Untitled Document

T.J.I.F.A.
THANK JESUS IT’S FRIDAY AGAIN!
PASS IT ON…& ON…& ON…& ON!
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

“STRUGGLIN-7 HAS CROSSED THE FINISH LINE…” MY SON.
SUBJECT: REMEMBERING STRUGGLIN-7, THE SON OF SLC and TER.
NOTEWORTHY: MISSIONARY WEAPON O. CHAMBERS & NOTE-TER
TJIFA’S BOOKSHELF: BIBLE BUS STOP IS THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK.
REVELATION? MERCY & GRACE – POEM SUBMITTED BY BMcC
QUICK QUOTES: VARIOUS AUTHORS
MILLSTONE: THE ROD OF CORRECTION
T.O.T.T.: POUR OUT WATER OF BLESSING
TESTIMONY TIME: HOW DID STRUGGLIN-7 AFFECT OTHERS? TESTIMONIALS:
FRIDAY’S WORD: “CUP” (HE GAVE HIMSELF THIS NAME.)
IN THE MIRROR: “THE PREACHER”
O TASTE & SEE! BAR B-Q CHICKEN – CROCK POT ABSOLUTELY GREAT! ENJOY!
LOOKING FORWARD
SEE YA NEXT TIME!
TER &TJIFA STAFF
STRUGGLIN-7
CROSSED THE FINISH LINE…
Hebrews 12:1-6 (KJV)
1”Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loved he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
My son, SC, whom I prefer to call Strugglin-7, began his life reaching out and grabbing a hand full of life. When the Physician presented him to me, he immediately grabbed my index finger. The Physician asked me to “Let him go, Mom.” I replied, “I don’t have him, he has me.” The Physician had to pry his strong hands from around my finger, with this comment, “Mother, you have a very strong and healthy young man.”
That was the first day of his life…Welcome Strugglin-7.
He was wanted and cared for by my Mother, who taught him to pray, count, his colors, and his alphabet, by his second birthday; but only she knew that he knew these things, because he would only talk with her. By his third birthday, I decided to take him to a psychologist or someone who could explain his seemingly slow maturity. My Mother swore that the baby could talk, and that he knew everything that she said. I felt that my Mother just didn’t want to own up to the fact that Strugglin-7 was slow, and I needed to get him help as soon as possible…Thank GOD for jobs, and insufficient time to carry out my ridiculous plans.
One day, in the winter, up North, all of the older children were playing in the snow, everyone except Strugglin-7. He stood and watched them through the window, and then he disappeared. I thought that he had gone to get a toy truck. Just when I thought he should appear again, he did. He was dressed in his winter hat, his coat, buttoned up crooked, his leggings, his snow boots on the wrong feet, one mitten on and one off, (this was the hand he held his bottle with) and his scarf around his neck.
He came into the room, where I was talking on the phone, and stood in front of me, looking at me intently, and drinking his bottle. I explained to him, that we weren’t going anywhere, and to go and take those hot clothes off. He took a few more drags on his bottle, and then forcibly snatched it out of his mouth with this complete utterance. “Can I go out and play?” He scared me. I asked, “What did you say?” In easy repertoire, he repeated. “Can I go out and play?” I responded. “Yeah, go ahead.”
My good and best friend since before we were born, (Our Mothers knew one another before we were born and were both born in the same hospital four days apart) asked me in astonishment, “Who was that?” I, still shocked at his syntax, answered, “That was the baby.” She quickly asked me, “What baby?”
I answered, “Strugglin-7, who do you think?”
She corrected my irresponsible mothering failure by shouting. “Well, Smart-face, you just sent your baby, Strugglin-7, out into the street!” Quickly I corrected my error, adjusted his clothes, called his big sister, and Strugglin-7 went out for the first time, he played and played, and didn’t desire the inside of a house anymore, I would venture to say, the rest of his mortal life. He only wanted to come in to get nourishment, and then back out under the sky he would sail.
When he was about five, or younger, he asked me if he could have a bird. He spent a lot of time on the front porch, on his bouncing horse, which previously belonged to his sister. I told him that it was a possibility. (I’ve since Strugglin-7, learned that you never tell a child that anything is a possibility.) He seemed to be happy with my evading answer. Maybe a day, maybe the same day, maybe the same hour, Strugglin-7 caught a pigeon, a nasty old pigeon, causing his mother to screams, and scrubs him with every kind of disinfectant. I realized that he didn’t understand, so I appealed to his better childish reasoning. I told him that he could have a ‘green’ bird, and that we would buy it from the store. Maybe the next day, maybe a week, I don’t know. Strugglin-7 came running into the house, very excited, and got a bowl. Out he ran onto his porch, and then his deep excited voice called. “Ma? Ma? Can I have a green bird?” I froze in my tracks. “Green, bird?” I wondered where he could have gotten or even seen a green bird. I asked. “Why do you ask?”
He answered. “I’ve caught a green bird. He flew into the porch.” Readers, indeed, Strugglin-7 had caught a beautiful parakeet, and I allowed him to keep him. Strugglin-7 named the bird, Jack.
He always said that GOD gave him that bird, and as his life has journeyed, I will always believe that.
In my own heart I wish that I could leave him right there, as a three or four year old, playing on the front porch; but that’s not possible. Strugglin-7 grew up. He graduated from South West DeKalb High School in 1995. He had his first child two weeks before he graduated, and started working in his life’s work. He loved doing construction; it was outside, and open. It also required a professional standard of craftsmanship which suited his mind’s desire for precision tooling and creativity. Before he passed, he claimed the prominence of ‘Master Carpenter.’
He was a loving and interesting father to four additional children, two boys born in 1998, another boy born in 1999, and finally a little girl born in 2001. He loved all five of his children. He desired that his boys grow strong and be men. His daughter brought out the genteel side of this rugged carpenter.
He moved around the country a lot, going where there was sometimes only a promise of work, sometimes an opportunity; but being an independent, his wages faltered and many times were sorely insufficient. He was homeless. I prayed for him. I prayed and GOD answered me. GOD’S answer was, “MY WILL, OR HIS COMFORT?” My answer, in the midst of tears was, “Your Will, Dear Lord.” Strugglin-7 never never complained, and if he had to write home for enough funds to take a bath, and get a bite to eat, he always found a way to repay his Dad.
We never really knew where Strugglin-7 was, but when he’d contact us, he’d never, never complain. He always told me, “Ma, I’m doing good.” He was in Nashville, Tennessee, when the flood happened. We didn’t hear from him, and we feared that he had been overcome by the water. Approximately five days after the height of the flood, Strugglin-7 called in apparent distress. “Mom, Dad! Did you know that there was a flood down here?” We were so glad to hear his voice that we just laughed. He said that he didn’t know there had been a flood. He saw an eighteen wheeler in the river, and a lot of mud everywhere, but he was only interested in obtaining a job.

Not long after the flood, my brother in Cleveland, Ohio died, leaving property that had to be monitored, while going through probate. We asked Strugglin-7 to attend it, and he agreed. NOTE: GOD’S Will is Perfect in every way. Comfort that we search for is landed smack dab in the middle of the Will of GOD. While we pull away from His Will, what I’ve witnessed is that there is no better place for anyone to be than in HIS WILL! He is the Comforter; but how can He Comfort us out of His Will? We have much to learn.
Strugglin-7 was happy, and he told me that he felt like he could enjoy Cleveland. We considered that as a great possibility.
Strugglin-7 had everything that he needed. Everything! Everything except…
One morning the phone rang. It was Strugglin-7. He asked me if I was busy, and I told him that I was finishing the Newsletter. I told him that I would call him back in less than five minutes. He sounded very disappointed. I did just what I promised. I called him back in less than three to five minutes.
He sounded strangely quiet. Then he said, “Ma, I need Jesus.” He repeated himself twice. He was interrupted by something, and said he would call back. This incident happened twice. Finally I became upset, and told him that he was asking something very serious, and we needed to handle the matter. He apologized to me, and said that he wasn’t hanging up on purpose, but he was now ready to pray.
I took Strugglin-7 through the Sinner’s Prayer, and he said, “Ma, I feel so much better.” He hung up, and approximately ten minutes later he called, sounding like himself. “Ma, Jesus is ‘Some kind of Wonderful,’ isn’t He? He comes on real big, Ma. I feel so much better.”
Readers, that was my last conversation with my son, Strugglin-7. Even though he had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Personal Lord and Savior when he was five and a half years old, and was baptized when he was six. He, like so many of us, wandered into a sinful life style that had kept him captive for many years. He knew the Way. He knew the Life Giver, and when he heard his voice, he knew that time was up; he recommitted his very life to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living GOD.
I will always maintain that my son harbored an undercover relationship with Jesus. He was familiar and knew the Word of GOD. Why undercover?

His life didn’t compliment His Savior, so he could only speak of His Savior to those who were in a trap similar to the one in which he found himself. He found friendship in the street, he found acceptance, he could help others, and they didn’t rebuke him for his rugged speech or conduct.
Readers, many of us strive to get where Strugglin-7 was before he died; but having everything you ever longed for is not the answer if you don’t have a working relationship with the King of Kings. Strugglin-7 had to be brought up to have everything so that he could realize that he had nothing without Jesus.
Where are you? Are you struggling to get to the top? Are you struggling to be the one who has everything? Question: Undercover do you have Jesus? Will you perish because of your stuff or will you see the vanity in your life, and yield to the Cross?
My son died nine hours after our conversation…SAFE!
Welcome Home, Strugglin-7!
LOOKING FORWARD
SEE YA NEXT TIME!
TER

NOTEWORTHY: ‘MISSIONARY WEAPONS’
September 11
Missionary Weapons
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings—it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did?
Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield—you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
From: “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers

NOTE: Since he was a very young child, I understood that Strugglin-7 would be a Preacher. His words vibrated in the ears of the hearers. He told everyone about Jesus, and how they needed Him in their daily lives. He went so far as to bring adults to us and tell us that this individual needed Jesus…“Tell them Mom, tell them Dad.”
Have you ever felt that you weren’t as far along as your children? That was the feeling that Strugglin-7 left, as he readily spoke Truth to anyone that he met, and felt it necessary.
The Lord said that he would be a ‘Street Preacher’, and when he passed away, I asked the Lord. “What about him being a ‘Street Preacher?’ The Lord showed me just a glimpse of his life, and indeed, the people that he reached with his unorthodoxy were the halt, the lame, the unlovable, the dirty and the rejected of this society. Maybe he didn’t stand on the corners of the great cities…but he preached life and hope to the ‘least of these my little ones.’
His Mom…TER
TJIFA’S BOOKSHELF: HABAKKUK
THE HOLY BIBLE
Why doesn’t GOD do something about the evil in this world? This question has been asked for thousands of years. The Prophet Habakkuk, no less human than us, asked GOD the same question, and glad are we that he did.
In this little book, usually referred to as a minor prophet, GOD reveals Himself to man. Do we really want to hear the results of this Prophet’s yearning? Do we really want a True look into the Sovereignty of GOD? Habakkuk packs a powerful wallop. GOD’S answer to the evil question is sure to surprise you, as we get further understanding about the Wonderful Word of GOD.
The second question that is asked and answered in the Book of Habakkuk is: Why would GOD allow His people to be punished by a people more wicked than they are? Why wouldn’t He just destroy the Chaldeans? These two questions were the problem of the Prophet Habakkuk, and now, according to Dr. McGee, it will be our problem as we dig into the Wonderful Book of Habakkuk.
The Book begins with telling the Reader that the Prophet has a burden, then in the second verse the Prophet’s yearning is, “Oh Lord how long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear?”
Have you ever felt like GOD does not hear? This Prophet puts it into writing; but remembering in the Psalms we read: Psalm 91:15 (KJV)
15 “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”
If GOD said that He will answer him, then it stands to reason, that GOD had to hear him.
Dr. McGee makes a powerful statement. He said that the burden of Habakkuk is not the question, but the answer that GOD gave him and this answer is not only the burden but is also the prophesy of this book, spoken of in the very first verse. Dr. McGee calls Habakkuk the ‘Doubting Thomas’ of the Old Testament; because he asks questions and demanded good answers, which GOD accommodates well.
GOD informed Habakkuk that He was moving and raising a nation of bitter, hateful, terrible, and dreadful people, the Chaldeans. They would march against Israel, and dwell in their homes, they would displace His people. Only one question could follow a statement like that. “Why?” Habakkuk surely asked that question, reasoning why would the Lord allow these dreadful people to overthrow GOD’S people?
It is not an unusual course of action by Almighty GOD. He has often used the ungodly to punish the GODLY. GOD works in ways that are always good, right, and just, no matter how we perceive them to be in our perspective. We feel that surely the good deeds and acts that we have accomplished will turn the judgment of GOD; because GOD is Love.
This is not so. GOD must judge in Righteousness. GOD hates sin. All must come in humility, accepting GOD’S free Gift of His Son, Jesus, who is our access to Eternal Life.
Now, let’s skip to the New Testament where Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5; in Acts 13:41. 41”Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”
He is saying that GOD has provided a Salvation, and it did not happen in a corner. Jesus died on the Cross…but rose on the third day. Believe it and live.
Read Habakkuk with commentary in hand.
TER

REVELATION? MERCY & GRACE
Mercy withholds the knife from the heart of Isaac.
Grace provides a lamb in the thicket.
Genesis 22:11-14
Mercy runs to forgive the Prodigal.
Grace throws a party with a robe, a ring, and a fatted calf.
Luke 15:20-24.
Mercy hears the cry of the thief on the cross.
Grace promises Paradise that very day.
Luke 23:39-43
Mercy converts Paul on the Road to Damascus.
Grace calls him to be the great Apostle.
Acts 9:1-6, 17.
Mercy closes the door to Hell.
Grace opens the door to Heaven.
Ephesians 2:8-9
And the difference between Mercy and Grace is this:
Mercy withholds from us what we deserve.
Grace gives us what we do not deserve.
Romans 5:20.
From: This month’s bookmark (September 2010) by Dr. David Jeremiah
Submitted by: BMcC In memory of Strugglin-7.

QUICK QUOTES:
“The lack of faith is the source of greed.” John Calvin
“We don’t go to Church; we are the Church.”
Earnest Southcott
“The acid of grief, tests the coin of belief.”
Dr. J. Vernon McGee the Commentary on the Book of James.
“It seems the bigger the sin, the gentler the Hand of GOD.”
From “Glimpses of Heaven” by Trudy Harris RN (True stories of hope and peace at the end of life’s journey.)
Submitted by: BMcC
“Sometimes in the midst of pain a hug is welcome; but a ‘Hug with History’ is far better.” B. Robinson, RN
“Our hearts are made for You Alone, Oh GOD, and they can not rest until they rest in You.”
By St. Augustine; Submitted by: BMcC

MILLSTONE…FORBID THEM NOT! THE ROD OF CORRECTION
Proverbs 22:15 (KJV)
15”Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
Readers, you’ve heard quite a bit about my very small family. They can’t rebuke me now, because all of them are in heaven…except me. I alone stand to tell the secrets of a family that loved one another very much. This week, I thought about something that I asked my older brother just before he passed away, about 6 months ago, maybe even longer. I wanted to know if I was remembering correctly about my father, so I asked my brother. “Bill, did dad ever punish or whip me?” He thought about the question for a minute, and then he replied. “No; but Mom tore your bottom up quite frequently, so I guess Dad didn’t have to.” And we both had a great laugh.

My younger brother and I were always doing something that brought down the rod of correction; but we always wondered just where did she get the tools of the trade?

These are secrets that should not be revealed, but my younger brother Don and I would hide my mother’s weapons of warfare, as soon as we saw where she placed them.

There is a strange thing about the ‘rod of correction.’ When she would start talking to us about our crimes that needed adjustment, out of the air and in her hand would appear a rod or correction. One day I remember talking about our punishment, and my brother asked me or I asked him. “Where did that switch come from? Did you pick it?” Neither of us knew its origin, but when it was needed it did appear.
I may have told you about this incident, but it is worth repeating.
Mom had gone somewhere, and we were told to wash the dishes, and clean up the house. No problem. We played and played. Long Ranger, Tonto, hop-scotch (in-doors) dress up the dog, club house, lick the ice in the refrigerator, blow water out of our mouths on each other as we rode our brooms and mops around the house, and laugh as loud as we could. You may wonder why we were so secure in our pleasures. Well, we could see mom coming a long way off, and we knew that we had plenty of time to correct our folly if we just kept “looking out” for her, and so we indulged ourselves with frivolity.
Proverbs 10:13 (KJV)
13”In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.”
We didn’t stop peeking around the door “looking out” for her. We pretended she was the bad guy and we were the spies, we even took turns. Finally we spied her coming, a long way off, the alarm was sounded. “Mom is coming!”

Club houses were dismantled; the hop-scotch board made of bathroom towels was replaced by the rug, and sloppily thrown back on their towel racks. What about the dirty dishes? No problem, we stealthily and skillfully crammed them into the oven. We snatched the dog’s clothes off and threw them down the clothes shoot. (He was acting strange, and we were having a time trying to get the buttons undone.)The mop that was once a horse was used to mop up the water that we had squirted on one another. We were feverishly working to reach the goal, in fact we were early. The dog was whining, and acting happy. (Crazy dog) We were ready to look like the angels that Mom had left in the house. The kitchen door was still closed, we’d be sitting on the couch when she arrived…We walked into the living room…“Mom?”

Bingo! She had entered the tumultuous house through the living room door that we had left open, because we were sneaking back and forth to the porch “looking out” for her, and she had gotten a ride home by one of the neighbors; but we were so busy ‘fixing up’ the house, that we didn’t hear her untimely arrival. Where did she get that rod of correction? There she sat, a look of displeasure interrupted only by a battery of interrogative sentences. “Why do you have that lipstick on your face, Tonto? Didn’t I tell you not to dress the dog up in your clothes? Who put the dishes in the oven again? Why is the mop wet? I’ve told you time and time again not to make tents out of the sheets, haven’t I?” We began to attempt to correct everything that she asked about…too late!
Proverbs 13:24 (KJV)
24”He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

My Mother loved us betimes…whatever that means.

We live in a time now, when my mother’s way, or GOD’S way is shunned by authorities as not being politically correct; but when they lock your child or my child up in their prisons, and jails, they treat them worst than animals. They lose all of their dignity as human beings. Their gender is challenged and attempts are made to change not only their gender, but their very belief, especially if they are Christian.

Readers, our fight is real, and it starts in the womb. Jesus Christ came to show and teach us the way of the Father. If you create a chocolate cream pie, you shouldn’t try to pass it off as a cherry pie, nor should you allow anyone to compliment your cherry pie, if indeed, you didn’t create a cherry pie.
The above story was funny, but its ramifications are real. If you love your child, you won’t kill him with the rod; but a tazor just might, and a bullet well placed most often results in maiming or loss of life.
I wish that I could relate to you the lessons learned by my younger brother, who was my accomplice in many antics; but I can tell anyone that through many well placed rods on my rebellious flesh, I learned to have respect, and a high regard for … “the rod of correction.” After being realigned we spoke quietly. “How did she know? How long had she been sitting there? Oh, that’s why the dog was so happy, because he knew she was at home already.”
We never figured any of that out, but we learned that we couldn’t fool Mom, and I learned the results of being an ‘eye servant.’
Proverbs 15:3 (KJV)
3”The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Readers, I, TER, don’t regret nor do I hold any ill-will toward my Mother, who loved us more than I could ever imagine. There is one more point that is needed before we depart this month. King Solomon wrote:
Proverbs 23:12-15 (KJV)
12”Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.”
TER

THINK ON THESE THINGS:
Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction
“He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord” (2 Samuel 23:16).
What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently—love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing (23:16)? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God—something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.
How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way—I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”
If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.
From: “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers
TESTIMONY TIME: HOW DID STRUGGLIN-7 AFFECT OTHERS?
Psalm 139:1-4 (KJV)
1 “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.”

“I will miss Uncle. He was funny, and he taught me a lot. He taught me the CHARACTERISTICS of being a man.”
JGM
“I’ll miss my Uncle. I didn’t know him as well as my brother, but I will miss him.”
BCJ
“My Brother, remembering the times I had to make dinner while mommy was at work. I made a pot of spaghetti and told him to warm some up. Even though we had a microwave (the mighty ... mighty microwave) he warmed the whole pot up... and burnt it!! Wow!
When I would come home from work he would meet me at the top of the hill by the bus stop and FFFLLLYY me home on his bike... Very dangerously... but it was a free ride and I had walked a long way. One day he asked Mom if she wanted a ride... Not a good idea... I think seeing my hair all over my head when I got home was a good sign it was going to be a rough ride...
Love you always . . .Until . . .”
TJM (Your Sister)
“I’ll never forget your honesty, your joy, and your constant, tireless movement. It seemed as if you never got tired, always going, going, gone. Good-by Strugglin-7, Mommy will always love you.” Mom“He was a kind, polite, mannerly, and generous man who tried to be obedient to the Will of GOD. He came to our home twice in one day, and gave us money because he said that the Lord told him to give it to me.”
WMcK (A friend of his parents, who watched him grow from a young boy to a young man.)
“He was very helpful. He tried to assist in anyway that he could to alleviate stressful and troublesome situations.”
Mrs. WMcK (A prayer Warrior who has prayed for Strugglin-7 most of his life, since 1987).
“My Dad was a good person and he always kept food on the table, a house to live in, and clothes on my back, and that’s all that really matters.”
TJTG (Son – 12 years old)
“Dad, I love you, no matter what. You will always be my Dad, no matter what.”
TJTG (Son – 10 years old)
“My Dad used to say. ‘Be nice, but don’t let nobody push you around.’. If I could change anything, I would probably die. He used to be a model, oh how I used to see him smile. I will always love my Daddy.”
ITEC (His Pretty Pink Princess. 8 years old)
“Despite what has happened, he will always have a place in my heart. A good provider, he was, and he loved his children.”
NG (Mother of the previous three children.)
“I wish that I could have really gotten to know my Dad more then what I knew him. I hope that the people that did this realize that they took something very valuable away from me. I feel shaky about him dying. I love my Dad and he is in a better place now.”
ADL (Son - 12years old)
“He was very protective, kind; he had begun building a relationship with his son, and I regret that they didn’t have more time together. We had misunderstandings, but I thank GOD that we were able to iron out some of them before this happened. He died an untimely and cruel death, and he didn’t deserve this treatment. I’m glad that he renewed his relationship with GOD before he was killed. I’ve told my son that he will see him again in Heaven. This is a terrible shock to me.”
SL (Mother of ADL)
“I met Strugglin-7 when he was about seven years old. I lived next door to him and his family. He would come to my house, and watch me make quilts. He asked me, in a deep voice, if they were warm, and who was I making them for. Not long into the acquaintance, he asked the cementing question. “Ms. G., would you make me one of those warm blankets?” I did, and it began a relationship of prayer, that never ended. He became my Christian Brother, and I never regretted the relationship.”
GS (A Prayer Warrior who prayed for Strugglin-7 for the rest of his life, and for hours in the morning of the day that he died.)
“Thunderstorms shook the foundations of the building, I was sick, and in the hospital, I longed for a diet Sprite; but couldn’t get one. While conversing on the phone, with his Mother, a knock on the door, a deep voice, a beautiful smile, and a diet Sprite, with Bible Tracts appeared. I had never met him in person, before, but I knew immediately that it was, Strugglin-7. (He had come through the storm on public transportation.) This early contact paved the way for future phone conversations, and the week that he died, I talked with him, in Cleveland. He seemed glad to hear from this Christian friend and Prayer Partner to his Mom. He was my friend, and I loved him, and I believe that he died as a Martyred.”
BMcC (A TJIFA contributing writer, and Prayer Warrior, who called a special prayer meeting for him on the morning of his death.)
NOTE: “If Fervent Prayer, in the Name of Jesus could have diverted this untimely death, I believe that Strugglin-7 would be still walking on the earth; but we are taught to pray the WILL of GOD, not against His Will. The above testimonies are but a few of those who, on August 14, 2010, prayed for Strugglin-7. We rejoiced in his voluntary renewal of his relationship and acceptance of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; but many times this final dash to the finish line is not to receive man’s accolades, but to be crowned with Eternity. So, we rejoice in the knowing that Strugglin-7 is struggling no more, but in the ARMS of His Master, his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
TER

Excerpts from the Memorial Service:
“He went to Cleveland to fix up old houses; but GOD sent him to re-dig old wells, to dig up old dry souls. I believe that Cleveland was the place where he found out, truly, how much GOD loves him. He ministered to his whole family up there, and brought them together. Is that a preacher…That’s The Preacher! The Preacher in a desolate place. That’s where GOD Will put you, in a desolate place. People who were not talking to one another, are now fellow-shipping with one another …
We can’t worry about how he left, we’ve got to worry about what he left. We’ve got to be concerned with ‘the testimony’ that we were all praying for, to see the Glory. A parent never wants to leave this earth going to Heaven, and wonder where is my child in a situation of not knowing who he is. Strugglin-7 was a Preacher, who looked into the Face of GOD on the last day of his life, who will forever be in our hearts and our minds as a gentile and bold soul. GOD Bless this work this day.
The Benediction:
GOD, give them Great Comfort in the days to come, as they recognize that it is finished; but GOD, You got the Glory, You got the Glory, for his life! GOD, thank You for all that You are doing in the coming days to heal, deliver, and see seeds coming from his working in Cleveland, and all around wherever he has touched OVER these YEARS. Let the testimonies abound of this funny, grand, Preacher Man. Oh GOD, we give You The Praise, the Honor, and The Glory, in Jesus’ Matchless Name. AMEN.”
From: The Memorial Service
Dr. C.L.G.
Hebrews 12:25-29 (KJV)
25”See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29For our God is a consuming fire.”
FRIDAY’S WORD: “CUP”
NOTE: It would seem strange to have this word, cup, as the word for this Friday; but Strugglin-7 used the word, ‘cup,’ as his middle name on the Internet. Why? No one knows. He left us only a question as to the meaning of that interesting middle name. Here is the significance of the ‘cup’ in the Biblical sense. Maybe it will ring a few bells with his friends. TER

CUP The cup was a drinking vessel made of pottery or various metals such as gold, silver, or bronze. During biblical times cups came in two different forms. Some resembled their modern counterparts. However most ancient cups were shallow bowls which were produced in a multitude of sizes. They also could be used in divination (Gen. 44:5). In addition, the term cup was used to designate the receptacles for holding lamps on the lampstand of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:31-35 NASB).
In the Bible the word “cup” frequently is used in a figurative sense. The contents of the cup are accentuated, since symbolically God serves the drink. Thus the cup might represent blessings or prosperity for a righteous person (Ps. 16:5; 23:5; 116:13). Likewise, it portrayed the totality of divine judgment on the wicked (Ps. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15; 49:12; 51:7; Ezek. 23:31-34; Rev. 14:10; 16:19; 17:4; 18:6). Jesus voluntarily drank the cup of suffering (Matt. 20:22; 26:39, 42; Mark 10:38; 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 18:11). For Jesus that cup was His death and everything that it involved.
The cup had a prominent place in the liturgy of the Jewish Passover meal, and so, subsequently, in the Lord’s Supper. In the Christian ordinance the cup is a symbolic reminder of the atoning death of Jesus (Matt. 26:27-28; Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25-26).
See Divination; Lampstand; Lord’s Supper; Passover; Pottery.
LeBron Matthews
From: Holman’s Bible Dictionary

IN THE MIRROR: MY SON, “THE PREACHER”
In December of 2008, I was returning home from an early morning walk when before arriving at my home, I found myself approaching a man who was crying uncontrollably. I had no idea what was wrong but I knew within my heart that I had to talk and listen to him due to the obvious grief he was going through.
I turned and began to walk with him in the direction that I had just come from, but I cared nothing about anything except, ‘How can I possibly help this man?’
He began to share with me that his seventeen year old son had just been killed in a terrible car accident the night before right up the street, and he was just returning to the scene of the accident, and asking God, “Why? Why did He take his son?”
All I could do was walk along with him to the spot where his son died, and listen to him in telling me about the bright future he and the mother had planned for their son. You would have admired every word, and there was no doubt as to the love those parents felt for their son. As we looked at the tree, and some remaining car parts we cried and prayed together, and then upon leaving we came toward my house again where I invited him in to share some books with him for the family, and offer further condolences.
When he left our home, all I could think about was if I were in that situation, and how I hoped in my heart of hearts that “God would never ask me to go through that experience.”
That brings me to August 14th where I had to suffer some news that will affect me the rest of my life. On the 15th approximately 4:05 A.M. my son’s life was required of him— ‘The Preacher.’
In (Psalm 19:12a) the Psalmist ask the question: “Who can understand his errors?”
Did God make a mistake in Larry’s son’s life at 17 years of age?
Did He make a mistake in another young man’s funeral who at 33 years of age died only a few days prior to my son in his sleep, and my son, also 33 was left to die in a violet act; “Wasn’t God looking out somewhere?”
As I begin to attempt to cover as much as possible where God will take me to in this message, my primary thoughts are how, when you write about your brother-in-law, you never suspect that the very next person you will comment on is the death of your youngest son.
Will any of the words, thoughts, concepts, ideas, perspective, outlook, change now that we are talking about a son, instead of a brother-in-law? Not where the Word of God is concerned, because one thing that I had to look at was; ‘Was there anything I would have written any different, and the clear answer is ‘No,’ because our whole trust still remains in what has been written for us since the beginning of time (the Bible). The message in (Romans 8:28) is not going to change now because now it is here in the form of a police officer at my front door with a message telling me to call a precinct in another city about my son’s injuries.

In commenting on a “Christian funeral,” did my son have a “Christian funeral?” Yes! How’s that work, you ask? Because within 24 prior of his death, he made the most important decision of his eternal future, something we have been telling him about his entire life (John 3:16). He received Jesus Christ at an early age, and as always, then comes the experience. His nickname was “The Preacher” and I dare to say that I’m writing, but he’s ‘preaching’ as I share some of his life’s story. I will only be able to come as close as possible to relaying and relating as much as is directly relevant due to an aspect of every one of us – and that is we are all ‘inside’ people, and our most intimate conversations always have a way of staying ‘enclosed’ in a certain area of the heart where only God knows, and dwells.
Everything I do write, and comment on is with total love and respect for my son in his absence. Actually I intend for this to be as succinct as possible in an effort to leave as little room for misunderstanding and misinterpretation as possible. Is anyone unaware how we have either heard of, or know personally of someone’s funeral where the preacher “preached” that person into heaven, and all you know about that individual while on earth is that they lived like ‘hell?’— like the woman who attended late her ex-husband’s funeral, and after hearing a few words spoken, sent her son up front to see if that was his father lying in the casket.
My wife and I have stayed steadfast in where we believe our son is today, and it has entirely nothing to do with living a ‘godly life’ or lifestyle, but because of the decision and confession that he made completely absent of any immediate outside influence. A culmination (and that’s as close as I can come to an appropriate term), of weighting in on everything that was going on in his life at the time, along with looking back over a long past that had more questionable times than he was ready or able to comprehend. These words are relatively easy for me to communicate due to the fact that I too have come to this place so many times in my life, and it is only by the Grace of God that I can write and tell some of his story today.
Was he told and taught of the differences that dictate the various outcomes in life? Yes, but I believe the compulsion to discover other areas of life was just too challenging to resist, for anybody who really knew him, one of the things that nobody could deny he had one ‘adventuresome’ personality. Along with that is the fact we were able to see how sin crept into his life little by little “too small to be noticed,” and later years “too large to be broken.” There is more that I can’t write about his thirty-three years of life than I can, but in conclusion to this, my wife and I agree that he possessed an extraordinary gift behind the ‘disorder’ and the sin that in later years influenced his life.

Here’s what I believe my son would have me share with you today; Sin in the most subtle enemy known to mankind. It will masquerade itself behind anything conceivable, so long as you don’t call it for what it is, SIN. It will make you think you’re riding high, when all the time you’re sinking low. It will make you think that the ideal thing is to pursuit happiness, when all the time you should be in pursuit of God. Pride will get in your way at every turn of life, if you’re not able to recognize it for what it is. God in Christ Jesus is the only One who can give you a total understanding of what it is that we need in this life, and the life to come (John 10:10). Everything in this life that’s not of God will ultimately destroy you, including and especially SELF.
What I believe in my son’s life is that he came to a realization that no matter what he did, or which way he would try to turn, he was helpless against the powers of darkness, and that’s when he cried out to Jesus with all his heart, and God honored it. If you have trouble with conceiving that as a reality, try reading what Jesus says about the eleventh hour in (Matthew 20:1-16). Would I try to use scripture in a way that places my son in heaven because I want it to be that way? — I FEAR GOD too much to think along any lines that changes His Word to fit anything in my life or yours. My purpose here is to communicate that as the Bible says, God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts, and our ways are not like His ways in,( Isaiah 55th chapter) and I enjoy letting Him be God all by Himself.
Have you ever heard it said like this? This is from one of my studies:
“Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell—it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.”
God doesn’t just create redemption, but He also gives us the life that goes with our redemption.
The joy and satisfaction that I and my wife have right now is that we NEVER gave our son, or anyone else for that matter, a false concept or impression of the Gospel. I was never afraid to have a hardcore conversation with ‘The Preacher’ about what the Bible did say, and what it didn’t. Jesus never compromised the Word to accommodate man’s sinful nature.
What keeps me today is that he remembered something I instilled within him over the years, and he quoted it back to his mother in one of their recent conversations, “If I lie to you, I’ll destroy you.” As a minister of the gospel, I will keep along this pathway as long as God will ever permit me to proclaim His Word.
If you are reading this today, and you are allowing yourself to believe what you want to believe about the Bible, and not what is clearly written, you are being destroyed one erroneous thought at a time. What God honors in your life, and what He honors in my life, and what He honored in my son’s life before He took him are simple words that come from the depth of our heart and soul, “I NEED JESUS!” He lived a lifestyle that he didn’t have to live for a lot of years, but God brought him ‘full-circle’ and He will do the same thing for you. The Preacher’s life will not go in vain, and as his father, I’ve only grown deeper in my devotion and dedication to proclaim the only infinite message that we will have to have that has eternal values that benefit us now, and forever in glory with Jesus.
For you to be reading this today, means that you are born in a day and time whereas you have over four thousand years of evidence of what God is like, and what He is not like. When you go to your Bible, you can take the time to learn what God said, and what He didn’t say, and the Holy Spirit will clear up any ‘gray’ area that will keep you from the presence of God.
If today you are one of those people who are satisfied with changing the scriptures to fit your own personal ‘comfort zone,’ you are not going to be pleased with the fact that God is going to hold you accountable in that day, and you will at that time realize how unnecessary it was to have your own way in the earth when God wanted to reveal to you the power that was available to you to change and turn your whole life around, and it was all found in the name of Jesus (John1:12; Romans 8: 14,15).
You can resist change now, but its going to be so senseless in that day when you have to stand before Him and give an account for; “What did you do with His Son, Jesus? ” Maybe our son didn’t make it in. Maybe at the last moments of his young life he really tricked his mom and dad. Maybe this whole thing about heaven and hell is a big fiasco – You know, “man’s invention” or something like that. I’ve either read, or just about heard it all.
I say this, respectively; respectably; and respectfully; “What are you going to do about Jesus?”
Dedicated to, My son, The Preacher. The struggles that he faced while in human form will forever live in the heart of his father. God Bless, S L C

O TASTE & SEE!
CROCK POT BAR B-Q CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS

INGREDIENTS:
8 WASHED AND THAWED CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
1 WHOLE ONION SLICED
1 TSP. GARLIC (IF DESIRED)
½ CUP BULL’S EYE BAR B-Q SAUCE (OR YOUR FAVORITE)
¼ CUP CATSUP
2 TBSP. HOT SAUCE
BLACK PEPPER

DIRECTIONS:
IN CLEAN DRY CROCK POT PLACE CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
ADD ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS MOVE CHICKEN AROUND TO COAT ALL.
COVER WITH CROCK POT LID.
COOK ON HIGH FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS.
YOU CAN MOVE IT AROUND IF YOU HAVE TO. (SOME COOKS JUST CAN’T STAND TO LEAVE CROCK POTS ALONE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME, SO IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER STIR… )

THE CHICKEN WILL FALL OFF THE BONE WHEN DONE, UNLESS YOU WANT IT LESS TENDER. THIS EASY PREPARATION IS WONDERFUL FOR ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS FAMILY DINNER READY IN A COUPLE OF HOURS. WHY SACRIFICE FLAVOR OR NUTRITION?

ENJOY!
TER