YES OR NO

Hello all of you positive/negative speakers. Yes...No...Maybe...I Don't Know?!?

President Ronald Reagan's wife (who in reality was his second wife)...but the First Lady...Ms Nancy Reagan...initiated the JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS campaign. It was met with less than enthusiastic reaction from those who thought that it was a simplistic approach to a complex problem. Someone who is addicted...psychologically, physically, psychologically and socially to drugs...needed something more that a catch phrase. Of course...it was really designed to those up and coming druggies...who had not tried drugs YET. Maybe if you could stop it before it started...you could dry up the sources for the pushers of said drugs.

The word NO is such a negative sounding word. The 1960's frat band from Youngstown Ohio...THE HUMAN BEINZ...had a hit song called NObody But Me. According to Dave Marsh...writer for Rolling Stone Magazine...the word NO appears 100 times in the song. The group was making sure that NObody But Me...could do the Shingaling, The Skate, The Boogaloo, and the Philly like ME. Amy Winehouse...the lovely tattooed, singer of the song REHAB...declared...
"They tried to make me go to rehab...I said NO NO NO. The song skyrocketed to the top of the charts...as she was admitted to rehab. Ringo...who surprised everyone after the Beatles broke up...by having hit song after hit song while the other lads languished in the charts...had a hit song called The NO NO Song. He declared that he "NO NO NO..I don't (fill in the blank with various addictions)... I'm tired of waking up on the floor." In the song...HELLO-GOODBYE...the Beatles started off by saying..."you say YES...I say NO...".

What makes us yield what we know to be wrong...and say YES...when what we should be saying is NO? Is the concept of JUST SAY NO to whatever we are facing with too simplistic in our complicated world? Yes...No...Mayber...I Don't Know?!?

It all started back in the GARDEN. Crosby Stills Nash and Young...sang a Joni Mitchell song called WOODSTOCK...and ode to the WOODSTOCK NATION. This was where half a million people gathered for 3 days of Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll on Max Yasgur's farm. They songs lamented that we got to GET BACK TO THE GARDEN...and I think they are CORRECT in their thought process.

It was back in the GARDEN...where JUST SAY NO...would have changed the course of history. Adam and Eve (to some an allegorical reference to choices...and to some reality)...had it all. They had provision, authority, companionship...and most of all an intimate relationship with the creator of the universe. God laid down some boundaries...of what they COULD EAT...and what they COULD NOT EAT. The point of temptation (not designed to pull them into something...but designed to pull them away from who they really were)... was a simple YES or NO. The answer NO to the tempter...would be saying..."I believe that what God said was true...and I CHOOSE to believe Him. The answer YES...would be saying..."I know what God said...but I choose to believe a liar and twister of the truth...and do what I WANT...versus what God wants." That choice set into motion...cause and effect...DEATH passed down to all mankind." "Wherefore as one man sin (Adam and Eve) entered into the world...and death by sin (cause and effect of saying yes to the serpent and NO to God)...and so death passed to ALL MEN (the cause and effect ripple effect)...for ALL sinned." (Romans 5:12) Hey...THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!
No...it's not fair...but it is JUST. If you want to GET BACK TO THE GARDEN...you got to get back to your YES AND NO answers.

When the pressure is on...by either your peer groups...the devil...circumstances and situations...what do you say? You've heard me... talk about how we try to teach our son Phillip...the concept of CAUSE AND EFFECT. One thing I have read to him...is found in the book of PROVERBS (also know as PRO-VERBS...POSITIVE-ACTION). "My son...if sinners ENTICE you...DO NOT CONSENT". (Pro-Verbs 1:10)
"My son...DO NOT walk in the way with them...KEEP your feet from their path." (Proverbs 1:15) Distill it down to it's simplest form...
JUST SAY NO to the enticers...and YES to God.


When we go through THE PROMISES OF GOD we see..."For as many as may be THE PROMISES OF GOD...in Him...they are YES; wherefore also by Him is our AMEN to the glory of God." (II Corinthians 1:20)

We are called to let our conversation or statements yes or no..."But let your statement be...YES, YES...or NO, NO...and anything beyond these is of evil." (Matthew 5:37)

The most important YES is found in the answer of two blind men...who were begging for MERCY...which was to be healed of their blindness. "And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, Have mercy on us, Son of David! And after He had come into, and Jesus said to them, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM ABLE TO DO THIS?...They said to HIm...YES LORD. Then He TOUCHED their eyes, saying BE IT DONE TO YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH." (Matthew 9:27-29)

If the blind guys responded NO...we don't believe that you are able to do this...Jesus would respond...be it done to you according to your UNBELIEF. Their yes or no would determine their fate...just as much as Adam and Eve's determined our fate.

Keith Green recorded an album called NO COMPROMISE. (see the last two pictures in the collage). The cover art is wonderful as it depicts someone saying NO to the kings command to bow before the golden image at the sound of the trumpet. If you look at the picture you can see the look of anger from the king...and the look of fear on those surrounding the disobedient.

Shadrach...Meshach...and Abed-nego...risked death by their CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE which was really GODLY OBEDIENCE. NOTE: I heard a black preacher...declare this was the story of Shadrach...Meshach...and ONE-BAD-NEGRO. If you get a chance...get the CD Walk on the Wild Side by Scott Blackwell...and you can hear Dr. Lockridge...preach the message MY KING (I Wonder Do You Know Him).

The cause and effect of saying YES to God...and NO to the king...was a death sentence in a fiery furnace. NOTE: Sometimes we have to face death...to come face to face with deliverance. They were thrown into the fiery furnace...but did not die...did not get singed by the fires...but were joined by a FOURTH MAN. Some say an angel...some say pre-incarnation of Christ...but whoever it was that joined them...it was the CAUSE AND EFFECT of obedience.

As I have been RUMINATING on this thing called YES OR NO...I have written down...JUST SAY NO TO...(fill in the blank with what you are faced). Looking back...if I JUST SAID NO...to sniffing gasoline, paint thinners, various chemicals...I would have bypassed lots of self inflicted suffering. If I had JUST SAID NO...to drinking, drugs...I would have thrown up less in the toilet as people moved my head out of the toilet to urinate...splattering on my face. If I had JUST SAID NO...to anger and held my tongue...there would be much less strive in my household.

Simplistic? Yes...No...Maybe..wait...I DO KNOW. We can CHOOSE...we can ACT...we can RISE ABOVE the flesh with help of the HOLY SPIRIT...The WORD OF GOD...The FATHER...the SON...our BROTHERS AND SISTERS...PRAYER.

Love and YES OR NO Kisses
Rodney "Glad I Said Yes To The D.B.R." Boyd

FOLLOW THE LEADER

QUESTION: What does Henry John Deutschendorf...Fred McMurray...Chi Alpha College Ministries...Johnny Cash...Rodney Boyd...The Ruminators...and Jesus Christ have to do with each other?

ANSWER: Follow Me.

FOLLOW ME? That's right...FOLLOW ME.

(1) Henry John Duutschendorf...AKA...John Denver had a hit in the 70's with a song called FOLLOW ME. It goes like this:

Follow me where I GO...what I DO...WHO I KNOW
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me up and down...all the way...and all around
Take my hand and say you'll follow me.

(2) Fred McMurry was in a Disney Movie (also in The Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber)...by the name of FOLLOW ME BOYS...a homage to the Boy Scouts.

(3) Chi Alpha is the campus ministry of the Assemblies of God. In the 70's I was involved in this ministry at Middle Tennessee State University. Paul Bane led a group of college age students in our group called FOLLOWER'S FELLOWSHIP. There is still a Chi Alpha chapter at M.T.S.U. lead by J.R. Becker. The group picture is us (me in the middle with the hat)...at one of our any retreats. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it to see my smilling...young face.

(4) Johnny Cash made a movie in 1973...along with a two album soundtrack that hit # 12 on the country charts...called THE GOSPEL ROAD. It was a movie that told the story of the life of Jesus. It was filmed in Israel...with Johnny narrating and singing with others. June Carter Cash played Mary Magdalene...and sang the John Denver song...FOLLOW ME. It was a trip hearing a southern Mary Magdalene drawling out..."Heee furgave me all of muh sins." I remember seeing this movie at M.T.S.U...in the campus theater...and breaking down weeping when they crucified Jesus. So much for being a MANLY MAN.

(5) Rodney Boyd (that would be me...the one with the fedora hat...sunglasses...sideburns and guitar)...answered the call from Jesus to FOLLOW ME...in the fall of 1970...and Oh the places He has lead me!

(6) The Ruminators...consists of a group of hungry people who moo and chew on the cud of the Word of God.

(7) Jesus the Christ (the anointed one...anointed with the yoke breaking...burden lifting...oppression removing power of the Holy Ghost... see Acts 10: 38/Luke 4:1-5)...is the one who issues the call to FOLLOW ME.

If you look up the phrase FOLLOW ME...you will see that he says that phrase MANY TIMES. When Jesus asks us to FOLLOW HIM...that means that he is going somewhere...and when we follow Him...we will encounter what he encounters.

"And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers...Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen." (Matthew 4:18)

NOTE: This was the first time that Annette Funicello was in a beach movie...as they cast Annette into the sea. Sorry.

"And He said to them...FOLLOW ME...and I will make you FISHERS OF MEN." (Matthew 4:19)

NOTE: Notice that the call to FOLLOW ME...was made at the point of who and whee they were. They were FISHERMEN...and he related to them on their level. He may call you at the level of factory worker...or doctor...or sales clerk...or Speech Pathologist...or bartender...or ditch digger...or President of the United States...or ....(fill in the blank)

"And they immediately LEFT the nets...and FOLLOWED HIM." (Matthew 4:20)

NOTE: They left their nets...which represented the life that they knew...into a life that they did not know. All they knew...was that they were following Jesus...where ever He went.

"And going on from there (where he recruited Peter and Andrew)...He saw tow other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brothers...in the boat with Zebeddee their father...MENDING THEIR NETS...and HE CALLED THEM (follow me)." (Matthew 4:21)

NOTE: I can almost imagine him saying to them...FOLLOW ME...AND I WILL MAKE YOU MENDERS OF MEN.

"And they immediately LEFT the boat and their father...and FOLLOWED HIM" (Matthew 4:22)

NOTE: To FOLLOW...you have to LEAVE something behind. It could be your livelihood or your family connections. Every adventure starts with the first step. You may not leave it physically...but you may need to leave it emotionally, mentally, socially, etc.

"AND JESUS WAS GOING...." (Matthew 4:23)

NOTE: Jesus was on the MOVE. In the words of the BLUES BROTHERS....He was ON A MISSION FROM GOD. The ones that he CALLED...were CALLED TO GO. We are CALLED TO GO also (Matthew 18-20...aka The Great GOmission)

"And Jesus was GOING ABOUT in all Galilee...(1) teaching in their synagogues (2) and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom (3) and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people." (Matthew 4:23).

NOTE: This is what Jesus called them to FOLLOW into. Acts 10:38 describes this perfectly..."And you know of Jesus of Nazareth...how God ANOINTED Him (with yoke breaking, burden lifting, oppression removing power of the Holy Ghost)...and how HE WENT ABOUT (1) doing good (2) and healing ALL who were OPPRESSED by the devil (little d) FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM."

NOTE: If you follow Jesus...you can be assured that whatever circumstance or situation you are in...GOD IS WITH YOU.

"And the NEWS about Him went out in to all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were (1) ill (2) taken with various diseases (3) pains
(4) demoniacs (5) epileptics (5)paralytics...AND HE HEALED THEM ALL. (Matthew 4:24)

NOTE: The sea that Jesus was fishing in was the SEA OF HUMANITY. Jesus called fishermen...to become FISHERS OF MEN. He was showing them how to cast the nets into the waters...and pulling in the catch of hurting humanity. He was showing them not only how to be FISHERS OF MEN...but also how to be MENDERS OF MEN.

"And great multitudes FOLLOWED HIM from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."
(Matthew 4:25)

NOTE: It all started with Jesus calling two fishermen...and it mushroomed to include the local region where JESUS WENT ABOUT...and His FOLLOWERS followed Him. It then spread to include the ENTIRE WORLD...as FOLLOWER after FOLLOWER followed Jesus as a STREAM OF LIGHT INTO DARKENED CORNERS.

There are many more FOLLOW Scriptures including: Matthew 8:19-22; Matthew 9:9; Matthew 16:24; Matthew 19:21; John 10:27;
John 12:26; John 21:19-22 and my favorite FOLLOWING VERSE:

"For you have been CALLED for this PURPOSE...since Christ also suffered for you...LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE for you to FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS...who (1) committed no sin (2) nor was any deceit found in His mouth (3) and while being reviled, He did NOT revile in RETURN (4) while suffering, He UTTERED NO THREATS...BUT...KEPT ENTRUSTING HIMSELF TO HIM WHO JUDGES RIGHTEOUSLY...and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the CROSS...that WE MIGHT DIE TO SIN...and LIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS...for by His WOUNDS YOU ARE HEALED." (I Peter 2:21)

NOTE: You have a CALLING and you have a PURPOSE...and as you FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE..as you FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS...you will learn how to TRUST GOD...in the face of hard times and unreasonable people.

The FOOTSTEPS of Jesus....leads us to the CROSS...to the GRAVE...and to the RESURRECTED LIFE. The question remains how often to we have to face the CROSS. Jesus faced it ONCE FOR ALL. There is nothing else that can be done about our SINS...but as we WALK out this life of FOLLOWING...we...like Paul...MUST DIE DAILY (I Corinthians 15:31) "That I may KNOW HIM...and the power of His RESURRECTION and the FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS...being CONFORMED to His DEATH...in order that I may attain to the RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD." (Philippians 4:10-11)


QUESTION: Are you FOLLOWING THE LEADER?

ANSWER: ?...aka Question Mark...to be decided.

Love and Follow The Leader Kisses
Rodney "Tag...You're It" Boyd

STREAMS OF LIGHT...INTO DARKENED CORNERS

Hello fellow lights. What do Harleys...motorcycle riders...Steve Burkett...John Fett...Al Green and Bob Dylan all have in common?????????????????????????

ANSWER: The Remedies. This is a group of musicians...who love the Lord God with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength...and really do love their neighbors as themselves. They love them so much...that they will go where they are...even if it is in the midst of Motorcycle Mammas and Kat Daddys.

The play with expertise...from tunes by Al Green (Let's Stay Together)...and Bob Dylan (You Got To Serve Somebody).

While many of their fans...will not darken the doorway to an "official" church building...the bridge the gap by loving them...and earning the right to speak into their lives.

To this old Ruminator...this is the kingdom infiltrating...as Larry Norman put it...
"Streams of Light into Darkened Corners.

I just wanted to say kudos to you guys...because...you really do have the Remedy...Jesus.



Love and Rock and Roll Kisses
Rodney "Wished I Was There" Boyd

IT'S ALIVE...IT'S ALIVE....IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

Greetings all LIVING people. If you are reading this...you are ALIVE...or you are the WALKING DEAD.

"For the WORD that God speaks is ALIVE...and full of POWER--making it...
ACTIVE....OPERATIVE....ENERGIZING...and EFFECTIVE; it is SHARPER than any two-edged SWORD....PENETRATING to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [that is, of the deepest parts of our nature] exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very THOUGHTS and PURPOSES of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 The Amplified Bible)

The WORD OF GOD is more than some mad scientist with a CREATOR COMPLEX...piecing together existing pieces of corpses...and dropping in an ABBY NORMAL (abnormal) brain...and connecting with GOD MADE lightning.
Frankenstein...or Frahnk-en-steen (for those Young Frankenstein fans) was an intriguing story dreamed up (literally) by Mary Shelly...BUT it pales in comparison to the WORD OF GOD...that really is ALIVE.

If you are wondering about the pictures of the cow and the dog....the dog represents that..."faith comes by HEARING...and hearing by the WORD OF CHRIST (concerning Christ)." (Romans 10:17) Our friend the RUMINATIN' COW..."This book of the law (the Word) shall not depart from your MOUTH, but you shall MEDITATE (ruminate) on it day and night...that you may OBSERVE and DO...according to all that is WRITTEN in it (the law/word)...for then you shall make your way prosperous...and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." (Joshua 1:8) These two verses represents The Ruminator Sunday School Class philosophy of MOOIN' AND CHEWIN' ON THE WORD OF GOD.

I'm convinced that the reason there is such an attack on the WORD OF GOD... and there is such a struggle to read the WORD OF GOD...is because the devil (little d), satan (little s), demons (little d)....knows that if you HEAR the WORD OF GOD...then FAITH will come...and you will no longer walk by SIGHT...but by FAITH...the substance of things hoped for...the evidence of things not seen... and you will begin to PLEASE GOD...because without FAITH...it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE Him. You will begin to (1) come to Him (2) believe that He is (3) Believe that He is a rewarder (4) diligently seek Him...not just passively inquire. (Read II Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1,6)

Here's a question and answer found in Psalm 119:9,11:

QUESTION: How can a young man (or woman) KEEP his way pure?

ANSWER: By KEEPING it (his way) ACCORDING TO THY WORD? THY WORD have I HID/TREASURED in my HEART....that I might NOT sin against Thee.

NOTE: For more insight into the Word...read the entire Psalm 119.

In collage #2 we see various pictures including the Topical Memory System from The Navigators...started by Dawson Trotman. Daws had a heartbeat for discipleship of men and women...and he knew...that THE WORD OF GOD...is one of the KEYS to establish believers. Daws believed that II Timothy 5:16,17 was not only TRUE...but it was PRACTICAL I found an interesting companion to THE TOPICAL MEMORY SYSTEM...called SCRIPTURE RELEASE. You can go to:

http://www.scripturerelease.com/ which is down loadable songs that you can copy on a CD based on THE TOPICAL MEMORY SYSTEM. It is FREE.

"ALL SCRIPTURE (the Word of God) is INSPIRED (God-breathed) by God...and PROFITABLE (beneficial) for (1) teaching (2) reproof
(3) correction (4) training in righteousness THAT the man/woman of God...may be ADEQUATE...EQUIPPED for every GOOD WORK."

Malcom and Alywn...two pioneers from the Jesus Movement...sang a song about the Word of God...calls FOOLS WISDOM..."got myself some wisdom from a LEATHER BOUND BOOK...got myself some wisdom...when I took a second look...." Mark 4 speaks of the sower... who goes about sowing SEED (the Word of God)...and the various soils and attacks on the seed/word. The brain represents the mind that needs to be RENEWED by the WASHING OF THE WATER OF THE WORD. Again...our friend the cow...represents us as RUMINATORS
those animals...who chew their food...pass it through four chambers in their stomachs...regurgitates it back up in the form of a CUD...and then stand in a field...and chew...with a contemplative...ruminating look on their face. Mooin' and Chewin' on the CUD OF THE WORD.

For those who want to view more of the PAST ISSUES OF THE RUMINATOR RAMBLINGS...you can go to:

http://www.ruminatorramblings-rodney.blogspot.com/


WARNING!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!!!

You would think that a little bit of the WORD would be better than NO WORD. Hmmmm....maybe...but I tend to think that...a little of bit of the WORD (as powerful as it is)....can have the effect like injecting a little bit of snake venom in you. You will build up resistence to snake bite when you are inoculated with a little bit of the poison that would normally kill you.

Sometimes I think that people who DABBLE in the WORD....a little here...a little there...sometimes have just enough Bible knowledge to make them dangerous. The become immune to the stuff. Of course...you can have people who consume massive quantities of theology... with a basis on the Word...and be as lost as someone who never heard the Word. With all that said...I believe that the KEY to the WORD having effect in our lives...lies in what I call THE ABIDING PRINCIPLE

"IF you LIVE IN ME--abide, vitally united to Me---and MY WORDS remain in you...and CONTINUE TO LIVE IN YOUR HEARTS...ask whatever WILL...and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7 The Amplified Bible)

Well...the WORD is filled with so much more about the WORD. I hope this little Rambling...has encouraged you to press into the Word of God. If you want to know what He thinks about a matter...if you want to know His will...what his desire is for His will to be manifested on earth as it is in heaven....then go to the WORD. Read about Jesus (the Living Word)...in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...and see the MANIFESTED WILL OF GOD...in the form of GOD'S THOUGHTS EXPRESSED...in THE WORD.

Love and Rhema/Logos Kisses
Rodney "Word Up" Boyd

CHOOSE OR LOSE

Hello fellow Choosers. What have you chosen lately? One of the beautiful things about being a human being...we were created with the capacity to CHOOSE. We are beyond ROBOTS...that are programmed to carry out every command that the creator of the robot desires...we are CREATED by the CREATOR of the universe...with VOLITION. Volition is what is known as FREE WILL...the power of CHOICE.

On a Friday night...when me and Sweet Brenda are hungry...we decide/choose to go out to eat. The conversation goes a little like this:

BRENDA: Where do you want to go eat?
RODNEY: I don't know...where to you want to go eat?
BRENDA: Let's decide before we start driving.
RODNEY: We can decide as we drive.
BRENDA: OK...let's see what we have down the road.

NOTE: At this point we start driving and begin to name the eateries.

BRENDA: Well...we have O'Charley...Corky's...Red Lobster...Outback...Hardees...Ryans...

NOTE: We will make a tour of Murfreesboro...and still have not made a CHOICE.

If we go to a Chinese Restaurant...if you don't get the buffet (with Crab Legs)...you have more choices to make...Column one...Column two...Column three...Column four...and then have to choose what kind of soup...Won Ton, Hot and Sour, Egg Flower. I can choose and have whatever I want...I JUST HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE. Usually at every establishment we choose to eat...the waitress will come up for the order and ask..."Would you like me to give you a few more minutes?"

In real life...the choices that we make...have consequences. That is one principle that we have tried to impress upon our son Phillip...your choices have consequences. There is a thing called CAUSE AND EFFECT. What you cause effects not only yourself...but others also. Throw a stone into a lake...and there will be a splash at the epicenter where the stone lands...but the ripple effect shoots out in every direction. The bigger the CAUSE (stone)...the bigger the EFFECT (ripples).

"Therefore...just as through one man (Adam) entered into the world (disobedience)...and death by sin (cause and effect)...and so death spread to all men...because all sinned (ripple effect)" (Romans 5:12)

That does not sound very fair!!! Life is not fair. The devil does not play by the rules. "CAUSE AND EFFECT...rains on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:44-45 Ruminator paraphrase). The EFFECT (fall or stand) of the CAUSE(rain and wind) is different for different people based on the foundation (sand or rock). (Matthew 7:24-27) The choice is this passage is either Jesus is Lord or Jesus is NOT Lord....and LIP SERVICE is not an option. (Matthew 7:21-23)

One of my favorite Debby Boone albums is CHOOSE LIFE. You may remember Debbie as the oldest daughter of one of my favorite singers...PAT BOONE.

NOTE: Pat Boone financed Randy Stonehill and Larry Norman's first independent Jesus rock albums. Randy's album was called BORN TWICE and Larry's album was called BORN TWICE . Pat also formed a label dedicated to the new wave of Christian artists called LAMB and LION RECORDS with such artists as Dogwood.

Debbie had a huge hit called YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. It was a sugar sweet A.M. hit. Later she released an album called CHOOSE LIFE. It was a collection of songs by another of my favorite artists...MICHAEL AND STORMIE OMARTIAN (pronounced Oh Mar Tee un). Michael is a producer of some of the biggest secular hits over 3 decades including the T.V. theme to SWAT.

The album title is based on a passage in Deuteronomy 30:19:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have SET BEFORE YOU...life and death, the blessing and the curse. So...CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may life, you and your descendants..." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

NOTE: You may be asking yourself...who in their right mind would choose death and curse? Well...look in a mirror and ask yourself why you choose the things that you do that are not good for you. I may wrong choices based on what I want versus what is good for me. Before I was Christian...my CHOICE PATTERN was even worse...because my choices did not have the compass of the Word of God. There were NO ABSOLUTES in my life...so everything was relative to my selfish desires.


Larry Norman...hit the streets in L.A...gave up fame and fortune (he had a million seller hit and album with his group PEOPLE...with their hit song I Love You)...and took his music and message to the common man. As the Jesus Movement grew around the world, Larry become one of the spokesman for the group. One symbol...attributed to Larry was the ONE WAY SIGN. That is where you took you index finger and pointed up to the sky. This represented heaven...and the ONLY WAY to heaven...JESUS CHRIST.

When Jesus was talking to his followers about going to heaven to prepare a place for them...he made a startling statement to Thomas who asked..."Lord, we do not know where You are going...how do we KNOW THE WAY?" Jesus responded matter of factly..."I AM...THE way...THE truth...THE life...NO ONE comes to the Father...BUT THROUGH ME." Well....all roads may lead to Rome... but ALL ROADS...do not lead to the Father in heaven. In the words of George Harrison..."Isn't it a pity." In John 101-10...Jesus talks about doors of thieves and sheep. "Truly, truly, I say to you...he who DOES NOT ENTER by the DOOR into the fold of the sheep...BUT climbs up SOME OTHER WAY..he is a thief and robber. But he who enters by THE DOOR is a shepherd of the sheep. " (read the rest of the verses but skip to verse 6 as Jesus explain his figure of speech of doors) "This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them...but they DID NOT UNDERSTAND what those things were which He had been saying to them. Jesus THEREFORE (in reference to verses 1-5) said to them AGAIN...Truly, truly...I say to you...I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP. All who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I AM THE DOOR...IF ANYONE ENTERS THROUGH ME...HE SHALL BE SAVED...and shall go in and out and FIND PASTURE."
The THIEF comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy...I CAME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE...AND MIGHT HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY." Many people choose to try to climb over the wall versus going through the door/gate.


Robert Frost and Larry Norman speak of CHOICES...choices of ROADS. In the movie Back To The Future...Doc Brown comes back to pick up Marty to go to the future. The DeLorean time machine use to need to reach a certain speed on the road to trigger the jump to the future. Marty asks the Doc if they didn't need more ROAD. The Doc responds with a smirk..."Where we're going....we don't need roads." Then the machine begins to fly.

Well...the ROAD that we need to get into the presence of the Father....is JESUS. Larry and Mr. Frost said it correctly:

ONE WAY...ONE WAY to Heaven...hold up high your hand
Follow...free and forgiven...Children of the Lamb
Two roads DIVERGED in the middle of my life...I heard a wise man say
I TOOK the one LESS TRAVELLED on...and that's made a difference...every night and every day
So I say...ONE WAY...one way to heaven...hold up high your head
ONE WAY...free and forgiven...children of the sky.

It all comes down to CHOICES. Choose death...choose life...choose blessing...choose curse...choose the road to heaven...or as AC/DC recommends...choose the highway to hell.

Lord...help me to make better choices.

Love and Kisses from Column A
Rodney "Taking The Less Travelled Road" Boyd

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: DESTINY

Hello friends. If you are reading this...it is because of a man named Lonnie Louis Boyd...who met Elizabeth Graves Webb and conceived Rodney Lewis Boyd. I am approaching 57 years old...and I have been reflecting on where I came from...where I've been...and where I'm going. The older you get...the awareness of your mortality begins to reach towards you. Thank God...that we have a promise and a hope of going beyond the cradle and the grave.

The Boyd household has roots in Scotland...crossing over to America...and settling in a little hamlet called Brewston Tennessee. Brewston is a blip on the road map on the way to Memphis Tennessee. I never knew my grandfather on my dad's side...but I have been told that he was a hard man. He was a card carrying, horse riding, hood wearing member of the Ku Klux Klan. In the first collage you see a picture of a young boy named Lonnie...who had no idea what life held for him.

Dad grew up...met Elizabeth (Mom)...went to war...came back...got married... started laundry with mom's sister's (Mary Dean) husband (Larkin/Mooney)... got a job at the V.A. Hospital...retired from their after 35 years...and became a grandfather in 1989.

Everybody has got a story to tell. In the Ruminator Sunday School Class...we were talking about how when we are born...our lives are shaped by our environment and our experience...for the better or worse. The good, the bad, and the ugly...forms who we are...by how we relate to those times. When we become Christians we become NEW CREATIONS in CHRIST...the OLD THINGS pass away...NEW THINGS come. (II Corinthians 5:17)...HOWEVER...our souls...our minds (what we think ), our volition/wills (what we freely choose) and our emotions (the barometer of the soul)...can still be affected by the imprint of the our environment/experiences. Lonnie Boyd had a lot of imprint in his life. What we experience...is passed down to the next generation...and to the next generation...the good, the bad, and the ugly...BUT...we do not have to settle for the past affecting our now that will determine our future.

"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."
(Jeremiah 29:11) This was written to a people who were in captivity because of their sins...but even in captivity...there was a hope. So it is with us...who may be captive by their roots, their past, their generational curse...BUT the CURSE can be stopped in it's track.


My Dad and I had a tenuous relationship. We were usually conflict by various things. Some of our tension came from the teenager/adult conflicts. My memories are mixed.

I have great memories of Dad grilling out, fishing, dancing with Mom on a Friday night to the sounds of Glenn Miller. Dad was very influential in my eclectic musical tastes as he let me buy Elvis' Jailhouse Rock when I was 6 years old and let me play his albums and singles like Brooke Benton and Dianah Washington's A ROCKIN' GOOD WAY and BABY, YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES, and Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Pete Fountain, The Riverboat Five, Ray Charles. He hated country music...so it took years and my son Phillip to break that barrier where I even like country music.

Bad memories are also imprinted...as alcohol shaped and formed his life. I have vivid memories of waking up in the middle of the night with my Mom screaming into the phone for Dad to come home from the bars...and when he got home the fight would continue. I remember the conflicts at home culminating to the point of my mom telling me to go to the gas station down the road...to gets a can of gas so she could burn down the house with us in it and end it all.

I have good memories of them starting out going to church with me...but it ended up with just me...which continue to when I was 16 years old. I finally quit going...and started walking down the path that Dad started for me by drinking and ingesting other chemicals...just to escape the world. When I accepted Jesus as my Saviour...my destiny had a dynamic shift for the better.

Growing up...I did not realize what shaped Dad. I only knew the effect of what effected him was effecting me.

Dad joined the Army during World War II...and served his country. For a Brewston boy...this was probably a step up from the mundane. Dad went to New York...flew to London (where he won a Jitterbug contest with his dancing feet)...and then off into the War in places like Africa and Italy). Dad did not talk much about the war and his experiences. All I really knew was that as a result of his experience in the Army...he would not take us to the movies because he hated to stand in line. I also knew that he got a pair of specially made shoes because he got his toes blown off. He walked with a limp and could run and play with me. I found out later...that he got some of his toes blown of in a cave was he stepped on a land mine. He was rewarded with a Purple Heart.

One of the pivotal events...that had the cause and effect of me sitting at this computer...ruminating on my Dad...is seen in the picture of the NEW TESTAMENT. Every service man was given a New Testament when they were sent out war. If you look at the lower corner you will see the place where a bullet was stopped when it struck my Dad. He carried the Bible in his shirt pocket. What could have meant the end of the Boyd linage...was diverted...so Dad could come home...get married...have me...so I could meet Brenda...get married...and have Phillip. Some call it luck...some call it Kismet...some call it karma...I call it destiny. If you have ever been encouraged by anything I have ever said or wrote...it could have ended by a bullet or a land mine. As a teenager...I never realized what Dad went through...as a child or as an adult.

In his later years...there was a gradual change taking place. He quit drinking... he quit smoking...and PHILLIP STEPHEN BOYD came into his life. I came to find out...through talking with Dad...that he was proud of me...and actually loved me.

Dad and Mom poured out their love...to Phillip. According to Dad...Phillip hung the moon. After Mom passed away...Dad became Phillip's chief baby sitter.

In 1993...Dad passed away with pancreatic cancer. He was at home...Hospice was on the seen...and we were at bedside. In the end...Dad was struggling to stay here on earth...breathing heavily...gasping for oxygen. I was able to hold his hand...and bend down to his left ear...and tell him that it was O.K. to let go of this life and ease on into heaven...where Mom was waiting. A strange peace came in the room...his breathing eased...and he closed his eyes...took his final breath... and died.

Even as I write this...tears do well up. Why? Because I love my Dad...and God was able to redeem the bad and the ugly in our relationship...and make it good.
I have the assurance that my Dad had accepted Jesus. He lived out his last years with my son...by pouring out what he wished he could have done with me...but because of past experiences and his environment...could not.


In the Ruminator Sunday School Class...we have seen that...our MINDSET...can be changed as we RENEW OUR MINDS with the Word of God. As we take the good, the bad, and the ugly...and begin to let our minds dwell on the Word...we begin to think differently...and begin to talk differently...and begin to act differently.

UNRESTRAINED THOUGHTS (what we think)...PRODUCES UNRESTRAINED WORDS (what we say)...resulting in UNRESTRAINED ACTIONS (what we do). We are not bound by thoughts, words and actions. We are not bound by the past and the present...or even what appears to be our inevitable future. Jesus Christ...the Living Word of God...and change us from the inside out...and fulfill his destiny and purpose for us.

"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." Jeremiah 29:11

Love and Hopeful Kisses
Rodney "Son of Lonnie" Boyd

THE CHUMP TO CHAMP CONNECTION

Greetings fellow Chumps....or is that Champs. It's like the difference between the good looking, muscular, bronzed keg-packed ideal of a real man...and me. One is a HUNK...the other is a CHUNK. I'll let you be the judge.

In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?...you had three escapees from a road gang in Mississippi who were on an ODDESSY in search of a TREASURE. This movie is loosely based on the writings of Homer...as they encounter various things that keep them from accomplishing their goal.

The treasure seekers (which turned out to be a hoax) consisted of Pete Hogwallop, Delmar O'Donnell, and their leader Ulysses Everett McGill.

At one point in their journey...they encountered a church singing and walking into the water to be baptized...dipped wholly into the waters of the river. They were singing and being dipped. Delmar...surprises Pete and Everett as he runs into the waters to be baptized. Pete also joins the baptism but Everett...who considers himself an intellectual and above religious superstition. The times for this baptism was in Mississippi during the Great Depression of 1937. Here's Everett's observation on the event:




EVERETT: Well, I guess HARD TIMES FLUSH THE CHUMPS. Everybody's looking for ANSWERS. (He then asks Pete where Delmar is going as Delmar runs into the waters)

PETE: Well I'll be an S.O.B...Delmar's been SAVED!

DELMAR: Well that's it boys. I've been REDEEMED. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward.

EVERETT: Delmar...what are you talking about? We've got BIGGER FISH TO FRY.

DELMAR: The preacher says all my sins are warshed away...including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.

EVERETT: I thought you said you was Innocent of those charges?

DELMAR: Well...I was lyin'. And the preacher says that that sin's been warshed away too. Neither God nor man's got nothin' on me now. C'MON IN BOYS...THE WATER IS FINE.

Another viewpoint by Everett as he pontificates on spiritual things is:

EVERETT: Baptism! You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers. Well, any human being will CAST ABOUT in a MOMENT OF STRESS. No, the fact is...they're flooding this valley so they can hydroelectric up the whole durn state. Yes sir...the South is gonna change. Everything's gonna be put on electricity and run on a paying basis. Out with the OLD SPIRITUAL MUMBO JUMBO...the SUPERSTITIONS...the BACKWARD WAYS. We're gonna see a brave new world where they run everybody with a wire and hook us all up to a grid. Yes sire...a veritable AGE OF REASON. Like the one they had in France. Not a moment too soon.

In their travels they run across a young black man (at that time a colored)...named Tommy Johnson (based on real life blues man Robert Johnson who wrote the song Crossroads Blues made famous by Eric Clapton and Cream). Tommy had just sold his soul to the devil:

TOMMY: I had to be up a that there CROSSROADS last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil.

EVERETT: Well...ain't it a small world...SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING. Pete and Delmar just BEEN BAPTIZED and SAVED. I guess I'm the only one that remains UNAFFILIATED.

PETE: I've always wondered...what's the devil look like?

EVERETT: Well...there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.

TOMMY: Oh, no. NO, sir. He's white, as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He loves to travel around with a mean old hound. That's right.

EVERETT: What'd you SELL YOU SOUL FOR Tommy?

TOMMY: Well...he taught me how to play this here guitar real good.

DELMAR: Oh, son...for that...you sold your EVERLASTIN' SOUL?

TOMMY: Well..I wasn't usin' it.

What got me to ruminating about his rambling...was the phrase...HARD TIMES FLUSH THE CHUMPS. A CHUMP is defined as:

1. A stupid person; a dolt
2. A short, thick piece of wood (think blockhead)
3. The thick, blunt end of anything
4. The head
5. Crazy (off one's chump)

NOTE: I have a friend who has gone on to be with the Lord...who responded to someone calling him CRAZY..."I would rather be crazy the way I am...than sane the way you are."

6. A person who is GULLIBLE and EASY to take advantage of.
7. The thick end as the chump end of a joint of meat ie. chump chop
8. Insignificant, insultingly small ie. chump change.

Ulyssess Everett McGill is not alone in his assessment of people who choose to become Christians. Christians are viewed as stupid, ignorant, weak, gullible, blockheads, meatheads, dolts, crazy, insignificant, insulting small...in the eyes of NON-CHRISTIANS. They don't mind if you are a Christian...BUT heaven forbid that you bring your Christianity out of the four walls of your Chump Church building...and mention it in a conversation. Those who view us a CHUMPS...don't mind talking about how drunk they got the night before...or who they have been sleeping with...or yada yada, bla bla, woop woop....but don't mention Jesus. It's O.K. if you mention God...or the man upstairs...or the Good Lord....but when you start talking that Jesus crap...you have entered into the realm of OFFENDING.

NOTE: Not all non-Christians are like this...but there are militant Christian haters out there.

I am a proud CHUMP. As Paul said...I am NOT ASHAMED of the Gospel of Christ...for it is the POWER OF GOD...for SALVATION to everyone who BELIEVES...to the Jew first...and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16) Gospel=Good News=Death, Burial, Resurrection... nothing more...nothing less.

"For God so love the CHUMPS...that He gave His only begotten Son...that whatever CHUMP believes in Him...the CHUMP shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16...Ruminator Style)

It appears to be God's Modus Operandi...to use the CHUMPS.

"But we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a STUMBLING BLOCK and to the Greeks FOOLISHNESS...but to those who are called, to the Jews and Greeks, CHRIST...THE POWER OF GOD...and the WISDOM OF GOD. Because the FOOLISHNESS OF GOD...is wiser than men...and the WEAKNESS OF GOD is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that NOT MANY WISE according to the flesh...not many MIGHTY...not many NOBLE are called. BUT...............................................................

GOD HAS CHOSEN THE FOOLISH THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE WISE, AND GOD HAS CHOSEN THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE THINGS WHICH ARE MIGHTY...AND THE BASE THINGS OF THE WORLD AND THE THINGS WHICH ARE DESPISED...God has chosen...and the things which are not...to bring to nothing the things that are...that NO FLESH...should glory in His presence. But of Him you ARE IN CHRIST JESUS...who became FOR US wisdom from God...and righteousness...and sanctification....and redemption...that as it is written...HE WHO GLORIES...LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD."
(I Corinthians 1:23-31)

Only CHUMPS can experience this. Non-Chumps are too smart...too strong...too prideful to experience the foolishness of God.

NOTE: I have been educated with and undergraduate degree and a Master's degree in Education....but like the Apostel Paul...I count all things that I have gained as loss compared to KNOWING HIM. As the song DENOMINATION BLUES declares..."You can go to your college...you can go to your schools...but if you don't know Jesus...you're an EDUCATED FOOL...that's all...I tell you that's all...you better know Jesus...I tell ya that's all."

The last picture collage that you see...are Delmar...and Rodney...saying...COME ON IN BOYS...and GIRLS...THE WATER IS FINE. If you need refreshing from the HARD TIMES...if you need relief from the casting around in the MOMENTS OF STRESS. The next two pictures in the collage are a few of my CHUMP FRIENDS...and I have many.

Love and Chump Kisses
Rodney "The Water Really Is Fine" Boyd

A CROSS WORD

Hello fellow believers in the D.B.R. For those new to the Ramblings...the D.B.R...means...DEATH...BURIAL...RESURRECTION...NOTHING MORE... NOTHING LESS.

For us who truly believe this...we have heard the word of Christ...faith came... and we believed it in our hearts (not just an assimilation of historical facts)... and with this thing that we have heard about the D.B.R., has dropped from our heads into our heart...and we CONFESS this with our mouth. Confession (homolegos=homo/same legos/word)...is where we come into agreement with what God thinks about the matter...and we speak it. (Romans 10:10-19)

As believers...we are called to be WITNESSES of this event that was historical in nature...really HIStory. One of the ways that we like to be a witness...is carry around a large Bible...with gold trim...leather bound...with our name engraved in gold on the cover. Another good way to witness for the Lord is to plaster your car with Christian bumper stickers. This especially works well if you have a HONK IF YOU LOVE JESUS bumper sticker...and when someone HONKS at you in rush hour traffic...and you don't flip the the bird...or try to cut them off in traffic. Nothing says Jesus like confrontation.

The #1 way that we tend to witness our faith...is to wear "Christian Jewelry". The CROSS worn around the neck is an especially visible witness. There are many styles of this witness that have been created from jewel encrusted...the simple but stylish gold cross...to the humble Popsicle stick. Back in 1970...I had a friend who made these Popsicle stick cross and attached them to yarn to wear around your neck. Be sure to wash the Popsicle stick before you assemble NOTE: This method of witnessing is especially effective if you are a lady...and you wear a low cut dress so that when the unsuspecting males eyes are drawn to the cleavage...they can see your cross and be convicted.

Of course...the cross was a symbol of what Jesus went through in our place. He was the sacrificial lamb...the propitiation...the substitute... the satisfaction for God...the tool for redemption as the shedding of blood was poured out on the cross for our sins. If Jesus came in 2008... we could have been wearing a gold electric chair around our necks...or a nice silver firing squad. The cross was the method that the Romans choose for cruel and unusual punishment reserved for political prisoners...murders...thieves...reprobates...and the SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. Some has said that a more appropriate symbol of our faith should be an EMPTY TOMB on a chain.

Faith comes by hearing...and hearing by the word of Christ...not the latest slogan...bumper sticker...fad...blog. I remember in the early 70's...that the bumper sticker was the witness of choice for me. IN CASE OF RAPTURE...GRAB THE WHEEL...I'M OUTTA HEAR. I use to go to a little coffee house on the corner of 16th and Grand...next to Belmont Church...called KOINONIA. This was the place that you could get the latest Christian Rock album (before it became C.C.M...Contemporary Christian Music). You could buy Jesus Belt Buckles...posters...books...jewelry...and on Saturday nights...sit on a floor with a couple of hundred Jesus People...and listen to Christian Rock...from young teenage girl named Amy Grant...Don Fransico...Dogwood..Bethren... and a rockin' trio named HOSANNA (me, Tom Rutherford, and Mark Webster).

I remember one night going to Koinonia...seeing a Volkswagen bug...plastered with Jesus Bumper Stickers. You could not see a piece of metal on the body of that but. Now...that's witnessing.

I happen to like the crosses...the bumper stickers..the buttons...the belt buckles (I may have to wear mine to church Sunday)...but I find myself sometimes... focusing more on the stuff...than the Lord. It is like someone who knows about Jesus...instead of knowing Jesus. Speaking of slogans...I also like CHURCH SIGNS. I saw one today...that said..."NO JESUS...NO PEACE...KNOW JESUS... KNOW PEACE. Hey...JESUS HUNG UP FOR OUR HANGUPS. And it does not get any better than GODISNOWHERE. Any Ruminator worth his/her salt knows that ...it either says GOD IS NO WHERE....or GOD IS NOW HERE...depending on how you look at it.

What got me thinking about this Rambling? I was listening to a Larry Norman album (vinyl with grooves)...ONLY VISITING THIS PLANET. Larry had left a band (People)...who had a million seller called I LOVE YOU. He left Capitol records...and took his music to the streets...singing to people who would never darken the doors of a pristine church. He witnessed the OLD FASHION WAY... he told them about Jesus. As I listened to the song I WISHED WE'D ALL BEEN READY...about Jeus coming back...and many friends, loved ones, will be LEFT BEHIND. I remember having a dream, where a friend of mine...was left on the ground...as I slowly was being raptured (snatched away). I could see the fear, hurt, unbelief in his eyes...as he reached up and tried to grab me...to go up with me. He said, "Why didn't you tell me." The tradgedy is...I DID...many times. There are so many people on planet earth...that I love...who have hardened their hearts...and are hiding behind there fear...and their pride. My heart aches for them as I write this Rambling. At times...I sit in silence...praying and their faces come before me...and I weep.

Like the apostle Paul stated...For I am NOT ASHAMED of the Death, Burial, Resurrection of Christ...for in it...the Death, Burial, Resurrection of Christ is the POWER OF GOD...for SALVATION...to the Jews first...and then the rest of us knuckleheads. (Romans 1:16...The R.R.T.=Ruminator's Rough Translation)

Gold crosses...O.K...bumper sticker...sure....but Lord I want to go beyond the glitz...and go for the guts. There are SO MANY PEOPLE out there...who are living there lives on automatic pilot...accepting whatever comes down the pike as there lot in life. They numb themselves to the pain of life (if you call this living) with booze, drugs, hedonistic lifestyles...to the point that they think that what they are living is NORMAL. After all...if you can hide behind a mask of laughter, anger, bravado...no one will know that you are crying on the inside. Remember that John Lennon song that we have mention in past Ramblings...sometimes you can't hide...WHEN YOU ARE CRIPPLED INSIDE


"For God SO LOVED (fill in the blank with your name)...that He gave His only begotten Son...that when (fill in the blank with your name) believes in Him (the D.B.R.)...should not perish...but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 R.R.T)

Takes some time and look at the collage of Jesus pictures. Be sure to click on it and enlarge it. Each picture cries out...Jesus Loves You. Each picture is an expression of God's love for you. Other religions have nice philosophies...wonderful expressions of ritualistic attempts to get God to love them...BUT...Christianity is the only one...that the leader allowed himself to be crucified...IN OUR PLACE. The graves of other spiritual/religious leaders...have one thing in common...BONES...decayed flesh...NO RESURRECTION. JESUS HUNG UP FOR OUR HANGUPS...and is the ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF LOVE FOR YOU...and me.

HE IS RISEN...HE IS RISEN INDEED.

Love and Crosswise Kisses
Rodney "I Wished We'd All Been Ready" Boyd

STRANGE CASE OF DR. BOYD AND MR. BUDDY LOVE

Hello all. How's your personality doing? Are you still intact or are you split... and I don't mean banana. I am a big fan of Jerry Lewis movies...even without Dean Martin. In France...Jerry Lewis is considered to be a filmatic GENIUS. (If you get a chance...listen to Weird Al's song...Genius In France on his CD Poodle Hat).

One of may favorite Jerry Lewis movies...is THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. It is the story of a nerdy professor by the name of Julius Kelp who mixes a potion in his laboratory that transforms him from and insecure, bucktooth, inept professor (who constantly has explosions in the lab)...into the smooth, suave, debonair, obnoxious, handsome, BUDDY LOVE. Stella Purdy (one of Professor Kelp's students)...is not attracted to Professor Kelp...but is strangely drawn to Buddy Love.

The problem is...the more Professor Kelp turns into Buddy Love...the Buddy Love personality begins to take over...and Kelp is driven to keep going back to the potion for longer lasting effects.

Much of the action takes place in the college hangout called THE PURPLE PIT where Love makes his first appearance. He plays piano, handles tough punks, sets the ladies hearts aflutter. He even teaches the bartender how to make a new drink called THE ALASKAN POLAR BEAR HEATER:

--2 shots of vodka
--A little rum
--Some bitters
--A smidgen of vinegar
--A shot of vermouth
--A shot of gin
--A shot of scotch
--A little brandy
--A lemon peel
--An orange peel
--A cherry
--Some more scotch

The bartender is then instructed to MIX IT NICE...and then POUR IT IN A TALL GLASS. The bartender asks if he can try it...takes a sip and immediately becomes in a frozen position. Of course Buddy Love chugs it with no ill effect. Hmmmmmmmmm....Professor Julius Kelp is MIXING a drink to make him cool...and Buddy Love is mixing a drink that is a result of him being cool. Another side note...many movie critics point out the apparent similarities to the estranged Dean Martin (Buddy Love) and Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis). Whatever the comparison...this is a definite comedic play on STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL and MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE...was a novella written by Stevenson in 1886...as a result of dreams he was having about "bogey men".

The case is told from the perspective of a lawyer who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. Like the Nutty Professor...the experiment goes awry as Mr. Hyde takes over Dr. Jekyll...and the inhibitions are released...reflected in rampant hedonistic lifestyle. Where the good Dr. had restraints...the bad Mr. has no restraints.

It reminds me of that verse...Proverbs 29:18..."Where there is NO VISION (revelation)...the people perish (cast off restraint...are unrestrained)...but happy is he who keeps the law". The vision talked about is insight into the Word of God...the thing that restrains behaviour. No revelation...no restraint...enter in the world of lasciviousness or licentiousness.

Paul writes about this dualistic personality in Romans 7:13-25 as he struggles with sin, good, evil. NOTE: Depending on which theologian you are reading or listening to...the struggle is Paul BEFORE he became a follower of Jesus...OR...it is Paul lamenting about his life AFTER his conversion. Whatever the time frame of the struggle...the ANSWER to the struggle is found in JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD (Romans 7:25)

I for one relate to my SPIRITUAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE...as I struggle with this thing called the FLESH versus the SPIRIT. A cursory look at the EPISTLES (letters) from the various New Testament writers...you can see a lot of warnings and corrections to believers. Peter...who was ONCE a coward and impulsive follower of Jesus...went from a denier of Jesus in the face of pressure from a little girls accusations...to the chief spokesman of the FAITH. He was saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, a strong witness...some say he was the first Pope...founder of the church. This stalwart of the faith had to be rebuked and corrected in the eyes of others by Paul when he reverted back to OLD FEARS and acted differently in front of religious people than in front of the ones he preached to. (Galatians 2:11-21)

Here is the problem that Paul was encountering...

PROBLEM STATED

"For what I am doing...I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. For what I WILL TO DO...that I DO NOT PRACTICE; but what I HATE, that I DO NOT PRACTICE; but what I HATE...I DO. If, then I DO what I WILL NOT TO DO...I agree with the law that it is good...BUT NOW...it is NO LONGER I WHO DO IT...but SIN that DWELLS IN ME. For I know that IN ME...(that is, in MY FLESH) NOTHING GOOD DWELLS...for TO WILL is present with me...but HOW TO PERFORM WHAT IS GOOD...I DO NOT FIND. For the GOOD that I WILL TO DO...I DO NOT DO....but the EVIL I will NOT TO DO...that I PRACTICE. Now if I DO what I will NOT TO DO...it is NO LONGER I WHO DO IT......BUT SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the INWARD MAN. But I see another law in my MEMBERS...WARRING against the law of my MIND.... and bringing me INTO CAPTIVITY to the law of SIN which is in my members." (Romans 7:15-23)

DECLARATION AND QUESTION

"O WRETCHED man that I AM! Who will deliver me from this boyd /body of death? (Romans 7:24)

THE ANSWER

"I thank God--THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! So then...with the MIND I myself server the law of God...but with the FLESH...the law of sin." (Romans 7:25)

If you are in CONDEMNATION because of the STRUGGLE...there is a way that you can have NO CONDEMNATION.

NEXT TIME: How To Break The Power of HYDE/BUDDY LOVE.

Love and Julius Kelp Kisses
Rodney "Staying Away From the Alaskan Polar Bear Heater" Boyd

PRUNING IS THE PITS...BUT NECESSARY

In the words of Paula Dean...Hey Yaaaa'll. In our last episode...we discovered the joys of BUD-NIPPING...AND THE FOX PATROL (sounds like a T.V. show like the Rat Patrol...or Swamp Fox). Whatever happened to that version of Christianity called GRACE, MERCY AND THE EASY LIFE? You know the one...the one where I turn from my sin...and from that point on it's EASY LIVING...until the Lord comes back and delivers us from the the world falling apart.

There is GRACE (unmerited favor, free gift, divine influence in the heart, manifested in the life). This is that wonderful work of God in us...from the inside out. It is nothing that we can do from the outside in. "He saved us NOT ON THE BASIS of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." But that's where the fun part starts. Until He comes back...not only is He working IN us....but He is working ON us. ENTER THE PRUNING.

Notice the character Dick Tracy known as PRUNEFACE. Do ya know why he is called PRUNEFACE. Because he is wrinkled up like a PRUNE. I had an eighth grade teacher named Mrs. Pittard. She was also prune-like. When her back was turned...I could get a laugh by singing..."Whose the creature from the Black Lagoon...Look out it's Pittard the Prune." The question is...what does prunes have to do with pruning? Well...actually nothing...unless you consider the work of the PRUNES from the inside out...as what was once clogged and blocked... would BE LOOSED!!!! The PURGING...by PRUNES...is not a pleasant experience...but in some cases...necessary...if you want to live life to the fullest...or would that be the emptiest. There may be some cramps...some creaking sounds...the release. I don't know about you...but there is nothing that feels so good...as when the PAIN STOPS. So it is with the rebuke, chastening, discipline of the Lord in our lives.

Another picture of the maturing process in the life of the believer is the ART OF PRUNING. As we said, tongue in cheek...PRUNING IS THE PITS...BUT NECESSARY...if you want to BEAR FRUIT.

RECOMMENDED READING: I would highly recommend the book SECRETS OF THE VINE. It is written by Bruce Wilkinson...who included this book in his Breakthrough Series...including THE PRAYER OF JABEZ and EXPERIENCING SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGHS. I first came into contact with Bruce Wilkinson back in 1976 when I went through a seminar called WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE. This was one of the foundational seminars in my Christian walk.

SECRETS OF THE VINE is a journey through John 15 as we find out why Jesus is the Vine of life and explore the four levels of FRUIT BEARING. One section is especially good as Bruce goes through the differences between DISCIPLINING versus PRUNING.

He covers: (1) How do you know it's happening (2) Why is it happening? (3) What is your level of fruitfulness (4) What is the Vinedressers desire? (5) What needs to go? (6) How should you feel? (7)What is the right response? (8) When does it stop? Some of the answers are the same...like the answer to the first question of "How do you know it's happening?" The answer to both discipline and pruning...PAIN. The Vinedressers desire is also the same...fruit and more fruit.


Even before you get the book SECRETS OF THE VINE...you can read the original SECRETS OF THE VINE for yourself by turning to The Gospel of John chapter 15:1-8.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

1. The true Vine= Jesus
2. The Vinedresser= The Father
3. The branches= You

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

Keith Green sang that He is deVine...and we are deBranches. We (the branches) are called to ABIDE in the Jesus (the vine). The cause and effect and desired result it for the branches (us) to bear fruit. Fruit production is classified into: (1) NOT bearing fruit (2) bearing fruit (3) bearing MORE fruit
(4) bearing MUCH fruit

To go through the various stages of FRUIT BEARING...there may need to be A PRUNING. This is different from someone who is walking in disobedience and rebellion...who needs to be rebuked, chastened, disciplined. Jesus is teaching branches who ..."are ALREADY CLEAN because of the word I have spoken to you." (John 15:3) Read John 13 to see about them being cleansed by His words. These FRUIT BEARERS...are already BEARING FRUIT... but Jesus wants to take them to the next level of NOT bearing fruit...to bearing MUCH fruit. The bottom line is that APART FROM HIM...THE VINE...WE CAN DO NOTHING..NO THING...ZILCH...ZERO.. NADA...GOOSE EGG.

According to Mr. Wilkinson...many people talk about John 15:2 where it says..."Every branch in Me that DOES NOT BEAR FRUIT...He takes away." The phrase TAKES AWAY..is the airo which means TO TAKE UP...or LIFT UP. It means that sometimes...the fruit gets heavy...and falls down into the dust, dirt, mud...and the growth process is impeded....SO...the loving Vinedresser...takes away...take UP, lifts up...OUT OF THE MUD....binds up...and ties the branches closer to the VINE...so that it can continue to BEAR FRUIT...MORE FRUIT...AND MUCH FRUIT. It does not mean to TAKE AWAY and be done with that BRANCH.

The Vinedresser...then begins the CULTIVATION process...including pruning. This is where there is a cutting away...of the dead wood, pruning back in preparation for GROWTH. In the eyes of the uniformed...it looks like Edward Scissorhands gone WILD. It is like the Chainsaw Massacre on foliage. It's like me trimming my bushes...and Brenda coming out with a shocked look of unbelief...as what was to be a slight trim around the edges...ends up to be to a nub coming up out of the ground. Now I did not mean to do it....BUT...lo and behold...those bushes grew back thicker than ever...THANKS TO MY EXPERTISE AS A PRUNER.

Like discipline...pruning is a painful process...but it is momentary....with the outcome become stronger, more fruitful, with proven character in our lives. We will bear the fruit that will be crushed and made into a fine wine...that will be poured out on the altar of sacrifice.

Well...Okay Lord...a little of the top please.

Love and Prune Danish Kisses
Rodney "I Said A Little Off Of The Top...Not A Flat Top Lord" Boyd