New Melody Church

SHORT TIMERS 3/4/17 Job 14 King James Version (KJV) 14  Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. 2  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Something that is perhaps most easily understood by those who have worn the uniform in the past is something called a "short timer's calendar". It is a counting of the days that remain for an individual until a particular assignment is completed, or until the term of his service itself is completed. Although I am not sure of the origin of this particular calendar, I was first made aware of it by "short timers" waiting out their last few days on assignment, almost immediately upon my entry into basic training as one of my Drill sergeants was one of those short timers taking delight in completing an assignment he had not asked for nor ever desired when drafted into service. There were two distinct attitudes taken b...

He Whispers Sweet Peace 7/1/16 7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139:7 & 8 In a time in which anger, retribution, vengeance, fear, and consternation rule the airwaves, division and separation are at the forefront of all news that permeates those very airwaves continually attempting to negate a peace that cannot be negated if only it is sought and the whisper of a still small voice is heard above the surrounding uproar of a chaos instilled and created by men. Once more an old hymn came to mind this morning, along with memories of a small country church and the people who gathered there during my childhood. Among them was a precious, and often precocious lady who, through the years embarrassed me with the reminder of how long she has known both me and my family. She still does so ea...

“In the name of Progress” 2/26/16 “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.” (Ecclesiastes 3:15) “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) The words of this, as you know well by now, one of my favorite books of the Bible, hauntingly come once more to mind, as time marches ever forward. The paraphrase of that opening verse, which I first heard from a mentor and teacher many years past, echoes across the years still more stringently and loudly each day I live, watching, warning, continuing to be ignored and deprecated by those too blind to see and to deaf to hear the words of that first verse, or that paraphrase given so long ago, that man learns nothing from history, except that man learns nothing from history. Cain killed Able, because of coveting the favor shown him by God for the offerings given, whether with bare hands, or rock or clu...

Come Now, and Let us Reason Together 1/23/16 18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18) Let us reason together! The time has come for that reasoning throughout the entire world, as the entire world finds itself in the position occupied by Israel when the Prophet Isaiah spoke those words. That reasoning, on the part of God is still one of reconciliation and forgiveness, mercy and grace for all willing to heed the warnings that have been sounded throughout the centuries, and to accept the only reasonable alternative to those warnings that were given both then and now. God is a loving, caring, gentle being, unless provoked to the wrath that has been shown in the past, because of an unwillingness to accept reason, and that same unwillingness even now to accept a means of assuaging that wrath and gra...