Hey there, John.
I am home this evening, as usual, on a Saturday night. just finishing up with my business paperwork, paying some bills, and attending to my spirit and soul, with my thoughts on Jesus and on His mercy, with thankfulness.
I have been feeling remarkably different lately, since I was so sick two weeks ago, as if I’ve been taken to a new level. . or something like that. . . I feel more “conscious” , more inline with the Spirit, with respect to myself and my tasks; my eating habits are more deliberate, less careless, and therefore more rewarding; and I’m experiencing some new learning that I long to share.
But I am wriitng to tell you that I while was eating my dinner, I decided to log on to The Pioneer Tract Society website, which I hadn’t visited in a long time.
I watched that video of your interview with your daddy, and was utterly overwhelmed with love for you and for Preacher Clark. . and so pleased with how the site has changed. . with the old saints’ photos scrolling up in front of that lovely background of the autumn trees.
It is just a work of art, and a work of the Spirit, tastefully designed, so inviting, with tender humility, and such a sense of history; legacies of the wonderful work of God in the lives of all those individuals (the only “elders” left are Coy, Earl and Betty!) PRAISE GOD!!!
That website is just so touching and sweet, . . . and to see you as a poised young man, the host of the program, makes me respect your “place” even more than I ever have. Seeing you and your father together brings a deeper appreciation for the work of God that I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of for this past decade.
When are you & Barbara coming out to see Bekah again? I will make it a point to come south to meet you there, for I feel fellowship welling up in my breast, a great need to be near you, study with you, laugh and talk and love you up a bit.
Thanks for being YOU; who God has made you.
This is all so invaluable; this work.
Fondly,
Brad
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Dear Brother Brad,
I am humbled by your words. Thank you. I am also humbled by the opportunity Jesus has given me to carry on the work of making the (virtually) unknown truth of the gospel known again. My father passed his mantle to me, and by God’s grace, I have not laid it down to win the favor and gifts of men. The Spirit of truth that I was taught has remained with me — with us — and just that mercy from God is overwhelming when I consider it. Jesus is still with us! How I thank him!
I have been pondering over the life God has given us as we have followed His Son. Where have any people been made so happy and so free? Who among God’s own people have known such a bond of peace and love? And with that, who among God’s people are so hated and slandered as we are? I dare say that we have known more joy and yet more scorn than most of God’s people anywhere will ever know in this life. And why? Because by walking in the light of Jesus, we have really lived with him — the one (1) whom God anointed with gladness beyond the gladness of his fellows and (2) whom all men despised and rejected. Pal said that all who lived godly in Christ Jesus would suffer for it, and we have. But we are also promised a “joy unspeakable, and full of glory”, and we have received that, too.
There are two things that have filled my heart lately. First, a consuming love for you and the rest of my little “flock” that I watch over for Christ. This love is so great that it even feels “heavy” sometimes. Second, a deep desire to draw very close to God, to hide from the world under His wing and to please Him to the uttermost, in everything. It is a gift from God, a great mercy, for Him to create a desire within our hearts to love and obey Him, and then also to grant us the strength and wisdom to carry out that desire.
That is my prayer for myself, and for all this “cell” within the world-wide body of Christ, and for the whole body of Christ. May God grant us the will to do His good pleasure, and then the knowledge of what His good pleasure really is.
Your servant,
john