Hour, Hours & Habits

11/4/2018

Every blogger in the country is probably talking about the time change this morning, I suppose. Here’s one thing and one thing only from me: it makes my early morning longer and provides an extra hour of study time. I know that’s not true tomorrow, and it’ll cost me next Spring. But, today is mine!

SIMH this morning was “Coat of Many Colors” —Dolly Parton wrote and recorded it. She wrote this hit song on the back of a dry cleaning receipt. She wrote it in 1969 and recorded it first in 1971. (Porter Waggoner had the receipt framed and hanging.) Since it was an actual event in her life, eventually a book was written about it and a movie followed. …Is it any wonder she had Dollywood built?

There was a football game last night in Baton Rouge, LA. Roll Tide. It was hard fought, and LSU “held” the high scoring Alabama team to only 29 points. LSU didn’t score. No gloating, just facts. I have many friends on both sides of this aisle and I appreciate their loyalty factor.

Heading to Chattanooga this morning to take Bro. Steve Atwood’s place for both bible classes. He’s in North Carolina eating Mexican food (ain’t Facebook grand?) He’s doing a weekend at Charity Bible Church with Bro. Brian Sipes and the gang. Me, I’m trying to figure out how to make a message be short enough for one session or long enough for both sessions. You see, it isn’t quite the same people in both, but there are some for both, but also some for the first and some for the second. It might be confusing. Wait, maybe I’m the one confused.

From the time I was saved in 1964, I was never one to think we should only go for one of the Sunday morning hours. That could be a hold-over from the way I was raised, but it simply seemed to me there was a certain personal importance to hearing both messages. Back in the denominational setting, sometimes the Sunday School hour was hindered by a not-so-good class teacher. (I know because I was a very poor teacher in the early years—didn’t know any bible and didn’t know how to study it.) Yet, the one teaching was usually a very dedicated person who didn’t need to be insulted by us not showing up. So, we always went for both.

Baptist preachers often caused people to come & bring their kids to SS, but then not stay for “preaching” by the style and manner of their preaching — always trying to get “conviction” on the lost and “re-dedication” from the back-slidden. Neither of which was his job, but he was schooled to believe it was how he ought to end his sermons. Bad schooling. There was no such thing as an “altar call” or an “invitation service” ever found in the bible. Not even in evangelical churches until about the 1880s. A man, jealous over another evangelist’s conversion numbers which, at the time, were being reported in the morning newspaper (ain’t that a hoot!) began an invitational deal at the close of his messages so they could count their converts. ..Apostasy takes on strange forms.

Anyway, pray for all the preachers who teach the truth this morning; and pray that all those who don’t know the truth will learn it and preach it soon.

All that being said, let’s look for the Lord to come or for having a great and thankful November!

Thanks for reading, the Elder