Huntley Brown States Powerful Reasons to Vote Against Obama

Thanks to Tena who sent this by email a few minutes ago.

Gospel pianist, Huntley Brown, adamantly speaks against voting for Obama.

Dear Friends,

A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it’s worth repeating…

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can’t dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior..

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King’s words, don’t judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don’t know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating. There is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion. There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let’s take a look at the practice he wanted to continue

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby’s leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

God help him. There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.

Think about this: You can’t give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years.

Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright’s sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 – 20 “Go and make disciples of all nations.” This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a …

1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama’s former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can’t be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can’t have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate.. It does not matter if it’s a white church or a black church it’s still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama’s former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: “Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.

Cone is the man Obama’s mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing – judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 8:9 “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

Then God says

1 Samuel 8:18 ” When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama’s positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someone’s value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings,
Huntley Brown

Should Music Lessons Be Forced?

To:  Parents

Many people have been forced into playing Piano and i hate it. I’m gonna start a petition if you agree with me then sign this petition and make a difference!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

I snickered when I read this, for such conversations are prevalent at the home of one of my children. Rebecca and her son, Nathaniel are having many such lively discussions.

Nathaniel is eleven years old, sweet, tenderhearted, bright, strong-willed (!) and musically talented. For a year or so, he took drum lessons, which he loved, and when Rebecca told his instructor she was switching him to classical piano lessons, his teacher said he understood, but he hated to lose Nathaniel as a student. “He’s a very talented young man.”

Nathaniel loved drum. He hates piano. (He still has a fine drum set, practices and plays for an occasional youth service at his church.)

“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have a student such as Nathaniel; someone who hates it so much” his teacher recently told Rebecca. “But he is so talented, I want to keep teaching him.”

Rebecca and I have discussed this at length, and I know she has asked other people’s opinions. Our thinking about music lessons are these:

1. Is great discipline.

2. Is a gift the child will appreciate to a greater extent when he is older.

3. Creates an additional opportunity to use natural talent in the work of God.

4. Studies have shown intellectual benefits from music lessons:

Music lessons can help children as young as four show advanced brain development and improve their memory, even when it sounds like a budding musician is banging out little more than noise, a new Canadian study suggests.

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton used magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain-scanning technology to compare the developmental changes in 12 children aged four to six over the course of a year.

The study, to be published in the October edition of Oxford University’s neurology journal Brain, found that those who took music lessons showed more changes in brain responses.

Even when parents hear only what sounds like random notes or nonsense, it’s likely their children are developing their brains in ways that could enhance their overall thinking, said professor Laurel Trainor, who led the study with Takako Fujioka, a scientist at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto.

A site named 8Asians.com posed the same question. I’ve brought over a couple of the responses.

So, were you forced as a kid to play the piano or the violin? And more importantly, would you pass that onto your kids? Niniane was, and she didn’t like it one bit:

(This is an interesting link…lots of comments.)

The merits of learning a musical instrument are oft repeated by the well-intentioned parent: learning discipline, enjoyment later in life, Mozart makes you smarter. Rarely have I heard anyone discuss the damage done by forcing the kid. I can state it in one sentence: By thwarting the child’s natural inclinations, day in and day out, you teach him to stifle his intuition.

I e-mailed the link to all of the writers on 8Asians, and a lot of conversation came from it; so much so that it deserved its own blog entry.

Ernie: Oh, I have SO mixed feelings about this. I played piano at 4, violin at 10. I played piano until I was in high school and burnt out at 15, but ended up playing for the church choir and a HS jazz choir. I have no regrets about doing it, honestly – it’s kind of nice to be able to read music and be able to plink out a melody on the piano, something which other people take for granted. But not if I was young.

Ben: amusingly enough, I started late. 11 (piano) and 12 (violin). Quit after senior year of high school since I had college to look forward to prep for. lol. I’m actually looking to start composing music again now if I can find the time to do it. Wouldn’t mind picking up electric guitar either. I think overall, if you look at a lot of asians, even like pop stars like Jay Chou… we all on some level took up those instruments in some fashion. Not really sure why, but it does teach discipline if not anything else.

Rebecca and Nathaniel know I am writing about this, and we’re anticipating your response. In particular I’m curious about:

1. Did you take music lessons? Are you glad? Why? Why not?

2. If you did not take lessons, do you wish you had?

3. Should Nathaniel be forced to take classical piano lessons? Aren’t percussion lessons good enough? What about theory, etc.?

4. What about jazz piano lessons?

Last week we were home in Crestline; Rebecca came up for the afternoon, and Nathaniel talked her into letting him spend the night with Pappy and me. Saturday morning, on our piano upstairs, he expertly played a piece of classical music for me. It was beautiful.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

My devotional blog is here.

Faces Around Camp Part 2

In another post, I mentioned the WAY choir, which is composed of young, unmarried people from around the state of California and Nevada, a small group of singers. Their ministry on Thursday night was astounding, and I wanted to share it with you, but knowing there had not been made a professional video, I went to YouTube hoping to find something of theirs I could bring over. I was surprised to find that someone had posted a video of the very song I wanted. It is not professionally filmed, but I want you to see and hear this.

Although there are other groups who do so, of course, Pentecostals may lead the way in demonstrative, exuberant worship. Such worship is biblical; it is healing and refreshing and soul-satisfying. In heaven, there are created beings whose only job is to worship God. On earth, during Jesus’ ministry here, there were those who objected to loud, exuberant worship of God. “If they don’t praise me, the rocks will cry out,” Jesus warned. In our small way, we too worship.

What you will see here is only the ending of a spectacular musical presentation. I don’t even know the name of the song that comprised the first part, but it started with rather modern sounding, little bits of music and morphed magnificently into this.

The entire congregation was profoundly moved by this beautiful hymn of the church. Our ministerial leaders intensely worshipped.

As did the keyboardist and director, Ken Fitzpatrick,  whose spirit was “overcome” by the presence of God. By these few dedicated young people, we were truly ushered into heaven’s throne room.

The Highjacking of Our National Anthem

She highjacked the affair. Invited to sing the national anthem at Denver’s State of the City Meeting, black Jazz singer Renee Marie walked forward and sang instead, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, a song often referred to as the Black National Anthem.

The Black National Anthem? How can there be a Black National Anthem …or can there be a a White National Anthem…or a Yellow…or a Brown; an American or non-American National Anthem?  

I’m posting the response of Dennis Prager to this dishonest and revealing action of Renee Marie and hope you will read it all. His four main points are:

“What Marie did embodied a plethora of leftist ideals and characteristics: Ethical relativism, multiculturalism, the supremacy of feelings, the belief that artists are above normal ethical standards and group victimization.”

By Dennis Prager

Last week in Denver, almost all the values of the post-1960s left were exhibited in one act.

It happened on the Denver mayor’s most important day — the one in which he was to deliver his annual State of the City Address. The day was to begin with the singing of the National Anthem by the black jazz singer Rene Marie. But Ms. Marie had, by her own admission, long had other plans. Instead of the National Anthem, she sang “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a song written in 1899 and often referred to today as the Black National Anthem.

What Marie did embodied a plethora of leftist ideals and characteristics: Ethical relativism, multiculturalism, the supremacy of feelings, the belief that artists are above normal ethical standards and group victimization.

We begin with ethical relativism. The left’s opposition to Judeo-Christian values is first and foremost an opposition to objective, or universal, ethics. Ethics and morality are relative. There is no objective or universal standard of right and wrong. We are each the source of our own values.

These lessons were learned well by Marie. The notion that lying to the mayor of Denver (a Democrat, as it happens) when she agreed to his invitation to sing the National Anthem was unethical or immoral is foreign to Ms. Marie.

But how could she morally defend something so obviously immoral?

That is what ethical relativism made possible thanks to a number of values of the left.

One such leftist value is multiculturalism. Since the 1960s, a major goal of the left has been to weaken American national identity and replace it with other cultural, national, racial and ethnic identities (in effect, changing the motto of the United States from “From Many, One” to “From One, Many”). It has pursued this goal through bilingual education, election ballots in multiple languages, numerical guidelines in American history textbooks concerning the percentage of space allotted to given minorities, opposition to declaring English America’s national language, and rendering the term “flag waving” a pejorative that implies quasi-fascist sentiments.

One could well imagine a member of any number of other minorities substituting a different song for the National Anthem. The left has successfully taught millions of Americans to honor other national identities while either fearing or disparaging American nationalism. That lesson, too, was clearly learned by Marie.

The idea of a Black National Anthem is a multiculturalist paradigm. A black freedom song, a black hymnal, songs that gave African slaves on American soil some comfort and hope in the midst of their suffering, and, for that matter, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” — these all fit perfectly into an American national identity. Indeed, all Americans should know such songs. But a Black National Anthem, when substituted for the National Anthem, means that there are two nations on American soil, a black one and an American one.

The left’s second contribution to Marie’s value system has been its elevation of feelings above other values. For example, one determines right and wrong on the basis of how one feels (as opposed to, let us say, asking what one’s religion, or God, or any moral law that transcends one’s own feelings would say on a given matter).

Now, the elevation of one’s feelings above other considerations is generally viewed as a form of narcissism. And while narcissism is as old as humanity, until the 1960s it was generally regarded as a character flaw. Since the 1960s, however, it was more often heralded as a virtue. From recreational drug use to recreational sex, acting on one’s feelings, actions of self-centered narcissism, has been glorified.

The core of this attitude lies in the left’s veneration of feelings. How one feels became all-important. It even determines morality, the rightness or wrongness of an action. Thus, a generation of young people has been raised with the question, “How do you feel about it?” not “Is it right or wrong?”

Thus, Marie justified what she did in terms of feelings: “I want to express how I feel about living in the United States as a black woman, as a black person,” she said. Her feelings were what mattered, and they were more important than elementary decency.

A third contribution of the left’s values to what Marie did is the elevation of the artist to the status of demigod. If the feelings of mere mortals can determine what is right and wrong, the feelings of an artist are even more important.

There is no hubris like that of many contemporary artists. At some point in the second half of the 20th century the belief arose that artists formed a moral elite.

Given the moral idiocies that have been more the norm than the exception among 20th century artists — the countless artists who have glorified Communism, Fascism and Nazism — facts alone render the idea of artist-as-moral-beacon foolish. But even in theory the idea has no merit. There is nothing in art that renders an artist more morally elevated than a sanitation worker.

Sure enough, being an artist was Marie’s justification for her dishonesty. Asked on her website, “Wasn’t this dishonest?” she responded:

“I can see how it may be perceived that way. But I looked at it a different way: I am an artist. I cannot apologize for that. It goes with the risky territory of being an artist.” Marie also told the press, “I don’t think it is necessary for artists to ask permission to express themselves artistically.”

Artists are above morality. While you and I should not deceive people, artists may.

The fourth contribution of the left to the Marie episode is its constant reinforcement of a sense of victimhood among all Americans who are not male, white, heterosexual and Christian. The moral consequence of this is that the victim, like the artist, like the feelings-determine-morality individual, can do more or less whatever he pleases.

It should be noted that many individuals on the left condemned what Marie did. And it is not for me to judge whether they did so out of conviction or political necessity; one must generally judge actions, not motives. But to the sincere liberal and leftist, I ask: Do you not see how left/liberal values made this episode possible?

Individuals on the left may condemn what happened in Denver City Hall on July 1, 2008. But, in fact, it was a triumph of leftist values.

Final note: If you do not now fear for America’s future, please go on the Internet and watch the Denver city officials respectfully watch a woman substitute her own song for that of the National Anthem. Watch how not a single official stopped her, or even demanded that the National Anthem be sung afterward. And listen to the applause. Then you will fear for our country’s future.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

M devotional blog is here.

Grandkids Week Day 7

Important Announcement

TENT REVIVAL today between 2:00 and 3:00 o’clock.

Public is invited.

________

Because of some traveling challenges, it happened that instead of Andrew and Shawnna returning here last night as had been originally planned, they will come in tonight after Andrew preaches in Desert Hot Springs. So here we are, Rebecca and I and six grand youngins’ for one more day.

Jerry left about 10:00 yesterday for Lake Havasu, for of course we had church there today. We really had no way to get to church here in Crestline for Rebecca’s car is much too small for all of us.

Yesterday, our neighbor Mary had a garage sale, and during one of the breaks of fine weather, I let the older ones go over and “shop.” Nathaniel came back with this tent that Mary had given him.

–

“Mom, may we set up the tent in the garage?” Nathaniel asked this morning.

–

“No.”

–

“Why?” I whispered in Rebecca’s ear when no one was watching…and then

I overruled her. “It won’t hurt a thing for them to do that.”

–

“Yes, Nathaniel, you may set up the tent in the garage”

–

…then someone said, “We can have a tent revival.” For we had planned to have some kind of little service seeing it was Sunday morning and we couldn’t get anywhere else.

–

We didn’t get started until after 3:00 and it was sort of a progressive church service, as we gathered for the first segment in our basement where there is an old small Hammond organ.

In honor of Memorial Day we sang God Bless America, followed by Send it On Down, then Jesus Loves Me. At the conclusion of the song service, we moved into the tent, where Aunt Becky, who was the MC, welcomed everybody.

Chloe taught a very good lesson on Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

–

I was very surprised when we were arranging the service that Brady volunteered to preach. When he was called, he walked right up and told a story about George somebody. We couldn’t help ourselves–we were all rolling in laughter–that is until he sweetly ended his message with the words, “and then they nailed Jesus all over and on His head.”

Gentry gave the first testimony, and several of us added our own.

Aunt Becky and Ella worship enthusiastically.

Nathaniel brought a challenging sermon on The End, encouraging all of us to be prepared for the end of our lives when we will have to meet God.

…and Aunt Becky had all join hands in benediction.

9:00 Sunday evening

The tent has been disassembled, dinner has been eaten and Ella Claire, Cole and Brady are asleep. We’ve made a cleaning sweep through the house, the suitcases are almost packed, we’re trying to make all the socks match, and the final load of laundry is chugging at this moment. Andrew and Shawnna should be here by midnight.

_

“Want to stay up until your folks get here?” I asked a few minutes ago.

_

“Yes, please, Granny.”

_

So here we are, still tearing around, lots of life yet. Me? I’m on my way to a long hot bath. Well, maybe, just maybe, I’ll stay up long enough to say Hi! to Andrew and Shawnna…that is if they don’t wait too long to get here. 🙂

Dottie Rambo–He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Need

Probably the song the late Dottie Rambo is best known for is He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Need. In a tragic accident on Mothers’ Day, Dottie was killed. From Today’s Christian is the story behind the writing of this beautiful song.

Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, Dottie Rambo, her husband Buck, and their daughter Reba, made up The Singing Rambos, one of the most successful southern gospel trios of all time. As the group’s main songwriter, Dottie was prolific. Today, hardly any modern hymnal fails to include one or more of her 2,500 songs. Dottie’s best-known song, by far, is the inspirational “He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need.”

In 1970, Dottie began writing a song about the grace of God, but was unable to finish it. When her older brother was hospitalized with cancer and told that he had only weeks to live, Dottie sat by his bedside and ministered to him. Within a few days, she persuaded him to marry the woman who had borne him five children. Dottie read the Bible to him and prayed with him. One day, after singing at a concert, she returned to ask: “Have you given your life to Jesus since I’ve been gone?”

Eddie, 37, stared at her with sad eyes. “After the wicked life I’ve lived, the Lord won’t raise a person like me,” he muttered. He reminded her of his time in jail and his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

“The Lord left the 99 to bring a lost sheep like you back to the fold,” Dottie told him. She continued to pray for his salvation. Then she went home and finished “He Looked Beyond My Fault.” For years Jimmie Davis, the southern gospel singer and former Louisiana governor, had asked her to write a song to the tune of “Danny Boy.” With this song, she finally discovered the inspiration. Later that day, she returned to the hospital to sing the song to Eddie.

Both Danny Boy and He Looked Beyond My Faults are taken from the melody called Londonderry Air, reputed to be an ancient Irish tune. There is strong oral evidence in the Roe Valley area to support the following version of the origination of the tune. This information is taken from the site called: The Origin of Danny Boy

Jane Ross (1810-1879) stated that she had taken down the tune in Limavady in 1851 when she heard it played by an itinerant fiddler. One of Ireland’s most distinguished folk song collectors, Sam Henry, states in “Songs of the People” a regular weekly feature in the Northern Constitution (1923- 1939), that blind Jimmy McCurry (1830-19 10) was the fiddler referred to by Jane Ross.

One day Jane Ross heard Jimmy playing a beautiful melody outside the Burns & Laird Shipping Office, which she had never heard before. She came over to Jimmy and asked him to play the tune over and over again until she had taken down every note. Jane thanked him and gave him a coin for his moving rendition of the tune. When she departed Jimmy rubbed it against his lips, as was his method of determining the denomination of coins, and discovered it was a florin instead of the customary penny. He set off in pursuit of Jane and when he caught up with her he told her that she had made a mistake. Jane refused to take it back and asked him to keep it as a token of her appreciation of his music.

Jimmy McCurry

Jimmy was born in the flatlands of Myroe and his favourite spot for playing the fiddle on market days was outside the Burns & Laird Shipping Office in Limavady. It was customary for the farmers of the day to bring their produce to the Limavady market by horse and cart. After they had unyoked their horses they left their carts with shafts on the ground all lined up along the Main Street. Jimmy usually took up position between the shafts of one of these carts just opposite the home of Jane Ross, who lived at 51 Main Street.

The rest of this lengthy and very interesting article is here.

And here with the Gaithers is Dottie Rambo singing a couple of her outstanding songs.

Broken Easter Shoes

Broken Easter Shoes, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

I was late for yesterday’s Easter morning church service.

I bought these shoes last year, and I thought they looked cute enough with the clothes I selected to wear to service yesterday. They’re not terribly expensive shoes, although I don’t recall exactly what I paid for them. The upper part is of Italian leather, and it beats me what the rest of the stuff is. The label calls it man made material Well, some man messed up.

A half hour or so before the service was scheduled to begin, I walked into the church, and as I did, I had a strange feeling somewhere around my right foot. I stopped, tipped down my head to get a good look at the place where something peculiar seemed to be happening, and saw that my shoe had broken sharply in half.

What to do? Mike giggled as we both looked at the shoe. There was no way to repair the thing.

“Guess I can walk around barefoot.”

Mike was grinning. “Well…Mom.”

The problem was I had to go to a hotel yet and pick up my brother who was visiting and if I took the time to go back to the motor home for another pair of shoes I would be late for church.

Guess I could walk around barefoot, I thought again. You know our church is little and a bit on the casual side seeing this is Lake Havasu and it’s starting to get quite warm, and sometimes people even come in shorts…I was thinking all this, but then I had a little vision of exactly how it would look for the pastor’s wife to be traipsing around barefoot on Easter Sunday morning.

“I’m going home for shoes. Probably be late,” I told Mike and Jerry.

I was late. Several people grinned as I came in, I did a bit of greeting here and there and walked across the floor to the keyboard.

Easter morning service could begin. I was there. 🙂

___________________________________________________________

My devotional blog is here.

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!

Drama Woes

I giggled when I read this a few minutes ago, for it always tickles me when professionals have the same kind of troubles as we mere mortals. During these few days before Easter, all over the United States–and in other parts of the world, no doubt–churches are planning Easter dramas, dragging out props, hammering crosses, reciting lines, staking out flowers, fashioning angel wings and sewing peasant frocks.

In addition to the joy of presenting the story, the camaraderie that arises from such production is long-lasting, and glorious memories are indelibly filed in our brain’s special saving spot. When we were pastoring in Rialto, there were lots of very talented people in our congregation, we produced dozens of dramas, and we often played to a packed house. What fun that was! What sheer exhaustion! What challenges we faced!

Once we invited Pastor Berl Stevenson’s church to come up from El Cajon and present special music during intermission, or between acts–can’t quite remember, but this part I vividly recall. His group was singing–beautiful music–when one of our crew got mixed up and let down the curtain we had rigged, completely obliterating the singing group. It was terrible…but they were troopers and kept singing, but now the sound was muffled, all we could see were feet, and across the congregation there was lots of snickering.

Anyway, today I pay tribute to all you who are scurrying about to finish up the Easter dramas, and to give you hope, and to let you know if something goes wrong, you’re in good company.

When the tenor Gary Lehman slid down the raked stage into the prompter’s box on Tuesday night during Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera, stopping the show at the start of Act III, he entered a storied history of midperformance mishaps at the opera.

This was the second consecutive time in the six-performance “Tristan” revival that trouble halted the production. Last Friday, Deborah Voigt, who was singing Isolde, left the stage during Act II because of a stomach ailment and was replaced by Janice Baird, her cover, who made her Met debut.

You’ve got to read all this funny stuff over at the New York Times. They titled the article Many Nights at the Opera House Have Involved the Emergency Room

_______________________________________________________________________

My devotional blog is here.

Gulf Coast Ladies Retreat–Afterglow

It was a Sunday evening service never to be forgotten. The retreat had ended early Saturday afternoon, Jerry had preached on Sunday morning, we had eaten lunch, taken naps all around, and now were ready for the culminating service of our trip to Houston, Texas.

Before the preaching began, the highlight of the service for me had been the choir. I don’t know why I was so shocked as they began to sing, for absolutely everything at this magnificent church had been done in an outstanding, superior way. When the choir began singing, though, I was stunned at its beauty. Not only was it obviously done in a spirit of godly worship and adoration, but it was finely and elegantly executed. The second song was my favorite. Although I do not know the name of the song, I had heard it before, and it was simply glorious. At the conclusion of this second song, Pastor Jackson asked them to sing another–which they did.

As is so with most people, music moves me profoundly, so that when I see and listen to a group of talented people who are offering their best in worship to God, I am deeply touched. I was keenly moved by the passionate music of this church.

Jerry preached then, using as the thrust of his message the story of his remarkable recovery from a tragic accident in 1994. A powerful move of God swept the auditorium, and before the doors were closed that night, four people had received the Holy Ghost. Amazingly, included in that number was Louise Neuerburg, who is 96 years old! Her daughter and other relatives and friends were gathered round her as she was born into the kingdom of God. It surely was a memorable night. None of the people at the church had ever seen anyone that old receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Louise Neuerburg, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

–

Prayer and healings were taking place in every part of the auditorium. Yesterday, this comment was posted on one of my columns.

–

“Sis Buxton,

–

We were so blessed to hear you at our Gulf Coast Ladies Retreat. We were also able to feed our faith and starve our doubts as Bro Buxton preached to us Sunday morning and evening. I am thrilled to share the following testimony.Our 13 year old son, Zach, broke the humerus in his left arm near the ball and socket joint while playing football last Saturday. In the emergency room, they would not set the bone. A splint was placed on Zach’s arm and we were told he would need to see the Orthopedic Surgeon on Monday. It was discussed with us that Zach may need surgery due to the severity and location of the break.

–

On Sunday morning, Zach went up for prayer. After service, Bro Buxton encouraged us to talk to Zach and help to build his faith expecting God for a miracle Sunday evening. We had a wonderful worship service and you could feel an expectancy in the atmosphere. Bro Buxton shared his testimony and preached a faith-building message. Zach, along with others, was worshiping around the altar. Bro Buxton came down from the platform stating that he felt the anointing of God. “This boy has a broken bone that needs to be mended.” He then laid hands on Zach to pray for him. Zach enjoyed such a blessing from God.
–

On the other side of the church, a ninety-six year old lady received the Holy Ghost along with two young people. What a miracle! God is awesome.

–

Today, we followed the instructions from the emergency room and Zach saw the Orthopedic Surgeon. I brought with us the x-rays from Saturday and asked the doctor to please take new x-rays. After the nurse took those x-rays, she came back for Zach stating that the doctor needed for her to take another x-ray. Afterward, the doctor came into the room and tried to explain. We were told, “The angulation of the break has actually improved from the x-rays taken on Saturday. Zach will not need surgery and pins. In fact he won’t need a cast on that area. His arm is aligned like it needs to be!” Isn’t God awesome! Dr. Franklin said that he would like to put some traction on the arm and fitted a cast on the forearm and over the elbow with a sling around the neck. He would also like to see Zach in 3 weeks! We could hardly contain ourselves!

As we ate dinner tonight Zach shared something else with us. “I don’t know if this has anything to do with it, but when Bro Buxton was preaching last night I felt something move in my arm!” The telephones have been ringing as we give God the glory!”

Sis Michelle Wyant

I lack the words to describe to you the depth of feelings I have for the wonderful weekend we spent in Highlands, Texas. Forever, will I be grateful for these days of refresing fellowship, and for the opportunity to worship with a remarkable group of God’s people.

_______________________________________________________________________

My devotional blog is here.