Church Hid in the Weeds

CHURCH HID IN THE WEEDS

Just two little boys
Walking down a dusty lane.....
They came upon this old white house..
With broken window panes

The paint was faded, the shine was gone...
The grass had grown so high....
Still they made their little feet
Go see what was inside.

They opened up the squeaky door
And then it came to light....
This must have been an old church house...
Once upon a time.

Dirty, dusty wooden pews...
A pulpit that still stood...
A Bible laid upon it....
Though the pages weren't too go.

An offering plate and song books too...
Were lying on the floor.
They must have left this old church fast...

The day they closed these doors.

And over in the corner ...
A piano was still there.
It must have played a pretty tune..
But I guess nobody cared.

So little Bill looked up at Tommy..
And Tommy looked at Bill...
Why don't we clean this old church up,
And get these old pews filled?'

They took a rag and wiped the dust...
To try and make things shine..
And then they took the offering plate...
And put in it their last dime.

They took a broom and swept the floor...
And picked up broken glass....
They got it all so nice and neat...
And then they mowed the grass.

They lifted up the old church sign...
And stood it by a tree...
Right down by that old dirt road
Where everyone could see.

They ran back home, to find Daddy gone
But their Momma was inside...
Just to find her hurt again...
Where Daddy had made her cry.

'Don't cry Momma,wipe those tears,'
Little Bill and Tommy smiled...
'Cause! We have a big surprise for you....
Just down the road a mile.'

Hand in hand they tugged at her.
Until they made her run....
'What is it Bill, Oh Tommy,
Just what have you two kids done?'

And then they came upon the house...
Once hidden by the weeds...
And there it stood a country church...
Just like it used to be.

'But what is it, Mother? What's with your tears?
We thought this would bring you joy.'
'Yes, but hush kids now and listen close...
My two sweet precious boys.'

They both got quiet and stood real still...
For the words they heard so true....
Was Daddy praying in the church...
With his head bowed on the pew.

'Forgive me Lord! Forgive me Lord!
Though I'm not worthy of Your love...
Shine down on this sinner man
Sweet Salvation from above.'

'For I've been out in the world, You know..
Living my life all wrong...
Until I came upon this church; the place where I belong.'

'I never noticed it before...
All those times I passed it up..
I guess I wasn't looking, Lord...
Or maybe I was drunk.'

'Bless oh Lord, yes, bless oh Lord...
The one who made me see..
This little church that used to hide...
Behind all those tall weeds.'

And then he raised his head and stood...
With his hands high in the air...
To find two dirty, tear-faced boys...
With Momma standing there.

They ran up to him, hugged him tight...
As their tears fell on the floor.
'Don't worry kids, I'm not the Dad,
The one you 've known before.'

Things are different for us now..
So keep on those pretty smiles...
And let's go gather people in...
To walk down these church aisles.'

Then Bill looked up at Tommy...
And Tommy looked at Bill...
'Come on brother, let's get to work...
To get these old pews filled.'

'For we need no special blessing...
For cleaning up this church...
'cause, God gave back our Daddy..
And that's more than gold is worth.'

Sunday morning, pews all filled
And smiles on every face...
Especially two little country boys...
The ones who found this place.

Though it was hid back in the weeds...
And so far out of sight...
Nothing's ever hard to find
If you're walking toward God's light.

1 John 1:7 we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have Fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son Cleanses us from all sin.'
__________________________

"Mistakes" & "Sin"; the difference is crucial

In a writers group we were discussing different kinds of struggles and I started to write about "mistakes and sin" in one of my replies but realized it did not apply to our discussion.
At the same time, though, I realized this topic of "mistakes and sin" is an important issue in the church world so I cut and pasted it into my MS Notebook, to be used later.


"Mistakes" & "Sin";
the difference is crucial


I hope my using the word sin does not offend any body.
I have noticed the last few years that some preachers are even saying words like "mistakes" instead of calling sin, sin.

If I innocently give wrong change that is a mistake.
If I were to purposely distract and confuse a cashier then claim that I gave a larger bill so as to get back more change then I deserve; that is sin. It is the sin of lying, of dishonesty, and of stealing.
I have never done that but I have heard stories of that.

If I am discussing something that I did or went through and get some details wrong because I do not remember clearly that is a mistake.
If I purposely exaggerate how good something is to make myself look better or even intentionally exaggerate how bad something is to get sympathy, either way it is deception which is sin and not "just a mistake".

This post a brief but important thought.

Conclusion:

Not all mistakes need to be repented of
but ALL SIN requires sincere REPENTANCE.

Jesus forgives those with a repentful heart.
Read Psalm 51.
Look up what John the Baptizer preached.
Use your concordance and look up words like
repent,
repentful,
repentance,
and repenting

Any person doing a word study on repent and the different forms of that Word will see for Jesus to forgive us we need to acknowledge our sin not only as mistakes but as sin.
We can not repent of sin that we refuse to acknowledge.

Thank God that even as Christians if we do stumble then (when we repent) Jesus is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us.

If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 KJV

Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill

Balance in the Word of God

About unbalance and balance in the Word of God:
Sin, Love & Repentance


Note:
The following is originally written specifically for Christians.
I will add at the end about how to be saved,
how to be born-again.

Sometimes people get unbalanced.
Even in the Word.

When I was in Bible college a few fellow students from a church that preached God hates sinners was trying to spread that false doctrine in the men's dorm.
It created controversy, divided some friends but in the end they convinced very few or none because most of us knew the Word enough to know that it was wrong.

Some preach about Jesus love without ever preaching or teaching about sin.
If there was no sin there would be no need for a Saviour.
If there is no need of a Saviour then there is no need of the Cross.
If those things were true then all the Cross would be is another philosopher dying for a good cause.
If people are not made aware that they are sinners
(some are aware but not all are aware of that)
then they would not know the importance of the Cross
(Jesus dying for our sins).

And then some react to those who preach love without repentance by preaching judgment and repentance but leaving out Jesus love.
That also is wrong!

God's love for us (for all) is why Jesus died on the Cross and why after His resurrection Jesus is in Heaven praying (making intercession) for us at the right hand of our Heavenly Father.

When you read 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 you will see all a person does for Jesus is empty, useless and means nothing without love.
So God's love in all we do and say is very important.

Keep preaching Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.
Keep preaching of repentance and God's love for all through the Cross.



If you are not saved, if you are not born-again

If you are not saved, if you are not born-again then read John chapter 3, after you finish reading this post.
I will give a Bible link at the end to find an online Bible.

Anyway, in John chapter 3: Jesus said that you must be born-again and mentions that this involves being born of water and spirit. So your spirit needs to be renewed.

Why?
Because the Bible in Romans tells us that all have fallen short of the Glory of God. None have done good, no not one.

Earlier (in the first section of this post)
I mentioned that Jesus died on the Cross,
was in the grave for 3 days,
resurrected after those 3 days in the grave
and is now in Heaven praying for you.

Why did Jesus die on the Cross?
Jesus died on the cross for your sins so that when you repent of your sins and believe upon Him then the sacrifice of Jesus blood which came forth from His wounds at the Cross and His death was in your place and my place so we do not have to face God's wrath.
Jesus loves us that much.
Jesus loves you that much!


You need to:
repent of your sin,
believe in Jesus Christ,
call upon His name,
ask Him into your life
and be willing to serve Him.

Say a prayer with those main ideas in it to God.
Or just pray to Jesus in your own words from your heart.
Remember o thank Jesus for dying in your place.
Thank Him for taking away your sins.
Thank Jesus Christ for loving you eternally!

God wants to use you to glorify Him!
How is that done you might ask?
This is done through learning more
about God and the power of His Holy Spirit
by reading the Holy Bible.
Also, find a Bible believing church to attend regularly!
If you have to visit more then one church for a little while untill you find one that will help spiritually; that is Ok .... at least by attending church or Christian meetings somewhere you will be meeting other Christians and learning from them.

If you do not have a Bible then look up John Chapter 3 at BibleGateWay.com
Click the following hyper-link to read the Bible passage: John Chapter 3


Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill

New Look

Our blog has a new look (less dark).
After all as Christians we should be shining forth the light of Jesus Christ and His love.

I noticed that with this "new look" one of our older blogs is a little more difficut to read (some letters and lines are crowding together in posts that I used larger Fonts for the letters).
Sometime in the future I will fix that.
In the meantime enjoy all of my other blog posts.

Thank you!


Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill

PS I am also experimenting with "Widgets"
so if certain thigs do not look right on this blog,
please forgive me during my learning curve!