver. He was from Seymour, Iowa, and from his childhood dreamed of flying planes in the United States Air Force; but having enlisted, he was later discharged honorably for medical reasons. In his life after the Air Force, Tom worked for Continental Air Lines, Douglas Aircraft, and other employers, learning also to become a skilled craftsman as a watchmaker. The Wilsons lived in Los Angeles, Denver, Charlotte, and finally in the greater Atlanta area. They enjoyed 56 years of married life until the Lord called Tom home, having battled Multiple Myeloma for about six years before being graduated to glory.

Four or five years into their marriage, Mary Ann was working at a Lincoln Mercury dealership, Kumpf Motor Car Company, in downtown Denver. An elderly gentleman came to her counter one day to pay his bill and pick up his car. She asked him for his ID not having met him before and not knowing that he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at that time, having made a fortune as a cattleman with a ranch in Kansas. He was a bit put out at first that she would ask him for identification, but soon realized that this friendly young lady was pretty naïve and just doing her job. He pulled out a stuffed wallet and showed Mary Ann about every form of ID she could have imagined. She saw at the end of that string of Diner’s Club cards a picture of his grandchildren which she commented on. That was the beginning of an acquaintance and friendship that would continue while Tom and Mary Ann were in Denver.

In the course of time, the cattleman wanted to give Mary Ann a token of his appreciation for her friendship. He was going to be going on a trip, but before he left he thrust out a checkbook and asked her to write herself a check for any amount. He would never know how much it was. She was, of course, stunned. In no way had she ever thought of anything like that happening. She and Tom had been his guests at Denver’s most exclusive restaurant, and they had entertained him in their home. They desired opportunities to witness to him about Christ, and their motive was ever and only to be genuine friends to an old man who did not have close family as a part of his life. They did not realize, at that time, that he was indeed one of America’s wealthiest people. Mary Ann would not—could not—accept his generous offer, and as long as they were friends she never accepted any cash gifts from the Kansas cattleman.

I heard about that story and watched Mary Ann and Tom through the years. Mary Ann testified to her friend that she would always and only trust in the Lord to take care of her needs. Tom was a skilled craftsman and always had work. They lived in His presence, and their needs were always met. One could only guess what twists and turns life might have taken for the Wilsons, had they accepted this offer from a well-meaning friend. But Mary Ann has testified that it was never a temptation and that she was determined to trust God and depend on her husband to take care of her needs. And He has, to this day, never failed. From the time when, penniless, she enrolled in Baptist Bible College until this present hour, she has lived a comfortable life—not luxurious but surrounded by some of her very best friends, BOOKS, and living in a beautiful home on top of a Georgia mountain. She and Tom have always been active in a local Baptist Church wherever they have lived, and they have always been generous to others when there has been a need that they could help meet. When one of our sisters who lived in Waterloo, Iowa, struggled with serious health problems that eventually claimed her life, Mary Ann, in her mid-80s, drove to Waterloo alone from her home in Georgia to care for her multiple times over the course of Nancy’s last years. Nothing has ever seemed out of the realm of possibility for Mary Ann to tackle. Her spirit is indomitable.

With eight years separating us, I have not always known her closely; but I have admired her and loved her for her love of life, people, Christ and His Word, and for her steadfast testimony. When she was a high-school student, she wrote a paper for one of her classes on “Protestantism Versus Catholicism.” She received a failing grade from the teacher, and I almost got a heart attack out of it as I was in the Catholic hospital recovering from an appendectomy when she—armed with bound copies of her thesis—visited me in the hospital. As she was leaving, she left a copy of the little red booklet on Protestantism v. Catholicism between the fingers of all the statues of Mary. I had visions of being rolled down into the basement of that hospital, where something very grisly would happen to me. But, that was Mary Ann. And still pretty much is. An individualist. But on the right side and for the cause of truth. I am proud to call her my sister!

Latest Update on Mary Ann…

If you think you have read this post before, you probably have—it is the third time I have posted it. Mary Ann will celebrate her 91^st birthday Monday, March 1. She now lives in Lilburn, Georgia, close to her son, Kevin. Contact her at maw.keystone@icloud.com By the way, Mary Ann told me she took the paper in to the teacher and appealed the grade and the teacher changed it to a “C.” HAPPY 91^st BIRTHDAY, MARY ANN!

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” (Phil.1:3)

Jeremiah, the prophet who had said that there was no sorrow like his sorrow, (Lam. 1:12) could later say, recalling to mind the Lord’s mercies, compassions, and faithfulness: “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” (Lam. 3:21)

Helen Keller, born blind and deaf, said: “Once I knew the depth where no hope was and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then love came and set my soul free.” Her life had been “without a past or future,” with death a consummation “devoutly to be wished.” But she found, through the fingers of another, the rapture of living with life-changing hope.

Paul said that if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. (I Cor. 15:19) Pastor and author Charles Allen put it this way: “Without Christ, there is no ultimate anticipation. There may be momentary prospects and incremental excitement, but lasting expectancy is missing. The future has no promise; it holds no hope. Everything is perishing or will perish. Death is the termination of our lives, our families, our fortunes, our civilization, and even of the universe itself.” Physician Jerome Groopman, in The Measure of our Days, told of a physician who remembered his terminally ill patient’s words before surgery: “I know this is my last chance and I’ll probably die, and after death, it’s just nothingness…I don’t ask for heaven. I’d take hell. Just to be.”

But, for the followers of Jesus Christ, the bleakness of blackness of a life—and death—apart from hope is emphatically absent! “For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.” (Ps. 71:5) “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope.” (Ps. 130:5)

Those who know not the assurances of God’s precious promises bid their departing loved ones a hopeless farewell. For instance, when Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet dictator and atheist Marxist through and through, passed away, Vice President George H. W. Bush—who represented the United States at the Kremlin funeral—noted that while the casket was still open, Brezhnev’s widow stared motionless at her husband’s body. Just before the soldiers closed the lid, though, she reached in and made the sign of the cross over his chest. It must have been a “desperate gesture,” suggesting at least a glimmer of hope that what her husband had unyieldingly denied just might somehow be true. (From Our Daily Bread)

Jeremiah affirmed, against a midnight backdrop, “I have hope!” So can anyone who may be reading this! Hear what God’s Word says:

1. We can have hope of living eternally with God: “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” (Titus 1:2)

2. We can be assured of being saved by hope: “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” (Hebs. 6:19)

3. We are privileged to serve God because of hope: “Who against hope believed in hope, that he (Abraham) might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be.” (Romans 4:18)

4. We may be called to suffer; even then, we can suffer with hope: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed: because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

5. Finally, we do always “stand” by hope: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

Hope is what a 14 year-old boy drew upon when his mother breathed her last breath: “When I was 14 years old, I knelt by my dying mother’s bed. She smiled at me through the death shadow on her face and said she was going Home, and she asked me to meet her in heaven. I gave her my promise. Her body sleeps in a lonely cemetery in the state of Alabama. As I have sat by her grave and listened to a funeral dirge played by the wind in the pine trees nearby, I have said, ‘Mother, I will see you again someday.’ Some people say I am dreaming. If I am, don’t wake me. If this world were all, I would want my Christian faith. My faith hangs a rainbow of hope over the dust of my dead, and kindles a smile on the brow of bereavement.” (Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.)

“I have hope.” We are, indeed, of those “who by Him do believe in God, that raised him (Jesus) up from the dead, and gave Him glory that (our) faith and hope might be in God.” (I Pet. 1:21) Have hope!

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus shall God bring with Him.” (I Thess. 4:13,14)

Ok, Bible scholars, if I were to give you a one-question Old Testament history quiz, and that one questions was, “Who was Judah’s greatest king?”—what would your answer be?

Solomon and David would probably pop into your minds immediately, and both were great kings. But they lived and died before the kingdom of Judah was separated from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Judah had 20 kings, beginning with Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and ending with Zedekiah. Eight of those kings were said to have been “good” kings, and that list includes Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham and Josiah. But, to answer the question—which king of Judah was the best king of all?—we will quote God’s Word: “He (Hezekiah) trusted in the Lord God of Israel. So that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord and departed not from following him, but kept His commandments which the Lord commanded Moses.” (II Kings 18:5)

Another commentary on Hezekiah’s life is found in II Chr. 31:20,21: “And this did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the House of God and in the Law and in the commandments, to seek His God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.” 

Perfect? No, not at all! But an exceptionally good king he was. And here is why:

1. His work in Constructing the House of God

• He repaired the doors in the first month of the first year of his reign, II Chr. 29:3
• He replaced priests that were not sanctified, II Chr. 29:34

2. His Confession, II Chr. 29:6

• Their trespasses
• Their forsaking God
• Their turning their faces from the habitation of the Lord
• Their turning their backs

3. His Covenant, II Chr. 29:10

• A covenant of cleansing, 24
• A covenant of conciliation, v. 27

4. His Command, II Chr. 29:27

• A command to offer offerings, v. 27
• A command to sing praises, v. 27

5. His Conformity to the Word of God, II Chr. 30:2,16

• To keep the Passover, 30:1
• To keep the Passover as God’s Word commanded, v. 30:5b
• To keep the Passover out of righteousness, not ritual, 30:7-9
• According to the Law of Moses, 30:16
• To receive blessings in spite of their ignorance, frailty, weakness, 30:18

6. His Consecration, II Chr. 31:16

• Consecration of thanksgiving, 31:2
• Consecration of encouragement, 31:6
• Consecration of liberality, 31:6
• Consecration of praise, 31:8
• Consecration of abundance, 31:10

7. His Contrition, II Chr. 32:1-8, 20

• He took counsel, 30:3
• He realized there were some things that he could do
• He “prayed to God and passed the ammunition!” 30:5-8
• He gave counsel, 30:7,8
• Rather than panic, he resorted to prayer

How does Hezekiah’s life relate to those of us who are in the Body of Christ today? 

Well, Rev. 5:10 says that we have been made unto our God kings and priests, and “we shall reign on the earth,” which means with the King of Kings during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. We can and should learn from the biographies of Old Testament kings. (“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.” Rom. 15:4) 

Hezekiah, unlike so many of the Old Testament kings, teaches us that it is always better to obey, and that obedience is better than sacrifice; but one can and should sacrifice obediently.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Ps. 46:1)

The believer’s arch-enemy, Satan, has one goal in mind for you if you are a Christian striving to live a devoted life for Jesus Christ: plainly stated, he wants in the worst way to devour you. (I Peter 5:8) He has a formidable arsenal of spiritual weapons with which to do it, and he has had several millennia to hone his skills, enjoying unbelievable successes throughout history.

Beware of the following Satanic strategies aimed at you:

1. The dart of doubt: He tries to get you to doubt God’s Word, God’s goodness, God’s call to you; he wants you to doubt your salvation and your own worth. Every one of King Saul’s soldiers saw Goliath and said, “He’s so big, no one can kill him.” The young shepherd boy, the future king of Israel, David, saw Goliath and said, “He’s so big, how could I miss him!” “Doubt sees the blackest night, faith sees the day.”
2. The dart of discouragement. “The fruit of discouragement is nothing.” Two frontier Kentucky farmers met at a fence row early one bleak February morning. One asked, “What’s new out here?” The other replied, “Nuthin’ at all; nuthin’ much ever happens out here. Nuthin’ ‘cept a new baby boy was born down at Tom Lincoln’s cabin…nuthin’ much ever happens out here.”

Maybe that is how you sum up your life. But, do not doubt it: God is always at work in and through your day-by-day living. (Romans 8:28)

3. The dart of defeat. Moses felt the pain of it, but read about him all the way to the end of the story. He was buried personally by the Lord God! Peter experienced bitter defeat in Pilate’s judgment hall when he vehemently denied, three times, that he even knew Jesus; but Jesus had prayed for him (Luke 22:32), and Peter rebounded and preached on the day of Pentecost and thousands were saved that day, baptized and added to the church!

In one season of his brilliant baseball career, homerun king Mickey Mantle went into a slump. At one point, a little boy sat down beside the slugger, and Mantle thought “Well, maybe this kid will have an encouraging word for me.” But the lad said, “You stink!” No doubt every one of us has been in a spiritual slump; maybe a friend has even said something like the boy said to Mantle. Only the shield of faith will deflect those darts of discouragement.

4. The dart of distraction. Jesus warned against it: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit (ready) for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Demas forsook Paul because he got distracted by the world. “Looking unto Jesus” (Heb.12:2) is the sure antidote for this deadly dart. Watch it!
5. The dart of disinterest. Pollster George Gallup says that many “born again” Americans are practicing a religion that is “comfortable and titillating, but not challenging.” Gallup labels this as the “central weakness of Christianity in this country.”
6. The dart of disillusionment. Looking at a person rather than looking to Jesus; what if, in 800 B.C., you had pinned your hopes on a prophet named Jonah?
7. The dart of disappointment. Causes of which could be unfulfilled expectations (e.g., you got saved but still have a terminal illness, migraine headaches, problems at work, etc.).
8. The dart of discontentment. Preachers discontent with churches; churches with preachers; husbands with wives and wives with husbands, etc.
9. The dart of disobedience. Satan deceives you into ignoring what God said to Cain: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted; and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” In 1947, several ships docked in the port town of Texas City were loaded with fertilizer—which, when packed too tightly, can be explosive. Big signs warned all not to smoke, but one man chose to disobey the order. He threw a cigarette butt away, giving no thought to the consequences of one small act of disobedience. But one explosion after another rocked the coast, up to 150 miles away. Houses a mile away crumpled; 500 people died and 4,000 were wounded. ONE SMALL ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE BROUGHT UNIMAGINABLE DEVASTATION. Don’t let the Devil deceive you about one little deed of disobedience.
10. The dart of disloyalty. No man can serve two masters. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Paul warned Timothy, in what are some of his last written words, about a man named Alexander, who did him “much evil.” (II Tim. 4:14) He went on to say that this coppersmith “greatly withstood our words.” One cannot help but think that Alexander at one time had been a loyal teacher in the church, proclaiming truths that he had learned from the apostle. But in the course of time, his loyalty to the Word of God, and to the teacher who had taught and trained him in the doctrines of the faith, vanished. Since that first century, there have been—and still are—an innumerable host of men and women whose names could be added to this list, along with Alexander’s—a list that could be labeled “The Disloyalists.” Let it never be said of you or me, “He/she is an ‘Alexander the coppersmith!’”

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Eph. 6: 16)

I do not know how many—if any—Valentine’s Days I will have left to share some sentiments; and since I am editor in chief of “You and God,” I am going to beg your pardon while I put into circulation a poem of passion (more or less) that I wrote to Ellen when we were engaged to be married, written in 1964:

“God made my soul to love your soul.

             With all my strength forever.

You are the only one I’ll love,

            To please you, I’ll endeavor.

Through life I’ll love you always, Hon;

            And you shall be my Queen.

Until our life on earth is done,

            We’ll live a happy dream.

We’ll play and work and love and toil;

            Through days and weeks and years;

Each day we live upon God’s soil,

            With Him we’ll leave our fears.

Soon we, now two, shall be made one;

            In holy matrimony; 

And, when the ceremony’s done,

            You’ll be my one and only.

Strong as the wind does twist and blow,

            Strong as the waters rush;

Strong as the heat’s hot melting glow,

            My love for you will gush.

I have abridged the above “masterpiece” of a 22 year-old young man madly in love, so that I can include a poem written in 2024 on our 59^th wedding anniversary. 

For space, it too is abridged:

“My Dear, sweet love, on this bless’t day,

            I want to pause for this to say:

You mean the world to me—and more;

            Your very being I adore.

We’ve lived and loved our lives each day,

            Both good and bad have come our way;

But through each challenge that we’ve faced,

            Our love has grown—God’s hand we’ve traced.

I used to say, “Grow old with me,

            The best I trust is yet to be.”

That quip we’re testing every way,

            As life will one day pass away.

But, yes, the best is yet to come—

            When we’ll behold God’s risen Son—

The struggle here will all be o’er;

            We’ll join His Bride on Heaven’s shore.          

Our voices then will join the choir;

            To sing His praises never tire.

Our clouded faith will then be sight,

            Where Christ alone will be the Light.

The sting of death, God says, is sin;

            But not to those above with Him.

Earth’s journey here will then be done;

            In Christ the victory will be won!

So fifty years and nine this day!

            I love you, Dear, in every way;

I thank you, Ellen, my sweet love;

            You’re truly God’s gift from above!

(Tony, August 14, 2024)

May you all have a splendid Valentine’s Day!

Words of wisdom that have stood the test of time: “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Ps. 127:1)

It was God who designed and “built” the first home that first week of the world, forming the man out of the dust of the ground and fashioning the woman out of the man; then bringing them together with the injunction, “Be fruitful and multiply.” He assigned each of them specific roles. Their first sons, Cain and Abel, with them, became the fountain-head of the human family, and the institution of “the home” was begun. It was not long before the master home builder was by-passed, and fallen mankind began building homes apart from His master plan. Their labor was soon enough proven to be “in vain,” and the universal flood (Genesis 7-9) was an early, catastrophic picture of what happens when men attempt to build their “houses, homes” apart from the wisdom and Word of God. Many flawed attempts have followed.

Family worship is a foundation upon which stable homes are structured. Studies have revealed that, in households where both parents attend church with their children, 72% of the children remain faithful to the church when they are adults. If only Dad attends regularly, 55% remain steadfast; if only Mom does, the percentage drops to a dismal 15%. If neither Mom nor Dad attend church, only 6% of the offspring will do so when they become adults. God created the home, and without His presence in the home, the foundation is subject to spiritual decay and probably destruction.

Moody Press, at about the turn of the third millennium, published a book by Evangelist Sammy Tippet, America at the Crossroads of Ruin and Revival. The Southern Baptist evangelist enumerated several “culture killers of the family,” stating that most of them had their roots in the 1960’s. Here was his insightful analysis: (1) Institutionalization of selfishness—boomers spoiled by unparalleled prosperity; (2) Success syndrome, with less time for family;  (3) The “everyone’s doing it” mantra, applied to marriages to justify divorce as not being “that bad,” with living together apart from marriage considered a viable option; (4) Psychological and emotional baggage brought into the marriage, such as sexual impurities and diseases; (5) Pornography; (6) American mobility and (7) Television.

The great opera singer Ernestine Schuman-Heink (1861-1936) described what it takes to build a secure home: “A roof to keep out the rain; four walls to keep out the winds. Floors to keep out the cold. Yes, but home is more  than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, lights from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is the first school and the first church for young ones, where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick. Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest of food is good enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home. God bless it.”

But those blessed homes are becoming increasingly hard to find. According to data gathered from the 2000 U.S. census, for the first time in our nation’s history, the number of households made up of a married couple and their children fell below 25%. A number of factors were cited: “The number of both men and women who have delayed getting married and having children; the escalating number of single-parent homes, and the increasing number of unmarried couples who were cohabiting.”

Someone summed it up well: “To our forefathers, faith was an experience; to our fathers, faith was an inheritance; to us, faith was a convenience; to our children faith is a nuisance.”

A young serviceman and his family were living in a hotel near the military base where he was temporarily assigned. One day his little girl was playing house in the lobby when a lady asked solicitously, “Isn’t it too bad you don’t have a home?” “Oh, we do,” the child answered, “We just don’t have a house to put it in!”

It is one thing to have a house; it’s another thing to have a home. Once again, it would do us well to meditate on and to contemplate the truth of our text: “Except the Lord build the house (home), they labor in vain that build it.” (Ps.127:1)

Who’s your builder?

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:2

Solomon said that where there is no vision, the people perish. When God called me to preach as a young Bible college freshman, I had no idea that I would ever pastor a church. My heroes at that time were Bill Rice and Glen Schunk, both evangelists. But, I have had the unspeakable privilege of pastoring just shy of 50 years, and I could not even imagine doing anything more rewarding—challenging as it most often was.

One time, a brother in the church that I pastored here in Indy asked me to open my heart and share with the church my dreams, goals, desires, and hopes for our church. That was fourteen years into my ministry in the church that I would end up pastoring for 40 years, before becoming its “pastor emeritus” in 2019. Here is the message I delivered in response to his sincere request.

I dream of a church:

1. Whose faith is spread abroad, cf. I Thess. 1:2-8 (especially for our heart for missions)
2. Which is of one accord, Phil. 3:16; Acts 2:1,46; 4:32
3. Whose members love the truth, III John 4: “I have no greater joy….”
4. Which is deeply committed to world missions and to missionaries, Phil.4
5. A soul-winning church where people not infrequently come back rejoicing because they have gone out weeping (Ps. 126:5,6)
6. A church that ministers to all people—young and old, married and single
7. A church that recognizes the biblical pattern of authority in the home, state, church
8. A pure church
9. A church that has just had or is about to have or is just now having a revival: revival meetings, revival messages, revival messengers!
10. A church that is a functioning candlestick, Rev. 1:20
11. A church whose music glorifies God (does not appeal to the flesh, does not exalt man)
12. A church where any human being feels warmly welcomed (regardless of race, economic or social status, nationality)
13. A church more interested in building people than in building buildings!
14. A church that loves the unlovely, touches the untouchable, reaches the unreachable, and offers hope to the hopeless
15. A church that considers the family sacred
16. A church that places a high priority on the education of our children—by example and by instruction
17. A church where the Word of God is primary and is the focus of every worship service; and where the blood, the Bible, holiness, love and prayer, and the soon-coming of Christ can still be heard of
18. A church where members’ genuine love for one another is unequivocal and unconditional, I Pt. 4:8
19. A church where an old-fashioned “Amen” or “Praise the Lord” or “Preach it Brother” would not knock someone off their seat!
20. In summary: A church where the preaching is hot; the praying is fervent; the singing is spirited; the people are genuine; the pastor is leading; the leaders are respected; the missionaries are heroes; the evangelists are revered; souls are sought after; the gospel is proclaimed; the giving is generous; and the services are sweet.

I believe it was Dr. Harold Sightler—pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville, SC (1952-1995)—who wrote the following, with which I concur and conclude:

“I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Ghost power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, I won’t let up, I won’t slow down, I won’t back away, I won’t be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secured.

“I’m finished and done with low living and sight walking and small planning and smooth knees and colorless dreams and tame visions and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, I no longer need prosperity, I no longer need position, I no longer need promotion or popularity.

“I don’t have to be right, I don’t have to be first, I don’t have to be on top, I don’t have to be recognized, I don’t have to be praised, I don’t have to be regarded nor rewarded. I now live by presence, lean by faith, walk by patience, lift by prayer and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, and my companions are few. My Guide is reliable; and my mission is clear.

“I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice nor hesitate in the presence of adversity, nor negotiate at the table of the enemy, nor ponder the pool of popularity. I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ.

“I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, work till He stops me; and when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.

“My colors are clear!”

Dr. Harold Sightler (1914-1995)

The “they’re” in my title means believers in Christ—followers of the Lord Jesus, members of His Body, the Church—who have been “gifted” by the Holy Spirit for service in advancing His Kingdom through the church by exercising their spiritual gift for edification of the Church. Every believer in any and every local, New Testament church is a spiritually gifted person.

Peter says, “As every man hath received a gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (I Pet.4:10) Careful students of the Word might have noticed that I changed the verse to read “a gift,” rather than “the gift,” because in the received text there is no definite article, so an indefinite “a” would be more accurate. Therefore, it is a gift that the Spirit has gifted each and every believer with as He, the Spirit, sovereignly chooses. (I Cor. 12:4-11)

By way of review, let me list a few things spelled out in Scripture about spiritual gifts:

1. They are “spiritual” gifts, supernaturally dispensed by the Holy Spirit for ministry in the church
2. They are not to be confused with talents, natural skills, or extraordinary abilities
3. They are given by the Spirit individually, as He wills
4. Some of the spiritual gifts were phased out with the passing of the Apostles, i.e., certain signs and wonders and miracles (II Cor. 12:12)
5. It is probable that some believers possess more than one spiritual gift
6. Certain scriptural guidelines govern the use and exercise of spiritual gifts (cf. I Cor. 14)

Paul, in Romans 12:4-8, records a list of the most common spiritual gifts and admonishes that being equipped for ministry with one or more of these gifts requires a careful and diligent stewardship in using the gift(s) to build up (edify, strengthen) His church.

In time, I may speak to every one of these specific spiritual gifts. But in this post, I want to say a word about the gift that occurs right in the middle of the list found in Romans 12:6-8. It is commonly called the gift of exhortation.

What comes to mind when you think of “exhortation?” Maybe the concept of admonishing, or warning, or sounding an urgent appeal—as in Hebrews 3:13.

Our English word “exhortation” really does not do justice to the word that Paul uses, which here and elsewhere which is translated “exhortation.” It has the same root word that Jesus used in John 14:16, when He promised that He would pray the Father and the Father would give another “Comforter.” He talks about the coming Comforter again in John 16:7ff., assuring the apostles that the Comforter (Holy Spirit) would indwell them and be their Teacher and Guide.

So, if you are blessed with the spiritual gift of “exhortation,” your ministry in His Body, the church in which you serve, is one primarily of “comforting” or encouraging other believers. In Hebrews 10:25, the writer says that his readers ought to guard against forsaking the assembling of themselves together, “as the manner of some is.” Then he urges that all of us should engage in “exhorting one another—and so much the more as we see the day approaching.” The idea conveyed here is not that we should get into the face of a fellow believer, pointing our finger at him, but that we, in love, ought to encourage each other to remain faithful. It is a positive ministry of encouragement.

So, the importance of this gift cannot be overstated! Is there a need for encouragers in today’s church? No doubt! Just as important now as when Joses (Barnabas) was the ultimate encourager, if one follows his ministry in and through the book of Acts.

In 2007, with rampant flu raging, our grandson David had all the symptoms that his family had, most of whom were down with the flu. Our daughter Marti, having been advised over the phone by doctors that there was no need to bring David to the office for an examination, had a nurse stop by the house; and she advised that if the symptoms increased at all he should be taken to the hospital. Shortly, his father and oldest brother got David to the hospital. After an initial exam, he was rushed to Riley hospital, where further tests revealed that David had a ruptured appendix.

Sadly for all of us, David, age 11, did not survive that assault on his body. He entered his eternal home from Riley Hospital for Children the first weekend of March, 2007. During the immediate time of shock and grief, a pastor friend and his wife showed up at our front door from their home in Tipton. Here is what I remember about their visit. Few words were spoken during the hour that they sat with us in our living room; tears, hugs, a prayer, no probing questions, not even scripture reading as I recall—just a loving, caring, encouraging presence that meant more to us—and still does—than any words could have meant at that particular time. This couple may or may not have been gifted with the gift of encouragement, but they surely did practice it that day. BTW, not every believer has this as a primary gift, but every believer can and should be sensitive to one another in His Body, the Church, and be ready to be a comforter—an encourager—when a fellow believer is hurting, discouraged, doubting, or spiritually disabled.

Ellen and I will never forget the hour of silent “exhortation” that our pastor friend and his dear wife bestowed upon us in one of our most trying times ever as a couple. So, who do you know today that needs a visit, a card, a phone call, a loving touch? Go to it!

“And I beseech (encourage) you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation (encouragement); for I have written a letter unto you in few words.” (Hebs. 13:22)