Friends,
I want to thank you for your prayers on behalf of our summer schedule. What a blessing to see so many children come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! Your prayers on behalf of my voice and strength were heard and our closing service of the summer really went well. We have made it home and are doing what we can to shape things up here but at the same time take a little time to rest and recoup before heading out again.
It’s Pinkard, AL, on Tuesday, July 30. At 6:30 p.m., FBC, I will be doing a service (concert) geared for the family at their annual Terrific Tuesday’s done in July each year. I’m looking forward to seeing God work in the hearts and lives of all who attend.
While doing yard work today, my thoughts went back to a conversation I had with a Lawn Treatment business. A few years ago, I waved the white flag of surrender over various weeds and lack of quality stand of grass. I had been trying Weed and Feed treatments and things like that and applying them myself but finally, after seeing little positive results, decided to contact a professional company to come in and begin treatments.
We saw improvement in basic areas almost immediately. What a relief to see. However, after about 3 years of regularly scheduled treatments, there are parts of the yard that actually look worse. So, here’s where I’m going with all this. We recently called in one of the company’s “consultants” to see what we needed to do to get things looking better. He looked and said… “Oh, what you’ve got here is “so n so” and I responded, “didn’t I get that treatment in the last application?” His response; “No, that’s a separate application”. And then he notices a different issue. “You’ve got “this” here and that’s not good. “We’ve got an application for that as well.” It seems that every problem my yard has, has a separate application and therefore a different fee. Never mind that I have the yard treated for various and sundry things every couple of months.
When it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit…How is your salvation playing out? You see, I come across so many that I feel like if I said something about them going on a mission trip, I might get a similar response. “No, that’s a separate application of the Holy Spirit and I didn’t get that.” Not true…although we are instructed to grow in the Lord, you don’t receive “part” of the Holy Spirit. Stop acting like you received LESS of God’s gift than someone else. God wants to use you for His glory and you are holding Him back! Get with it!
If you are in the Pinkard, AL, area tomorrow night, I sure would love to see you. 6:30 p.m., FBC!
Blessings,
John