The wells of salvation

To get back to that flowing well at the bottom of the hill going southeast out of Wallace and just north of the old covered bridge, it reminds me of another well west of town where I used to slake my thirst after a bike ride out to a wooden dam on Mill Creek in the summertime. "Sulphur Spring" was fed by a pipe out of the hillside and ran into a steel drum. That was the coldest, most refreshing water ever! Everybody drank out of that famous "watering hole," including horses ... until some years ago the property got a new owner who diverted the spring water into a business of selling water! Now, I hope that the town or some private person will not close off the "new" well, and I do look forward to getting a "sip" there now and then. That reminds me of a wonderful Bible promise found in Isaiah 12:2,3 - "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." When the new well was drilled near the Bridge and could not be tapped, some town residents up on the hill found the water level in their wells was sinking and there was momentary fear of losing ALL the water supply to the town (so I heard)! Well, it hasn't happened yet, but surely is a possibility at some future time. However, dear reader, the wells of salvation -- eternal life, forgiveness of sins, peace, joy, assurance, hope, etc., etc., are available through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ... and ...will never run dry! He promises in John 4:14 and 6:35 - "...he that believeth on Me shall never thirst!" Have you "sipped" yet; and, if so, do you continue to "sip"?

Bridge To Somewhere

On Sunday before my 83rd birthday on Monday, March 3, our sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Bob Larsh, invited Mary K. and me, along with older sister Joan and husband Russell Gooding, for food and fellowship at the Grimes Ole Home Place in Wallace. We surely enjoyed the time together reminiscing about "the old days" and I was privileged in the nice afternoon weather to take a traditional walk down the southeast hill out of town down to the old Covered
Bridge over the creek at the bottom of the hill toward the Lutheran Church. The town has built
a nice little rest park with picnic shelter, a playground and ballpark just to the north of the bridge in "bottom land" and ... drilled a well just below the bridge which turned out to be a flowing well (almost draining the citizens' wells above in town!) producing that cool, refreshing
water I remember from childhood. I remember, too, that the Covered Bridge itself was a major
link to the east by gravel road for many decades. Now, it has been bypassed by a new modern bridge and blacktop road. But I played in, around and under that bridge as a kid -- fishing for bluegills and shooting waterbugs with my BB gun, and watching our faithful little Terrier "Fanny" go crazy sniffing for varmints! I'm so glad the town is preserving the bridge (even using
it as a Halloween Haunted House), but it is sadly now just a "Bridge To Nowhere"! As I huffed and puffed back up the Hill, stopping occasionally to rest on my cane, I thought: "Well, I'm glad
that there IS a Bridge To Somewhere, and that I came to know Him as my Lord and Saviour
near this place so many years ago." Yep, Jesus said: "I AM the Way, theTruth and the Life...
no (one) cometh unto the Father, except by Me" ...and... "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out!" (John 14:6; 6:37). I was ALMOST running as I reached the top of the hill! At least I wanted to, for sheer joy!

From "ammo" to "amore" - Part II

Sage #1 continues: I had just returned from three years service in the Navy during World War II. (Some of that time was spent as a radioman with the Navy gun crew aboard armed merchant ships, once transporting bombs and other ammunition to our troops in the Southwest Pacific ... that's where my side of the "ammo"-"amore" equation comes in!) Anyway, as I returned home to Wallace, IN, I was anxious to resume my "social life," and soon asked my mother is she knew any really Christian girls in our area that I might ask for a date. She wisely replied, "Why, give Mary Kathryne Jackson a call!" I faintly knew Mary K. (or "Katie" as she was known "way back when") as a friend of my younger sisters, but gave her a call right away and she agreed to go to church with me. As we got acquainted the next few weeks she discovered that I did not really know the Lord as my personal Saviour, so she patiently and lovingly shared the Gospel with me over hamburgers after church services. On the evening of Mary 13, 1946, after she once more explained John 3:16 to me, I knelt in the livingroom of her parents' farm home and asked Christ to save me. She told me later that I looked as though a tremendous load had been lifted from me. It was the burden of sin! I just praise the Lord for forgiving me and giving me eternal life that night. And I thank Him also for giving me in due time Mary K. as a wife and coworker these many years, serving the Lord together first in Germany and then in home fields. Truly, "the LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad!" (Psalm 126:3) ... and that's real "amore"!

From "ammo" to "amore"!

Sage #2 wants to share something with us: "I was born on a farm near Dana, Indiana (west central Indiana not far from the Wabash River) in 1928. My parents loved the Lord and wanted to live for Him. This was #1 priority

in their lives. Their desire was that I should know the Lord as my personal Saviour, too. I did trust Christ as my Saviour when I was eight years old. My grandmother, who also was a Christian, lived with us. I learned many Scripture

verses and old hymns from her. I had no brothers or sisters, but became my spiritual "sister." Later my father's mother came to live with us. This grandmother was not a Christian at that time, but we all three became very good "buddies." During World War II the United States government bought up

many acres of land in the Dana-Newport area, including our farm, for an "ammo" plant (Wabash Ordinance Works) to supply our fighting men. The Lord was in this, even though at times it was very difficult because this was home for my mother's family for some 103 years. However, my parents always believed that God was in life's circumstances, and they rejoiced in His love and care (see Romans 8:28,29). In due time my parents found a new farm just five miles from Wallace, IN, where Bill Grimes and his family lived. About five years later I met Bill. (That's where "amore" comes in! We were married at Calvary Baptist Church in Crawfordsville, IN, on December 18, 1949.) I'm thankful for God's guidance in our lives these many years. I can also say that "the Lord hath done GREAT THINGS for us; whereof we are glad!" (Psalm 126:3.) Sage #1 comments: "'amore' beats 'ammo' any day!"

Toot Toot! - #2

We wrote earlier about the influence of train whistles and train horns on my spiritual life. While studying at the Moody Bible Institute from 1947-1949 I came home as often as possible to Wallace to see family, friends and my fiance Mary Kathryn Jackson. Again, riding the old Chicago & Eastern Illinois train to Danville, IL, brought the whistle-sound back to my consciousness -- i.e., while traveling to see my future bride. I would then take a bus to Hillsboro, IN, only 25 miles away and 9 miles north of Wallace, and call the folks who would then pick me up in Dad's old '37 Pontiac, veteran of WWII! Then there would be a huge cloud of dust as I drove that 6-cylinder maroon sedan down the road west of town to joyfully re-unite with my sweet little farm-gal fiance! That train whistle-sound coming home to meet HER was really music to my ears (but going back to school later became difficult for both of us). As we wrote earlier, the sound of train horns near our apartment building NOW is a reminder of the imminent return of our Heavenly Bridegroom to claim His Bride, as "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God..." (I Thess. 4:14-18). Often here we hear the sound of a freight train waiting on the siding for the Amtrak fast passenger train to whiz through. The freight signal "toot toot!" is saying "we are waiting and ready to move on the main line again!" And that recalls the rich prophetic teaching of Dr. Harry Ironside that I was privileged to hear at Moody Memorial Church "way back when" -- that the nation of Israel is like a freight-train waiting on the siding during this age while the fast passenger train is like the Church, the Bride of Christ, speeding toward the end of this age at the Rapture. As things develop in the Middle East, Israel is being prepared to move back on to the main line of prophecy once more, heading for the Tribulation and finally the glorious return of Christ to rule and reign in the Millennium. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!" and keep looking UP for our Heavenly Bridegroom!

Toot! Toot!

I was born in Danville, IL, in 1925 and lived there until 1935 when Dad move Mom, me and my

two sisters to Wallace, IN, where Dad grew up. In Danville we lived most of the time very close

to the C&EI railroad tracks and heard train whistles day and night. After 1929 those were the

Depression days and Dad worked hard to provide for us, working for a wholesale grocery house and at one time out traveling for a couple of days or so on the road each week. Well, there were lots of "hobo Willies" traveling, too ... up and down the railroads ... and Mom was afraid those nights when Dad was away. So the lonesome "toot" of those big steam locomotives instilled in me a sad, woeful feeling when- and wherever I heard them. Living in Wallace, 9 miles from the

closest railroad, gave me some respite, but in winter we often could heard the whistle even that

distance. Serving in the Navy in WWII and making several train trips, however, awakened that

sorrowful feeling again, especially when returning to base after a leave. Right after discharge

in spring of 1946 I headed over to IL with my friend Kenny to meet with another old buddy to

celebrate the occasion. Kenny was driving his cool Ford Model A (real muscle car - ha!) west on highway 136 alongside a railroad track and I was chatting away with him from the passenger seat, totally absorbed, when we heard a loud sound that TO ME sounded exactly like TRUMPET announcing the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 15:51,52)! And I wasn't

ready to meet Him! I went silent, the hair stood up on my neck, and Kenny asked me what was

wrong. I had no answer ... then. Guess it was the teaching of our Youth teacher who had had

some training at Moody Bible Institute and the truth of the imminent Coming of Christ had been

embedded in my sub-conscious! By the way, coming home that night after too much "celebrating" we flipped the Ford over and I got a nice gash on my forehead. God used that "toot" and the trauma to make me think about eternity and, as stated before, after a few weeks

of conviction, including that little farm gal witnessing to me, I received the Lord as my Saviour.

Now we have diesel locomotive whistles within a mile of our "Super 80" residence, and I do get

momentarily "blue" on hearing them, UNTIL I remember that sound may NOW be announcing

the Rapture and I'm ready, praise the Lord! I prayer every reader is ready, too.

2008 - Year of Change

On every hand, especially in the political realm, we're hearing that word "change" so much. That is, America needs a change or to change, but - in what way or ways? What we're hearing loud and clear is a call to change political leadership and direction, and that this will solve all our problems and bring us to true greatness again. Over 100 years ago a French leader visited our country and wrote later that America's greatness lay not in its beautiful landscapes and thriving
economy, but in its pulpits "flaming with righteousness"! During a time of challenge to national
leadership in Israel, King David observed that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. ... Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men!" - Psalm 9:16,20. We need a change alright -- from the inside out; or, as the Lord
Jesus Christ put it to a very religious person: "You must be born again!" through heart faith in
Him (John 3:7). And born-again ones must be further transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit
in order to please Him and to be like Him in a decadent culture; that is, to "put off the old man...
and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24.) I came home from World War II with a heavy heart, so loaded
with the conviction of sin, and I'm so glad for that little Christian country gal who helped me to
turn from sin and begin a new life with and through Christ. I praise God for the change He made in my life, and trust and pray that I may be changing to be more like Him daily. By the way, I later married that farmer's daughter and she is my "co-sage" on this blogspot!