The Greatest Generation

"Integrity First. Service Before Self. Excellence In All We Do."

The Army created the first Air Force in 1907. The United States Air Force became a separate military service in 1947.

My Grandpa served our country during World War II as a mechanic on the P51-D (shown in the picture below). In addition, he played basketball for the Air Force, as a form of entertainment for the servicemen.

We recently enjoyed a field trip to the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton with my Grandpa. The children enjoyed the afternoon with their Great Grandpa showing them the creation and sustaining power of the Air Force, from the first flight of the Wright Brothers at the turn of the century to the sacrificial flights of the World War II pilots to modern day drones and fighter jets.

The most impressive thing to me at the museum was not the very large cargo planes or the amazing advancement in technology of a self-sustaining flying eagle, but rather the men present of the "greatest generation" reminiscing of the days long-past. This fleeting generation stayed off Nazism, fascism, ethnic annihilation by a monumental life-altering sacrifice. If only every citizen of this United States would humble themselves in thanksgiving to these men, and more importantly, to our God.

I highly recommend a visit to the museum, and if possible, take someone from the "greatest generation" along with you. We were blessed to have been able to do so.

Public Assembly of the Saints

"When ye come together in the church" (1 Corinthians 11:18)

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation.
(Psalms 91:1-16)

Every Sunday people gather in public assemblies all around the world and they have been doing so for many years. But what is the purpose of public gathering as a church? One obvious answer to that question is that God has commanded it. We must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. But that is only a very minor reason for God's true children as they gather together. It is true that we love the fellowship of the saints and that we need this fellowship for our own spiritual growth. But this is not the primary reason for our public assembly. Whether we gather on Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night, the purpose of our public assembly is that we may worship God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Brethren, we have met to worship,
And adore the Lord our God.

As often as we come together, let us celebrate the praises of our covenant God. In our singing, our praying, our preaching and our hearing, it should be our goal to praise our triune God for his grace and glory. For another thing, when we come together, we should come seeking a message from God. Our hearts long to hear the Lord speaking to us through the Word. We want a message from Christ to comfort and challenge, assure and search, abase and uplift, wound and heal our hearts. And when we come together as a church, let us come to be instructed by God. Beloved, we need to be constantly taught of God. We need to be taught our weakness and sin. We need to be taught Christ's love and grace, his ability to redeem, his willingness to forgive, his power to save, his promises to comfort, his strength to preserve and his merits to glorify.
As often as we gather in our public assembly of worship, may it please our God to fill our hearts with praise to him for his covenant grace, his redeeming love, his sanctifying presence and his saving fullness.

"Grace for Today" by Donald S. Fortner, August 10

Oh, What a Paradox

"Oh, what a paradox I feel. A heart of flesh, a heart of steel. In love with sin, with sin at war. Myself I love, myself abhor."
Darius Mayse Blake
"Papaw" (1918-2005)

The song "Why" was one of my Papaw's favorite hymns.

1. Why did they nail Him to Calvary's tree?
   Why? tell me, why was He there?
   Jesus the Helper, the Healer, the Friend
   Why? tell me, why was He there?

2. Why should He love me, a sinner undone?
   Why? tell me, why should He care?
   I do not merit the love He has shown
   Why? tell me, why should He care?

3. Why should I linger afar from His love?
   Why? tell me, why should I fear?
   Somehow I know I should venture and prove
   Why? tell me, why should I fear?

Chorus:

All my iniquities on Him were laid
He nailed them all to the tree
Jesus the debt of my sin fully paid
He paid the ransom for me.

John M. Moore (1953), Scottish preacher/composer

Stop, Look, Listen

This is good advise to follow. It could prevent dangerous conditions which might come upon an individual.

Monday night I stopped by the hospital to see Don. I was walking across the street beside Dr. Bailey's office and watching for oncoming traffic. Just before I stepped on the curb on the hospital side of the street, I heard a car to my right. A driver coming toward me traveling the wrong direction. I never considered looking that direction. No one would be coming that way...and yet after my running and him putting on his brakes, he only missed me by 10-15 feet.

As we travel along life's journey we must constantly be aware of temptations and dangers. Harm can come from many directions, even the wrong one.

Be cautious and alert! Travel with carefulness.

Have a good day!
Love,
Dad


Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,
(1 Peter 5:8)

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
(Mark 14:38)

There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13)

Stand Firm

That which we really believe will show itself, not when things are going well, but during times of difficulty.

We map out our life's plan and travel along the road and sometimes as we continue, we must change our plans and/or course. When we must quickly decide which way to go, we will rely on our reflexes-that which we have been building throughout our life. It is at these times when we demonstrate our true beliefs.

If we have no real faith or true goals before us, it will show when we're confronted.

Stand firm and know yourself.

Have a good day!
Love,
Dad


God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Be still, and know that I am God: (Psalms 46:1, 10)

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

The Prodigal Son

And he said, A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country; and there he wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
(Luke 15:11-24)


The Prodigal

You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent, I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute, a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life

Where now are the friends that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be fore such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house

You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy's robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child

(2009 Sovereign Grace Worship)

To listen to a selection of this song, click here and then click on "The Prodigal."


To glean a deeper understanding of the parable of the prodigal son, click here .

Our Daily Outlook

Years ago when I worked for UPS, two of the tractor-trailer drivers were talking about how they kept alert as they drove up and down the highways.

The younger driver continually found the trip extremely tiring, long and lonely. The other, who was quite experienced, always looked as fresh at the end of the ride as he did at the beginning.

One day, the younger driver inquired of the older driver on how he maintained such a fresh enjoyment with each of his trips, and for what reason he could be doing it after so many years. What was his secret?

"It's all in your attitude," he replied, "whereas you went to work this morning, I went for a ride in the country."

Our attitude determines our daily outlook of our travel.

Have a good day!
Love,
Dad

Peace

Peace with God. Peace of God.

I was blessed to hear a message today that I recommend you listen to and pass around for others to hear as well.

I am providing the link to the site below. Once you get to the website, you need to right click on the link for the sermon preached on today's date "2009-09-08" entitled "Get Your Armor On-Part 3" and save the link to your desktop. For some reason, it is choppy when listening from the website, but is much clearer when downloaded to your desktop. Let me know if you have any problems with this.

Click for sermon here

I trust that you will be blessed by a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Worldliness

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

What is worldliness? Religionists say that it is worldly to dress according to the fashion of the times, to wear your hair in a given way, to wear a beard, or to drink a glass of wine.

The Pharisee’s rule is, “Touch not, taste not, handle not.” These commandments and doctrines of men are satisfying to the flesh, and they make a show of humility; but Paul calls this “will worship” (Colossians 2:23) and “the doctrines of devils” (I Timothy 4:1). And he warns us to shun these things.

The Lord Jesus dressed according to the fashion of the common man in his day. He wore a seamless robe and sandals, like all other men. Our Savior wore his hair much longer than modern styles, and he wore a beard, according to the custom of his day. Jesus of Nazareth drank wine with his disciples, and turned water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana. Was the Son of God worldly? Perish the thought!

Men look upon the outward appearance. They place great stock in a man’s outward dress and conduct. By these things they determine who are and who are not worldly, who are and who are not the people of God. But God has no regard for such things. Our Lord made it plain that it is not what a man wears, or eats, or drinks that reflects his relationship with God. Rather, it is his heart attitude.

What is worldliness? It is the love of the world. Be sure that you do not love the world. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Do not allow your heart to become fondly attached to this world, neither its people nor its pleasures, neither its fame nor its fortunes, neither its success nor its security. “Love not the world.” It is perishing. Everything in it is marked for destruction. But “Set your affection on things above,” even Jesus Christ and the riches of glory and grace in Him.

Worldliness is an undue attachment to this world. It is living for this world, its riches, its honor, its joys and its cares. It is living by the principles of this world: greed, covetousness, deceit and lasciviousness. Godliness is living for God. It is living as unto the Lord, for His honor and glory. It is living by love and faith toward God as He is revealed in Christ. Godliness is living in submission to the Lord our God.

Are you a worldly person, one who lives for this world? If so, you will surely perish with this world. Are you a godly person, one who lives by the grace of God and for the glory of God? If so, you will live for all eternity in the bliss of Christ’s heavenly kingdom.

-Don Fortner

The Old Gospel

"Do not be impressed with surfboards, sentiment, scenary, and style. Be humbled at the love of God come through the propitiatory work of the Son. Be awed at the regenerating ministry of the Holy Spirit. Be rejoicing because we serve a risen, reigning, glorious Lord Jesus whose name is above every name. And be confident in the power of the Word of God to pierce and convict men's hearts, to bring them to their knees in repentance which God alone can grant. Be offended by those who seek to picture God as a lover begging on one knee for any sinner to take His engagement ring proposing as a nervous man to his girlfriend; and then waiting as an impotent Divine who can only observe what man may accept and decide."

I highly recommend reading this post by Steve Camp. I warn you that it is a bit lengthy, but well worth the time. It is adapted from J.I.
Packer on the gospel according to John Owen.

The Ninety and Nine

"And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray." Matthew 18:13

Evangelist D.L. Moody enlisted Ira Sankey as the song leader and soloist at his great campaigns. The two became a renowned duo; but unfortunately, within a few years Sankey's magnificent voice was ruined by over use. Later in life, exhausted and facing blindness, he was invited by Dr. J.H. Kellogg (of Kellogg's cereal fame) to Battle Creek, Michigan, for convalescence. There Sankey finished a long-anticipated book of hymn stories. But a fire at the sanitarium destroyed his manuscript and all his notes. He rewrote the book as well as memory would allow, and there we find the story of "The Ninety and Nine."

In 1874, Moody and Sankey had just finished a series of meetings in Glasgow. At the station en route to Edinburgh, Sankey picked up a penny newspaper, hoping for news from America. Aboard the train, he perused the paper, finding in it a poem by a woman named Elizabeth C. Clephane.

Sankey wrote:
I called Mr Moody's attention to it, and he asked me to read it to him. This I proceeded to do with all the vim and energy at my command. After I finished I looked at Moody to see what the effect had been, only to discover he had not heard a word, so absorbed was he in a letter he had received. I cut out the poem and placed it in my musical scrapbook.

At the meeting on the second day, the subject was the Good Shepherd. At the conclusion Moody turned to me with the question: "Have you a solo appropriate for this subject with which to close?" I was troubled to know what to do. At this moment I seemed to hear a voice saying: "Sing the hymn you found on the train!" But I thought this impossible, as no music had been written for it. Placing the newspaper slip on the organ, I lifted my heart in prayer, struck the key of A flat, and began to sing.

Note by note the tune was given, which has not been changed from that day to this. Mr. Moody was greatly moved. He came to where I was seated and said, Sankey, where did you get this hymn? I've never heard the like of it in my life." Moved to tears, I replied, "Mr. Moody, that's the hymn I read to you yesterday in the train, which you did not hear."

The Ninety and Nine

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold,
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold,
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd's care,
Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?
But the Shepherd made answer:
"This of mine has wandered away from Me,
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep."

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed thro'
Ere He found His sheep that was lost,
Out in the desert He heard its cry
Sick and helpless, and ready to die,
Sick and helpless, and ready to die.

Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way,
That mark out the mountain's track?
They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring Him back.
Lord whence are thy hands so rent and torn?
They're pierced tonight by many a thorn,
They're pierced tonight by many a thron.

But all thro' the mountains, thunder riv'n,
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of heav'n,
"Rejoice! I have found my sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne,
Rejoice for the Lord brings back His own,
Rejoice for the Lord brings back His own.

(from Then Sings My Soul)

My children (and husband) love the story of the Good Shepherd (Luke 15:1-7) from Arch Books collection of religious stories for children (copyright 1965).

Jon and the Little Lost Lamb

Inside the sheepfold, fast asleep,
What do you see? One hundred sheep!
That little one is "Baby Baa,"
who loves to snuggle in a heap
beside his brothers on the straw.

The morning sun is peeking in
to waken Baby Baa, who's been
a-dreaming of the meadow grass
that grows up where the hills begin,
right near the narrow mountain pass.

Since now another day's begun,
who comes along but Jonathan,
the shepherd, who unlocks the door,
and counts each sheep to see that none
is missing or is sick or sore?

One hundred strong, all safe and sound,
come greet the sun, as out they bound.
And little Baby Baa runs, too,
his tiny hoofs beat on the ground-
until he spies a plant to chew.

The shepherd lets them frisk and play,
before he leads them on their way
to meadows green, quite far from home-
good Jonathan knows every day
just where it's best to graze and roam.

At times it can be dangerous,
as through the narrow mountain pass
they walk along in single file-
(Now, Baa, don't be so mischievous!)
so Jon is watching all the while
to see that wolves aren't waiting there
about to spring down from their lair.

What's that? A lion sees the flock!
The shepherd, with no time to spare,
hurls with his sling a well-aimed rock.
He hits the beast between the eyes.
The lion falls. Stone-still he lies:
he's harmless now. Say, look ahead-
green, juicy! Their spirits rise,
and as they eat, Jon had his bread.

His kindly eyes keep in full view
his flock of sheep, who romp and chew,
or rest beneath the big tree's shade.
Let's see what Jon's about to do-
sweet music on the flute he made!

The hours go by, the sun sinks low;
it must be time for them to go
along the path for home again.
The shepherd calls, and in a row
he leads them downhill toward their pen.

They reach the fold; the shepherd counts
the sheep as through the door they bounce
to find a soft spot on the straw.
But wait! Just ninety-nine? He frowns-
oh, where is little Baby Baa?

How sad is our good shepherd Jon;
one lamb is lost or strayed. It's gone.
Jon's tired from tending sheep all day-
but must search up hill and down
and find this lamb who's lost his way.

Jon climbs back to the pasture gound,
keeps calling, looking all around-
until beyond the place they'd stayed
he hears a little bleat that sounds
so low and faint and sore afraid.

You see, this lamb forgot and strayed
from his good shepherd late that day.
He did not hear Jon's call to come
and get in line for walking home,
so Baby Baa just romped and played.

But then he stumbled, tumbled down
into a hole- Would he be found?
The day turned slowly into night;
no shepherd near. What was that sound?
A jackal's howl - Baa froze with fright.

Another sound - his shepherd's voice!
Above the wild beast's night-time noise.
Baa's gently lifted up by Jon;
what happy reason to rejoice!
So safe at last, all fear is gone.

Once back inside the snug sheepfold,
the shepherd does not rant nor scold,
but smooths on olive oil to heal
all Baa's deep scratches, and we're told
it's done so kindly, Baa can feel
How much his shepherd cares for him-
one poor, lost lamb, back home again!