DAT'S JUST DA BEAST IN ME

Greetings O Ye Saints...and you know who you are...or are not.

A saint is usually thought of as someone who is perfect...no flaws...above the fray of the rabble of this world. Biblically...saints are not perfect but are forgiven...because it's not who YOU are...but who HE is in you.

SAINT: ko-desh=a sacred place or thing , a consecrated thing, a dedicated thing, a hallowed thing, saint, sanctuary

SAINT: hagios= an awful thing, sacred, blameless, consecrated

"Therefore...if any man...wo-man...hu-man...is IN CHRIST...he/she/they are new creations/creature...the OLD THINGS are passed away...behold...NEW THINGS have and are constantly coming." (II Corinthians 5:17)

In the movie JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)...Elvis' character...Vince...grabs Judy Tyler (can't remember her character's name)...and plants a wet, sloppy kiss on her. She pulls away and says..."Don't use those tactics on me!" Elvis...slightly smiles...and says..."Dem ain't tactics... that's just da BEAST IN ME."



"Even he who is pure in heart...and say his prayers by night...can become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms...and the autumn moon is bright." (From the movie The Wolfman quoted by the old gypsy woman over Larry Talbot who was cursed with the BEAST within him).

In the year 2000 there was a CD released by a group called KENNEDY, KIRKPATRICK, MADERIA & SPRAGUE...called COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE This was a collection of musical artists and writers who recorded the songs that they have written...but recorded by other artists. The title song off of that project is the one that caught my attention. It was NOT recorded by others...but a new song...recorded by the boys themselves. The title is COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE...ala the project title.

The first song sounds like CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH...from the acoustic guitar (ala David Crosby)...electric guitar (ala Stephen Stills) and tight vocal harmonies (ala David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash). Here's a glimpse of the lyrics...

Left to myself...it's not a pretty picture
Me and my will...it's such a deadly picture
I am first...and you're the least
That's the NATURE OF THE BEAST

If there's any love...any evidence of...if there's any good inside myself...IT'S COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE

I draw from the WELL...I drink the LIVING WATER
I look through the veil...SEE THE MERCY OF THE FATHER
Leave it to the Prince of Peace
To CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

Coming from...coming from SOMEWHERE ELSE
Somewhere , where there's PERFECT LOVE
Won't you take me there?
Take me there...SOMEWHERE ELSE

Well...those lyrics hit me where I feel like I am...and where I am NOT. In 1970...I was confused...paranoid...fearful...and felt as if I was controlled by the BEAST IN ME. I was a torn person. I was dating Brenda...in love...BUT at the same time...my life was a total wreck. I had a BEAST within me...that was craving many things...and the more I tried to fed DA BEAST...with drugs, booze, sniffing various chemicals, music, good times...DA BEAST was never SATISFIED. In the fall of 1970...Brenda led me to the Lord...and the hold of the BEAST was loosed. It was like night and day...I was FREE...but by 1972... the BEAST reared it's ugly head...and I was doing more sin and trapped by the beast more that I was before I became a Christian. I tried to CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE BEAST... but was unable to do so. It's like the song says..."Left to myself...IT'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE...me and my will...IT'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE.


Paul wrote of this struggle in Romans 7.

NOTE: The great theological debate is (1) Paul was talking about his life B.C... before Christ (2) Paul was talking about his life A.C....after Christ. I really don't care it was before or after...I have experienced in both time frames.

"I do not understand my own actions--I am baffled, bewildered. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe (which my moral instinct condemns]. Now if I [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent ) and that I take sides with it. However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin[principle] which is AT HOME IN ME...and has POSSESSION of me. For I know that NOTHING GOOD dwells within me, that is, IN MY FLESH. I can will what is right, but no power to carry it out; For I fail to PRACTICE the good deeds I DESIRE TO DO, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it--it is not myself that acts--but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul]." (Romans 6:15-20 The Amplified Bible)

The question that Paul asks...and the answer the song COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE underscores is the same thing that Paul declares...

I draw from THE WELL...I drink the LIVING WATER
I look through the veil...See the MERCY OF THE FATHER.
Leave it to the PRINCE OF PEACE
To CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

"O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? O thank God--HE WILL! Through JESUS CHRIST...THE ANOINTED ONE...OUR LORD!..." (Romans 7:24-25 The Amplified Bible)

Well...Dem may not be tactics...but just da beast in me...I know from personal experience...that my help...any good in me is...COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. I am drinking from the well...LIVING WATER...AND I look through the "veil of His flesh" and do see THE MERCY OF THE FATHER. Lord...thank you for changing...and constantly changing...the nature of the beast. I will proclaim who I AM (a new creation IN CHRIST...the OLD THINGS (da beast within me)...has PASSED AWAY...NEW THINGS...are constantly coming as I become transformed into the image of Christ...moment by moment...day by day...from glory to glory.

Love and Changed Kisses
Rodney "Coming From Somewhere Else" Boyd

DAT'S JUST DA BEAST IN ME!

Greetings Chewers of da Cud...how's the beast? Back in 1957...I was 6 years old...I saw a movie at the Starlight Drive-In....with my Mom and Dad...called JAILHOUSE ROCK. The EP record...(EP=a 45 rpm piece of vinyl that was not a full album but held 5 or 6 songs. VINYL= round pieces of plastic with grooves cut into them that when a needle is place on them and they revolve around...emits sound from a record player)...was one of the first record I owned.

As some of you know...when my friends were listening to Mary Had A Little Lamb...I was singing..."the warden had a party in the county jail."

The movie was the picture that Elvis never watched...because his co-star...Judy Tyler was killed in a car wreck after she made the movie. It is the tale of a truck driver who gets into a bar fight...and he kills a man in the fight. He is sent to prison...meets up with someone who teaches him how to play the guitar...and soon is elevated to the national limelight...with a song called Jailhouse Rock. When he gets out of prison...the story continues with him meeting a girl who promotes his music...and he skyrockets to the top. Elvis' character gets caught up in himself and turns into a jerk...and then through a series of events...comes back to being a good guy. At one point he gets into another fight and receives a punch into his larynx (lar-inks) and loses his voice. I consider it to be one of Elvis' better movies (although I like them all...even the bad ones...with King Creole being my favorite).

One of my favorite scenes is where Elvis and Judy are walking down the street...and Elvis stops and grabs her...and plants a wet, sloppy kiss on her resistant lips. She pushes away and says..."Don't use those tactics on me." Elvis responds with QUOTABLE QUOTE. He looks at her...and smiles a sneer...and says..."Dem ain't tactics...dat's just da BEAST in me."


Funny line...but at times...a little close to reality in me.

"Therefore...if any man is IN CHRIST...he is a NEW CREATION...the OLD THINGS passed away...behold...NEW THINGS have come." (II Corinthians 5:17)

Well...one would wish...that...this was the end of the story. I once was a boogerhead...and now I am not a boogerhead. But over the years...the NEW CREATION...at times...acted like the OLD CREATION.

"For the good that I wish...I do not do...but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I don 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 one who wishes to do good." (Romans 7:19-21)

I find myself...trying to excuse myself for my actions...by saying..."Dem ain't tactics...dat's just da beast in me." Well...that excuse does not hold water for the believer.

"Even he who is pure in heart...can become a wolf...when the wolf bane blooms...and the Autumn moon is bright." (From the 1941 movie The Wolfman starring Lon Chaney Jr.).

A cursory reading of New Testament epistles (letters...not the wife of an apostle)...shows that a lot of them are letters of correction for believers...who are not acting like believers. They are people who lack no spiritual gift, like the church in Corinth, whose beast manifest in the form of partisanship in the church, getting drunk, spiritual pride, sexual immorality, chaotic services etc.

Other letters reveal Paul rebuking Peter for acting one way around one set of believers...and then acting another way around others.

The book of Galatians is written to FREE PEOPLE....NEW CREATIONS...who go back to their OLD WAYS...like dogs back to their vomit.

"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) In other words...KEEP THE BEAST IN LINE.

"For you were CALLED TO FREEDOM...brethren...only DO NOT TURN YOUR FREEDOM... into an OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH...but through love serve one another."
(Galatians 5:13) It appears this BEAST...is kept at bay...by LOVE...expressed towards one another.

The key to victory over this beast...is like Paul said in Romans 6:24-25...
"Wretched man that I am! Who will SET ME FREE from the body of this death?" The answer is the same ONE who originally set us free...and who can restore us..."Thanks be to GOD through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD..."

"You foolish Galatians...who has bewitched you...before whose eyes...JESUS CHRIST WAS PUBLICLY PORTRAYS AS CRUCIFIED. This is the only thing I want to find out from you; did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS of the Law, or by HEARING WITH FAITH? Are you so foolish? Having BEGUN by the SPIRIT...are you now being PERFECTED BY THE FLESH?"
(Galatians 3:1-3)

"But I say...WALK BY THE SPIRIT...and you WILL NOT...carry out the DESIRE OF THE FLESH." (Galatians 5:16)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...against such things there is no law."
(Galatians 5:22)

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and desires...If we LIVE by the Spirit...let us also WALK BY THE SPIRIT." (Galatians 6:22-25)

"I HAVE BEEN...crucified with Christ...and it is no longer I who lives...but CHRIST LIVES IN ME..and the life which I NOW LIVE...I live by FAITH in the Son of God...who DELIVERED HIMSELF UP FOR ME." (Galatians 2:20)

"I protest, brethren...by the boasting i you...which I have in Christ Jesus...I DIE DAILY." (I Corinthians 15:31)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

God's heartbeat for us is NOT...that the BEAST/FLESH in us would dominate us...but that we would WALK IN FREEDOM. The answer to that freedom is the same answer that got us there in the first place...FAITH IN THE D.B.R...DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION...NOTHING MORE...NOTHING LESS.

We can only identify with the cross...the blood of Jesus...mercy...grace...love...faith....and believe that the PROPITIATION was enough.

"He SAVED us...not on the BASIS OF DEEDS...which we have done in righteousness...but according to HIS MERCY...by the (1) washing of regeneration (2) renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)

Love and Non-Beasty Kisses
Rodney "Beauty and The New Creation" Boyd

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

Greetings SAVED or LOST ones. The burning question that is usually asked...if you ask someone if they are saved...is SAVED FROM WHAT? Or there will be a plethora of jokes about Jesus Saves...but Moses Invests.

Bob Dylan experienced SALVATION (being saved) after attending Bible studies at the Vineyard in California. The expression of that experience was first seen in his album...Slow Train Coming. The Times They Are A Changing...and so was his life. The follow up album was called simply....SAVED. Before we look at some definitions of the word SAVE, SAVED...let's see how Bob view this salvation experience:

SAVED

I was blinded by the devil...borned already ruined
Stone cold dead as I stepped out of the womb

NOTE: Wow...talk about acknowledging the spiritual condition. These two lines blow me away every time I hear them.

By His GRACE I have been TOUCHED
By His WORD I have been HEALED
By His HAND I've been DELIVERED
By His SPIRIT I've been SEALED
I've been SAVED...by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB
SAVED...by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB
SAVED...SAVED...

NOTE: The problem was stated...and now the SOLUTION has been underscored. The solution...getting SAVED...and it through THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB...aka...JESUS. That SALVATION was expressed by GRACE, THE WORD, HIS HAND AND HIS SPIRIT. The CAUSE AND EFFECT of these things are being: (1) touched (2) healed (3) delivered (4) sealed.

And I'm so glad...yes...I'm so glad
I'm so glad...so glad
I want to thank you Lord...I just want to thank you Lord
Thank you Lord

NOTE: When you have been living in darkness...lost...being brought into the light and SAVED...floods you with a heart of thanksgiving and gladness.

By His TRUTH I can be UPRIGHT
By His STRENGTH I do ENDURE
By His POWER I've been LIFTED
In His LOVE I am SECURE
He BOUGHT me with a PRICE
FREED me from the PIT...full of EMPTINESS and WRATH...and the FIRE that BURNS WITHIN

NOTE: Once saved...the WORK CONTINUES. We can stand upright, have endurance, be lifted up, have security all because He bought us WITH THE PRICE of his blood and life as He became the PROPITIATION, SUBSTITUTE, SATISFACTION in our place.

NOTE: Bob repeats the course of thankfulness and gladness to the Lord for what He has done by the blood of the Lamb.

Nobody to RESCUE me...nobody would DARE
I was GOING DOWN for the LAST TIME
But by His MERCY I've BEEN SPARED
Not by WORKS...but by FAITH IN HIM who called
For so long I've been HINDERED
For so long I've been STALLED

NOTE: Needing rescue, going down, hindered and stalled were the conditions...RESCUE, MERCY, SPARED, by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB.


This picture is from the book REMEMBER THE WORD by Jerry Lucas. It is a Bible Memorization System that utilizes pictures...to bring the themes of the Bible alive. Matthew 1:21 is seen here..."And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name JESUS for He shall SAVE His people from their SINS." Note the picture of the bear with the sun/son. He shall BEAR their sins.

One of the pictures in the first collage is Elvis...dancing the JAILHOUSE ROCK.
There was another version of JAILHOUSE ROCK found in the book of Acts as Paul and Silas were in JAIL...praising God at midnight...and an EARTHQUAKE rocked the JAIL. The guard ran in...and found the doors open...and was going to commit suicide...rather than face the wrath of the authorities for letting the prisoners escape. Paul shouted out..."Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Nelly!" Don't do that...we are here." (Rumiantor Version).

"And brought them out and said...Sirs...WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? And they said...BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus...and thous shalt be SAVED and thy house." (Acts 16:30-31)

Paul also stated...For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL (I Corinthians 15:1-5=D.B.R...NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS)...for it is the POWER OF GOD for SALVATION...to the Jew first...and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)

SALVATION: (so-tay-ree-ah)= rescue or safety (physically or morally) deliver, health salvation, save, saving....(so-tare)= a deliverer...that is ...God or Christ...saviour. (sode-zo)=to save, that is deliver or protect, heal, preserve, save, do well, be whole.

In the book THE SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM (101 lesson on how to share your faith simply, effectively, biblically...the way Jesus did) by KIRK CAMERON and RAY COMFORT...states that the LOST (those not SAVED)... first need to come to the realization that they need a SAVIOUR. The LAW is the schoolteacher...that teaches us our need to turn to someone who can help us keep this thing called the LAW...because WE CAN'T.

Once we come to the point of realizing our need...we can call on a SAVIOUR... by asking...WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED. The answer is...like this storefront church in KENYA, AFRICA says...WELCOME TO JESUS.

What must I do to be SAVED? The answer...'BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus...and you shall be SAVED." (Acts 16:30-31) Direct question...Direct answer.

NOTE: Paul is not talking about an assimilation of historical facts about JESUS. Any lost theologian or demon can BELIEVE.
"But someone may will say...you have faith...and I have works...show me your faith without the works...and I will show you my faith by my works. You BELIEVE that God is one...You do well...the demons...ALSO BELIEVE...and TREMBLE/SHUDDER..." (James 2:18-19)

This thing called BELIEF...goes BEYOND...assimilating of facts...it elicits ACTION. If you BELIEVE...in the DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION OF JESUS...there will be a difference manifested in your life.

"But the righteousness BASED on FAITH...speaks thus...'Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven? (that is to bring Christ down)...or Who will descend into the abyss (that is to bring Christ up from the dead)'...but what does it say? THE WORD IS NEAR YOU IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART...that is the word of faith which we are preaching...that if you CONFESS with your MOUTH...
JESUS AS LORD...and BELIEVE in your heart that God RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD...you SHALL BE SAVED....for with the HEART man BELIEVES...resulting in RIGHTEOUSNESS...and with the MOUTH...he CONFESSES (comes into agreement with God and speaks it forth)...RESULTING (cause and effect)....in SALVATION (being saved from being lost)." (Romans 10:6-10)

"For WHOEVER will CALL upon the NAME OF THE LORD....will be...SAVED." (Romans 10:13)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!!!!

There are many lost intellectual, religious, moral, good work doing people. Some even express a BELIEF (even demons believe and tremble) in Jesus...or at least a BELIEVE in their denomination....BUT that is NOT ENOUGH. Salvation is through the D.B.R...NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS....VIA THE BLOOD OF JESUS. "He SAVED us...NOT on the BASIS of DEEDS/WORKS we have done in righteousness (self)...but ACCORDING TO...His MERCY...by the washing of regeneration and renewing by THE HOLY SPIRIT."
(Titus 3:5)

Love and Believing Kisses
Rodney "Saved" Boyd