HAVE YA HEARD THE HERD

Greetings and Salutations all of you Mooers and Chewers of the Cud of the Word of God. Welcome to the Herd.

NOTE: Click on the collage and get a good view of the herd.

Herd? Whatcha' talki' 'bout. Well...what I am talking about is a gathering of people who are dear to my heart....called The Ruminators Sunday School Class. This is a group of people who gather on Sunday mornings for food, fellowship and feeding on the cud of the Word of God.

Many years ago...I was attending a church that imploded... and at that time I declared that I would never, ever, in a thousand years...teach the Word of God again. Well...in the words of Phil Keaggy and Glass Harp..."never is long time.' As the James Bond title states...Never Say Never.

Fast forward to 2001 in Kenya, Africa. This picture is me standing in the teaching center of a Youth For Christ Discipleship Training School... I had the honor of doing what I would be doing what I proclaimed that I would never, ever, do again...teaching the Word of God. The question is... what happened between 1989...and 2001...and then up to October of 2009?

NOTE: I am cradling in my arms the head of a hippo. Man...you shoulda seen dem ribs...slowly cooked to perfection...half dry rub...and half with a special Kenyan sauce...dripping down the side of my face with each bite...MERCY! Actually...the only ribs were in my dreams.

I digress...aka bunny trail. When I became a Christian back in the fall of 1970...I was infused by the Holy Spirit with a hunger and desire to read and understand the Word of God. The Word of God was my lifeline to God. By 1971 I was attending a Bible School in Chattanooga...with the goal of getting a degree in Bible...and becoming an evangelist and save the world. Prior to becoming a Christian...I was a mediocre student...but after I became a born again believer...I was still a mediocre student. My dreams were shattered when I started Bible school...with the cold water of an English class. I ended up with a C in English and a B in Old Testament Survey. I ended up dropping out of Bible school...a Bible school dropout...and floating from odd jobs to odd jobs including working for Orkin Pest Control...working at Sir Pizza...working at Cummings Sign Company... a helper at Tennessee Mechanical Corporation...construction work...building log cabins...etc...until my current profession as a Speech-Language Pathologist. The irony of all of this is that this mediocre student from elementary school to Bible school...attained a Masters in Education. God really does have a sense of humor.

Back to 1989...I am sitting in a Sunday School class at Smyrna Assembly... hiding out in a crowd of people...sitting on any gifting that God graced me with...as I ran from God. There was one guy named Mark Robertston...who was sitting in the Sunday School circle (where we discussed the upcoming sermon) ...and kept encouraging me to pick up the gift again...because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance or irrevocable. Bruce Coble kept encouraging me to press into God. I started having rumblings from within (and it was not gas) of picking up my Bible again...and as I started reading...I was overwhelmed by thoughts and lessons and teachings...IF I was teaching. I never felt a condemning compelling to teach...but I did have an increasing desire to not hold on to what God was showing me.

During this time...our church had a retreat...and Brenda and I went. God was speaking throughout the retreat. During a break in the teaching... I was sitting talking to Wade Hutchinson and confided in Him that I had an inkling to teach a class called The Topical Memory Class. This would be based on The Navigator's Topical Memory System as we would memorize and study the surrounding context of 60 Scriptures with various topics. Wade gave me these words of wisdom.."I think you should do it." I cleared it with the pastor...Ronnie Meek and boom. I was teaching again.

One of the Scriptures that we were studying and memorizing was found in Joshua 1:8.

"This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate/haw-gaw/ruminate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."

Thus was borne the name...The Ruminators...who meditated...chewed...muttered under our breath the cud of the Word of God. For some reason we incorporated the cow as the symbol of the class (I guess it could have been sheep)...but we didn't. Well...that was around 1990...and here it is coming into 2010.

I had declared in 1989 that I would never, ever teach the Word of God again...and since that time...many people have come and gone from class (once a Ruminator...always a Ruminator)...and God has been faithful in giving me the desires of my heart...teaching the Word of God...as I delighted myself in Him (Psalm 37:5). I have been blessed to share the Word (with Bruce Coble) in Mexico, Peru, Africa, Guatemala...but always returning back to the Ruminators in class.

Thanks to all who join with me in the journey in the Word.

Love and Remembering Kisses
Rodney "Lovin' Da Word" Boyd