Father and Son: Brothers in Christ

When Jesus calls a boy to live 

He bids him come and die,

And promises that he will give 

The Spirit in reply. 

He bids him turn from deadly sin

And trust a dying Christ,

And find that he will live again

Beyond the sacrifice. 

He bids him bury doubt and dread

Beneath the water here

And raises him then from the dead

And leaves the drowning fear. 

He robes the boy with righteousness

And covers crimson wrong, 

And furnishes with royal dress

And makes his spirit strong. 

So I rejoice to stand with you, 

My son, within the grave

That you and I are passing through; 

Where God alone can save. 

Eleven years I’ve called you son, 

And that is dearly true, 

And now because of what God’s done

I call you brother too. 

John Piper, June 1994

Treasuring God in Our Traditions

by Noel Piper

Barnabas's Baptism

Photos: Baptism of Father and Son, March 2003.  

MS was a few weeks shy of turning 12. 

The London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689

Chapter 29

Of Baptism

1)  Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death (a)and resurrection; of his being grafted into him; of (b)remission of sins; and of (c)giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life. 

(a) Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27; 

(b) Mark 1:4; Acts 22:16; 

(c) Romans 6:4

2)  Those who do actually profess (d)repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are only proper subjects of this ordinance. 

(d) Mark 16:16; Acts 2:41; 8:12; 8:36-37; 18:8

3)  The outward element to be used in this ordinance (e)is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

(e) Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:38

4)  Immersion, or dipping of the person (f)in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. 

(f) Matthew 3:16; John 3:23

A Life to Love

Your mother is the first friend you ever had. When you came into this great world as an utter stranger, not knowing anyone, never having looked into any face — you found her love waiting for you. 

Instantly you had . . .
a friend, 
a bosom to nestle in, 
an arm to encircle you, 
an eye to watch you, 
a hand to minister to your helplessness and need. 
Your mother received you eagerly, took you into her deepest heart, 

and began to live for you.

J. R. Miller

Credit:  Sarah Grigsby Photography

Christ, Above All

I’ve been told that my paternal grandfathers, W.A. Sr. and W.A. Jr., participated in building many public buildings and homes in Nahunta, GA before and after it became the county seat for Brantley County in 1923.  

At that time the original First Baptist Church was an old wooden building located on the adjacent block where the newer building is located now.  The old structure was removed after the current sanctuary was built in the late 1940s. 

My Great-Granddaddy W.A. Sr. passed away unexpectedly in 1945, so I do not believe he participated in the construction of the new church building. 

However, my Grandaddy W.A. Jr did.  He was known as “Plumb Bob” because he had an exacting eye for details and lines.  When it came time for the steeple to be built, no one else was willing to work that high!  So, Grandaddy built the steeple. Last weekend I learned he volunteered his time to build the steeple in honor of his wife, my Grannie Maude, who spent many years worshipping there.  

After the completion of the new sanctuary, around 1950, my parents were married there in 1955…

I never met my grandfathers.   

Sadly, they both passed unexpectedly, years apart, before I was born. 

Times were hard during the depression.  My grandfathers traveled for work, and took/moved their families so they could find work in neighboring counties.  I’m thankful both of my grandfathers were diligent workers, however difficult their hardships. 

I learned that my Great-Grandaddy W.A. died with a Primitive Baptist Hymnal in his lap while sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch after a day of work. 

My Grandaddy W.A. died in the predawn hours at home.  

The years before his death were better.  He loved his wife and family. Grandchildren were being added, and life was more meaningful.  Though  he didn’t attend church with his wife because of a chronic asthmatic/bronchial cough, it’s been said he was a changed man before he died.  Could it be when he built the steeple, he came to faith in the Living God?  As much as I’d love to know, I’m encouraged to consider my grandmother’s faith, how she loved him and prayed for him…

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,  when they see your respectful and pure conduct.” 

1 Peter 3:1-2

 

As I got out of the car to take pictures last Saturday, I was awed to consider how God works in ways I cannot know and understand.  He chose to use the work of my Granddaddy’s hands to point a small GA town heavenward, to gather many to worship Him. 

I pray those who congregate here weekly will worship the True and Living God!  I pray they grasp tightly to the inerrant, Holy Bible where He is revealed in the Scriptures.  I pray they are convicted to reject their own ideas of how to worship and will have hearts eager to reverence and please God. 

24 

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 

25

nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 

26

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 

27

that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 

28

for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 

29

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 

30

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 

31

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Acts 17:24-31, ESV

I pray the LORD has used the life work of my granddaddy’s hands to accomplish the greater work of regeneration in the lives of those who gather here, those who repent of their sin, and by grace through faith alone trust Jesus who gave His life as a ransom to purchase their salvation.  

May The Church of God everywhere treasure Christ above all the works of man and daily repent of self righteous efforts to approach God apart from His work of perfect salvation!   

This building was raised to serve as a gathering place.  It is not the church of God.  His Redeemed people are The Church.  They embody Him.  His People are the members of His Body.  He is at work to unify and covenant His Church  to live in sacrificial worship of Him as they daily build up and edify one another in the faith.  I pray the lives of those who gather here are set apart from the world in their callings, to go out into their community to live holy and acceptable lives to His service.  I pray He is pleased to dwell in them, not in the likeness of the world, but transformed by the renewing of their minds by His written revealed word to prove the power of Christ in them, that which is good and acceptable, the perfect will of God!! 

May God be praised and glorified by His Son’s perfect work on display in the lives of those who die and are buried to their self wills, who daily put their trust in Him, and walk by faith to overcome the world’s influence in their lives. 

Photos: Steeple of Nahunta First Baptist Church, 

Paternal Great-Grandparents, 

Paternal Grandparents, 

Parents, 

Nahunta First Baptist Church.

Exceeding Sweet Delight

 

While studying his Greek grammar book,  it was discovered, Jonathan Edwards jotted down his thoughts of a young lady named Sarah on the front page…

“They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on Him. . . . [Y]ou could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure. . . . She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her. 

(Quoted in  Iain H. Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography [Banner of Truth, 1987], 92).”

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/sarah-edwards-jonathans-home-and-haven

I thank You, LORD, for You are the Great One gift that is the first and best of beings!  I thank you for our daughter whom You have blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenly places.  Thank you for choosing her before the foundation of the world to live a holy and blameless life before You!  Thank you for Dear Friends who have pointed Katherine to You from the early days of their friendship.  Thank you for setting in order all the facets of their lives that are still accomplishing Your perfect and great purpose! 

Katherine’s first sleep over was with these girls. I loved them from the start, because I saw a spiritual maturity in them that identified for me their understanding of Our Heavenly Father, and that encouraged me!  I loved them more when Katherine came home from the sleep over and shared that they lead her in a devotion time before they turned out the light to go to sleep!  🥰❤️🙌🏼  I have enjoyed watching these girls enjoy one another’s presence and influence in their lives.  I pray they will always prioritize and nurture faith in the LORD with one another, seeking to honor and please Him more than to gain from one another any earthly good. 

Jess was recently engaged (I believe the week of Katherine’s wedding) and she will be getting married in October 🎉, Lord willing!!  I’m thankful she’s asked Katherine to stand by her side at the altar! 

Tori married in August of 2019, and Katherine was there beside her to witness her vows. 

A sweet providence is that the twins were very influential in helping Katherine secure a place for her wedding.  Come October, Lord willing, all three girls will have been married at the same church. 

Thank you, Lord, for sweet seasons of friendship that have grown and matured as they’ve sought to walk closer to You and one another. 

I pray their husbands will be faithful to seek You and lead them well.  May their husbands discern wise counsel from Your word and reap safety from a multitude of  counselors on a daily basis! 

Thank you, LORD!!  You are good, and sovereign.  You rule in the lives of these dear, young ladies!  

May You direct their hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ in their friendships and marriages (2 Thessalonians 3:5)! 

Refuge of Grace

 

“I often think, how could I live without a throne of grace!  It is a sure refuge, a resting place to my soul, endeared by a thousand most tender, soul-humbling, soul-refreshing interviews with the God of heaven, —the God of love to me and mine.  

How sweet to draw near to Him, and hear the whispers of the still, small voice of the Spirit, reproving, counseling, and soothing the too often turbulent and excited feelings of the soul!  

My dear child, you need never mourn that you are fatherless, since God, the eternal God, is your own Father, better than ten thousand earthly parents.  Oh trust Him fully;  open your whole heart to Him;  tell Him all you wish, all you feel, all you fear.  Keep nothing back.  He will remove all that is wrong, set everything right, and keep you quietly resting in the embrace of His matchless love.  It is a heaven below, to be passive in His hands, and know no will but His, believing that His is best.” 

Mary Winslow, A letter to her daughter

Book:  Life in Jesus

A Memoir , arranged from her correspondence, diary, and thoughts

By Octavius Winslow 

Photos: with my Daddy

Spring of 1969 

Fall of 2014. 

My Daddy was and always will be a comfort to me.  He steered me to my Heavenly Father, who is more than ten thousand fathers, in Whom I find safety and rest from my anxious toil! 

Steadfast Mercy to Generations

Listen to your father who gave you life,

    and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

Let your father and mother be glad;

    let her who bore you rejoice.

My son, give me your heart,

    and let your eyes observe my ways.

Proverbs 23:22-26, ESV

 

“God ordained the family not just to be fruitful and fill the earth with people, but to fill the earth with instructed people and taught people. The family is the place where the next generation is born and where the next generation learns how to live.”

“The family isn't just a place where children learn to hold spoons and walk on two feet and say ‘please’ and tie shoes and read and look both ways and cut grass and put on makeup and drive a car. The family is where all of this and more begins in God, is guided by God's Word, and is shown to be for the glory of God. The fear of God—the reverencing of God, the standing in awe of God, the trusting of God—is what family's are for.”

John Piper 

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/do-not-forsake-your-mothers-teaching

Thank you, Father God, for Meme and Poppy, who built their house by faith on The Rock of Jesus Christ.  I am a beneficiary of their walk with Christ  over a span of 65 years of marriage!  I am soo very thankful they pointed their children to the cross work of Jesus!  They prayed that we would one day by grace through faith be saved!  I am thankful the LORD accomplished that work of regeneration in my life when I was a teenager.  My parents had a big influence on my walk with Christ.  They invested time to teach me many things, but they prioritized teaching me about Jesus. 

The LORD used my imperfect parents’ daily disciplines and godly examples to set before us the counsel of the Holy Bible!  The Holy Bible was not just any book, it was God’s Word, and we were taught it would help us to know Him better!  

As a child, I remember learning, “Sin will keep you from this book, and this book will keep you from sin!”  I learned that God’s Word was spiritual food for my regenerate soul. 

Meme and Poppy took us to church so we could hear the Scriptures faithfully taught and preached to us.  I am  thankful for a God fearing, loving, personal friend of a pastor, and for godly individuals who invested time to love and encourage me towards Christ.  

I’m thankful the LORD continues to grow my faith, a work only He accomplishes and continues today! 

Meme and Poppy have always faithfully prayed for their children.  I am still reaping many blessings for their fervent prayers and jealous hearts to love and spiritually lead  their family! 

Meme and Poppy encouraged us to pray for God fearing spouses, so we, too, could know the blessings of a God honoring home.  They  gave us hope and encouragement to pray that our children would also one day come to faith in the LORD!!  

I have so much to own for the riches I have in Christ.  Nothing I’ve gained here on earth compares to what I have in Christ!  He accomplished all I’ll need in Him at the cross! 

Hallelujah, What a Savior!  🎶

There are many blessings to count, for which I thank the LORD, but far greater, I have a Savior who  sought me when I was a stranger, lost in my sin!  

He did not cast me out, but He drew me into His fold.  He is my Good and Faithful Shepherd. 

Meme, 

“This is life and we’re living it!”  

You’ve also always exclaimed, 

“This is not our home, ‘We’re just passing through!’”  

Today, we celebrate the treasured gift of your marriage to a God fearing man 66 years ago this day in history.  

We thank the LORD for that day, and we thank Him for the Christian home He established on the Rock when He captured your hearts and called you to His purpose. 

Was your marriage and home perfect?  I’m sure you’d be the first to say, “No!”

Could you have ever imagined then what you see now, all that the LORD has accomplished and what He calls good over the course of 66 years? 

I’m very thankful His mercy endures!  

Thank you for being sensitive to the LORD’s counsel and lead in your lives! Thank you for not being afraid to walk by faith, and live out your faith, though it may have wavered through seasons of trial!  

The LORD has given us all that is good. He has given us Himself, our most blessed heritage.  

After 66 years, we are still reaping blessings for the work of God’s hand in your lives, and ours. Thank you for living lives set apart from the world.  We have never known you to be perfect parents, but we have witnessed your walk to be consistently built up by faith on the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, surrounded by the love of the saints you were in community with!  

Thank you for leading and loving your family well!  

Poppy went home suddenly to be with Jesus last August.  Even though he is not here to celebrate with us, we know the LORD is Sovereign and He knows what He is doing!  We will trust Him and continue counting  the years as the  LORD multiplies grace and faith to our family!  We will continue to pray for the salvation of our children: grandchildren and great-grandchildren, even those yet to be born (Psalm 78). 

I love you, Mother Dear! 

Thank you for loving and supporting my Daddy’s spiritual headship in our home!  

May the LORD love and comfort you with His presence today!

I know you miss Poppy very much.  We all do, but I believe because of his absence we will grow even more thankful because he still leads and encourages our  family by his example!  He’s gone ahead of  us, but by his life and death, he still points us to Christ!! 

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. 

Psalm 71:18

I love you, dearly! 

❤️K~

 

The Inward Life Reveals

 

I have noticed that wherever there has been a faithful following of the Lord in a consecrated soul, several things have inevitably followed, sooner or later.  Meekness and quietness of spirit become in time the characteristics of the daily life. 

A submissive acceptance of the will of God as it comes in the hourly events of each day; 

pliability in the hands of God to do or to suffer all the good pleasure of His will; 

sweetness under provocation; 

calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle; 

yieldingness to the wishes of others, and an insensibility to slights and affronts; 

absence of worry or anxiety;      

deliverance from care and fear; 

—all these, and many similar graces, are invariably found to be the natural outward development of that inward life which is hid with Christ in God. 

Hannah W. Smith, 

Daily Strength for Daily Needs, page 295

Mary W. Tileston

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 

On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Colossians 3:1-10, ESV

Photo:  Hosta plant in bloom