Journey with John Stokes

Friday, September 30, 2011

Cannot I make the birds quote poetry?

Please Papa, read just one more line!
I promise I'll not make a sound this time.
And so the old grand read to the lad
By the glowing fire whispering so sad.
For in this day to read a metered line
Was considered equal to the highest crime.
Long before the books were banned
In the day rhymes rang throughout the land
The old grands and lads in hills would gather round
And read the sonnets flaming with poetic sounds.
Now in timid quiet he barely mouthed the words
Knowing how readily the shackles they loved to gird.
Sentences now were equated to years
And lines were where you stood in fear.
Rhymes were but discarded skins.
The longer he read curds mingled with his tears
And soon the little lad slept upon the oil cloth bed
Full from the rare fruit he had been fed.
The tatter worn volume was locked and hid in the knapsack
The embers were cold as they woke and began the journey back.
In the valley a dark fog spread its tentacles, engulfing their way.
But upon the hills, from where they came, did not the mockingbirds
repeat the poetry!

To Pluto Reprise

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Mizpah for September 30th

Sanctify them through Thy truth. John 17:17

" Holiness is and must be a voluntary state. It is voluntary love, not a passive emotion. Emotions and feelings of blessedness are one of the results of holiness." Charles Grandison Finney.

Charles G. Finney was born in Warren,Conn. August 29, 1792, was the second President of Oberlin College(1851-1865).

"He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work." 2 Timothy 2:21.

These are the effects of a purifying separation from all unclean vessels----honor, purity, fitness and perpetual preparation for divine service and work. From the book, Daily Holiness Scripture Texts by Rev. E.I.D. Pepper, 1896.

Mzpah for September 29th

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, He shall teach you all things. John 14:26

"Reading the Bible in the Spirit, we shall know the things that are freely given to us of God, because we shall have them. The Holy Spirit takes them, as it were, out of the Bible, and puts them into our hearts." Rev. Theodore Monod.

Theodore Monod(1836 to1921) was the pastor of the French Reformed Church in Paris. He was educated for the ministry partly in America, being a student for some years at Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pa. In 1860 he entered upon his work in Paris, where his influence as an evangelical preacher has extended beyond the French Reformed Church, in which he has been a leading pastor during the past half century. Rev Monod, a contemporary with Dwight L. Moody, penned the hymn, "Oh the bitter shame and sorrow".

I recently had a conversation with a person on Facebook who posted this: Deuteronomy was quoted by Jesus Christ more than any other book. Think a moment, if you do not know and understand Deuteronomy, then how can you understand Jesus when he quotes it?
I replied, I do not even fathom Jesus loves me, this I know, save from Divine Illumination. She replied, What? I replied, You answered your own question. It was at this point it became interesting. She replied: No you did! You don't understand Gods laws if you really think you save (I'm assuming you meant saved or safe from) Divine Illumination... We are saved through baptism of our own free will, which requires full submersion and by following GODS LAWS. If your not understanding them then you can't follow them. If your not following them and claiming your saved because well you believe in God your being lied to by yourself and the church! Once saved always saved in a LIE!
Whew....I simply responded. Hmmmmm....think I need to re-read Acts 26:24-25, being somewhat tongue in cheek, meaning she should read it, in which Festus said to Paul, Much learning doth make thee mad!
Again, she responded: Yes you should...and don't forget the rest of the Bible as well. Because the Bible is clear and that it is IMPOSSIBLE to be saved, and then walk away from God and then return, IMPOSSIBLE is the word used. And there are no contradictions in the Bible and as Moses said in Deut, "there are no excuses for not following his laws." NONE.

The point I was making, to which was totally unseen, taking 'save' out of context in my statement, was that, without the Illumination of the Holy Spirit, to which Rev Monod spoke in this quote, you can read and re-read Deut. and all the scriptures until you are absolutely mad, for it is all LAW and void of any GRACE, that only the Holy Spirit can infuse.
In our flesh, we cannot begin to even comprehend the song of the child, Jesus Loves Me! It is the Spirit that gives life, Not the LAW.