The Resolution Revolution

Greetings friends...let me be the first one to wish you a Happy MOOOOOO YEAR!!! That's right...2008 is gasping it's last breath...as the cry of the newborn 2009 can be heard. At this writing...it is December 30th 2008. What a year it has been. In the words of Dickens...it was the best of times...it was the worst of times. In the words of Eastwood...it was the good...the bad... the ugly.

In the words of the Apostle Paul..."For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of FLESH, sold into bondage to sin (see Romans 5:12)...For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not PRACTICING what I would like to do...but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do. I agree with the Law confessing that it is good. So NOW...no longer am I the one doing it...but SIN which indwells me. For I know that NOTHING good dwells in me...that is...in my flesh; for the WISHING is present in me...but the DOING of the good is not. For the good that I wish...I do not do...but I PRACTICE the very evil that I d not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish...I am no longer the one doing it...but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me...the on who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God...in the INNER MAN...but I see a different law in the members of my body...WAGING WAR against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM! WHO WILL SET ME FREE..FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH? Thanks be to GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!!! So then...on the one hand I myself with my MIND am serving the law of God...but on the other hand with my FLESH...the law of sin....There is therefore (referring back to what was just written)...NOW...NO CONDEMNATION for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS."
(Romans 7:14-25)


In 1968...the Beatles recorded a song called REVOLUTION. There were 4 versions of the song. (1) A slow acoustic version (2) An electric raucous version (3) An experimental version...Revolution 9 (4) A video promotion that was semi-live with the Beatles singing live over a recorded soundtrack.

The video version was premiered on the David Frost Show in England along with Hey Jude. In America it was replayed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. I remember calling WGNS and requesting them to play the song every hour. It could well be my favorite Beatles song.

"You say you want a revolution...well you know we all want to change the world." That was the cry of the song...the cry of the culture...the cry of the youth at that time. Some took the cry...and protested anything that could be protested...others....realized there needed to be a change...but that change took place in the INNER MAN/WOMAN...when they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.

2009 will be the YEAR OF THE RESOLUTION REVOLUTION. There will be a CHANGE from 2008...cause..."we all want to change the world." But to change THE world...there must be CHANGE within.

REVOLUTION: A complete or radical change of any kind.

RESOLUTION: A determining; deciding

Each year many people determine...decide...to have a complete or radical change in there life that will be totally different from the previous year. People resolve to give up smoking, give up being fat, give up various things...that they eventually go back to. The resolution becomes a revolution in the sense of something that goes in a circle like record (vinyl things with a hole in the center that you place a needle on and it plays music)...as they come Full Circle from giving up and then picking up. Other people go the other way and knowing that they will be unable to keep there resolution...decide NOT to make ANY resolutions because they won't keep them anyway.

This year...I am going out on the limb...and make some resolutions. Now...you may be asking yourself...why does old Ramblin' Rod have a picture of the Ropin' Fool...Will Rogers in this Rambling? One reason is to use it as a Tip O Da Hat to my brother Tom Rutherford...who is celebration 28 years of marriage to Stoney. We have a Ropin' Fool connection. The other reason is to focus on the fact that we can't have any RESOLUTION REVOLUTION in the FLESH. The word is clear in John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh...and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

"For though we walk in the flesh (physical bodies) we do not WAR ACCORDING TO THE FLESH...for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh...but divinely powerful for the DESTRUCTION OF FORTRESSES. We are destroying SPECULATIONS and every LOFTY THING raised up against the knowledge of God...and we are TAKING EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE...to the OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST."
(II Corinthians 10:3-5) I envision the taking thoughts captive using a lasso like the Ropin' Fool.

"Finally...BE STRONG IN THE LORD...and in the STRENGTH OF HIS MIGHT. Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to STAND FIRM AGAINST THE SCHEMES OF THE devil (little d). For our STRUGGLE is NOT against FLESH and BLOOD...but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:10-12) For full details read Ephesians 6:10-18) I know for certain that little d...does not want you to do anything that will draw you closer to God. I know for certain that little d...does not want you reading the Bible...because faith will come...and you will be walking by faith and not by sight...and you will be pleasing to God (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1, 6; Romans 1:17; II Corinthians 5:7)

This year I will be taking it up a notch in teaching of the Word of God.

1. The new series of the Ruminator Sunday School will be HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION, SIN, AND THE FLESH. We will be looking at how to not be pulled away, miss the mark, and give the devil an opportunity.

2. I will be leading a group on a journey through the ONE YEAR BIBLE for 2009 on Wednesdays at church. People will be able to keep a journal of what God shows them with each weeks readings and then we can share as we gather at the REST STOP (the Wednesday class) and share. I may teach...I may not...as the Lord leads.

3. In March...I will be going down to Guatemala to teach at a Bible school with Baba Coble.

4. As the doors open...

To accomplish these dreams...there are certain private RESOLUTION REVOLUTIONS that I will be stepping out in the Spirit...for my spirit (connection to God), my soul (mind, will, and emotions), and body (flesh blood and bones). Hey...pray for me...and I will pray for you...and see where we are in 12 months (either in heaven...or ready to step into 2010)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Remember to put on your spiritual armour daily...remember to stand firm...remember to pray...and remember...to pray petitions for each other so the mystery of the Gospel can be made known with boldness...remember..."Therefore, take up the full armour of God...that you may be able to RESIST in the evil day...and having done EVERYTHING...to STAND FIRM."
(Ephesians 6:10-20)

Love and Revolutionary Kisses
Rodney "Goin' Round In Circles" Boy

From Baby to Adult: The Road

Hey friends...between the point of birth...to the point of death...there is this little thing that we walk out called life. Sometimes the roadsigns looks like the one in this Rambling...ARNO ROAD. The joke that I never get tire of saying every time I pass this road..."Don't go down that road...there ARE NO road."

Brenda laughs...so I will not tell it again...Phillip announces..."Dad...that may have been funny the first time...but it's not now."

As Phillip is growing into a man...an adult...old Dad...keeps pointing out roads NOT TO GO DOWN...sometimes to now avail. It seems as Phillip chronologically is 19 going on 21...and I don't know anything...my little road map comments goes unheeded. That's alright...one day...he will all of a sudden realize how smart I have gotten. Part of the fun of parenthood...is hoping that what you have taught over the years will stick...and will at some point manifest in actions.

But until then...you love...continue to speak into their lives...and PRAY.


Over the past 20 years...I have watched...young kids at Smyrna Assembly... grow up...leave home...make decisions (some wise...some not so wise)...and continue to pray for them also.

It seems like somewhere along the way...we (I include myself in that we) equate growing up with FREEDOM. We become FREE to make choices...FREE to talk the way that we want to talk...FREE to do the things we want to do. That freedom includes things that are not necessarily conducive to the walk of a follower of Jesus. As I watch and listen...I see and hear...things that grieves my heart...and I know it grieves the heart of the Father.

When Paul is encouraging his son in the faith...Timothy...to DISCIPLINE himself for the PURPOSE of godliness...transitions to a place where he encourages Timothy...not to give the older generation a reason to look down on the younger generation. I pray these things for my son...for the children of Smyrna Assembly...and to be honest with you...I pray these things for MYSELF.


"Let no one look down on your YOUTHFULNESS...but rather in:

1. Speech: The way that you talk...your conversation.
2. Conduct: The way that you act...when no one is looking.
3. Love: Not lust...but true love
4. Faith: What pleases God
5. Purity: Freedom from things that taint your waters

We are called to "show yourself an example of those who believe".

It hurts to read various My Space pages...and Facebook pages...and see how freely the F-bomb...or other four letter words are dropped. Some thing that to be an adult is to be free to express in language meant to offend. It hurts to see "godly" ladies show more cleavage than your average hooker. It's sad to see young ladies...give away their treasure to any yahoo that pretends that they love them. As I watch...people drift away into intellectual and elitist confabulations in exchange for their relationship with God...there is a sense of helplessness. In a quest to become adults...we try to imitate what has become a substitute for art...and think that we are free as we indulge freely into the excesses of the world. People who are already adults...and are growing spiritually...sometimes think that we are free to do whatever we want to do. Before we realize it...our freedoms have turned into a trap. We tend to think that our maturity in the Lord...allows us to rise above the warning sings along the road.

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are PROFITABLE. All things are lawful for me...but I WILL NOT BE MASTERED BY ANYTHING." (I Corinthians 6"12)



Now I know that I run into the danger of being called a legalistic twit...who wants the ladies to wear clothing to the excess of Islam...and the boys to put on horse blinders...and try to exchange the grace of God for a system of doisms and dontisms...or not drink anything but pure spring water versus wine...but that is not it at all.

I realize that this is not...the same world that I grew up in...and that there are new wineskins and methods that the next generation can express their faith...but...immorality, the flesh, sensuality, and speech and conduct...still have their place in the kingdom walk. I also realize that I can't expect Phillip Stephen Boyd to be a Rodney Lewis Boyd clone in his Christian walk...but I do have an expectancy for him to love the Lord God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love his neighbor as himself.

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth...but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment...that it may give grace to those who hear."
(Ephesians 4:29)

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."(Galatians 5:1)

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I am writing to you , fathers...because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you children because you know the Father. I have written to you fathers because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you young men, because you are strong, and the WORD OF GOD abides in you, and you have over come the evil one."
(I John 2:12-14)

"How can a young man KEEP HIS WAY PURE? By keeping it ACCORDING TO THY WORD. Thy WORD have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee." (Psalm 119:9,11)

I'm praying for my son...for the children of S.A....for other believers...and for MYSELF.

Love and Non-Legalistic Kisses
Rodney "Me First Lord" Boyd

Wha' Happen????????????

Hello friends. Tuesday...December 23rd 2008...4:30 P.M...I was finishing up my last patient... and I was walking down a long flight of steps into her garage. I reached the bottom of the steps...and stepped out to what I thought was the concrete floor...but for some reason did not realize there was ONE MORE STEP.

Have you ever...been going along...minding your own business...life is good...things are going your way...and then BOOM...the unexpected takes place? That is what happened next. Before I knew what hit me...I felt my self falling forward...and my right eye smashes into a concrete block wall... and BOOM. I was down for the count. In my arms were a bag with equipment...a notebook with therapy materials...and my portable desk with paperwork.

Before I knew what hit me...my glasses were broken...my materials scattered...and I was laying in a hovel on the cold concrete floor. Blood was everywhere and I was dazed and shaken. In an instant my life was turned upside down. Prior to the event....I was ready to drive home...put on my pajamas...eat some homemade chili...watch a little T.V...and vegetate. Instead...I drove 45 minutes to the emergency room in rush hour traffic...got six stitches in my eyebrow...and felt my body stiffening up.

Brenda came to the emergency room...I suggested to the nurses that they could record that I was in a mixed martial arts fight...and I began to think about how much worse it could have been. My patient had fallen down those steps and was not expected to live. I began to think how ALL THINGS work together for good for me...because (1) I Love God (2) I'm Called (3) I have purpose in my life (His Purpose) (Romans 8:28). As I lay there in my blood...I chose to REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS...(Philippians 4:4) I began to dwell on I Thessalonians 5:16-18 where it says to"Rejoice always...pray without ceasing...in everything GIVE THANKS for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Hey...I am down...but not out. I am still in pain...and frustrated...BUT...JESUS IS LORD. I still can't lift my arms up very high...BUT by His strips I am healed. (Isaiah 53). I like that verse where it says...Therefore...strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble and make straight paths for your feet...so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint...BUT RATHER IT BE HEALED."
(Hebrews 12:12,13)

SIDE NOTE: I received a call from my brother Mike Gibson...who has just had back surgery. He called me with words of encouragement... and put a smile on my face. He said that he had heard that I had a hearing problem. I questioned him...a hearing problem? He said that he had heard that Brenda told me to shut up...and that I thought she had said...get up...and as soon as I did...BOOM!

I encourage you...that if you are going through something that is painful...physical, emotional, spiritual...that you turn to the WORD OF GOD...and don't give the devil (little d) an opportunity.

Love and Stitched Kisses
Rodney "Boom Boom" Boyd

IT'S A RUMINATIN' NEW YEAR: 2009

Hello dear friends. Do you feel like you are about to dry up and blow away. Is your spiritual walk feeling like bleached bones. Are you hungry and thirsty for a Word from God.

Well...me too. I am convinced that the devil (little d)...the accuser of the brethren...and sistern also...the murderer...the thief...the one who entices you to evil and attempts not only to pull you into sin...but really wants to pull you away from who you really are...WANTS TO KEEP YOU AWAY FROM THE WORD OF GOD...and the WORD OF GOD AWAY FROM YOU.
(Mark 4:1-20)

I convince that little d knows that if you plant the Word of God in your heart...renew you mind with the washing of the water of the Word...allow the Word to abide in, continue in, take up residence in you...then FAITH WILL COME (Romans 10:17)..and little d...DOES NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE FAITH in any shape, form, or fashion.

When you have the : assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope for (confident expectation)...being the proof of things [we]do not see and the conviction of their reality--faith PERCEIVING AS REAL FACT...what is not REVEALED TO THE SENSES (Hebrews 11:1)...you place your self in a position of PLEASING GOD...by (1) coming to God
(2) believing that God exist (3) believing that God is a rewarder (4) and diligently seeking Him versus passively inquiring about Him (Hebrews 11:6) Little d don't like that (bad English... good theology).

2009 will be the YEAR OF THE WORD. This year on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, we will have the opportunity to MOO AND CHEW ON THE WORD (Joshua 1:8)

Starting on Sunday morning...January 4th, 2009 at 9:00 A.M....THE RUMINATOR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS will be starting a new session called:

HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION, SIN, AND THE FLESH

We will dig our way into the Word utilizing a workbook. Some of the chapter titles includes:

1-Koinonia (The Common Connection)
2-Garden Roots (The Obedience Key)
3-The Lust Factor
4-The Way Out
5-The Competition Principle
6-The Art of Resisting Temptation
7-The Anointing (Yoke Breaking...Burden Lifting...Oppression Removing POWER)
8-Impotent Idle Idols
9-Freedom Fighters (How To Defeat The Flesh)
10-The Discipline of Self-Examination
11-Circumcised By The Cross
12-Flesh Reapers and Spirit Sowers
13-Whatever Happened To Sin
14-The Mindset Principle
15-Be A Visionary: GODISNOWHERE
16-VICTORY IN JESUS

These are just a few of the chapters that we will be ruminating about.


On January 7th, 2009...Wednesday night...we will be meeting for the year...reading through the ONE YEAR BIBLE...RUMINATOR STYLE.

We will be taking a journey through the entire Bible...and each Wednesday night we will have a REST STOP ALONG THE WAY...and discuss what God has shown us for that week. There may be a small teaching...but the input is really about what is God saying to you through the Word.

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

1. A One Year Bible (or you can get the text for the week that night)...but I would recommend getting a One Year Bible.

2. A three ring binder note book.

3. Dividers for the notebook. You will need four sections (a) Old Testament (b) New Testament
(c) Psalms (d) Proverbs

As you read...write down what the Lord may bring forth to you. It does not have to be an in depth Bible Study. It is really the nuggets of the Word that you discover on your journey.

The CAUSE and EFFECT of all of this...will be a peace that passes understanding...keeping your way pure...faith will come...your prayer life will change as you pray the Word...Biblical success and prosperity...you may speak a word that will change a life...because you are speaking the Word.

Wednesday nights will also have many choices of classes from Kingdom life with Wayne Berry...Claudia Peterson teaching real men how to dance real good...Pastor Barbie encouraging us in our giftings...Scott Asher showing us how to effectively share our faith...Kevin O'Dea leading the 30 year and under in holiness...and the the moo and chew crowd.

Well...that's it for SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION. See ya in 2009...It's gonna be a great year in the Lord.

Love and Word Filled Kisses
Rodney "Mooin' and Chewin' Boyd

What's Da MUtter?

Hello fellow mutterers. What's that you say? I didn't quiet understand you.
Speak a little louder please. It's the matter of the mutter for my sister and my brutter.

MUTTER (verb)

1. To utter sounds or words indistinctly or with a low voice and with the lips partly closed.

2. To murmur complainingly or angrily

GRUMBLE

1. To mutter in discontent

2. Growl, rumble

Grumble...complain...gripe...mutter...curse...murder. What do all of these words have in common? The MOUTH...and the HEART.


You have heard me mention before the example that we use in the Ruminator Sunday School Class... of shaking a cup of coffee. We usually will pull out his example with a new student. Shake a cup of coffee until coffee comes spilling out of the cup. Ask the question...why did coffee come out of the cup. Usually they will say...be cause you shook my cup. Then we say that NO...coffee came out of the cup...because that is what was IN THE CUP. The shaking only revealed what was inside.

If you find yourself...constantly agitated about a circumstance, situation, certain people who do not live up to your standard...and you find that attitude leaking out of your mouth...ask yourself...Self... why is venom coming out of my mouth. The answer is NOT...because that circumstance, situation, certain person not living up to my standard agitated me. The answer is...venom came out of your mouth...because...that is what was inside.

Jesus put his finger on the situation when he said...

"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree IS RECOGNIZED BY ITS FRUIT. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? FOR OUT OF THE OVERFLOW OF THE HEART...THE MOUTH SPEAKS. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him...and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by our words you will be acquitted, and by your WORDS you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:33-37)

What I am wondering...is...what do I have in my storehouse. Jesus also pointed out...

"Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean...but what COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH...that is what makes him unclean." (Matthew 15:11)

I am wondering...if someone tape recorded my grumbling...my muttering...my griping...my complaining...my gossiping..my murdering...and played it back for me...would I be pleased or disappointed? Even more than that...if someone played it back for my Father...would I see a look of pleasure on his face...of disappointment?

"Do not let (allow it to happen) any unwholesome talk/words come out of your mouths...but only what is helpful for building other up according to their needs...that it may benefit THOSE WHO LISTEN." (Ephesians 4:29)

I'm asking myself...am I building up...or tearing down? I'm asking myself...am I benefiting for the need of the moment...or am I satisfying an inner desire to put down someone? I'm asking myself...do I realize that my NEGATIVE WORDS...are being listened to someone...who needs a POSITIVE WORD for the moment.?

Paul continues on in Ephesians 4...that we should not GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. This takes place every time I let out my filled heart in the form of muttering and complaining, griping, and little negative side comments. He then instructs us to GET RID OF ALL
(1) bitterness (2) rage (3) anger (4) brawling (5) anger (6) brawling (7) slander (8) along with every form of malice. (Ephesians 4:30-31)

What is the standard for our SPEECH? "Be kind and compassionate to one another (the listeners), forgiving each other...JUST AS IN CHRIST...GOD FORGAVE YOU."
(Ephesians 4:32)

"If you have played the fool and exalted yourself...or if you have planned evil...CLAP YOUR HAND OVER YOUR MOUTH! For as the churning the milk PRODUCES butter...and the twisting the nose PRODUCES blood...SO...stirring up anger...PRODUCES STRIFE."

The mouth is our CHURN. Our heart stores the materials that we will use in our churn. When we mutter...we pump the agitator up and down...and produce whatever is in that churn.

This is the CAUSE AND EFFECT PRINCIPLE. How do I stop the production of my SOUR cream? CLAP MY HAND OVER my MOUTH. Take control of my words. Take control of my attitude.

"The TONGUE has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21)

"With the TONGUE we PRAISE our Lord and Father...and with it (the tongue) we CURSE men...who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the SAME MOUTH come PRAISE and CURSING. My brothers...this SHOULD NOT BE. Can both FRESH WATER...and SALT/BITTER WATER flow from the SAME SPRING? My brothers...can a fig tree bear olives...or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a SALT SPRING PRODUCE FRESH WATER." (James 3:9-12)

I'm asking myself....Self...what fruit am I eating. Is my spring a SALT SPRING or a FRESH SPRING.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I'm the only human being with this problem. Oh...by the way...What's Da MUtter?

Love and Non-Muttering Kisses
Rodney "Rasafrazing" Boyd

Bedford Falls versus Pottersville

Many Seasons Greetings....Merry CHRISTmas...Happy HOLYdays my dear friends. Made any good choices lately? In the book of Deuteronomy (5th book of the Old Testament)...we have been given the choice of blessing or curse...life or death. Let me throw in another choice...choose this day....Bedford Fall...or Pottersville. One will be a life of family and peace...the other will be one of nightmare and unrest.

Of course I am referring to the movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. There are always some Ramblings about this classic movie during this season. This movie is in the TOP TEN RUMINATOR RECOMMENDED MOVIES.

Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey...who has been trying to escape Bedford Falls for years...but something...someone...some circumstance always seems to circumvent his dreams, his plans, his perceived destiny. His frustration leads him to the point of suicide...when his world as he knows it falls apart.

As a result of multiple, collective prayers...Clarence (Angel 2nd Class with no wings) has been sent to save our hero. Clarence gives George the ability to see what Bedford Falls (the town and the people) would have been like...if he had NEVER BEEN BORN.

Of course the WONDERFUL LIFE...becomes IT'S A MISERABLE LIFE...when George's presence and goodness is taken out of the mix...and Mr. Potter (the bad guy in the movie) is allowed to run rampant with his greed and hate. Pottersville is Bedford Falls GONE BAD.

Pottersville is what this world will be like when the believer is taken out of this world...as if we never had been BORN AGAIN. The world will turn back to IN THE BEGINNING when the world was formless, dark, void...CHAOTIC.

George eventually comes to his senses and realizes that he REALLY DID HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE...in spite of the stuff that was happening. He prays to to be able to return...return back to his wife, his children, his friends. The events that drove him to the brink of despair...had NOT CHANGED...BUT....his perspective had changed.

GODISNOWHERE You may see GOD IS NO WHERE....or GOD IS NOW HERE...it all depends on your perspective. Well, George had a new perspective.

I love it when the movie opens up ...with people praying...as the camera pulls back and upward...as the prayers begin to swirl heavenward for George Bailey. it is a picture of COLLECTIVE INTERCESSION...for a man who can only breath out...a drunken prayer in Martini's Bar. These prayers...again...sets into motion DELIVERANCE.

As with real life prayers...versus celluloid prayers...there is a time gap between the point of prayer and the point of provision. I like to call this gap...the land of nitty gritty. This is a land where we WALK BY FAITH...not by sight (things revealed to the senses Hebrews 11:1). A land where on the surface...things actually may appear to get worse. It is the type of gap experienced by Daniel when he prayed a prayer...and the angel rolled in 21 days from the point of the original prayer....saying that the prayer was heard on the first day...but the prince of Persia (a spiritual entity)...had been battling to keep the angel from arriving.

Take a look around you. Stop at work...and see the people that you are working with...and the people you live with...and the people you go to church with...and the casual friends...and those you pass by everyday as you drive from work. Imagine what their lives would be like if you were NOT IN THE MIX. Imagine what if would be like if you were not praying, loving, giving words of encouragement...living out your faith in a real practical manner.

Stop and RUMINATE. You ARE IN peoples lives. You are NOT AN ISLAND of ISOLATION.
Sometimes we act as if we were never born....and avoid the very people that need us. Oh we may not consciously do it...but when we ignore or become numb to people, situations, circumstances...and just walk around with automatic pilot on and don't realize that God is using imperfect people to manifest himself in this lost and dying world. I want to wake up to the fact that I AM IN THEIR LIVES...and I CAN HAVE INFLUENCE...and I MAKE A DIFFERENCE in this world. Darrell Worley has a great song called AWFUL BEAUTIFUL LIFE that talks about the mix in life of the good, bad, and ugly...is what makes up our lives....but when you have a different perspective...it may be awful at times...but overall...IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. This is especially true...when we LOVE GOD...LOVE PEOPLE AND SERVE OTHERS. It really is a WONDERFUL LIFE...that we need to be sharing with others...in JESUS CHRIST...and His yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power of the Holy Ghost.


Now a break for a commercial.

At Smyrna Assembly (MY CHURCH HOME)....LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER is presenting a play called IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry). This is not your typical "church play". This is a church play...on steroid. BAM!!! This is a wonderful opportunity to see a RADIO VERSION of the movie. I love OLD TIME RADIO.

"Set in the Golden Age of Radio...this delightful retelling of the story of a man who believes he has nothing to live for...and an angel who just wants to earn his wings, will enchant and entertain every member of the family. Five actors performs the dozens of characters in the play as well as producing all of the sound effects."

You DON'T want to miss this opportunity. If you are in the are...make a night out of it. Get a date...take out your wife...bring your family...kick off the reason for the season.

WHO: You
WHAT: Lamplighter's Production of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
WHEN: December 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th...and December 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th
WHERE: Smyrna Assembly 12119 Old Nashville Highway Smyrna, TN 37167
WHY: Why not?
HOW: For ticket information go to http://www.smyrnaassembly.org/ or call (615) 459-3421


THANKS AND A TIP O' DA HAT TO LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER FOR TAKING BACK THE ARTS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

FINAL THOUGHTS....FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It rains on the just and the unjust...storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on sand and storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on the rock. In Jesus it really is a WONDERFUL LIFE....even in the midst of the storms.

Love and Wonderful Life Kisses
Rodney "I Love Old Time Radio" Boyd

TESTING