The Twelfth Disciple

 

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. (Acts 1:20)

After Judas betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver he went out and falling head first, his body split open and his intestines spilled out. He was buried in the field that Judas purchased and it was called the field of blood. This left only eleven disciples and Peter wanted to choose a replacement to fulfill the position of the 12^th disciple. So two men were picked, to be voted on and after they cast lots Matthias was selected to be the 12^th disciple. There is not anything else said about Matthias or his ministry in the rest of the New Testament.

Did you ever stop to think why he was not heard of any more in the Bible? I always wondered about that. We know that he was one of the seventy and had to be a good man, saved, and full of the Holy Ghost, because he would have never been considered for the position by the other disciples. He was for all intent and purposes a follower and believer in the Lord.. But my question is this: Was Matthias ready the man that the Lord wanted for Judas’ replacement. I say this because he is never again mentioned in the Bible. He never wrote any books of the Bible, We know nothing about his ministry, how he died, or anything else about him. The scriptures are silent.

After reading several commentaries and book about the twelve disciples I found myself asking this question: Should the 12^th disciple have been Paul. I say this because not long after Matthias was picked and after the Holy Ghost was given at Pentecost, the Lord selected and named Paul to be an apostle. It was not man’s choice but God’s choice. Man had nothing to do with it. He was not picked by lots, but God spoke. In his commentary, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Dr. Oliver B. Green, who was a well-known Baptist radio evangelist, said this; “When God named Paul to be an apostle, it was not man’s choice, but it was an outright call, commission, and ordination by Christ. Paul was ordained of God for the office of apostleship. Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, …………….(Galatians 1-1)

There is nowhere in the scriptures where Peter, the disciples, or the people that were waiting there for the promise were told by Jesus to pick another disciple. What they were told was this: To “WAIT” for the Promise. In other words they were to do nothing until something happened. But like it is in some churches today the flesh took over and two men were picked for lots to be cast so that one of the two could be chosen to be the twelfth disciple. I know that some of you are going to say they asked the Lord to pick which one of the two he wanted and you are right, they did. But just because the lot fell to Matthias does not mean that the Lord picked him. Matthias and Justus were handpicked by the disciples and the other people that were there and it did not really make any difference to them which one of the two the Lord would have picked or the lots feel on. Their choices were already made. Was there really a choice for the Lord? Why could not they have asked the Lord to pick from all the people that were there or ask Him to send who He wanted? No it was a fleshly choice made by the people, and not a choice made by the Spirit. It is the same way today in a lot of churches and denominations. The pastor has been picked, for the office, before he is ever voted on. This is not saying anything against either of these two men. I’m sure that they both loved the Lord with all their hearts and were good followers of Christ. The problem that I see here is the flesh got ahead of the Spirit as it still does in some, if not most of our churches today.

As we read the New Testament we see that the 12 disciples were chosen by Jesus personally, when he started His earthly ministry, to be apostles, and so was Paul, just a few days after Matthias was chosen as an apostle by the people. Flesh had nothing to do with Paul being chosen as an apostle, just like flesh had nothing to do with the choosing of the original twelve disciples. Jesus did the calling of the 12 disciples the same as He did with Paul on Damascus Road and Paul answered that call. The Lord also said in {Acts 9:15} that Paul was his chosen vessel. {Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear My Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.} His apostleship carried him across the Roman Empire. The lives that Paul touched were changed and challenged by meeting the Lord through him. No person, except Jesus himself, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul. We will never know if Paul was truly meant to be the 12^th disciple or not, because the scripture does not say so in a direct way, but if we read and piece together there is a good chance that Paul was to be the 12^th disciple.

Caleb’s Faith

Give Me This Mountain

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. (Numbers 13:30)

If you read the great story of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land we see in the story there is an account of one man that should move, motivate, and inspire all Christians. His name was Caleb. What a man of God he was! Shortly after Moses led Israel out of bondage from Egypt, he sent twelve men to search out the Promised Land and to bring back word about living conditions there. Caleb and Joshua were among the group. After spending forty days on their mission, the twelve men returned. They brought back figs and pomegranates and a cluster of grapes so large it took two men to carry it between them on a pole. Most of the search party gave a very discouraging report on the Promised Land and its inhabitants. Although they found a land that was beautiful and desirable and flowing with milk and honey, they also found that the cities were walled and formidable and that the people, “looked like giants”. The Israelite scouts said that they felt like grasshoppers in comparison. Caleb, however, saw things a lot differently, with what the Lord called “another spirit.” Caleb’s account of the journey and the spy’s account were quite different. He said, “Let us go up at once, and possess [their land]; for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30).

What was Caleb saying? He was saying this; I agree with the majority of the spies as far as the land is very fruitful and I also agree with the report about the strength of the walled city and how big these people are that live there, but I do not agree that we do not have the ability to go against these giants. We must go up at once and possess the land because we are more than able to overcome anything. Caleb had faith in God for His help to help the people to possess the land, while the majority of the spies let God out of their decision making. Caleb had it in his heart to follow the Lord with all his heart. Years later at the age of 85 he was still ready to take that mountain.

Remember Caleb's words in {Joshua 14-12} Caleb’s words in this verse speaks out to all Christians, “Now therefore give me this mountain.” This should be the cry of all Christians as it regards the spiritual victories in our life. This mountain was given to Caleb because of one single act of obedience. He trusted God and gave a good report. He had fully obeyed God in one particular instance and it secured for him a reward that would not be denied to him though it did not come to him for forty-five long years. Like Caleb we must have faith in God. Many of the blessings that we now enjoy are the rewards of certain acts of obedience that we fulfilled in the past. What we may think are insignificant little acts of obedience we do from day to day may be what governs the outcome of important matters in the future. This was the case when Abraham offered Isaac on the altar. Once that trail and test was done it never had to be done again. Abraham passed the test and the blessing was pronounced that would never be taken back. You may be right on the verge of entering into blessings that are rewards for some act of obedience completed years ago, or you may be in a test today that will yield benefits later, maybe even years later, if you will trust and obey now. You can take that mountain in your life. It just takes faith in the Lord. Is God asking for your faith and obedience today?  What has God given you that you still need to lay claim to?  Stand up and take that mountain!

From Caleb’s example we can learn very important lessons. Just as Caleb had to struggle and remain true and faithful to gain his inheritance, so we must remember that, while the Lord has promised us a place in His kingdom, we must strive constantly and faithfully so as to be worthy to receive the reward. There are great challenges ahead for all Christians to be met and dealt with. We should welcome that prospect and to say to the Lord, humbly, “Give me this mountain,” then have faith that He will give us that mountain. We must be like Caleb, be faithful in our walk from start to finish, throughout our whole lives. We all have giants in our lives and we all have to fight them. Sometimes we can feel so small {like the grasshoppers} but we must realize as Caleb did: the battle is the Lord’s. We win or lose taking the mountain, in our life, according to our faith in Christ. Remember faith moves mountains no matter if it was the mountain in Caleb’s life or it is the mountain in our life.

It Is Finished!

During my life time I have sat in more than one Pentecost church, as well as many Baptist and independent churches. I have heard the word of God preached under the anointing of The Holy Ghost many many times and it has blessed my soul. I have read the Bible through many times and study the words between those sacred pages. The Bible has truly has been a light for me to travel this life’s road. The words from that book have brought joy to my soul many times. It has showed me the way to go and how to solve the many problems that have come up in my life.  I have seen in my lifetime many many people saved. I have seen the deliverance of many people from drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and many other things. I have seen the sick healed, broken marriages put back together and many other things. All this happen because of the anointing in those churches. It was the anointing that broke the yoke. I did not have to send anyone, as John did, to ask: “Are you the one”? I knew Jesus was the one because I saw with my own eyes the wonderful works that was done by the Holy Spirit and on many occasions it was on this humble servant that those wonderful works was done. I did not have to send some one to ask because I was there and I saw and I believed. Many times I could feel the presents of the Lord and I was, oh, so glad, and still am,  that He is still working on me. Yes that is right! After all this time I’m still a work in progress. He is still working on me, to make me what I ought to be and I want to be what He wants me to be.



I have said all that to say this: Most of the fundamental  churches of today no longer have that anointing. they no longer can, or will, rightly divide the Word of God. It is gone and it has been replaced by a new way and that is called psychology. I can understand how most modern churches can sign on and go along with this, because there was never no anointing, in the first place and the power of God was denied. Let me ask you this: Would you go to a hospital for a sickness or injury and there was no doctors there to give you the medicine you need, no nurses there to comfort you, no beds for you to rest in, no medicine for you to overcome your sickness. Do you feel better and are you on the road to recovery when you leave that hospital. What is your answer to that? The answer should be: It would make no sense in going to that hospital. The same question  should be ask when you enter a church! Is there a man of God there who can diagnose my problem? Is there people there that will comfort me and help me? Can I find a place of rest here and will I hear the words that will give me strength to be a over comer? Do you feel better and refreshed when you leave that church?



I will never understand why the Pentecostals, Baptist, Wesleyan, and other fundamental churches can go along with this doctrine of  psychology which is the scientific study of the human mind and mental states, of human and their behavior. Let the world do that! Churches today must claim all the victories that comes to us by the way of the cross. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! and that is the same treatment for all our problems today. The Blood of Jesus, The Cross where that Blood was shed, that is where you will find peace for your soul and the victory that only Jesus can give. It is not treatment by a psychologist that man needs for his or her sinful condition, it is DELIVERANCE and that comes by what Jesus did at the cross! Remember there is power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb.



It is a sin for The church of the Living God to ignore the teachings of the Bible and offer psychology as the solution for man’s problem. A church, or man himself, can not serve two masters and that is what the Christian is doing by coming to church and claiming to be a Christian and yet seeking a psychologist for help. When the church and its people goes the way of psychology they are missing the mark because they do not understand that man’s problem is sin which requires deliverance and not treatment. Man’s fallen condition, no matter what it is, is from his sin nature. Every sin, no matter what it is, was addressed and taken care of at the cross when our Lord was crucified. Just as the Catholic priest can not forgive you or talk away your sins, the psychologist can not give you deliverance. It is only by Jesus dying and shedding His blood on that cross at Calvary we have perfect peace. It is a peace that passes all understanding.  The preaching of the cross, in our churches, will set the captive free. We must as God’s children and His followers go back to our first Love. Who are we that to a Old Rugged Cross He would go. Who are we that a King should bleed and died for.

Just as we do not need psychology in our churches, we do not need to depend on a priest, a dead saint, Mary the mother of Jesus, the Pope, or any church denomination for a go between or to take the place of our Savior. It is Christ alone who died for us and it was a finished work when He died on that cross. He said it His self: “IT IS FINISHED”.  He paid the price. The great truth of the matter is, and always will be, Putting our trust in Jesus and what He did at the cross is so simple that a small child can understand it. The sad fact is that some Christians do not really know everything about the cross. They just assume that they know everything. They think that Jesus died on the cross for us so that we could go to heaven and that is it, but that is only part of it.  The tragedy of it all is most of the church world, today, has chosen everything accept the message of the Cross. How can we escape if we neglect so great of a salvation?

By Faith

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down!

What kind of walls are in your life that affects your walk with Christ? By faith you can tear down those walls. The conquest of Jericho is an example of great faith. Just as theses wall came down when Joshua exercised his faith in God the walls in our lives can also come down when we exercise our faith. Joshua had his eyes fixed on the Lord. He exercised his faith and obeyed God before the battle of Jericho at the beginning of the Israelis conquest of Canaan. God gave the battle plan of how the victory was to be won and the Israelites acted on that plan, in faith.  In different books we can read were archaeologists have confirmed the historical accuracy of the Bible account of this in the present day ruins of ancient Jericho.
Today I want to comment and exhort, a little, about the battle of Jericho.  I want to give the Christian encouragement with their daily walk with the Lord. There is much to be learned about the battle. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Joshua and the people of Israel had crossed the Jordan River and now they were ready to begin to conquer and take the land of Canaan.  Joshua was an experienced military leader, but nothing in all his military training could have prepared him for God's plan to take Jericho.  He would have to act on faith and trust God for the victory which was about to take place. He had to decide to either put his trust and faith in God or use his brilliant military mind to defeat Jericho. Joshua put his trust in God, because he knew that with God all things are possible. He had only to believe God for the victory.
Jericho was considered the oldest known occupied city in the world.  Joshua laid siege to the city.  He blockaded the city. The armies of Israel surrounded it so that no one could enter or leave it.  There was not one weapon lifted against the city. Before the battle began, the captain of the host of Israel (Joshua) had an encounter with the captain of the Lord of hosts (Jesus).  Joshua worshipped Him and listened carefully to the battle plan that was laid out by the Lord. He summited to God's authority. The Lord spoke to Joshua as if the battle of Jericho was already won.  This surely had to strengthen Joshua's faith.  He was being told the future before it even happened by God! We too, as Christians, also know who holds tomorrow and who holds our hand! Praise be to His holy Name.
Here was the plan for the victory of Jericho:  For six days the Hebrews would encircle the city once while the priests blew their ram's horns.  The priests with trumpets went first, then the priests which carried the Ark of the Covenant, then the army.  The only sound would be the sound of the horns; no one could speak a word. Then on the seventh day, they would circle the city seven times in the same manner, and then when Joshua gave the signal, they would shout with a great shout. Then the walls would fall flat and they would run into the city and burn everything and everyone in it. Have you ever felt God so strong that you shouted? I have! I have been out in my yard and just felt the Lord's presents so strong that I just shouted to the top of my lungs: "Thank you Jesus for your blessings on me" If you are worldly you will not understand it but if you are spiritual you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Just as the Israelis put their trust in God, my trust is in Him too. During my walk with the Lord He has tour down many a wall and stronghold in my life and he will do the same for you!
Joshua had a great test of faith. He had to make a decision.  Would he try his own well laid out military plan, or totally trust God and obey Him in faith?  He had an intelligence report from the spies, and might have even drawn up some plan of attack.  If Joshua had a hard time believing God, we are not told anything about it in the Bible, but we are told about his faith. Never misjudge the power of faith.
The army of Israel marched around Jericho as God commanded while the priests blew the horns.  They may have been tired of covering the same ground over and over again each day, but they obeyed God exactly as they were instructed. Their trust was in the Lord. As Christians, we may tire of dealing with the same problem over and over again, but we can trust God to help us just as the Hebrews did and the shout will also come from you: Thank you Jesus!". Finally, on the seventh day after the seventh time around the city, Joshua gave the command and everyone shouted as loud as they could shout.  The shout was a shout of obedience and of faith. Then a great miracle of faith happened:  The walls fell down, flat on the ground, making a ramp for the invading Israelite army!  They ran straight in and burned everything.  The only family who survived inside Jericho was Rehab and her family.  She had helped the spies and was later a part of the ancestry line of Jesus, because she had faith to trust God to save her.
Archaeologists (people who dig up old places) have found those ancient walls of brick, and the burned remains of the city.  They found it exactly like that which was recorded in the Bible. We can trust what the Bible says.  The Bible is an accurate record of history. Nothing was taken from the city.  Joshua put a curse on Jericho and no one ever rebuilt on the same site again.  God was determined to wipe out the idol worship and practices in Canaan. God and His people began the conquest of Canaan with this miraculous victory at Jericho, where the walls came tumbling down!  What a faith boosting event!
The walls can come down in our life also just like the wall came down for Joshua and the Hebrew children. All it takes is faith in God. Trust and obedience to God is what it takes for the wall to come down in our life. Trust and obey for there is no other way. The world will never understand these instructions of faith. They will never understand or have any idea what they mean because the natural mind cannot understand the things of God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (I Corinthians 2:14) It is sad that most people have little or no knowledge or wisdom at all, of the things of the Spirit. That is the difference between being spiritually minded and worldly minded. Their minds are blinded, they only function in the natural world and see only through worldly vision. People who truly serve Christ have a true under -standing of divine revelation and they can see with spiritual eyes. The "natural" man may be educated, easy going, eloquent, or captivating, but the "spiritual" contents of Scripture are totally and completely hidden from him.

Still Small Voice

        And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. {1 Kings 19:11-12}

Just when you think, that all hope is faded and gone, all dreams are pointless, all that you've worked for, is of little value, or that you are a complete nobody,  a still small voice whispers: My Child I love you and I will never forsake you. In the above verses, God to have a word with Elijah. He first allowed some powerful and noisy demonstrations; that could have easily been mistook or take for His voice. Then, a strong wind –- The wind was so strong in fact, that it tore the mountain apart before Elijah's very eyes. Rocks went everywhere. After that, an earthquake followed, and if that wasn't enough, a fire. I would say by the time these very big events had passed, Elijah might have been a little distracted. But the Lord wasn't in any of them. Then, God spoke to Elijah,  in a still             ( tranquil , serene)  small,  {Tiny}  voice.

If your home is anything like mine use to be or like most homes are today, sometimes it's extremely loud! There are Kids playing and hollering, the dogs barking, the television is on, and who knows what else, and then the telephone rings. Suddenly it becomes very important to you to close your hearing to everything else, around you,  so you can hear the person who is calling you. It is the same way, with the Lord, we need to close our ears and to shut everything else out, in order to open our ears to hear Him.!

In the above verses, God had something to say to Elijah. He first allowed some powerful and noisy manifestations to take place; those things might have easily been mistaken for His voice. We do serve a powerful God. A strong wind –- so strong in fact, that it tore the mountain apart right before Elijah's very eyes. After that, an earthquake followed, and if that wasn't enough, a fire! I would say by the time these massive events had passed, Elijah might have been a little distracted, But the Lord wasn't in any of them. While the Lord was the cause of all those things it was not the manner in which He would speak to the prophet. Many modern  churches,  in today’s world, have also, traded in that still small voice for “the fire”, “wind”, “earthquakes and any other thing that fancies them. Then, God spoke to Elijah.... in a still, small, voice. Just as The Lord spoke to Elijah in a still small voice, God does the same with us today. We need to listen for the sound of that gentle whisper that can only come from God. Elijah knew that this still small voice was from God. He realized that God does not always reveal Himself in powerful ways. For us to look for God in big and powerful things may mean that we will miss Him.

We must realize and always believe that God still speaks in that same still small voice today. But are we able to hear that still, small voice with all the madness and idiocy around us these days? It is so essential to turn off and tune out the noise, that is around us, so we can wait for the Lord’s Voice! We must take a step backwards from all the noise and activity of our life and listen for that voice. This can also be a lesson to people who believe that overexcited and loud worship is power from God and sometimes it is, but here we see it was the still small voice of our God.

When God has our complete attention, not only can we come to know Him better, but we can receive that direction we've been longing and waiting for and it may come in that still small voice as He whispers your name.

The same God that cared for Elijah cares for you and me also. I thank the Lord, at this point in my life, that through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. I am enjoying peace and safety that only comes from God. But I am, also, reminded of other times past when I have known the feeling of despair due to bad health, death and other trials in my life, because they have been brutal and very hurtful to me to me. I am so not foolish enough as to think that I will never have to face any kind of crisis again. Life is filled with ups and downs, good and bad – for believers and non-believers alike. This Bible narrative reminds me to keep the faith: in thought and in action not matter what happens. It reassures me and restores my confidence and belief that God will be faithful to me, even when I have given up hope, when I feel like I am alone, when I can't find the strength to go on.

Each of us will face trials, perhaps some so great we will not have the will to carry on. There are times we may feel abandoned and forgotten. We may feel that the obstacles ahead of us are too massive to overcome. Maybe we will seem unimportant  and our problems of no consequence in the face of the events going on around us. But we need the assurance that God will never leave us or forsake us. In {JOHN 14:16 -18} Jesus Christ gives us a promise to hold on to, that we shall not be left comfortless.

In the midst of our personal and our countries greatest struggles, Let us all pray that The Lord’s still, small voice will find each one of our hearts and the heart of this great nation to help us bear whatever we must; and that, like Elijah, we will know the love of God in our darkest hours.

Bill Patchett

January 18, 2010

Heritage

America's Christian heritage is being stepped on and trashed more every day by politicians that have no thought as to what our country is all about or have very little thought as to what the best interest of the people is. Did you ever stop to ask yourself where our country has come from, what were the principles that it was founded on and what is the direction that it is headed. Did you ever stop to think what our founding fathers were like, what they would say if they knew the state of our country, and what they said in their speeches and their writings. You would be surprised. Our founding fathers, who were our past presidents, statesmen, and scientists, had a 100% different view of our constitution, and court decisions in their speeches, the papers that they wrote, in their debates, and in their thesis than our leaders do today. Can you imagine what they would say if they knew some of the things that are going on in our country today. Can you imagine our politicians, today, making some of these statements:
(1). "I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism." { President Theodore Roosevelt}
(2) "Education is useless without the Bible." {Noah Webster}
(3). "Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life." . {Harvard University 1642}
(4). "To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances… could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree." { Charles Darwin}
(5). "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence." {Martin Luther King}
(6). "Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world." { Benjamin Franklin}
(7). "If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under." {President Ronald Reagan }
(8) "History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline." – {General Douglas MacArthur}
(9) "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." –{Edmund Burke}
(10) "The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world." – {Charles Dickens}
(11) "Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory? Some things must be baffling to the critic who has never been born again." – {George Washington Carver }
(12) "But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own." – {President Abraham Lincoln}
(13) "All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship." – {President Grover Cleveland}
(14) "These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation....we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth." - Church of the Holy Trinity v. The United States { United States Supreme Court 1892,}
(15) "The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other." –{ Alexis de Tocqueville}
After reading those statements we have to ask ourselves what has happen to this country? Where has all the good politicians gone? We now have a president that has said we are no longer a Christian nation. How God must frown on that. Then we have massive killings of unborn babies. We have politicians that would rather pass laws to save a whale than saving a unborn baby. Our kids are being taught in schools that it is nothing wrong with Adam marrying Steve and we now have homosexuals standing behind the scared desk. What an abomination. It is a nation in the last throws before judgment. Any nation that justifies homosexual life style is in its final stages of moral corruption. Prayer and The Bible has been taking out of our schools, court houses, and government buildings. God is not allowed any more. Then we wonder why we have our children are being killed in our schools. Where is this nation headed? We no longer have Christmas to celebrate Jesus' birthday, it is called the holidays so some people will not get offended, but what about offending Jesus? Our politicians and some of the people in this country must realize that without Jesus we have no liberty. There is no safety, no strength, no hope, no liberty, and no salvation for the deep trouble that this country is in, except in Jesus. He is this country's Rock and its only salvation. The hope of this nation and its people are in him. Only in Him will the right way and the truth of all things be returned to this land. Just like it was with Sodom, this country, in the end, will be the end result of reprobate minds.

I remember them so clearly,
mom and dad loved them so dearly.
Old brush arbors
by the side of the road.
Where I learned about salvation,
From the book of Revelation.
And in arbors by the side of the road.

Old brush arbors by the side of the road,
Where a sinner could lay down his heavy load.
It was in those old brush arbors,
Troubled souls found peaceful harbor.
Brush arbors by the side of the road.

Many times I had departed,
From the way of life I started.
In them arbors by the side of the road.
But each time the devil caught me,
I remember what they taught me.
In brush arbors by the side of the road.

Old brush arbors by the side of the road,
Where the mighty light of God’s great mercy flowed.
There was praying, shouting, singing
Till the country side was ringing.
Brush arbors by the side of the road...