Compiled by Albie The Good, your average desert-dwelling, Bible-believing, Christian Beatnik and Incurable Bookworm... Thoughts about stuff... oh, and things too. :)
Here is what ya might call a "modern hymn," written [I believe] in the 1990s by a Baptist Pastor named Gary Duty and performed by him here with his band Sound Doctrine. It is a hymn about the Bible itself [which is actually a long standing tradition in Evangelical hymnody-- see old classics like "Holy Bible Book Divine" or "Wonderful Words Of Life."] but this one is also about standin' firn on a tried and true Book, and believin' it cover to cover... stickin' with things that work, Amen? :)
It's a well of pure water when I'm thirsty and dry,
Bread when I'm hungry and worn.
When the battle is raging, it's my faithful sword,
My shelter in life's troubled storm.
It's a light to my pathway and a lamp to my feet,
When the world gets so dark you can't see.
And I've not made a change in one word that it says,
But it sure made a change in me.
This blessed old book that I hold in my hand,
It's true from beginning to end.
It's the solid foundation where I firmly stand,
Sin kept me from it, now it keeps me from sin.
When I think what it cost just to hold in my hand,
It reminds me that I owe a great debt,
To all of the martyrs who'd gone to the stake,
And quote it with their dying breath.
Now its critics are many and believers are few,
But one thing I've found to be true.
If you find when you read it that there's something wrong,
TEXT: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23)
INTRODUCTION: These are bold and stupendous words. Side by side these two astounding declarations stand, "All things are possible with God"; "All things are possible to him that believeth."
Let us consider the possibilities of faith:
I. SALVATION IS POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH
No matter how vile the sin, how many or how great the sins, how aggravated the guilt, how deep the corruption, how long the career of impenitence and crime, it is everywhere, and forever true, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."
II. SANCTIFICATION IS POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH
"Inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith is in me," is still the inscription over the gates of our full inheritance.
III. GREAT POWER FOR SERVICE IS POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH The gift of the Holy Ghost is received by faith. The power of the apostles was in proportion to their faith. IV. ALL DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS MUST GIVE WAY BEFORE THE OMNIPOTENCE OF FAITH
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been compassed seven days, and still the mightiest citadels of the adversary must give way before the steadfast and victorious march of faith. V. ALL THE VICTORIES OF PRAYER ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." "When we pray believe that ye receive the things that ye ask and ye shall have them." It is not the strength or the length of the prayer that prevails but the simplicity of its confidence.
VI. ALL PEACE AND JOY ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH The apostle's prayer for the Romans is that the God of hope shall fill them with all joy and peace in believing. It is God's will and purpose that the unbelieving soul shall be an unhappy soul, and that he shall be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God and trusting in Him.
VII. THE LORD'S COMING WILL DOUBTLESS BE GIVEN AT LAST TO FAITH: There will be a generation who shall say, "Lo! this is our God, we have waited for him." As yet it is our blessed hope but it will some day become more.
From Dell Comics' Four Color #312 [TONTO], January 1951... This is more like it! I think my son could actually use something like this. Imagine the envy of the neighborhood kids if he had him a "lodge" like this here one!
Albie's note: I like this old recitative poem written by the great Red Foley. It's a pretty neat tribute to country doctors. I have been reading a really good ol' western-- set in AZ-- called Doc Dillahay by Paul S. Powers [which I hope to review soon] so this was very timely to me. Probably the best known recorded version was by Johnny Cash and included on his legendary 1961 concept album RIDE THIS TRAIN. The Youtube clip here is a live version from Cash's TV show originally taped back in 1970! Oh and i just had to include a classic Dell comics info page along the same lines... it is from Four Color #877 [a 1958 adaptation of the TV show Frontier Doctor starring Willcox, AZ's own Rex Allen!]
Hope someone else enjoys this stuff!
OLD DOC BROWN
He was just an old country doctor in a little country town--
Fame and fortune had passed him by though we never saw him frown--
As day by day in his kindly way he'd serve us one and all;
Many a patient forgot to pay-- although Doc's fees were small.
Though he needed his dimes, and there were times that he'd receive a fee,
He'd pass it onto some poor soul that needed it worse than he.
He had to sell his furniture-- couldn't pay his office rent--
So to a dusty room over a livery stable Doc Brown and his satchel went.
And on the hitchin' post at the curb below, to advertise his wares,
He'd nailed a little sign that read "Doc Brown has moved upstairs."
There he kept on helping folks get well-- for his heart was jus' pure gold--
But anyone with eyes could see that Doc was gettin' old.
Then one day he didn't answer when they knocked upon his door.
Old Doc Brown was layin' down but his soul was no more.
They found him there in that old black suit-- on his face was a smile of content--
But all the money they could find on him was a quarter and a copper cent.
So they opened up his ledger and what they saw gave their hearts a pull--
Beside each debtor's name old Doc had written these words: "Paid In Full!"
Old Doc should have had a funeral fine enough for a king;
It's a ghastly joke-- our town was broke-- and no one could give a thing.
'Cept Jones, the undertaker, he did mighty well--
Donatin' an old iron casket he had never been able to sell.
And the funeral procession-- it wasn't much for grace and pomp and style--
But those wagon loads of mourners? They stretched out for more than a mile!
We wanted to give him a monument-- we kinda figured we owed him one--
'Cause he made our town a better place for all the good he'd done.
We pulled up that old hitchin' post where Doc had nailed a sign;
We'd painted it white and to all of us it certainly did look fine.
Now the rains and the snows have washed away our white trimmin's of paint
There ain't nothin' left but Doc's own sign and that's gettin' pretty faint.
But you can still see that old hitchin' post as if in answer to our prayers
Mutely tellin' the whole wide world: "Doc Brown... has moved upstairs."
Red Foley [1910-1968]
Now, here's the video clip:
PEACE
"Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you..."
The author of this classic 1898 hymn was Johnson Oatman, Jr., a businessman who wrote 3,000 gospel songs in his leisure time!Oatman was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal denomination but never pastored a church.His Hymns were nearly always well received, even though he was paid no more than $1.00 for each of his texts! The music was written by the amazing Charles Gabriel [1856-1932], who also contribted the tunes to "Send The Light," "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and many others.
Still sung widely in hymn-singing churches today, the words express well the devotional spirit of the days when men like D. L. Moody, R.A. Torrey and Andrew Murray attracted large, interested crowds. Listen to the words as sung by these talented young folks; they will convict you as you hear in them old Oatman's obvious desire for a deeper spiritual life, continuing on a higher plane of fellowship with God than he has ever before experienced...
"Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD..."
From the inside cover of Dell FOUR COLOR #933 [A Disney ZORRO comic] ...
Sounds great, doesn't it? While we're at it, here is a mural of the same subject from a High School in Lawndale, Cal. It was painted by a WPA artist named Virgil Zenor in 1937!
"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance..." Ecclesiastes 3:4
"The good man has his enemies; he would not be like his Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies, we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Yet see the quietude of the godly man in spite of and in the face of his enemies."
There was an old Roman custom, which may have prevailed even in David's time, which would shed light on this part of the psalm. When a soldier had won a victory and taken the enemy prisoners, a feast was made for him, and the captives were bound to the pillars of the banqueting-hall; and in their presence he was made to sit down and eat. This certainly may be realized in your experience and mine.
A man's foes are they of his own household, and our worst enemies are from within. With some it is temper; with others, pride; with still others, unholy thoughts; and with many, the disposition to actual outbreaking sin. But there is deliverance from all, and there may be so complete a submission to Christ that he, becoming the master of your life, will bind them all and cause you to feast in their presence.
Suggestions for To-day.
1. Open your eyes to the fact that you are not free from danger. Sin is not dead, and the old nature may be easily revived.
2. Remember that sin is mightier than your resolution or your will. Determination not to sin is not the secret of victory.
3. Put your whole life in the undisputed control of Christ. He is the secret of victory always and everywhere.
