Christ's Work No Failure

Notice in the following excerpt from his sermon 'Christ’s Work no Failure' that Spurgeon had a great understanding pertaining to end time prophesies. Now if we could adjust to the same sort of reasoning we might be using up a lot less imagination.

"Our Lord has come to save His elect and He will save every one of them! No soul for whom He stood as Surety and Substitute shall ever be cast away. The sheep shall pass again under the hand of Him that counts them and they shall all be there. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged,” but He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.

As for the Lord’s Second Coming, we know not when it shall be. Shall the world grow darker and darker till He comes? It may be so. There are passages of Scripture and signs of the times which may be taken to indicate it. On the other hand, shall the age grow brighter and brighter till He appears to bring the perfect day? Through the preaching of the Gospel shall there yet be periods in which multitudes shall be converted and whole nations shall be saved? I do not know—there are texts that seem to look that way and many a brave worker hopes as much. There are some who can map out unfulfilled prophecy with great distinctness, but I confess my inability to do so. They get a shilling box of mathematical instruments. They stick down one leg of the compasses and describe a circle here and a circle there—and they draw two or three lines—and there it is! Can you not see it, as plain as a pikestaff? I am sick of diagrams! I have seen enough of them to make another volume of Euclid. My impression is that very little is to be learned from the major part of these interpretations or speculations. I do not think that anybody can map out the future so as to be absolutely sure of anything definite except certain great clearly-stated facts.

It is certain that the Lord will come, that He will come in such an hour as the most of men look not for Him—and that His coming will be a surprise even to many of His own Church. He may come at this moment while yet I am speaking to you, but He may delay His coming, if it so pleases Him, through many a century. It may sound strange for me to say so, but if our Lord were not to come for ages, we should not be justified in saying, “My Lord delays His coming” nor would any prophecy of Scripture be broken. Furthermore, it seems to me pretty clear that truth and righteousness are to win the day upon the earth—the idols are to be abolished, war is to cease and the great Jehovah is to be called “the God of the whole earth.” Either before or after His Second Advent—I am not going into that question this morning—this polluted earth is to be cleansed and this round planet of ours, which today is darkened by sin, shall yet shine out, like a new-born sun in all the pristine light which beamed from it when first it came from its Maker’s hands! The Lord shall reign over all mankind and a period of peace, rest and holiness shall be the fruit of His blessed sway! The Lord Jesus will not rest till He has subdued all things unto Himself and put down all the spiritual wickednesses which now tyrannize over the world...."

My Autobiography In Five Short Chapters

Chapter 1

     I walked down the street as a teenager. There was a hole near the curb. I inadvertently fell into that hole. I felt helpless. Things looked hopeless and it wasn’t my fault. It’s going to take a while to get out of this but I’m young and can adapt for the time being.

Chapter 2

     I walked down that same street again. I was in my mid twenties.  There was a different hole in the path. I covered my eyes so I didn’t see it. I stumbled in again. I can’t believe that I did that but it’s partly my fault. It’s going to take some time to get out of this.

Chapter 3

     I strolled down the same street again.  I was forty five going on twenty one. There’s a similar hole in the sidewalk and it looks familiar. I know it’s there but I didn’t see it coming.  I jumped into it by no fault of my own and even though I’m older now, this is becoming a habit. I did get out after some struggle.

Chapter 4

     Here I go again down that same street. It’s the direction I always go. There’s a familiar hole that is always in the same place. I stop and look down into the hole as I imagine jumping in again. Finally, I walk around it.

Chapter 5

     I’m much older now and the Lord has given me a solution to the potential problem. I walked down a different street. The end.

Original concept was plagiarized from an unknown author and redone to fit the size of the holes mentioned and the character in question  2002      

Letter to a Big Name Preacher

Dear Big Name TV and Radio Preacher,

       I appreciate so much your concern about my personal faith, giving habits and tithing customs. I have noticed that you don’t live by the same concept. When I get a letter from you it does not contain a check or an offering of any kind. I feel that this is something we need to work on. Your attitude and approach should be open to change. When you claim that the Lord will surely bring an increase to me and even double the amount that I send to you, why wouldn’t that same recipe work in reverse? Please understand that the cost of operating and underwriting a family these days has gone up. In June when we reach our midway point we will also have to possibly drop stations and programming. Yours may have to be the very first to go along with the abundance of your often duplicated mail that I have had to generously donate to the paper recycling industry. If you want to keep the cost of postage and handling down and remain sensitive to the nature of manipulating God’s people, please become the kind of steward of the Kingdom that you expect from us. You see, the amount of gospel junk mail has increased substantially, but the spiritual or financial growth from or because of your input and personal concern stays at a less than modest level.

       Would you please see to the correct spelling of my name in future correspondence? My name is not Ann Tuckinmoney. In your form letters you often end with something like,” When you write us, be sure to ask for the free offer Ann Tuckinmoney.” The Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and it’s very unlikely that He approves of His servants begging like a bunch of drunken panhandlers. The Lord knows about your ethics and fundraising tactics and if the Lord sees fit to allow you to stay on the air, it will be because He will fund it out of His vast supply. He is capable of keeping track of and supporting those who are honestly representing Him. The Lord works in mysterious ways. It just might be that you too should get a real job like the Apostle Paul and let the Lord continue to work in mysterious ways without the benefit of your influence. I will close this most verbally generous letter with a blessing for you and your future endeavors. May you receive exactly what you deserve and it is my earnest prayer and desire to see you in eternity so I can tell you in person what I really think.

                                             Sincerely in Christ, T. LaVigne

                                             September 24, 1999 

The Bone Farm Memorandum

It was in a Vineyard worship service back in 2007 that a line from the chorus went something like, I want to see you and be where you are Lord. We sang the hypnotic melodic mantra over and over. I remember thinking; do these people know what they are singing? At that moment I said under my breath, where are you Lord? I didn’t sense that He was even in the building. I heard in my spirit the answer to that question. “I am in My Word; in the Law and the Prophets, the Psalms and the Proverbs. I am the Gospel, the Acts and the New Testament letters. I am the Genesis and the Revelation. If you stay in my Word and My Word stays in you, you will be where I am. It is there that you will see Me and know Me.” I noted the moment in a notebook and I encourage anyone who is waiting on a visitation from the Lord to keep one handy, just like you do when you are expecting important information over the phone. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Heb 4: 12.  If a person stays preoccupied with scripture and is in continual communication with the Almighty, those conversations become one with the marrow in the bones. When His word becomes part of a person through meditation, memorization and recollection then there is in some fashion the resurrecting power of life as we now know it and afterward in the grave also. Forgive any mystical comparison but His word stays in your dead bones until He Himself calls it back to Himself. His word and your bones in that respect are so attached that you become inseparable. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper whereto I sent it.  Isaiah 55:11.  Remember Elisha’s bones? If there is in a sense more prosperity in the bones of a saint who has gone on already, how much more is there in those of us who are alive and remain. My father’s body is mostly decomposed by now in a one bedroom underground bone condo in a fancy West Toledo landfill called Ottawa Hills Memorial Cemetery. Cleo and Beatrice LaVigne have a piece of land in a neighborhood together with strangers of both worlds. As for me, I’m still alive and remain ambulatory, above ground, like a living sign or a grave marker. As Paul once wrote, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20. To the casual visitor I look in fair shape on the outside as I remain upright with some brief but yet appropriate information chiseled on the face. Life and age have not worn away the truth that lies beneath. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is just a grave site. In some respects the only thing we have going for us is the resurrection; that final event that will disturb this otherwise comfortable repose and will ultimately ruin the handiwork of both mortician and grave digger. Another song says that soon and very soon we are going to see the King. When He comes, the tune goes on to say, there will be no more crying there. I don’t know about you but the absence of doctors, bankers and elite politicians alone thrills me right down to the core. Some may think me disrespectful as I have such little regard for the bones of the dead but we are nothing more than a collection of nerves and organs that are temporarily housed along with our soul, inside a shell of skin, and a very thin shell at that. We may as well shed that easily bruised and notoriously selfish nature as soon as possible and put on Christ. That would be as in, Christ “in” ( bones included ) you, the hope of glory.

Planting Season... What's in Your Garden?

Spring is in the air and everyone looks forward to a fresh start and maybe a new row of prize tomatoes. This last weekend of March gave us the pagan celebration of Ishtar along with engaging the Catholic mystical machinery as it closely coexisted with the cross pollination of Passover on the 2013 calendar. Iconic chocolate treats will be half price on April first; as any fool would take it as a sign of favor from God. Then we're on to other warm weather, family friendly distractions. A garden variety of social events and self improvement seminars are in store along with the usual suspects of concerts and conventions of all kinds. Christians often talk about revival and associate it with a week of heavy preaching, a visiting evangelist and a big name gospel band. In some cases its nothing more than a fancy fund raising gimmick that if its pulled off well will be forgotten the following Monday. I’m sure that isn’t the intention of every planning committee but if forgetting our past sin was as easy as this I wouldn’t be posting this.

 I believe Satan loves revival too. He would love to renew and enlarge your memory of an old habit, inclination or other such thing pertaining to our weak nature. What remains of some old sin, long forgiven by God could be the potential yeast for a brand new transgression. Our own righteousness and good works may also be placed into that novel category. To reuse some old dead thing would suit Satan just fine if for nothing else than to discourage you and keep you impotent in the things of God. Death is the devils business and production is at an all time high especially in these days of spiritual and economic bankruptcy. Since death is all he has to work with it is no wonder that he would like to rejuvenate an old temptation in order to possibly fashion a gentler and kinder death for the believer. He knows he can’t have your soul but he does want to diminish any gifts or potential productivity in Christ. To keep you busy with doubt and worry is the key hook in this selling point. He’ll assure us that all these items are still in stock and available for overnight delivery; if you are in the market that is. He’ll have you out hoeing in a freshly planted row of vain imagination in no time. Since historical iniquities lay dormant in our mind long after we are saved it would be a resurrection born in hell to get you to dwell on it anew. Don’t buy it! It’s nothing more than an old 60’s eight track player because sound thinking wise and in terms of usefulness it is obsolete already. Let us pray that those rotting carcasses would stay in their grave and that you would leave your shovel in the garage. Since digging up the past has run its course you might want to leave the sins of others alone too in case you thought you still had a bone to pick with someone. It may be planting season everywhere else but let us bury the past and be assured of a bountiful crop failure.

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark 4: 26-28

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Col 1: 10- 11

Lock the cemetery gate and give that key to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and go out there and enjoy a new season of growing up in Him.

A Process in Progress

The Heart is a Word Processor and the mind reviews the content. The tongue prints the final copy and puts it before the public. The eyes eat at the table of contents and the mouth speaks even before finishing the meal. A man thinks in his heart and is lead to believe that he has concocted a potentially interesting opinion worthy of the attention of others. A subtle boredom lingers in the best of our intentions yet a man will become fluent in meaningless offerings of his fertile interest on many subjects. Speaking freely with absurd yet tasteful comments he will gain a false respect from those of his ilk who agree with him. They may see themselves as being something because they thought of something and with a minimal vocabulary are able to confuse most issues completely. Some are left to discuss ball scores and the weather so as not to actually have to think or reason. That’s how they lead each other though these colleges of blissful ignorance which produce the most misguided graduates since blindness assumed style. These, among others are the most spiritually illiterate pseudo sophisticated over rated professors who teach the gullible poets and songwriters of our time. The Blonde leading the blonde as the joke would have it. But there is no excuse for this organized dysfunction among Christians which masquerades as wisdom. The Word of God should be allowed to process the man and the man should review his fate if he should end up without God. But those who stuffed themselves with religion at the last Theology Department Picnic are eating off of the paper plates donated by the same idiots who couldn’t pour lemonade from a shoe if the directions were written on the heel; theoretically speaking. (1) The potato salad is contaminated with the milk of human indifference and even the salt is getting bland. The expiration date on the bologna has not become obvious yet but the green color should be a clue. Well peppered with empty words, the news print these days has become useless seasoning for future controversy. Wake us up Oh Lord, before the ants carry us away along with the crumbs of what was once honorable and dignified literature. Forgive me if I only have small helpings of manufactured opinion, a byproduct of a chatter box media. Even Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity can’t be trusted.* The reason I know that they can’t tell us the whole truth is because they are still on the radio and the radio is a satellite campus of the government. We are left to learn on our own with the aid of the only thing that makes any sense. That would be the Bible and eventually, (if you haven’t by now) we will have to also abandon the so called Christian News Outlet Store and Trinket Emporium. Digesting scripturally and philosophically challenged patriotic ideas without thoroughly chewing and swallowing it gives me a cramp that I just can’t process. I often yawn when I read their op-ed tripe and am tempted to nap through the next serious catastrophe. Thank you for allowing me to inspire your own heart beat as you too will be called on to make a comment about something, sooner or later. Your input is just as important as those who think they are in control of the media. I’ll see you at the next company picnic or class reunion.  Wear your name tag and stay away from the potato salad. **

                                                                               Sincere & blessed, T. LaVigne

*Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

                                                                                      Jeremiah 10:14-15

(1) Romans 1:22  **The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the staff and management of any university or college and that’s the problem.

The Shipwreck

There was a prime time program several years ago called Survivor and I didn’t give much attention to it but now understand the show was never rescued from the ratings. Many years have passed since experiencing a reality show disaster of my own and I’m now in a sense reliving the story of Robinson Crusoe after the shipwreck. I’m reminded often of Paul the apostle, who on several occasions booked passage on this titanic* topic. Among his many adventures were three such catastrophes specifically mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul writes; I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea.’  Notice how many references there are to the sea. One of the events is recorded in Acts were Paul told a seasoned crew not to set sail but they went anyway. Everyone was saved in the end but the ship did not fair so well. A comparison could be made relating to our own salvation after such a wood, hay & stubble debris field event. 

Allow me to elaborate on some similarities as we look at our own potentially hazardous voyage into eternity. Let’s begin with poor planning and setting sail in the wrong season. We pray about an issue for ten minutes, get in the boat and shortly find ourselves in strange waters that we should have avoided. When things get ugly we ask the Lord why He let us get into such deep water and we begin to doubt Him. We left port on the USS Assumption without a map, a compass or any navigational skills and as for getting off course, well, we were never on course to begin with. When we are young in the faith, the Lord covers for our stupidity to a certain degree but time and chance happens to us all. Eccl 9:11. Then there is the problem of being overloaded. Instead of basic provisions we are weighed down with too much debt and a full schedule, leaving no room for an extra oar, a vision or living water. Including the lack of forethought and neglecting to keep up with the weather conditions, there is always the sabotage factor. Our adversary is much like an unseen reef or an intentional destructive torpedo. Contrary to popular Christian thinking, we are not all in the same boat. Some have charted a faithful course and spent a lifetime in a life vest weighing the dangers and consequences of the trip and often have the sense to stay on dry land. In most cases it’s not advisable to build a life any where near the shore. The view may be awesome but so are the hurricanes. Matt 7:76.

I would now turn your attention to the survivors. In the event that you find your life ruined in a similar scenario, try not to wash ashore with Hymenaeus and Alexander. Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 1 Tim 1:19-20. Here are some suggestions for staying alive when everything looks hopeless. First realize that you will have opportunity now to develop a prayer life and spend some alone time with the Lord. Reclaim your recollection of scripture and any salvageable items like an old hymn or that first love experience with God and build a suitable shelter. Any cargo that washed ashore could be used for building a new life and a useful future, although some limitations will have to be realized. Remember, the novel that Daniel Defoe wrote was based on a real person who lived successfully on an island until he was rescued. The best part of that story is that Mr. Crusoe had a bible and that is the saving grace in this analogy. The Bible is the life jacket, the salvage operation and the subsistence. In closing I suggest that you don’t drill a hole in the bottom of your boat to drain the excess water like I did. You can sink your own ship in a self inflicted disaster and still arrive on the shores of eternal glory but you may not be put in command of another crew or even a brand new dinghy in this lifetime. Learn how to accept your remaining days along with your new restrictions with grace and be faithful with what has been salvaged. The days ahead should not be imagined as a tropical paradise that accommodates the modern Christian tour package and resort mentality. The forecast calls for gale force winds and high waves but we have a Perfect Savior for a perfect storm. Stay the course but remain anchored in Christ Jesus.

T. LaVigne     * pun included for obvious reasons

I AM... & I am too

     When I first began to talk to the Almighty I would ramble on and on and imagined that I was making great strides after reading how to books or going to prayer meetings. I listened to many explanations about the God who wanted my attention. There was an occasion in the scripture when the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray and I listened in as Jesus broke it down into understandable terms. First acknowledge Him, know who He is, accept His will in the earth that you are made of and believe His promises. Ask for only the minimal items to sustain your life and realize that you are only forgiven to the degree that you are willing to forgive others. Request the ability to avoid being deceived while trusting that He is able to keep you safe in this dangerous world. Not once in that instruction is there a list of mental affirmations or detailed petitions for changing our government or societal ills. There is no step by step seminar recipe on how to get God to respond our parochial expectations. In the heart of it there is no positive confession, repetition, or neatly framed verses taken out of context to support our assumed conclusions. Jesus is the I AM answer to every prayer in spite of any imagined concept of who we think He is and here are a few of them that you may be familiar with. Jesus said; I am the True Vine. I am the Way. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the Light of the world, the Bread of Life and the Messiah. He also said I am with you always even to the end of the world.

     There are a few I am’s that arrested my attention in the Psalms also. When I didn’t know how to pray, I would say what David said and that was my approach as I saw so many similarities to what I had been anxious about or when my sin was getting the best of me. Notice in Psalm 31, 38, 39 and 69 for example, that in those passages alone the words I, me and mine appear over 230 times. Not once in any of those passages do you find David asking for financial aid or a better job. He didn’t dwell on his neighbor’s welfare or spend any time blessing Saul, the Senate or the Supreme Court. He didn’t present himself as a patriot nor did he rebuke the devil or recite the words of Moses. He talked straight up. David didn’t claim to have the answer to anything and mostly complained about everything and was often negative in his words and phrases. He said; I am troubled, I am bowed down, I am feeble and I am ready to fail. With many similar words David said I am a stranger, forgotten, and weary and I am like a broken vessel.

     In conclusion I am also come into deep water and I am full of heaviness because I have been over prescribed in the philosophy and mechanics of prayer. I’ve gone to churches where the pastor has his regular voice and a preaching voice. I suspect he believes the Lord will respond if he exaggerates and embellishes the moment with extreme emotion. Our praying voice should be the same as our everyday voice and silence is the better part of prayer as it’s the quiet moments that open the heart up. It’s not the length of time spent before the Lord and although I do admire the one who is fervent for more than an hour, in the end it is the position of the heart. To have a Bible open when praying is optional but the Lord is known to answer; “it is written.” Paul used the phrase I am on one or two occasions and I believe I am too. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain;.. 1 Cor 15:10a.. As you search the scriptures you may find that you identify from time to time with this kind of praying and can confess that; Jesus is the I AM and like David was, I am too.                                                                                

Auto Classic Deposition

       I don’t remember the day or the hour that I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. I was a young man void of social skills & life in general at the time; confused, irresponsible and totally deluded as the tics & traits of autism developed. Growing up with behavioral problems is not something I appreciate talking about but it’s a fact just the same. My parents released me into the custody of  the Mennonite Church every Sunday morning which was an anxiety hiatus at home and then gave the church folks an extra reason to rejoice when the service was over. As time passed I found myself in a Pentecostal Church across the alley from the house where we lived in Toledo, Ohio. I mention all of this because I don’t think I was really paying attention during any phase of these old school church encounters.

     When I was 21 I met an old acquaintance from the foster home circuit while I was driving cab. He invited me to his church and I was compelled to go after reading Hal Lindsey; and was becoming aware of & scared to death of... missing the rapture. That night I went to The First Apostolic United Pentecostal Church and my world changed forever. I remember the alter call and very little about the actual message but when I left that night everything was different and nothing was the same. I was baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost that next week. I hope to post a significant testimony as to God's prevailing concern for those who are His.

     So now let me share the story seen from the angle of the classic car that you pass on the road from time to time. The day I was set apart unto God was the best day of my life. What follows is an allegory of my salvation as it relates to a brand new automobile. My experience with the Lord on the day I was saved was in showroom condition. It looked great; it shined and had that new car smell that was pleasant to breathe. The Lord handed me the keys and gave me the title to an awesome responsibility and to tell the truth I was proud of it in an innocent sort of way. It came with a full tank of gas and an owner’s manual. There were limitations and maintenance requirements and I was given charge of a powerful new vehicle.

     At first I kept it washed and shined it often. I changed the oil and rotated the tires just like the service agreements specified. I was careful in the traffic and kept my speed to a minimum, well, to some degree. Then time began to have its way and the novelty started to wear thin. After a good season of learning about what was required of me as an owner and manager of such a wonderful gift, I began to get a bit lazy. I didn’t wash it as often and I ran a few stop signs. I got pulled over once or twice for some infraction or a busted tail light. I became lax about taking care of the basic business and soon I began to hear a noise in the transmission. A tire went bad and the dent wasn’t my fault. A car must have backed into me at a shopping mall or a local tavern. It couldn’t have been at church or an auto parts store because I hadn’t parked close to one of those for some time. Little by little and day by day my blessing began to fall apart and I stayed parked for lack fuel and maintenance. It wasn’t long before the bird droppings and the weather laid claim to my existence. I was forced to move on because of personal issues and the last I saw of salvation, it was sitting in the yard, up on blocks and beyond repair. When I left that day I thought I’d never see it again.

     As the years passed I walked or hitchhiked everywhere. I went to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. I drove other people around from time to time in their own car and was an expert on their salvation but didn’t even have the compassion to change a tire for them. I would think about my salvation and cry big tears of sorrow but did little to address the topic until the Lord began to deal with me about returning to the scene of the crime. I said things like; it’s too late but I should go back and scrap it out for parts. Maybe I could sign it over to the devil for 30 pieces of silver and get me a nice bicycle. Praise God, the Lord didn’t see it that way. When I had absolutely nothing left in this world He reminded me that I still had an old clunker sitting in my yard. After convincing me that He would help me restore it to its original condition I was on the road again home.

     It was an embarrassing encounter the day I first saw it in this new light and the burden of my heart was that it was raining and I didn’t look any better then the old beater that sat there before me. We both needed washing at the very least. What could possibly be the first move here? I was clueless but the Lord said let’s start by getting the engine running again. That would be the heart of the matter. Many replacement parts were needed and as time passed I still walked to work but the sound of the engine running at last was a pleasant sound in my ears. After a new set of tires and a major clutch and fly wheel overhaul we were close to being at least road worthy. At first I could only drive during the day as I hadn’t dealt with a broken headlight yet and the crack in the windshield was a ticket magnet. As the days passed the responsibility returned and I worked out my own salvation with fear and trembling, like the Bible says. I was soon being seen on the street again behind the wheel of the best thing I ever owned. It didn’t look good on the outside and a trip to the body shop was in the forecast. The engine hummed and the noise in the differential disappeared. I too began to show signs of improvement as I told other owners the truth about WD40 and the GPS. I was looked to as an authority on disrepair and was able to steer a few novice owners away from the ditch ahead.

       The Lord helped me keep any pride in check as my old clunker turned in to a car show classic. I was this close to joining a Classic Car Club for Jesus group but the Lord said, don’t even go there. I allowed Him to continue the up keep and receive the credit as I had little to do with the restoration of my vintage experience in Christ. These days I get looks when I drive down the street and people make comments but in the end they may never understand this whole story. I saw an old man in a vintage model the other day and his story was that he got it brand new and has owned it and kept it in show room condition since the day he first drove it. I was blessed to know that there are people in this world who have a healthy respect for the gift that God has given them and take care of it with their life. I too now tell my story when I meet the guy who just obtained the title to his new ride and advise him to drive with the utmost consideration for others on the highway and to keep his eye on the fluids. There’s no telling where he will be in 10 years but I pray that he has sense enough to maintain that wonderful blessing called salvation.

     One other thing should be mentioned. The Lord held the title during the whole process of preserving and restoring my soul. That probably explains why I couldn’t find the title until I searched the scripture and found it in the top drawer. It was there all the time.      

   Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:  Phil 1:6

….let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;… ( lifted out of Hebrew 12:1-2 )