I've Been Told

Issue 29       [ February 6, 2011]

     I’ve been told many things in my short life span. Be it good or bad, I’ve heard most everything. Almost every excuse, reason and justification known to man.

     I’ve had people try to justify themselves, and reason things out and some were just ball face lies. If you are an 80 year old man and your excuse is I’m pregnant, rest assured you’re going to have a real hard time convincing anyone of your labor pains.

     Many people think just because I am not exactly in their shoes, THAT’S the reason I don’t understand.  I may not fully understand what they are trying to tell me or their excuse to justify their own misgivings.

     People ask me questions sometimes and I try to warn them that if they don’t want a honest answer then they might need to ask someone else. There have been times I would attempt to explain something and if it hit their little pea-patch and upset their thinking, they were offended and this is where their attempt at justification comes in.

     One time I was trying to explain about the levels of prayer and how that travail is the closest thing that a man can relate to delivering a child. This one lady ran from the room laughing me to scorn, but it makes no difference {Some fell on stony ground}.

     I have been in discussion about scripture in the Bible of how something’s are simply black and white. They ask “show it to me in the Bible where its wrong”. You can show it to them in plain English and their comment is “well, that’s not what that means”. My question is, if not, then what? If the Bible says (in plain English) not for a woman to cut her hair, doesn’t that mean (in plain English) not for a woman to cut her hair?! Or what ever the case might be?!

     If the Bible says in John 3:5  “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”.

    Excuse me for not receiving a degree from the School of the Theological Prophets and Seminary Evangelical Modern Learning and Biblical Understanding, but I just a simple ol’ kuntry boy and I is edumacated from Millington Central High School in Memphis, Tn from 1991 (insert sarcasm here). I was always taught that garbage is garbage, no matter how you like to twist it around.
     “Mr. Grisham, If you go into the Hebrew and translated it sideways into the Greek, which brings it around into Pig-Latin then it will not mean what you say and we can live our life the way we want to”!

     I have heard that you don’t understand because you don’t have any children, wait till you have 3 or 4 then you’ll know. I’ve heard, well if you had a wife you’d understand, You’d be praying to be single and not tied down to a ball and chain. I’ve heard you’re just too young (39 yrs old) to understand why I don’t do this or that. I’ve even heard, well you’re an old man (39 yrs old) you just don’t know how it is.

     “You just don’t understand, You don’t have any kids, you’re not married, you’re not young enough, you‘re not old enough, you’re not a woman, you’re not a minority, you’re not a Baptist, you’re not a Church of Christ, you’re not dead, you’re not . . . . . . Blah,  . . blah,  . blah . . “

   I may not be any of those things but I don’t believe a man has to stick his head in a furnace to know Hell is hot either. I hope I’m smart enough to take a preachers word for it.

     As I was sitting at my computer praying, I was telling God about all these things and he says to me “you think you’ve heard some excuses? You have no idea”!!  I laughed and told the Lord, you’re right I’m sure you’ve TRULY heard them all.

     Does it bother me sometimes? Sure it does. Do I consider putting people in my shoes and giving them back their own bit of medicine, of course, I am human. This is where the Holy Ghost comes in. It helps me to remember that I can be the better man if I choose to be.

     Life should not be about excuses and attempting to get by or justify our own misgivings. Our maturity level should be defined by our ability to face and overcome our opposition; NOT to redirect the blame.

     The only way we can be saved is if we see ourselves for what we are, find out what it takes to BE the better person, and rise above flesh and BECOME the person we want to be.

     You can truly “step-in-it”, try to blame it on someone else, and keep stinking, or you can go clean your shoes and everyone can be happy!

     1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

     In American custom, a man is deteremined by his 18th birthday, but this is NOT meaning he has reached his level of maturity. I was 30 before I began to mature. A level of maturity should be determined by a persons willingness to "step-up-to-the-plate" in any situation and face responsibility.
       There is coming a day in which there will be NO EXCUSES. The day of Judgement will come and when we stand before the man, it will not matter what our friends think, if we are popular or what our bank account has in it, what our boss thinks, what our companion feels about it, what the local minister is doing, what we are intendingto do one day, or what we THINK we should do.

     Its all coming down to what the Lord of Lords (Jesus Christ) has to say on the matter. Good intentions or good deeds will not get us in "the gate." Shaking the preachers hand or making a donation here and there wil not get us very far.

     Revelation 20:10-15 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

  Don't be decieved by what others think is going on. Dont rely on what others feel is the way to live, but get your head in that "good book" and find out for yourself. Let Gods word be true and every man a liar. If a man speaks contrary to the word of God, he is a LIAR . Judge the word, and judge a tree by the fruit it bares.

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Scripture For Your Basket:
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism

    The Holy Bible, King James Version. Pradis CD-ROM: Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1994.

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SONG For Your Basket:
Excuses

Chorus: Excuses, excuse you’ll hear them everyday
    Now the Devil will supply them  if from church you’ll stay away
    When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always looses
    So to keep them folks away from church he offers them excuses

In the summer it’s too hot, In the winter it’s too cold
In the spring time when the weathers just right,
you find someplace else to go
Well its up to the mtns. or down to the beach or to visit some old friend
Or just stay home and relax hope some of the kinfolk start droppin’ in

Well a headache Sunday mornin’ and a backache Sunday night
By work time Monday morning you’re feeling quite alright
One of the children has a cold, pneumonia you suppose,
Why the whole family had to stay home just to blow that poor kids nose!

Chorus 1x

Well the preacher he’s too young, maybe he’s too old
Those sermons not hard enough, maybe they’re too bold
His voice is much too quiet like, sometimes he gets TOO LOUD
He needs to have more dignity, or else he’s way too proud

The sermons  they’re too long, maybe they’re too short
He ought to preach the word now instead of stomp and snort
Why the preacher we’ve got must be the worlds most stuck-up man
Sister Watson told me Sunday “Why He didn’t even shake my hand”

Chorus 1x





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Editors Comments:
  Excuses are one of man's greatest downfalls. Sadly enough they seem to all begin with a touch of selfishness.
     I am not concerned with what church that anyone attends, if we don't live a life according to the scriptures, we WILL NOT make it!! When we repent, get baptized in Jesus Name, and filled with the Holy Ghost we simply opened the door to living. There is no "cruise control" in living for God. If we don't keep our lamp trimmed and full of oil, then we will be one of the foolish virgins.
     There will be many people with the "revelation" burning in Hell because they got at ease in Zion. Please Keep pressing forward!  Many times from Genesis to Revelation the scripture is speaking to "the church people" and not the sinners. If my people which are called by my name...
     Please, don't begin to slow down now. Never get comfortable, because if you're still breathing... you're still pressing toward the mark!