CHOOSING RIGHT FROM WRONG 1

2Timothy 2:19-21 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (20) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. (21) If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

INTRODUCTION: 

After a person is saved he still has many choices and all choices are not black and white.  As a matter of fact the world seems to be getting grayer all the time.  There are some principles to determine the  difference between right and wrong.

NOTE: 

Sin will take you farther than you want to go.
 It will keep you longer than you want to stay.
 It will cost you more than you want to pay.

We are responsible for making the right choices that will prepare us for service to the Lord.  If we make the wrong choices we might be a stumbling block before others.

The next few devotionals will deal with how to make the best choices.  I hope you receive a blessing from them.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Be Still 5

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

We are to Glorify God with our lives.  Sometimes we mistakenly feel like if we are to do that we have to have our lives filled with activities and we have to be involved in all sorts of ministries.  While there is nothing wrong with activities and ministries, we can do all that without spending time alone with God.

This verse tells us that we need to have some time apart from the hustle and bustle of all that goes on around us and just spend some quiet time with God.  Get to know Him through study, prayer and meditation.  Focus on Him and tune the world out for a change.

If you do this, He will be exalted among the heathen and throughout all the Earth.  Be still.

As my parents used to tell me when I was supposed to be quiet, "Quit fidgeting."  Just sit quietly and commune with God.  When you really get to know Him on an intimate basis, He will be exalted.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Be Still 4

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

As I get older I guess I get more nostalgic.  I have been through enough changes that I even remember the good old days...I mean really old days.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't want to go back to the way a lot of things were back in the good old days.   I certainly don't want to give up indoor plumbing and air conditioning but there are some things I miss.

Sundays were pretty special.  Sunday School and church and then back to mamaw's for lunch.  The lunch by the way was attended by aunt's, uncles, cousins, and anyone else in the community who wanted to come by.  Following the lunch the men would gather under the shade trees in the front yard while the women cleaned up the kitchen.  The kids would play and come sit in the shade to cool off and listen to the stories (repeated over and over) the men told.

No one was in a hurry and it was a weekly thing, especially in the summer.  Social media has nothing over a family Sunday gathering.  Life was lived at a slower pace, people had time for each other and they actually visited with each other.

I miss that.  God doesn't forget the slower times either.  I am sure He remembers every time you have ever just sat down, either in your home or under the shade He provided for you and spent some special time with Him.  We can't go back to the good old days but we can slow down.  We can be still and know that He is God.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Be Still 3

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Summer is almost over.  The kids will be back in school soon.  I always say that you can tell when school starts by the smiles on the parents faces and the strained look on the teachers faces.

This week my wife and I are squeezing in a last minute outing with my grandson...because he will soon have to be back in school.  There just doesn't seem to be enough time to spend with family, do all the fun stuff, and get anything productive done during the summer.  Winter isn't much better.

Even the kids time is filled with scheduled activities, sporting events, camps, practice for some extra curricular activity or the other.  Sometimes we even have our Sundays so crowded that we are exhausted at the end of the day.  There is Sunday School, Worship Service, lunch, youth groups, choir practice, evening Worship, and then once a month a business meeting gets thrown in there.  Busy, busy, busy.

We need to be very careful that we don't let all the activity get in the way of worship on Sunday and witnessing the rest of the week.  Stop, take a breath and acknowledge the Majesty of a Mighty God.  Be still.  Know that He is God.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Be Still 2

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Luke 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Jesus was speaking of the later days, near the end when He will be returning. Does this sound familiar.  Worry, rush, work, rush, hurry here and hurry there.  People are continually running like something is chasing them, or they are chasing something.

If we are not going to some sort of activity or event we seem to be on the cell phone taking care of business or planning something.  Where is the down time. 

I have several hobbies that I find very productive and very relaxing. Sometimes I don't really even have to concentrate on what I am doing and it gives me time to meditate.  Be careful not to get so busy that you don't have time to sit, relax, be still and know that He is God.  It will be good for your heart.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Be Still 1

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

I jokingly told someone last week that when I answer the phone it seems like I always get the same two questions.  The first is "Were you asleep?"  This was especially true when I was pastoring full time.  It was almost like everyone thought that I slept most of the time.  The other question I am asked is, "Are you busy?"  I thought about this a lot and I guess they have a 50 percent chance of being right.  Normally if I am not busy, I am asleep.  If I am not asleep I am usually busy."

Sometimes I will just sit and stare out the front door into the woods in front of our home, not really seeing or being aware of what is going on out there.  My wife will ask me if something is wrong or if I have something on my mind.  I just tell her "No, I was just studying."

Sometimes we just have to be still and meditate on the things God has already showed us in His Word.  We have to just be still, and know that He is God.  Try it.  You will be surprised how close to Him you can get when you are still.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

In The Spirit

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

This is John's introduction to the great vision he saw of the coming end time events.  I sometimes wonder if we would not have a better understanding of God's Word and of what He has in store for us if we were "more in the Spirit".

Sometimes we lose our focus.  We focus on the things that are going on around us.  That is not always bad.  We focus on Sunday School, on the music, on other ministries, and hopefully on the sermon that the pastor has prayerfully prepared and delivers.  None of these are bad things, but sometimes I think we are missing something.

We must learn to focus on Jesus and commune with Him through the Holy Spirit.  If we are to be in the Spirit we must take the focus off of everything around us and do our best to focus our entire attention of Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

God has a lot of things to reveal to us if we will just be in the Spirit as John was.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

The Withering World

1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

As I get older, and I'm not complaining because I really would like to continue getting older, I realize how fragile this world and the things around me are.  It seems that nothing, and sadly no one, lasts as long as we would like them too.

I can look around and see the deterioration of things that sparkled and shined at one time and now some of the are cracked, tarnished, rusted or broken.  Nothing seems to last. Even the pleasure that we get from worldly things seems to fade with time.

Thoughts like these would be depressing if I wasn't assured by Jesus Christ of eternal life and better things to come.  The Word of the Lord Endureth forever.

May God bless you an fill you with thoughts of His eternal presence and His eternal love.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

WHAT WE'VE SEEN AND HEARD

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Are you declaring what you have seen and heard from Jesus to others?  John was a witness to the ministry of Jesus.  He heard Him teaching in those wonderful parables that we all love.  He witnessed the miracles that some find so hard to believe, but not John, he was there.  He witnessed His death on the cross and saw Him after He rose from the grave.  His experiences with Jesus were real and he was ready to share them.

Actually our experiences with Jesus should be real too.  Jesus lives and He still works in our life. I have never seen Jesus turn water into wine, or feed a multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish, but I have seen Him stretch not quiet enough to make it plenty.  I haven't seen Him physically heal the sick and raise the dead but I have seen the miracles of healing that could be attributed to nothing more than some one's faith in Him. (Including in my own life.)  I have never seen Jesus cleanse a leper but I have seen Him take a sin stained sinner and clean him up and use him (including me).

What have you seen and heard.  I pray that your relationship with Jesus is just as real as that of John and the others who were actually there with Him.  His ministry is just as real and just as important today.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

WINGS TO FLY AWAY

Psalm 55:6-7 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest (7) Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.

There used to be an old song with the lyrics "If I had the wings of an angel, from these prison walls I would fly."  I imagine as David wrote this psalm he was pretty much feeling entrapped by the circumstances he was facing.  He describes his situation as a "windy storm and tempest."

There are certainly times I feel like I am in an emotional tempest and that the storms of adversity are pounding me.  Sadly most of the storms do not come from the lost or from our enemies, they come from those we love the most and and that is why they get us down.  When they come we wish we could just "fly away and be at rest".  The problem is that when we fly away we usually just fly into another storm and we still get no rest.

Jesus said:
Matthew 11:28 COME UNTO ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

We can never find rest and peace by flying away or wandering off into the wilderness.  We can only find rest from our burdens when we take them to Jesus.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Half A Worm

Psalm 54:6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

The old joke goes "Do you know what is worse than biting into an apple and finding a worm?"  Of course the answer is biting into an apple and finding "half a worm".  A thing like that can kind of spoil the rest of your day if you let it. We are subject to go around the rest of the day still acting like we taste worm in our mouth when we probably never tasted it in the first place.

Sometimes we let something unpleasant ruin our whole day. Instead of being thankful that we had an apple in the first place we concentrate on the worm.  If we are filled with thanksgiving for all the great things God has blessed us with we can learn to overcome the "half a worm" days that we have.

Just get some mouthwash, check your apple next time (I always cut mine in slices and look at them) and thank God for all His blessings because He is good.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

HE IS MY STRENGTH (Part 2)

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my STRENGTH, and my redeemer.

I lived for several years without turning back to God.  My life was pretty much just a jumble of activities loosely linked together to make up what I thought was life.

In my late twenties I found real strength.  That strength was in giving myself to God and trying to conform my heart, my words, and my actions to His will. 

Now as I see the dawning of old age I know that my physical strength is failing.  If I walk too fast for even a short distance I find that my chest burns and I have trouble breathing.  There are many things that I just can't do any more.

Sadly my mental strength is not what it once was either.  I get forgetful.  If I fail to take my B-12 shots I even find that I get confused easily.  It would be a lie if I said that these things don't bother me.  They do. 

I have now come to the point to where I realize that my prayer life, my devotional life, my time of meditation and fellowship in the Lord are vital to me.  He is my strength.  He is my Redeemer and that is enough to get me home.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

HE IS MY STRENGTH

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my STRENGTH, and my redeemer.

When I was young I was very small.  Until I reached Jr. High I was almost the smallest person in my class.  The smallest person in my class was held back a grade and then I became the smallest in my class for a couple of years.

I got in a lot of trouble trying to prove that just because I was small didn't mean I was weak. I felt that I had to prove that I could do anything that those bigger than me could do and sometimes I bit off a lot more than I could chew.

It didn't make me feel any better for someone to say "You are pretty strong for a little fellow."
I didn't want to be strong for a little fellow. I just wanted to be strong.

I had a big growth spurt in my teen years and I grew more or less to average size.  I wasn't weak, I was strong as an ox and about half as smart.  My life was lived in my own strength.  Even after being saved I drifted away from God and tried to make it on my own.  My strength was not enough.

Even when we are saved we have to depend on God and His strength before we can truly walk the right walk and be used by God.

He must be our strength.

(continued tomorrow)

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

SING PRAISES FOREVER

Psalm 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

This is a tough one.  I will sing praises unto His name forever. 

 Singing praises in church while you are surrounded by other Christians is not very hard at all.  Singing them in the car with your family as you ride along the interstate is not so hard either.

It is a lot harder to sing them while you are having a bad day at work, a family squabble, financial trouble or when you are attacked by Satan.  These are the times we really do need to praise God.  Life is sometimes hard on us.  Situations are sometimes not pleasant.  The task before us is sometimes greater than we think we can handle.  The one thing in our lives that is constant is God.  He is always worthy of our praise.

If we praise God then and only then can we really fulfil His purpose in our lives.

Praise Him...He is always the same and He is full of love and grace for those who accept His Son.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

HEAR MY CRY

Psalm 61:1 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

I'll admit it, I'm a grown man and sometimes I cry.  I don't mean just when I raise up too fast in a low place and bump my head on a two by four. (Although I have shed a few tears then too.)  Sometimes I cry at the loss of a loved one, or over the condition of someone.  Sometimes I cry because I have been hurt or because I have been misunderstood.  Sometimes and not often enough I cry because I have sinned and am convicted of it.

There are times when I want God to hear my cry and there are times when I hope He doesn't (though I know there are never times when He doesn't).  In any case I should not just be crying to make others feel worse or to make myself feel better.  I should be crying out to God to help me, to teach me, and to guide me.

Many times we should continue to pray until we know that God has attended to our prayer.  I would love to be able to tell you when that is but sometimes I am not sure myself.  I do know that when my prayers have been answered, when my hurt has been healed, God sends me peace and assurance of His continued presence.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

FIGHT OR FLEE

Psalm 31:3 For thou art my rock and my FORTRESS; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Most animals have God given instincts to either fight or flee when they are in danger.  An animal such as a bobcat will fight when it is cornered.  Most animals will fight if they can't flee but some don't have the ability to do much fighting.

Thankfully most of them have the instincts to do whichever is most suitable for the situation.

We were almost home today, when we saw a deer standing by the fence.  My wife was driving and was afraid that it would panic and run out into the road in front of her and stop.  The deer turned and ran and right behind it we saw the smallest fawn we had ever seen running behind the mother.  It only ran about twenty yards and fell and just lay there.  The mother stopped but then took off again.  My wife had stopped the vehicle by this time and we watched and as the doe kept running I told my wife, "Hurry and drive off so that the mother doesn't keep running."

I  knew the mother would return but I didn't want it to have to run any farther before finding it's way back.  Neither of the deer were ever in any danger from us but their instincts caused them to flee.

God did not give us such instincts. He gave us understanding and the ability to reason.  Sometimes we have to reason whether to flee from danger or stand and face it.  When it comes to sin we must always fear it as the doe feared us. Just as deer do not mix well with people, Christians do not mix well with sin.  We need to flee to God, or rock and our fortress and know that he will protect us eternally from danger.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know.  Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus.  I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LAYING ASIDE MALICE

1st Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Sometimes we read words in the Bible and we just casually pass them by without ever looking at them closely and examining them.  The word malice basicly means holding a grudge or wishing someone bad fortune.

When Peter wrote this verse it preceded:

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.

Before we can grow spiritually we need to get rid of some things that hinder us.  Malice might just be one of the most destructive.

The word malice comes from the same root word as malignant.  When we wish ill toward others it is like a cancer to us spiritually just like a malignancy is to the body.  It will eat away at our spirituality.

Lay aside any ill feelings you have toward others.  You will be pleasantly surprised at how you will begin to grow in grace.

BE A PROMOTER

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may EDIFY another.

 

STRONG'S CONCORDANCE defines the word edify as the act of one who promotes another's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness.

            Someone once said that in society there are two types of people, the builders and the wreckers.  That is also true in the Church and the Christian community.  The wreckers are the ones who criticize, complain, and become barriers to those who are trying to accomplish something.

            Wouldn't it be much better to be a builder.  One critical or insulting remark can wreck a persons day, disrupt a meeting, break up a friendship, and alienate people.  It is certainly true that everyone doesn't always do things the way we would like them too.  Without a doubt most of us can stand a lot of improvement.  It is hard to improve something by tearing it down.

            If you are looking for ways to build up yourself and to grow in your Christian life why not start by building up someone else.  Share a blessing with a friend.  Compliment someone who is not expecting one from you.  Let someone know how much you admire something about them.  Encourage someone who is trying something new or difficult.

            You will be surprised how much difference it will make in your own life.  You will be more positive.  You will gain strength from those you strengthen.  You will feel better when you build someone else up.  Let us edify one another.           

DELIVERED ME FROM FEARS

DELIVERED ME FROM FEARS

 Psalms 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

I can remember that as a young boy I used to fear going to sleep at night and dying in my sleep.  The child's prayer that had the line "If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take" was a frightening choice of words to me. Because of sin somehow I realized that if God took my soul in my sleep that it would be so rotten that he would cast it away.

I never shared those fears with anyone.  I didn't want anyone to know how worthless I really was.  I was the only one in the world who really knew me and I think I even fooled myself sometimes.

When I finally realized that there was nothing I could do about it on my own I gave my worthless soul to Jesus and trusted Him to do what I could not.  "He washed it white as snow."

At that time God delivered me from the terrible fear of what He would do with my soul.  He cleaned it up and made it worthy of spending eternity with Him.  That is something I could have never done myself.  Only Jesus can do that.

Rescue The Perishing

RESCUE THE PERISHING

            An artist, seeking to depict on canvas the meaning of evangelism, painted a storm at sea. Black clouds filled the sky. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a little boat could be seen disintegrating under the pounding of the ocean. Men were struggling in the swirling waters, their anguished faces crying out for help. The only glimmer of hope appeared in the foreground of the painting, where a large rock protruded out of the water. There, clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman.

            It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of mankind's hopeless condition. And, true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm.

            But as the artist reflected upon his work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject. So he discarded the canvas, and painted another. It was very similar to the first: the black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry waters, the little boat crushed by the pounding waves, and the crew vainly struggling in the water. In the foreground the seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation. But the artist made one change: the survivor was holding on with only one hand, and with the other hand he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend.

            That is the New Testament picture of evangelism--that hand reaching down to rescue the perishing. Until that hand is extended, there is no Gospel--and there is no hope for the world. (Copied)

We should take some of our Christian Hymns seriously. "Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save."