Does the Bible make you weep? …
Filed in NHL | Comments (4)Morning Journal,
CJ and I had a couple of constitutional outings this morning. Our first one was the morning normal? — Paper, home, reading, and CJ snoozing, coffee, devotion, to the office.
After a bit I could tell that General Claudius Josephus had some nervous energy. So off we went again.? Wow, what a thrill to watch CJ run. He is like the wind.
I made my walk around the church and? stopped just to watch CJ. Course he always keeps me in sight.
Really enjoyed myself. Saw a couple of hawks flying overhead. Also saw a buzzard just riding the air currents. It is so refreshing to see Mother Nature with her kiddies.
I’m still in Nehemiah for my morning devotion. Nehemiah chapter eight, verse nine caught my attention. The people of Israel were not acquainted with the book of God. When Ezra starting reading the sacred scrolls, something happened to the gathered crowd. Listen:
“Then Nehemiah, who was governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.”
I sometimes wonder if we churches would just set aside all our? denominational and nondenominational pet doctrines, and just read the Bible in the hearing of the people, would it make the people weep?
Yes, I believe many of the people would weep. Are we not often guilty of promoting our religions when we should be promoting the whole of God’s word?
Don’t misunderstand. We need to teach the doctrines of the Bible by using? varied portions of Scripture? that fit in their place. This is a proper way to teach. So, my complaint is not with this kind of teaching.?
My complaint is when a religious group will? take a single? Scripture, twist it out of its setting to make it mean something that it does not mean.? This is the way cults work.
So, does the Bible make you weep? My eyes often tear up when I am reading God’s sacred scrolls. How awesome it is to be able to hear the voice of the Lamb as He speaks from the pages of God’s holy book.
Last evening I printed out my studies on Acts. I’m beginning a first rough draft on my book, ‘Saddle Your Camel.’ I’ll need to work it, rework it, let Betty work on it, and then let another person edit it. Just takes time. (My printout was 134 pages, in 10 point Script.)
I don’t think there will be a book like it on the market. Sure, there are plenty of commentaries. But who ever rode a camel, trying to keep up with the ever-moving apostles?? That is the kind of book that I am writing.? ? 
In my last journal entry I shared about Betty and my great hunting venture in the mountains of Colorado. To be honest, I’ve never really cared much for hunting. Even when I hunted as a younger man, I had to work myself up to shoot at a squirrel.
Whiich brings me to? this story. We Christian Challenge men use to do an annual ‘first-day-of-squirrel-hunting’ season. We’d camp out overnight. That was a number of years ago. And that was the last time I shot at a squirrel.
Here is how it went. I saw a squirrel scampering over a limb. I watched the? leaves at the? end of the limb moving. Taking careful aim, I shot into the moving leaves.
Guess what fell out of the tree? A woodpecker. I stood there in shock. I went over to the woodpecker and said, “Mister woodpecker, I really didn’t mean to kill you.” (Something like that.)? Anyway, that was the last of my hunting days.
Believe I’ll try fishing later on.? Or maybe I’ll just go to the store and buy some fish.? ?
10:45 a.m. Call from Brother Eddie Dorsey. Eddie and Ruby are the salt of the earth. I’ve loved them from the first time they made an appearance at Christian Challenge. (25 years ago thereabouts.)
Eddie and Ruby have two married sons who are also members of CCI. Edward comes with his family. Keith’s wife comes on occasion. All the family shares the same trait of being a respectful and loving family group.
Eddie and Ruby are always so respectful and so caring of Betty and me. He checks on me often.?
Edward is the funny one. I love to pick on him. We both just laugh and laugh. Boy, it sure would not hurt to have? a lot more? Dorsey’s around.
11:10 a.m. Our angel caretaker came by. JoAnne Rhodes is a treasure. She is like a mother hen. Always checking up on folk at Christian Challenge. Don’t know what we would have done without her over the years. JoAnne is director of our Daughters of Zion. (She brought us some pies.)
11:30 a.m. Lane called. That rascal. He began bragging on the chicken and dumplings that his mom? fixed. Do I ever love chicken and dumplings. He promises to bring me some Sunday.
Got to talking about the old days when we country folk lived a lot from? our gardens. Everyone canned in those days. Our conversation? brought back a memory about some mean hogs.
My cousins and I? were picking blackberries up a ways off the Campbell Creek Cemetery road. Had a small dog with us. Anyway, we came across a bunch of wild hogs. The dog began barking and trying to nip at the hogs. Had they caught him it would have been, ‘Bye bye dog.’
Then the hogs turned on us. Up the trees we went. I climbed up a high stump. The hogs stayed around a bit. They got bored and wandered off. That was not a pleasant encounter. They can be awfully mean. Sometimes a sow will eat her own younguns.
Do you remember the first time you saw a television. For me it was in 1955. Camp Polk had closed and dad transferred to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio. (Later on Camp Polk became Fort Polk. Fort meant it was a permanent installation.)
The lady we rented from had her home connected to ours. We had separate front porches. My sister Julia and I would sit on her front porch, press our noses against the screen door, and watch the wrestling matches as best we could.
That all changed. Our landlady invited my whole family to come over to watch the matches. Boy O boy, did we ever get excited. That’s when I got my taste for wrestling.
My daughter Shana and I use to watch the matches every week. Course Betty thought it wasn’t the best idea. After all, a preacher and his daughter watching grown men beat? one another up? Fer shame. Fer shame.
After awhile we found out that most everything was staged. Oh well, so much for the theater.?
Here it is 12:45 a.m. I’ve got a lot of work to do on my book. Believe I’ll close out for now.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Buddy
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