From Bobby Jo

Bobbie Jo stood on the beautiful green grass of the cemetery at the Asbury Methodist Church near Arp west of Ripley, Tennessee. The lovely fall weather threw a blanket of peace and tranquility over the area. She could remember the April morning that she had waited for  Pete Carson to board the City of New Orleans as it made it’s southbound journey to that famous city from there he would take a military train across the United States and find his ship, an LST, waiting for him in San Diego.  She remembered how proud she was of Hospital Corpsman Third Class Pete Carson as he stood there in his dress blues waiting for the long journey to begin. They were so in love, even the strangers who saw them knew. She held in her hand all the letters they had exchanged and how she treasured each of them as she looked over that green hill of memories. His dad had come to tell her on that cold January day in 1945 that Pete would not come home, his LST 460 had been hit by a Japanese Kamikaze plane on December 21, 1944 at Mindoro and Pete was one of the 27 men who would not come home.  She looked at the bronze plaque the Navy had provided; Petty Officer 3rd Class Pete Carson July 17, 1921 – December 21, 1944 Corpsman United States Navy. She said softly, ‘Pete, it is over, Japan Surrendered and most of your friends will be coming home. Honey I loved you when you left and I love you now. Rest in peace my love and thank you for your gift to all of us, our freedom.’  In Memory of the 416,800 who did not return from the Second World War

Are You A Vessel

Go for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.  Acts 9:15

You can understand how cautious Ananias had to be when he received instructions to befriend Saul, later to be Paul.  Saul’s reputation had come before him and all of the Christians who knew of him must have feared for their lives so it is a wonderful thing that Ananias did in being faithful to the call of God.  I believe that our Lord wants each of us to be His vessel. For Ananias being a vessel required him to believe and trust in the call of God to instruct and befriend a man called Saul. It might seem to us to have been a very small vessel but not to God.  Ananias did what God called him to do that is the entire requirement for us to be a vessel for Him. As we believe in Jesus and receive the salvation he gives then we become the vessel by being obedient to His will. I may pastor what the world calls a small church, but it is God’s church and thus I am successful not because of the size of the church I pastor but because of the trust I display in doing what God wants me to do.  You may never hold a position of leadership or be in charge of a program; teach, direct, lead, but it does not matter to God.  What does matter is that what you do is what He has asked you to do. Remember what He ask you to do must been seen by you as a glorious honor, not a task, not a burden, but a joy.  Do you realize that you are a chosen vessel, chosen by God?

Well Done

Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. First Timothy 4:12

If we had the financial means most of us would be very generous, we would love to give a large sum of money to some cause that is close to our hearts. Give a young person a chance at a great education and any number of other wonderful things.  If we were great speakers and could demand an audience, keep them spellbound, and move them to action, we would do so. Who would not like to say something profound and life changing? If we could we would. If we were, so our list continues.  But look at this scripture. We can all do these six things that Paul told the young Timothy to be sure he did. We all speak to others; people all around see our conduct, hear our words and establish an opinion about us. Don’t wait for the glorious thing to do the right thing do the right thing now.  Make your life an example that others can follow straight to the salvation of our Lord. Being faithful may not offer the glory and praise we would all love, but it will provide a ‘Well done’ from the one who put the stars in place.

Listen With Your Heart

I had only been at the Children’s home a couple of weeks when the call came from a houseparent whom I had known for a long time.  He was in a panic, there was trouble in the cottage and he needed me.  When I arrived I saw a ten year old boy standing in the corner looking like he was in shock and a houseparent red faces and very mad. Before I could ask what was happening the housefather told me, pointing at the boy and almost shouting, “He called me old, ugly and fat, and I am not going to take that from him.”  To cut to the point I took the boy for a walk and he apologized; the housefather accepted his apology and the young man went to his room. I invited the father to go outside and sit with me awhile on the back porch. In the course of our conversation I almost laughed and he asked me what I found so funny. I looked at him, called his name and said, “You know the truth is that both of us are old, ugly and fat.” It took a couple of years for this to seem funny to him and he responded to me that no kid was going to talk to him like that.  I agreed and said, “Let me offer you a come back for when this happens again, say something like this, ‘You’’re right but with an smart mouth like yours you won’t  live long enough to be old, ugly and fat.’ I had learned on the walk that the boy was not mad at his housefather, but rather his father whom he had never known, his mother who loved drugs more than she loved him and many other turns that life had thrown him. Sometimes we really do need to listen with our hearts.

Have You Met?

Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 10:32

I would go with my father to his office when I was a boy and it always thrilled me when he would say to all those in the office, “Have you met my son?” I felt a real sense of pride that dad wanted all of the people who worked with him to know his son. This jester never ended even after I became a man, it was always the same, “Have you met my son?” Later it was my joy to say to people, “Have you met my dad?” He visited me at all but two of the churches I pastored and in fact built furniture for most of those. I would take him with me to meetings and on visits to meet with members and I would always say, “Have you met my dad?” It was a wonderful feeling.  Someday in the glory of eternity Jesus will say to His Father, “Father, here is my friend, Ivan.”  WOW!  I am not sure that is the exact way it will happen, for I realize that I am not worthy of that much of His time, but He did say His eyes were on the sparrows, for certain I know that I will be in Heaven because the Father knows me through His Son, Jesus. I just hope that I have spent my life saying to others, both in words and in deeds, “Have you met my friend, Jesus?”  Would it not be wonderful to have someone meet you in glory and say, “Thank you for introducing me to Jesus.”?

God’s Dress Code

Mother always made sure that when we left the house we were dresses properly. She believed it was very important that we looked our best for each occasion. Our family was not wealthy and our clothes were mostly from Penny’s and Sears, but mother would make sure that they were cleaned and pressed and I looked my very best. The inspections I faced in the Navy were nothing compared to standing before mom, my trying to get out the door and her checking me out, I think she felt it was a reflection on her and indeed our whole family when we looked ill kept and wrinkled. I wonder if God feels that way about us, His children. I think He must sometimes be embarrassed by the way we live and thus represent Him. Not by our garments of cloth but by our habits, choices, and acts in life.  Dear Father, thank you for reminding us that you have a dress code for us to follow. How beautiful and handsome we would be if we would wear our garment provided from your Word.  Remind us Lord if we would do so then others would be able to see Jesus in us and in seeing Him that would want to meet Him. We would also be warmer for your robe is a perfect match for any weather, any climate, and any hour.  I sometimes wonder God why you love us so much, provide for us so wonderfully and stay with us even when we seek to run fast and far away from you.  Thank you Lord for being You.

The Winter of 1942

Most of that first winter on Lindsey Street is from told memory.  Since I was only four I have very little actual memory.  My mother, who was really not thrilled with moving from our rental home on Lexington to our new home at 246 South Lindsey, spent a lot of time telling me in later years about those early days. Of course this was a hard winter for our whole nation.  After that Sunday afternoon of December 7, 1941, when the Empire of Japan attacked our Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, life really became a challenge for all the families of our nation. All of Lindsey Street was worried about their older sons and when they would be drafted in the ‘service’ as we called it in those early days of World War Two. The Evans family who lived across the street from us knew that their oldest son Murray would be among the first from Lindsey Street to leave.  He was; and the blue star of a member of the house serving in the military was hung in their window and then another and still others, East Jackson had gone to war. The fathers and sons of East Jackson joined the millions of other men from across our nation to go to the ‘service’ of their country.  On the home front it was also a difficult winter.  Since our house was open on all sides underneath Dad spent the winter fighting off the frozen pipes, trying to keep the inside warm and starting his dream projects of making our house into a home. But winter is always followed by spring and so we like our nation survived.  The Chinese build their future on their past, maybe it is time for us to look back and remember and then move forward by doing.

The Start at Lindsey Street

 It was a cold November day in 1941 when we left the rental house at the corner of Camden and Lexington to walk through the lumber yard then across McCrea Street through an unpaved seldom used alley to 246 South Lindsey Street to see our new home. It had been build as a duplex with a porch and two doors on the front and a porch running across the back with three doors opening onto that porch.  One door each for the two units and then a door leading into the common bathroom. The house rested on concert pillows about three to four feet off of the ground.  You could stand in the front yard and look under the house all the way to the back yard I was only four at the time but I still remember my dad holding mother and telling her that it would be alright. While the house was not as nice as the one we were leaving this would be our house and we would make it into a real nice home.   We stood there in the cold November wind listening as my father dreamed aloud of all the plans he had for the house and how he would fix it up for mother and someday she would come to see that it was hers and it would look like her dreams as well as his.  For the next forty-five years dad kept that promise and the house at 246 South Lindsey became home to the Raley clan. It was from that house that I would walk to Whitehall Elementary School, Jackson Junior High, Jackson High, and even my first year at Union University. It was from that house that my three sisters would leave to build houses of their own and from that house that my mother would leave on Thursday night May 5, 1977 to enter her new house build for her by Jesus.

Father Forgive Me

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your wrongdoing.  Mark 11:25
I would never make that mistake, my children will never do that, and I can’’t believe a good person would do something like that.” Some statements most of us have made and some of us have had to eat. We do love to judge others. Somehow when we see someone caught in a sin or guilty of something we believe it relieves us a bit and makes what we do look, if not ok, at least better. In this case we love to compare ourselves to others, those who do more sinning than we do, of course. I wonder how many of our sins God is waiting to forgive because we have not forgiven others. I don’’t fully understand that statement even after having made it, but is that not what the scripture says? I am not talking about being saved, that is once and forever, I am speaking of that personal close relationship with God that is always broken ever so slightly by the unforgiving spirit we have toward others in our hearts. Forgive others so that God can forgive us and watch that space be filled with His love. He said something about our always being worried about specks in other people’s eyes but not being able to see the pole in our own eye.

This one will require me to do a lot of work.

When Time Was Young

From Lindsey Street 1941 to 1945

My father was over the age of being drafted so our home did not post a star in our window as so many of the homes on Lindsey and throughout East Jackson.  Dad joined the state guard and became a warden for the special needs of the community during the years of conflict.  I remember when we had the black out drills that dad would walk the street and make sure that all the lights were out and our community was supporting the war effort.  He took special training for fire fighting, crowd control, and evacuation assistance. While he never had to uses those skills he was glad to place himself at the disposal of his community.  Our church hung a large American Flag in our worship center and pinned a picture of all the men from our church serving our country. I remember one Sunday a lonely looking lady with her face stained in tears came down the isle and asked if we would be willing to put a picture of her son on our flag even though they were not member of our church.  The pastor stopped the service and called for our janitor to bring the ladder and he climbed to the flag and put that boy’s picture on one of the stars of the flag. I don’t think I will ever forget how moved our people were and how our entire congregation wept that day for the dear mother and her son.  Before the war was over we put that picture and the pictures of six of our young men on gold stars because they would never come back to Calvary, they had given their all in the conflict.