ON GOD’S PRESENCE..... May 25, 2012

ON GOD’S PRESENCE..... May 25, 2012

You may or may not believe this, but I have a very vivid memory of my early childhood.  I vividly remember the time when there was a great move of God’s Spirit in our little church in Friendship, Maine.  People were so touched by God’s presence that Sunday night after Sunday night people were receiving the Holy Ghost and people were regularly being baptised in Jesus’ Name.  It was a season of revival as I recall.  During that time there was a young teenage girl who began coming to church and she would be dropped off by her dad for each service and at the end of the service her dad would be there to pick her up.  He usually stayed in the car and to my recollection, he had never been inside the church but was faithful in bringing his daughter to church and picking her up afterward.  I remember he was a very big man, much bigger than my dad.  In those days my dad was like a “bean pole”. What stood out to me was that this very big man drove a little tiny Volkswagen Beetle. One Sunday night the Spirit of God was so strong in the meeting.  People were weeping in the presence of the Lord, and some were even “slain out” in the Spirit. That night Debbie received the baptism of the Holy Ghost! After the church service I remember going to the trailer and dad saying, “I wonder what Debbie’s father thinks when he picks up his daughter as she goes to the car crying each night?  I hope it doesn’t cause a problem for her.”  Well, it was the very next Sunday night that the Spirit was moving once again and like the night’s before, Debbie goes to her father’s car weeping because of the sweet presence of God.  This night, however, her father was visibly disturbed! He got out of his car, walked into the church and pointed his finger at dad and simply beckoned for him to come outside.  I’m not exactly sure what went through my dad’s head at that moment but it appeared that his heart went into his throat as I saw him try to swallow and then it was as though dad went white as a sheet! Without any hesitation dad walked directly over to ME and grabbed my arm and ushered me outside with him. Then MY heart went into MY throat and I began wondering, “What have I done and where are we going!?” I’m quite sure that was the day I peed my pants! Now that I look back at that time, I guess dad realized that he was about to get a “first class throttlin’” and probably would have peed HIS pants! I realize now that he was just wanting his 7 year old son to protect him! HA! The father simply said to dad, “Get in!”. Dad pulled me over to the car, shoved me into the back seat with Debbie and dad got into the passenger’s seat beside the father. It kinda looked funny because the man was so big and dad was so skinny. For a moment the four of us just sat there in silence.....He started the car and we drove away from the church.  We didn’t go very far when the father pulled the car over to the side of the street, turned the car off and then the father turned to dad and began to speak.  I remember looking up at him and seeing tears run down his cheeks as he began to say to dad, “I don’t know what’s been happening to my daughter but it’s so beautiful and I want what she’s got!” Suddenly there was an unexplainable relief that came into that little Volkswagen!  Then my dad put his hand on his shoulder and began to share the Love of God with this man and dad said, “Would you let me pray with you?”  He literally shook the whole car as dad prayed for him!  He bawled like a baby!  I shall never forget it!  Folks....That’s what happens when God’s people invite His presence into their midst!  Lives are transformed!!  Hey....Let’s have REVIVAL!!!!   SRR

ON SOULWINNING..... May 24, 2012

Dad, our mobile Home, VW, and the Church

When I was six or seven years old living in Friendship, Maine I recall a difficult time when my dad received that dreaded phone call that Brother George Beals was lost at sea.  George was one of the strong, faithful men in the church in Friendship.  They found his lobster boat but never found his body.  As a young boy, I recall the deep sadness that gripped our church family and especially the deep sorrow of my dad.  George had three boys that were very close in age to me and were dear friends of mine.  I remember feeling so sad for Timmy, Craig, and Nathan that they had lost their dad.  My dad (Pastor R. J. Roach) would tell how he would awake in the night in the middle of a terrible dream for many nights afterward hearing George’s voice calling out, “Save me! Save me! Please, someone save me!” In the night my dad would get dressed and drive down to the wharf in hopes that he was really hearing George’s voice and that he could rescue him from the icy, cold Atlantic waters.  Even as I sit here weeping as I write, there is a profound longing in my heart as I hear the voices of the unsaved crying out, “Save me! Save me! Please, someone save me!”.........  From that time on, the song, “Throw out the lifeline” took on a whole different meaning for me. It goes like this;  

Throw out the life line across the dark wave; There is a brother whom someone should save; Somebody’s brother! O who then will dare To throw out the life line, his peril to share?

Chorus
Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line! Someone is drifting away;
Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line! Someone is sinking today.

Throw out the life line with hand quick and strong: Why do you tarry, why linger so long? See! he is sinking; oh, hasten today And out with the life boat! away, then away!

Throw out the life line to danger fraught men, Sinking in anguish where you’ve never been; Winds of temptation and billows of woe Will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow.

Soon will the season of rescue be o’er, Soon will they drift to eternity’s shore; Haste, then, my brother, no time for delay, But throw out the life line and save them today.

This is the life line, oh, tempest tossed men; Baffled by waves of temptation and sin; Wild winds of passion, your strength cannot brave, But Jesus is mighty, and Jesus can save.

Jesus is able! To you who are driven, Farther and farther from God and from Heaven; Helpless and hopeless, o’erwhelmed by the wave; We throw out the life line, ’tis “Jesus can save.”

This is the life line, oh, grasp it today! See, you are recklessly drifting away;
Voices in warning, shout over the wave, O grasp the strong life line, for Jesus can save.

Whose voice do you hear calling today for someone to rescue them from icy, cold waters of sin......?  Is there a friend, or loved one that burdens your heart......?  Go ahead...Throw out the lifeline today!

Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”  Let’s throw out the lifeline!  SRR

ON WORDS..... May 23, 2012

ON WORDS.....  May 23, 2012

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:11
People are all created differently, however, there is one thing we all have in common and that is our “feelings”. It is so important to be careful what we say to someone or even about someone! Words either hurt or heal, crush or console, destroy or deliver. Someone once said there are three things that can never be recovered. A word that has been spoken, time that has passed, and opportunities that are missed. Have you ever said something and then thought...I wish I had just kept my mouth shut! Proverbs 29:20 says, "Seeth thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him." OUCH! 

Here’s the thing! Words can never be taken back once they are spoken and the hurt they can cause are a terrible thing for anyone to have to deal with. Let’s all make our words “good words” fitly spoken. They will be like apples of gold in pictures of silver. When I read that, I see a framed picture with light shades of silvery sky, trees of glistening silver, loaded with shiny golden apples, silver grass, and a silver basket of more shiny golden apples! The golden apples are the first thing to catch your eye! Beautiful!! My Uncle Henry had an apple orchard out near ‘E’ Plantation in Blaine, Maine. In the fall, his apple orchard was always loaded with Yellow Transparents and they were sweet and juicy and I hardly need to tell you that they tasted “some-ole-good”! That’s Maine lingo in case you didn’t know! Can you imagine what our world would be like if all our words were sweet and juicy without any anger or malice or jealosy! Choose your words carefully and let each word be seasoned with love! SRR