FREEDOM...NOTHING BUT ANOTHER WORD?

Greetings and Salutations to all of you FREE people.

DISCLAIMER: I am writing this to myself. If at anytime you feel condemnation or finger pointing...then realize that I am writing this to myself. After all...you are FREE to believe...do...act anyway that you want to do. You are free to be bound by vices, habits, consequences of your actions because after all...you are an adult...and are FREE to live your life as you wish.

How does it feel to be FREE...assuming you are FREE. I guess depending on your definition of being FREE would determine if you realize that you are FREE or BOUND.

I love this picture of Harry Houdini. For some reason I keep hearing Aretha Franklin in my head...chain, chain, chain...chain of foooools. Harry ALLOWED himself to be chained...locked up...tied up...bound on purpose. That was his thang...so he could amaze us by getting out of the bondage.

Our problem is...we also ALLOW ourselves to be chained...locked up...tied up...bound...sometimes without even knowing it...and even worse than that... thinking that we are actually FREE. Some of us were once FREE...but we have returned to the state of not being FREE...still thinking...I am FREE.


Kris Kristofferson...penned the song...Me and Bobby McGee... made famous by Janis Joplin...where he stated that..."Freedom is another word...for nothing left to lose." How sad...but true... that FREEDOM..us usually our last option as opposed to our first option.

As a teenager...I remember eying the days of FREEDOM...with the thought that FREEDOM meant that I would be (1) FREE to do anything I wanted to do (2) I would not have to listen to anyone tell me what to do (3) I could say anything I wanted to say because I had FREEDOM of speech (4) There would be no consequences for my actions.


Wow...was I wrong about that. So many young people have the idea...that ADULTHOOD...would be when they would be FREE. They could be FREE to (1) smoke (2) drink/get drunk (3) have sex with whoever they could convince that they loved (4) live with whoever they want...and then leave whenever I want (5) no rules, no regulations, no consequences. (6) free to have sex...have a baby...etc.

NOTE: Refer back to the DISCLAIMER.

In this world filled with Drama kings and queens...we see FREEDOM played out on a daily basis. One thing we have tried to teach our son...is CAUSE AND EFFECT...that there are CONSEQUENCES to our ACTIONS. Why is it...that as adults...we think we can do anything we want...and NOT have to pay the piper? I love this book by Dave Berg...with the wounded and bandaged man...looking up to God for help. God's help...the HEALING WORD.

I have found that EVERY TIME...that I went out on my own... in my FREEDOM...I would end up looking like Roger Kaputnik on Berg's book...BOUND by the bandages of the CONSEQUENCES OF MY ACTIONS. I was FREE all right... FREE to make mistakes...and FREE to REAP...what I SOWED. The saying is..."SOW TO THE WIND...REAP THE WHIRLWIND."



Jesus proclaimed that we would know the TRUTH and the TRUTH would SET US FREE...INDEED. (John 8:32) NOTE: This is one of the most misquoted...out of contexts sayings of Jesus ever perpetrated.

People use this misquote as their rationale for "speaking their mind"... after all they were only speaking the truth...and the Good Book says that you will know the truth and the truth would set you FREE. They are only trying to set people FREE...with their truth.

Newspapers...print this verse on their masthead of their paper...because as we all know...if it is printed in the newspaper (or internet, on the radio, from the pulpit, on T.V)...that it must be TRUE...thus we will be FREE...if we know all the FACTS. Someone gives someone else a "piece of their mind" so the other person will know the TRUTH...after all...I am only speaking what is TRUE.

NOTE: Why is it that when someone is giving someone else a PIECE of their minds... they are never at PEACE in their mind? NOTE TO THE NOTE: Just because you have something to SAY...does not mean that you have to SAY IT.

The people who quote John 8:32...almost never quotes John 8:31..."Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him...IF (the condition) you ABIDE in MY WORD...you are my DISCIPLES indeed." Therein...lies the problem. We try to be FREE...without the IF CONDITION.

The previous picture...is how our FREEDOM was obtained. This last picture...drawn by my son Phillip... is how we keep FREE. The empty cross represents the fact that He died, He was buried...BUT...HE ROSE AGAIN. (Galatians 2:20)

Paul encourages us..."Stand Fast therefore in the LIBERTY/FREEDOM by which CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE...and do not be ENTANGLES again with a YOKE OF BONDAGE."
(Galatians 5:1). The potential for us to look like the first picture of Houdini...after we have been set free is highly possible...if...we don't follow the IF in John 8:31. If we don't CONTINUE...if we don't ABIDE in His Words.

"For you have been called to LIBERTY/FREEDOM...only do not USE LIBERTY/FREEDOM as an OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH..but through LOVE...SERVE ONE ANOTHER." (Galatians 5:13)

When we FREE...we have choice...free will...and we can choose to open the door for the flesh with our FREEDOM...or use our FREEDOM to open the door to LOVE...and SERVE ONE ANOTHER...instead of serving our FLESH.

"I say then...WALK by the SPIRIT and you shall not fulfill the LUST OF THE FLESH. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit...and the Spirit against the flesh...and these are CONTRARY to one another...so that you do NOT DO THE THINGS YOU WISH." (Galatians 5:16,17)

Our concept of FREEDOM...is to DO THE THINGS YOU WISH. You wish to get drunk...you wish to have immoral sexual relationships...you wish to do this or do that...all in the name of FREEDOM...but the things that you do...thinking you are FREE...are really locking, chaining, binding you back again...as you think you are FREE.

Teenagers...and even adults...think they are FREE to have sex outside of marriage...and get pregnant...and act as if that is normal and O.K. We can abort as a matter of convenience. Married people think they are FREE to commit adultery. Males/Females think they can go outside the boundaries of God...and have sex with whoever, whatever, and whenever the please. After all they are ADULTS...and are FREE to do whatever they want. We think we can eat like hogs...and not gain weight...and then wonder why we are sick all of the time (my own personal vice).

NOTE: Check out the DISCLAIMER ONE MORE TIME.

Final Words Finally...and it's about time

What can I do?

"And those who are Christ's...HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh (identified with the cross and Christ's death on the cross... ala Galatians 2:20)..with it's passions and desires. If we LIVE IN THE SPIRIT...let us WALK IN THE SPIRIT." (Galatians 5:24-25)

Love and FREE INDEED KISSES
Rodney "Check Out The Disclaimer" Boyd

THIS IS FOR ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE

Greetings to all the LONELY and non-LONELY people of the world.

No...this is not a picture of a new singing group called Bruce Coble and The Temptation Resisters. It is a picture of four Kenyans who are encouraged by a visit from Bruce. Bruce has lead many people to many countries (including in town and in the U.S.A.) to encourage people who are in isolated places. Missionaries... can be lonely and isolated in their ministry...and just to have someone come (the journey is part of the gift) and break the rut of loneliness...can really uplift them.

LONELY: (1) affected with characterized by or causing depressing feeling of being alone, lonesome (2) destitute of sympathetic or friendly companionship, support, etc. (3) lone, solitary; without company, companion less (4) remote from places of human habitation, desolate, unfrequented (5) standing apart; isolated.

People can be lonely in a crowd...or lonely by themselves. This thing called loneliness is not limited to economic, social, racial, gender, or religion.

When I went to Kenya Africa...in Kisumu in the Suba district...on the shore of Lake Victoria...God spoke to me some things that impacted my life on my return to America.

1. People Need The Lord: Over and over and over and over again...I kept hearing this song in my head...especially the line..."People Need The Lord...." It was a song that I originally heard on a 700 Club commercial with Danibelle Hall singing... about people who needed the Lord. Steve Green also recorded this song. I would be in the middle of throngs of people or by myself...and that song would come come into my head...and tears would well up in my eyes. I tried to brush away the tears throughout the trip...but they would return.

NOTE: Loneliness...can be in isolation...or in the middle of a crowded room...in your family...in a mega-church...or in a home church...with one person...or in the 7 billion people of the world.
People attempt to fill in the loneliness with more people...with drugs, alcohol, laughter, a hard shell exterior not letting anyone in, religion, intellectualism, hedonism, multiple sex partners, etc...but they always come up empty after the laughter dies down...after the drugs, sex, drinks expreience wears off...after you sober up...in your body and your mind...and you are still left with loneliness.

2. Teach the FULL COUNSEL OF THE LORD: I was taken aback by these words...because I barely was able to teach what I knew. I was not even sure that I knew what the "full counsel" was. When Paul was exhorting the Ephesian Elders...he said..."For I have note shunned to declare to you THE WHOLE/FULL COUNSEL OF THE LORD." (Acts 20:27) At this point...this is what I believe the Lord is wanting me to teach:

a. Be born again (John 3:3-5)
b. The Baptism in/of/with the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13)
c. Put on God's armor (Ephesians 6:11-17)
d. As for and receive the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
e. Witness to God and minister to others as you receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit
(Romans 12:3-9; I Corinthians 12:7-10; I Peter 4:10)
f. Learn and practice the principle of the Kingdom of God.

Of course...the words PEOPLE NEED THE LORD...is the reason for taking the teaching up a notch. NOTE TO THE NOTE: You can wear yourself out...burn yourself out...expend yourself to where you are no good to anyone. David Wilkerson (The Cross and The Switchblade) found himself in this condition...until the Lord spoke to him..."The people's needs do not have a call on your life...I do." Pray...and do what God tells you to do...one person at a time.

3-At one point...we were in a small aircraft...flying low over the land...and again PEOPLE NEED THE LORD was reverberating in my heart...as I was looking out the window. We were low enough to see the forms of the people and the animals...the details of the huts and houses...the fences...the water...and I noticed that there were patches of green lushness...and large patches of dried, brown land. As I was taking all of this in...I felt impressed by the Lord that...this was the condition of the physical land of Africa. And then I was swept away with the thought that...this was the condition of the hearts of the people of Africa. Some were lonely, dried up, in famine and drought conditions...while others were flourishing in their spirits with their relationships with the Lord. Then I sensed that this was the condition of the world at large (including America). As this was unfolding before me...I was agreeing with the Lord..."Yes, Lord...I see this...I agree with this...yes...THEY need the Lord." The kicker was...and Rodney...this is your condition also. There are areas in your life...that are lush, wet, growing in Me...but there are also areas of dried, brown, desolate areas...that I want to touch in you...so others will be watered....and revived. NOTE: A lot of this has unfolded to me over the years.


Back in the 70's...there was a group called America...who had big hits...Ventura Highway, A Horse With No Name...and LONELY PEOPLE. Dan Peek (third person on the right on the album cover)...dropped out of the band because he could not take the drug use and lifestyle...and returned to his Christian roots. Dan took the song Lonely People (that he originally wrote with his wife Catherine)...and slightly changed the words. It already sang like a Christian song...but with the rewrite...it expressed more his faith.

LONELY PEOPLE
This is for all the lonely people
Thinking life has passed them by
Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup
And GIVE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST

Well, He's coming back someday
He's coming back to take us home

NOTE: The line was..."and ride that highway to the sky."

In 1966...The Beatles released an album called Revolver. One of the songs on the album was an unusual song called ELEANOR RIGBY. What made the song unusual was the fact that none of the Beatles played instruments on this song...and it had a double string quartet accompanying Paul singing lead...and John and George singing harmonies.

ELEANOR RIGBY

Ah...look at all the lonely people
Ah...look at all the lonely people

All the lonely people...where do they all come from
All the lonely people...where to they all belong

Between these to sets of words...was the story of Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie...each with loneliness being their connection.

PEOPLE NEED THE LORD.

The current population of the world is over 7 Billion people. Over 7 Billion PEOPLE need the Lord.

FINAL THOUGHTS FINALLY...

Everyone that is reading this Ruminator Rambling...either is lonely, has been lonely, gonna be lonely...or knows someone who is lonely. This thing called loneliness is either self inflicted as we isolate ourselves from people, or separated from people by circumstances/situations, or isolated from people by satanic schemes as the devil cuts off people from people in order to confuse, discourage, and overwhelm them with a sense of hopelessness.

"A man who isolates himself...seeks his own desire...." (Pro-Verbs 18:1)

"And the Lord said...It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:18)

"And let us consider one another in order to provoke/stir up love and good works...not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-24)

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said...I will never leave you nor forsake you...SO we may boldly say...The Lord is my HELPER I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Hey...PEOPLE NEED THE LORD. If you are lonely...find someone else is lonely.

"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name...I am there in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)

"Two are better than one...because they have a good rewarded for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls...for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm...but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

PEOPLE NEED THE LORD...and you may be the one who can break the cycle of loneliness in someones life.

Love and Lonely No More Kisses
Rodney "Two Or Three" Boyd

THE FORMULA FOR LIFE: V=P-O

Welcome O Ye Believers in the D.B.R...N.M.N.L.
(Death, Burial, Resurrection...Nothing More... Nothing Less).

In this sick and dying world (in spite of all of the technological, medical, quasi-spiritual advancements)...we sure could use a FORMULA FOR LIFE. Many moons ago...we heard of a formula for life...that sticks with me to this day. It was given to us by a biochemist who was a believer in the Death, Burial, Resurrection. The formula: V=P-O (Vitality) equals (Potential) minus (Obstructions). His premise was...it you could remove the obstruction in our blood system...that was blocking your potential...you could reach maximum vitality. More to follow on that premise.

Huey Lewis and the News sang about that in their hit...I WANT A NEW DRUG...

"I want a new drug...one that won't make me sick...one that won't make me crash my car...or make me feel three feet thick...I want a new drug...one that won't hurt my head...one that won't make my mouth too dry...or make my eyes to red...one that won't make me nervous...wondering what to do...one that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you...When I'm alone with you...."

The song continues as Huey lists the things about this new drug that would not spill, cost too much, come in a pill, won't go away, keep him up all night, won't make him sleep all day, that does what it should, won't make him feel too bad, won't make him feel too good, one with no doubt, one that won't make him talk too much...or make his face break out. OH IF SOMEONE COULD COME UP WITH A FORMULA...TO DEVELOP A DRUG...THAT WOULD GIVE US ALL THAT WE WANTED OR NEEDED.

Of course the problem with mankind mixing chemicals together to help alleviate pain and suffering in the world... is that nothing...can chemically touch our spirits and souls. We may help the body with a pill...or may not...but nothing can fill the emptiness of our voided God space deep within us.

Jerry Lewis in one of my favorite movies...THE NUTTY PROFESSOR...tried to mix an elixir that would take him from being a nerdish professor and ended up with his altar ego...Buddy Love...in a Jekyll and Hyde comedic experience. What started out as a noble scientific effort...resulted in tragic consequences.

I am reminded that I am always trying to come up with ways to bypass God's formula for my life...to make things easier...more palatable...where I can continue to do the things I do..(good, bad and ugly)...and not have to turn to God. The results are the same as The Nutty Professor's...but not as comedic.

VITALITY (God's Abundant Life) equals (=) POTENTIAL (What I can be in Him) minus (-) OBSTRUCTIONS (Sin).

For this formula to work...you must realize:

1-There is none righteous...no not one: (Romans 3:10)

2-All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God:

(Romans 3:23)

3-The wages of sin is death: (Romans 6:23)

4-It is appointed for men to die once...but after this judgement

(Hebrews 9:27)

5-Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)

6-The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23)

7-Death, Burial, Resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-5)

8-Confess, Believe, Be Saved (Romans 10:8-10)

9-God demonstrated His love toward us...in that while we were YET/STILL sinners...CHRIST DIED FOR US...as we are justified (just as if I'd never sinned) by His BLOOD...we are SAVED from wrath...through Him (Jesus) (Romans 5:8-9)

10-This salvation is not on the BASIS of DEEDS/WORKS that we do...but all that HE DID. (Titus 3:5/Ephesians 2:8-10/I Peter 3:18/II Corinthians 5:14-15)

11-When you are IN CHRIST you are NEW CREATIONS...OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY... BEHOLD NEW THINGS HAVE COME (II Corinthians 5:17)

12-IN CHRIST...you go from...there is none righteous not not one...to being THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST...IN GOD. (II Corinthians 5:21)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY...NO REALLY...FINALLY.

If we are satisfied with this life...and the man-made formula's that we concoct...the nothing I have said makes any sense...BUT...if we are really searching...and can't make it on our own...I have got the formula for you...D.B.R...N.M.N.L....DEATH (in our place)...BURIAL..and His RESURRECTION...NOTHING MORE...NOTHING LESS.

Love and Nutty Professor Kisses

Rodney "Minus Obstructions of Sin by The Cross" Boyd

WHY DO I DO THE THINGS I DO?

Greeting to all who read these things...and actually enjoy them. Some of you may be asking yourself...
"Self...why does Rodney do the things that he does?"

Sometimes I wonder that myself. What would convince a man to spend hours on a computer...typing out observations on life...ruminating on the things he sees swirling around him...and then mailing them out to other people to read. What would convince a man to take his eight year

ME AND PHILLIP SWIMMING IN THE AMAZON

old son down the Amazon River... swim in that same river...travel down a path into a jungle with his family...OR...leave his family to go to Africa to teach in a place that was at the end of the road...and then share with a group of people in a church by the name of CHURCH BY THE LAKE NEXT TO THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE?

Why would a man take great joy in seeing his son take the plunge under the waters...in front of God and a house full of people.

What would cause a man to stay with one woman for 38 years...and raise a son in the ways of what some consider antiquated rules and a mythological god...created by man to alleviate guilt?




PHILLIP TAKING A TRIP IN AND OUT OF THE WATERGRAVE

What would cause a man...to not climb a corporate ladder...and spend more time with his family...while the rest of the world is in the RAT RACE? It really is true...that if you win the RAT RACE...you become the #1 RAT.


Why would a man waste his time... developing Bible Studies...and go to a country....to share with others who will go out into the world...and possibly practice what you have taught in life or death situations?

What would cause a guy to use every experience that he has accumulate over the years...including, social, political, entertainment, good, bad and ugly things in his life...and hold his failures up for all to see...as the see all the warts, scars, and cause and effect in his life?


ME AND BRUCE WITH WORLD CHANGERS IN QUATEMALA

What would cause a man to dedicate every Sunday morning...and even on some Wednesday nights...to teach a group of people how to walk by faith and not by sight? What would possess a man to take 40 years of his life... and commit them to walking with a God that he can't see...with a Saviour that he has never met physically... and a Comforter...that dwells inside of him? What cause a guy to put himself out in front of people...and open himself up to criticism, when he really does not want to offend anyone?

THE RUMINATOR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS (a great group of people)

WHY DO I DO THE THINGS I DO?

Because I have a deep, abiding love for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Because in 1970 I went from being a paranoid, insecure, suicidal case...to being SET FREE...and being FREE INDEED. Because...I empathize with people who struggle with their faith... and their flesh...and KNOW from personal experience that you can WALK IN THE SPIRIT...and not in the fles. Because...I know that no matter where you are in the world... people are the same. Cultures may change...but the need for a Saviour is the same all around the world.

TEACHING AT A DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING SCHOOL IN KENYA

When I went to Kenya Africa...the second time...God spoke to me about some specific things in my life. (1) People Need The Lord (2) Teach the Full Counsel of the Lord (3) Flying low over Africa...the brown/dry land mixed with lushness was the condition of the physical land of Africa...the people of Africa...the world...and most specifically ME. (4) God's desire was to water and bring lushness to every area. (5) Begin to proclaim the Kingdom in its fullness and power.

I have a desire to see lost people saved...and a real desire to see saved people to walk in the fullness of all that God has for them.

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers...FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS...for the WORK OF THE MINISTRY... for the EDIFYING (building up) OF THE BODY OF CHRIST....till we come to the unity of the faith...and of the knowledge of the Son of God...to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...that we should NO LONGER BE CHILDREN, TOSSED TO AND FRO AND CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE...by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting...but SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE...may GROW UP in all things into Him who is the head--Christ...from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the EFFECTIVE WORKING by which every part does its share...causes GROWTH OF THE BODY...for the EDIFYING OF ITSELF IN LOVE." (Ephesians 4:11-16)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY...NO REALLY...FINALLY!

Well that is a thumbnail sketch about why I do the things I do. Oh we could spend hours about the quirks, strange ways, the movie and song references, the skewed humour, the bad grammar, the pathetic punctuation...but that's for another day. Suffice to say...I do what I do because I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself...and I WANT YOU to live life to the fullest.

Love and Doing Kisses
Rodney "Thanks To All Of You" Boyd

Old Saint to New Saint Fellowship

Hey ya'll...what's da Word?

"That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN, with our eyes, which we have LOOKED upon and our hands have HANDLED concerning the WORD OF LIFE...the life was manifested, and we have SEEN and BEAR WITNESS, and DECLARE to you that eternal life which was WITH the Father and was MANIFESTED to us...that which we have SEEN and HEARD we DECLARE to you...that you also may have FELLOWSHIP with us; and truly our FELLOWSHIP is with the Father and with His Son JESUS CHRIST."
(I John 1:1-3)

FELLOWSHIP: partnership, participation, intercourse, benefaction, communicate, communion, distribution.

Having something in common...with those "old saints" of days gone by...seems like an impossibility. Sure we have the ability to read about the history of the events...but to actually have a partnership...a participation...to communicate and have a common communion with them seems so distant...so far away. After all...they had first hand experience with Jesus.

They...those in the past...have heard, seen, looked upon, handled, and bore witness this thing called eternal life...BUT they wanted the readers of the letter...the epistle...the book...to have KOINONIA with them. Not only to have fellowship with them...but also to have fellowship with (1) the Father (2) the Son...Jesus the Christ.


John...also wrote a gospel of discourse...called The Gospel According to John. In that Gospel...he opens up with...

"In the beginning was the WORD (Jesus)...and the WORD (Jesus) was with God (the Father)...and the WORD (Jesus) was God. He (Jesus) was in the beginning with God (the Father). All things were made through Him (Jesus) and with Him (Jesus) nothing was made that was made. In Him (Jesus) was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5)

"And the WORD (Jesus) became flesh (human) and dwelt among us, and we beheld His (Jesus) glory as of the only BEGOTTEN (Son) of the Father (God), full of grace and truth.


The link...the connecting point... the thing that makes us have communion and something in common with the "old saints"...to us "new saints" is THE WORD OF GOD. This connection is two fold...(1) the Word in the form of Jesus...via His D.B.R., the Death, Burial, and Resurrection which includes the cross and shed blood....and (2) the Written Word of God...that is more than just a book on paper...but it is a LIVING WORD.

"For the WORD OF GOD...is LIVING and POWERFUL, and SHARPER than any tow-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit (human) and of joints and marrow, and is a DISCERNER of the THOUGHTS and INTENTS of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

For us to have FELLOWSHIP with one another...and with the Father...and with Jesus...we must have a relationship with THE WORD. That relationship starts out with our EARS...(physical and spiritual ears)...as FAITH comes...by HEARING...and HEARING by the WORD OF GOD. (Romans 10:17) Oh that we would have the ears of that picture of the dog.

Another connection that we have...is THROUGH the "old saint's" WORDS. "I (Jesus) do not pray for these ("old saints" alone...BUT ALSO...those who will BELIEVE IN ME...THROUGH THEIR WORD." (John 17:20) Jesus gave explicit orders to the eleven... and gave marching orders to (1) Go (2) make disciples of all the nations (3) baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit (4) teach them (the made disciples) ALL THINGS that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Our KOINONIA...with "old saints"...with the Father...with the Son...and with one another in the local church (gathering of saints)...and the church (gathering of saints) around the world will be through THE WORD...JESUS...by the substance of things hoped for...the evidence of things not revealed to the senses. (Hebrews 11:1)

As a RUMINATOR...someone who chews on the cud of the WORD OF GOD...I said all of that to say this...
Begin to moo and chew on NOT just a historical doctrine...but the LIVING WORD OF GOD.

"For the WORD OF GOD 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 purpose of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 The Amplified Bible)


AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR..THE RUMINATOR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS. If you are in the area...and would like to join the herd to moo and chew on THE WORD OF GOD... I would like to invite you to join us at:

Smyrna Assembly
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
(615) 459-3421
www.SmyrnaAssembly.org

The herd gathers at 9:00 A.M. as we begin to have KOINONIA over food, fun, fellowship, and breaking of the bread of the Word of God.

Love and Koinonia Kisses
Rodney "Mooin' and Chewin' On Da Word of God" Boyd

HAPPY 38TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

GOD morning to one and all.

NOTE: Be sure to click on the collage to get the full view.

This morning...July 14th 2010...is the day of celebration that impacted my life forever. 38 years ago...on this day... July 14th 1972...I said I DO to Brenda Sue Williams and she said I DO to Rodney Lewis Boyd...and we became Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Boyd. WOW!!!

NOTE: For details of why we have been together for 41 years...see TOP TEN REASONS THAT WE HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 41 YEARS.

We started dating 41 years ago at Central High School (Yes...High School Sweethearts). Our first date was at a bonfire for Homecoming and then splitting a large half hamburger...half mushroom pizza
from SIR PIZZA...that we only ate one or two slices from. NOTE: After my 40th high school reunion...we went to SIR PIZZA and devoured a large ROYAL FEAST.

We would go on double dates with Bruce Fortner (lead singer for the band I was in called The Blind Distortion...and son of the founder of Sir Pizza in TN). I was...and still am very shy...and I could not have a conversation with Brenda at the time...SO Bruce recommended that I talk about something I was interested in to start the conversation. At the time...the controversy about Paul McCartney being dead was aflame...and I knew all the clues...SO...when we picked Brenda up at her home on 4th avenue (the same driveway where she led me to the Lord and I got saved)...Bruce said..."Rodney...why don't you tell us about Paul McCartney being dead." I responded..."O.K. Bruce"...and reached around and pulled out a hand full of albums and began to lecture on the clues about Paul being dead. Brenda was enthralled over my vast Musicology knowledge...NOT!!! We also went to a homecoming dance (see the photographic evidence of this event)...where again Brenda was amazed at my dancing prowess...NOT!!!! Not unless you considered a skinny kid...shuffling his feet from side to side...snapping my fingers every now and then (however I was proficient as the slow dance. In the words of Tony Joe White in the song Swamp Rap...you can't get nuttin' done slinging your arms around.

Well...to make a long story short...OOPS...to late...we dated...I got saved...I went to Bible School in Chattanooga...I dropped out of Bible School...We got married....We got Baptized in/of/with the Holy Spirit...I backslide...I came back to the Lord......went to Miracle Baptist...attended New Life Chapel for 15 years...came to Smyrna Assembly of God...blessed with Phillip Stephen Boyd...went to Mexico, Peru (together)...went to Africa (2 times), Guatemala, went to War West Virginia (Brenda and a group)...went to school change majors multiple times...along with multiple jobs...Brenda started out working at Mr. D's and then became a dental assistant (working at an orthodontics office and was the first employee at what is now known as Wild About Smiles)...sold our house and moved into married student housing...and now...here we are 38 years +....still standing...still loving...still loving the Lord.

I would like to shout out to the world I STILL LOVE BRENDA...AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. I am a blessed man to have met a woman like Brenda...and on top of that...she saw something at me...that made her want to spend the rest of her life with me....in spite of my shortcomings... she ALWAYS saw potential in me...and has been a source of ENCOURAGEMENT to me.

Happy Anniversary Brenda

Love and Continued Kisses
Rodney "Blessed Indeed" Boyd