The Brown Thompson Chain Bible

I was talking to someone the other day, I can’t remember who. Time out, the bad thing about talking to so many people and getting old is you can’t remember who you told what. So then everyone thinks your losing “it” because you repeat yourself. You aren’t losing “it“, you are just having trouble keeping track of “it.” Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

I was talking to someone the other day about an old Bible that I have which belonged to my Dad. My father started preaching at the age of eighteen in 1948. He preached his last message five days before he passed away. That message was preached from his hospital bed in 1999. During those fifty one years he wore out two Thompson Chain Bibles and used a couple of others. The first Bible that I remember Dad using was a brown covered Thompson Chain. It is the only thing of Dad’s that I ever really wanted and he gave it to me a few years before he died. The cover is so worn around the edges that the leather is separated. The binding is coming loose in the back. The pages are wrinkled and marked from handling, preaching and studying.

I remember the Christmas that Mom bought Dad a new black Thompson Chain Bible. With this one she bought a case for protection. I remember him preaching from that Bible many times. It too showed the signs of much use when it was finally put into “retirement.” I could have had the choice of either Bible, mainly because I asked first. However, I wanted the Brown Thompson Chain Bible. You see there were some special memories that I have with that Bible. Let me share a few with you.

On February 12, 1952 a twenty one year old man became a soldier upon invitation from Uncle Sam. Dad was an Ordained Minister of the Gospel. This should have disqualified him automatically. He said that President Truman liked him so much he come visit anyway. Dad had flat feet and was born blind in one eye. Either one of those should have kept him out of the military, yet they took him anyway. When he arrived in Virginia for basic training the doctors examined him and asked, “How did you get in here with these conditions?” Dad replied, “It wasn’t hard at all!” At that time they wanted to send him home. He shouldn’t have been there at all. Yet Dad said, “No, I am proud to serve my country, let me stay.” He felt God had him there for a reason. They let him stay.

While at Camp Pickett, Virginia Dad was able to start a church on the base for the Pentecostal soldiers and their wives to attend. Through the years he talked to many soldiers who attended that church after he was shipped out. God had him there for a reason. He was shipped to Korea. He was in the Medical Corp and drove an ambulance. Because of his beliefs he refused to carry a weapon. He wouldn’t even carry a side arm. He walked guard duty on the front lines, but refused to carry a weapon.

Several times his life was spared by the hand of God. One time he was helping load wounded soldiers on a train just behind the front line. As he returned from the train to get another patient his commanding officer handed him a piece of shrapnel. The officer said it had landed inches behind Dad and if it had hit him it would have killed him.

The Bible Dad preached from was the Brown Thompson Chain Bible. He carried it to Virginia and preached from it there. He carried it with him to Korea and preached from it there. I remember as a young child seeing him carry it to the pulpit and preach from it. I remember him sitting and reading from it when he was grieving over the death of his father. I remember a few months later when he returned from the funeral of his young brother who was killed so tragically in an accident, he would pick up the worn Bible and read from it. It was like a friend.

In those early formative years I came to realize that it wasn’t “that” Bible that was so special. It was “the” Bible that was so special. The author and he were good friends. He could share his thoughts and sorrows with him and get Words of strength and encouragement in return. I will never forget sitting with him one night, very late. It was a few days before his passing. He had called us boys to come and talk. Actually, it should have been to come and listen. My two brothers and my son Justin were with me. Dad shared a lot of things with us that night. One thing he said I will never forget. In essence he said he didn’t understand why he had gotten Parkinson’s disease. He was younger than most people are when they get it. He didn’t understand why he had been stopped from doing what he had hoped to do with his life. He had wanted to travel and preach. He had wanted to take care of Mom and enjoy his grandkids and great grandchildren. He said there were a lot of things that he didn’t understand. Yet he said he wanted us boys to know, if just one life was touched by his ten years of suffering, it was worth every moment of it.

I came across a passage today that touched my heart. The Psalmist made this statement, “I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.”
Dad made the name of the Lord to be remembered to all generations. Eternity will only tell exactly who was touched. Only eternity will reveal whose life was changed because of a man who loved and served God first and foremost in his life.

This I do know. My life is different because Dad made the name of the Lord known to me. This I do know, I have two brothers who are also preachers of the Gospel because the name of the Lord was made known to them. This I do know, he has a grandson and grandson in law that are preachers of the gospel. This I do know three of his granddaughters are filled with the Holy Ghost and living for God, actively involved in the work of God.

I am encouraged to know as I deal with the cares that life brings my way, I can make the name of the Lord known to all generations. I can do it by placing my trust and confidence in God. As I do this, the next generation will hopefully realize that God is faithful and true no matter what we are dealing with.

Yes, I picked the Brown Thompson Chain Bible because it reminded me of the God of my Father. A God whose name he made known unto me.

God Bless!

Friends Visit With T.E.A.M. Ministry

On Tuesday night November 25, 2008 we were blessed to meet some dear friends. I know that sounds different, to meet friends, but that was our first personal meeting. We had all been friends, visiting, talking, praying, weeping and laughing together through on online network called Everyones Apostolic. However this was our first time to meet personally.

Kathy Davis, Ty Duncan and Courtney Oliver from St. Francisville, Lousiana were visiting in our area for the Thanksgiving Holiday. They let us know they were close by and we invited them to worship with us and then enjoyed some good fellowship after service.

A Place Where We Meet God and God Meets Us

Don’t you love an altar? You know, one of those places where you kneel down and pray. A place where you meet God and God meets you. An altar has always been really important in my life.

I have notice that many churches no longer have the altar bench in the front of the Church. People use the edge of the platform or a pew for an altar. Other people just kneel in the middle of the floor for an altar. I don’t have a problem with this; it is just a little different from the way it was when I was growing up in Pentecost. We had an altar bench.

When I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, at age eight, it was at an altar bench. It was just a little high for me, but obviously it worked! Many times I have gone to the Church alone and knelt at a familiar spot at the altar bench and touched God. It was like we were sitting in the living room of my soul, just talking. I have even taken my problems and literally laid them on the altar bench and said here they are God; I am giving them to you. We have three children which we dedicated to the Lord when they were born. We stood before the same altar bench and gave them back to God, promising to raise them to love and serve Him. Yes, an altar is very special in my life!

Several years ago I was preaching a message about the altar and felt to have each family build a “family altar.” I told the church if you have one you already are using bring it. If you don’t have one, make one and bring it. We set a date and on that date each family brought their family altar to the church and we dedicated those altars, together. It was at this point that I was impacted by the fact that the altar doesn’t have to be a bench but can be anything where you meet God and God meets you. People brought chairs, ottomans, body pillows, benches and a variety of other things that they used to pray from. What a service we had that night as we committed a place as being sacred before God. A place committed to meet God and for God to meet us.

Later that year at a youth camp I directed, we decided to teach on the importance of an altar in our lives. As the craft project for the campers they built a personal altar which we dedicated in the last night’s service. My daughter and youngest son were campers that year and both made altars. When my daughter married, she had her altar and a family Bible as part of her ceremony. She had already experience the power of a family altar in her life. My son also has his and it is special to him.

It wasn’t long after this time that our oldest son began to struggle in his walk with God. His mother and I were so desperate to see him live for God. Our hearts were breaking in a million pieces. I will never forget on a particular day we each knelt together at our “Family Altar” and poured our hearts out to God. We met God there and God met us there. There have been many times since that day that we have returned to our family altar and wept for our son and God has always met us there.

I remember when my oldest grandson was born. I was so overwhelmed with love which was, and still is, indescribable. I was also frightened for his future. His parents had walked away from God. They had divorced just before he was born. I couldn’t stand the thought of him being raised in an environment that would not give him the spiritual nurture he needed. I slipped away, one morning. He was about three weeks old and Mema and Poppy were taking care of him. The house was quiet and I carried him into another room. There I knelt before my altar and made a commitment to stand in the gap and make up the hedge between him and God. I met God and God met me!

I recall several times my daughter has called us and asked for us to pray. We would make our way to the altar. We would take our daughters health and the health of the baby she was carrying and place it on that altar. We would meet God and God would meet us there. Today that baby is a strong healthy two year old boy, just full of life. It was at an altar I helped his Mother and Father as they dedicated his young life to God. They met God and God met them at the altar.

It was to the altar we ran, just recently. Our youngest son’s heart broke with the news of the tragic death of his fiancé. It was more than we could handle on our own. So many times we have taken it to the altar. There we have met God and God has met us. There we have found a peace and a blessing.

The bench has been passed on to someone else with great sentiment. In its place is the end of the couch or the side of the bed. I have found it is not necessarily the object; it is the sacredness of the time and the occasion. Jesus spoke of it as a “closet. " A time and place committed to God. An altar, the place where we meet God and God has agreed to meet us.

I am reminded of the altars of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The Altar of Sacrifice where Israel laid their offering before the Lord and offered it to Him, it was a type of our repentance before God. The Altar of Incense that was a type of our worship. The incense offered here emitted an aroma that filled the Tabernacle the same as our worship comes before the Lord as a sweet smelling aroma. Then there was the Mercy Seat which sat atop the Ark of the Covenant. It was here the blood from the sacrifice was applied. It was here the presence of God descended, atop the Covenant between God and Israel. It was here that Man met God and God met man!

We no longer drag a calf to be offered on an altar. Nor do we burn incense in the Sanctuary. We do not go through the ritual of placing blood on the Mercy Seat. This is all done spiritually in our lives today. We come to Him in repentance. We allow His forgiveness to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We come into His presence with worship partaking of His Word, exalting His mighty attributes. Then we step into His presence! Then we come before His throne! Then we come to that Altar seated above His Covenant with us. That promise that he would be our God and we will be His people. The place where we meet God and God meets us!

In Exodus 20:24 God promised Israel if they would build an altar He would come there, wherever it was, and bless them. Hebrews 13:10 speaks of an altar that the New Testament Christian has access to that is different from the altar of the Old Testament, a place where we can meet with God and God will meet with us. In fact Paul tells us that we can come boldly before the “throne of grace” that altar and have confidence that God will meet us there.

Let me encourage you to build a “Family Altar.” Whether or not you want to build a bench, use the couch or the side of the bed is immaterial. What is important is to have that assurance that wherever you are and whatever the need might be you can go to that altar and God will meet you there. I am thankful for a “Family Altar!”

Just a thought!

God Bless!

Do You Have a Network?

Do you have a network? Networks are one of the “buzzwords” which we hear all of the time. It matters who you know. It matters what their connections are, who they know. Will they be able to connect you with the right people?

I recently came across an article about networking that caught my attention and caused me to do some thinking. It was titled, “Network Your Way to Success” and started off with this statement: “Any expert will tell you that networking is one of the best ways to advance your career and it’s also a good support for everyday job concerns.” The article went on to share some rules to network by, because how you network is as important as whether you network.

1. Get and early start: In other words start today. Look for opportunities.
   
2. Look before you leap: Be careful of whom you ally yourself.
   
3. Cast a wide net: Look for support wherever you can find it. Look for people who are interested in your success. In the time of crisis the more you network, the more your catch will be.
   

Several weeks ago our family went through a crisis. We had gone to sleep one night thinking life was grand, everything was fine. We were awakened early the next morning to life shattering new. There followed nine days that has changed our lives forever. It was during this time I had it reinforced in my mind the power of “networking.”

As we rushed around getting ready to leave the house, I told the family, “Give me a moment, I have to send out prayer requests!” I logged in on the computer and went to a “social network” I belong to. With a few brief words I had contacted a thousand people who were already committed to prayer! I sent another to everybody in my email address book that I knew I could count on to pray.

As we drove down the freeway we were all praying and making phone calls. We called our daughter who has an incredible prayer network. She immediately began to call and send out emails. We called my brother and he and his wife began calling and emailing. Several hundred more people began to pray. Another call went to a niece who is a personal friend of a popular Gospel singing artist. She went to his web page and within minutes several thousand people had been contacted and began to pray. Phone calls, emails and personal contacts all resulted in several thousands praying within a few hours.

The impact of the power of networking stated to sink in that night when we returned home. I knew we would have to leave early the next morning, so, although it was 2:00 AM I sat down to send out another urgent prayer request. I was so surprised to find my mailbox full of replies and forwards. These were all replies from people assuring us they were praying. The forwards came from my daughter and were assurances of prayer. I took these, copied and pasted them to a document, then printed them off. When I went back to the hospital the next morning I took them with me and shared them with the others. I repeated this everyday with a total of over sixty pages of people saying they were praying.

We counted over twenty states including Hawaii, also Mexico and Brazil from which we received responses. In addition there were phone calls, text messages and personal visits. People brought cards, financial blessings, baskets of treats and someone sent a box of Omaha steaks. There were meals prepared, thoughtful notes, pictures and kind words that showed that others were sharing your pain and cared. It all emphasized the power of networking. Unless you have been on the receiving end of something of this magnitude mere words can never explain the encouragement at a time like this.

The Bible talks about the power of networking. “And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” (Lev 26:7-8) The power of unity and networking again is illustrated by the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Let me share something that impressed this so strong on my mind. I recently saw a video which was taken in the African wild. Two water buffalo were walking along a path, unaware that a pride of lions lay in wait for them just ahead. Suddenly the buffalo smelled the lions and turned and ran. The lions focused themselves on the weakest, a young calf. They leaped on him knocking him into the water. While they are attacking him a crocodile came up in the water and grabbed the leg of the calf, trying to pull him away from the lions. Several of the lions grabbed the calf and together were able to pull him out of the water and away from the lone crocodile.
Suddenly, those who were observing began to exclaim, “Look, look!” About that time into the picture came the water buffalo which had run away and with him must have been one hundred or so more buffalo. To make a long story short, the buffalo attacked the lions, tossing one into the air with their horns and ran them off. The calf ended up running off with the herd. The power of networking! The lions worked together against the crocodile, and the buffalo worked together against the lions.

I remember several years ago in a church I pastored we had a group of people that were called “The MVPs.” This stood for Most Valuable Prayers. This was a network of people that gathered to pray together for each service. They anointed and prayed over each seat. They prayed over each instrument, praying for the musicians. They prayed for each person who had an active part in the service. When the speaker began to preach, two of the MVPs would go into another room and intercede for him as he brought forth the Word of God. This is networking! Some of the most powerful services I have ever experienced in my life were the result of this network.

There were people that I knew, as a Pastor, I could call on 24/7 and all I had to do was say, “I need you to pray!” These were people who could and would touch heaven. It is networking! Networking is having contacts that can help you accomplish a desired result.

We worry so often about having the right contacts in the corporate world. We worry about having the right contacts in whatever organization we might be a part of, or even our local church. I am not saying there is anything wrong with this, in fact it is obvious in its importance. However, have we thought about the power of networking in our spiritual battles and the trials we face?

We don’t have to face the battle alone! We don’t have to walk through the valley alone. We have the promise of God that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We also can benefit from having a network of brothers and sisters in Christ that we can depend upon to pray with us about any situation. We can rely on their support and encouragement; it is the strength of networking.
I noticed from Paul’s writings he was a beneficiary of networking. Many of his letters end with Paul touching base, keeping the contact, with those who were part of his network. He would send his greetings. He would send encouragement to them. He let them know that he was in need of them and also in their debt. He also made sure they knew they were in his thoughts and his prayers.

Just a thought!

God Bless!