So with all this dissonance in our world today my mind comes back to Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus accepts that woman even though society said she was lesser than Him. He didn't see race as an determination of character and he definitely didn't see race as a way to get to heaven.
You See?... Jesus didn't think twice about class or culture or ethnic background. Jesus loved everyone no matter what they looked like or who they loved who they associated with. He loved them period.
The only thing is that in order to be accepted into God's kingdom you have to love Jesus back.
That's the key to heaven.... Jesus loves you no matter what you have done or who you are. The only thing he requires is that you turn away from your sins (repent) accept that he is the Son of God and Believe that he can save you from eternal sin.
He believed that the Samaritan woman was worth saving. She was one of the lowest of the low, but she was worthy to Jesus. You are always worthy in His sight. He loves you and he wants you to come to him.
If you've read this far please keep reading:
John 4:
1 "Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John
2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
And you can keep reading but the point is that these people came to Jesus... despite their ethical or cultural differences. They remixed that Jesus was the only way to true salvation and that God loved them regardless of their social status or skin color or economic status. He loves you the same way. All you have to do is ask him in to your heart.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Monday, August 7, 2017
Saying Goodbye
Those that truly know me, know that I'm kind of introverted. I don't like to stand out in a group, I'm uncomfortable in certain social situations. I'm more comfortable if I have a job or a title. I'm a very vocal advocate for my patients under the RN title. I'm perfectly comfortable talking on the phone to a stranger if I'm acting as a secretary for Triple A Wood Co. However, when it comes down to being Heather Agee, I'm not so outgoing or vocal. I'd rather order online than talk to the Pizza Hut people. I perform at weddings, showers, funerals, etc on auto pilot and I need a couple hours to recover after I'm done. The only exception to my introversion is performance.
I love to sing. I've loved it my whole life. I feel that God gave me a gift and throughout my life I have tried to give Him the glory and share my talent as needed. I've always loved to sing in a choir. In my teenage days I was selected to serve in the Mississippi Baptist All State Youth Choir. We toured the south east over the course of a month and sang at various churches. It was an experience I will never forget.
After I married and became a mother, my priorities changed. I didn't want to commit to choir practices and cantatas. I felt I needed to be home with my babies. And I was home with them. I was so distracted with the mom life that I fell out of church service all together. A divorce and remarriage happened and I found myself and my new husband along with our now three children in a church setting once again. Soon after we joined our new church I was thrust into a leadership role. I was music director for a time at Oak Grove Baptist Church. We were too small to have a choir so it was mostly me leading the congregation in song. God has His way of getting you back to what He wants you to do.
After several sweet years at Oak Grove our family felt like it was time for a move. The first church we visited was Friendship Baptist Church in Vineland. We fell in love the first Sunday we were there. The people were so loving and friendly, the pastor's message was poignant and well thought out and gratefully received, but the music..... the music was spectacular.
This is where Harold Wayne Leonard comes in. Friendship Baptist Church's choir was wonderful but the piano behind it was what perked my ear. Our first Sunday there Harold Wayne played the most beautiful offeratory hymn I'd ever heard. I knew talent and he was surely talented.
I later learned that he had quite a legacy on his piano. Years of accompanying the Centurian gospel group had made him a local celebrity. You wouldn't have known that to talk to him. He was so humble about his talent. My father in law complemented him about a particularly heart rendering offeratory hymn one Sunday and he piously replied "Did it make you want to put a little bit more in the plate?" He was joking in his quiet way... but the truth is that it did make us want to put another dollar in the plate. His playing made you want to be a part of something. It made my family want to be a part of Friendship Baprist church. Harold Wayne's graceful piano playing was the bait and the rest of the Friendship family was the hook.
It took all of two weeks of regular attendance for Harold Wayne, along with others (Pauline, Stacey, Charlotte, Darron) to seek me out and recruit me for the Friendship Choir. We'd not even moved our letter before I was in the choir loft singing old southern gospel music with some of the most talented singers I've ever sung with. I think after the third week there we knew we were home and our family officially joined the church.
It was in the fall, and revival was fast approaching. Harold Wayne didn't skip a beat. He called and asked me to come to the "Playhouse" to practice some specials for revival. My introverted self balked. I didn't want to go. I didn't know these people that well. I went anyway. And God had a blessing for me out on that little farm in Vineland. Harold Wayne played and me and Joyce Vick and Jim Patrick sang hymn after hymn. Harold Wayne called it practicing but for me it was worship.
We had church in his little play house that night and I never for one second felt like a newcomer or an outsider. He and I were kindred spirits through music. We may have both been a little introverted in some situations but when it came to music we let our light shine. He'd be grinning at the piano in the fellowship hall and I would know he wanted me to sing a solo. He'd always play a new song for me on Sunday night and make sure I thought the choir would like it. He was my friend and I will miss him so.
But I'm not alone. He was a friend to so many. That was definitely evident today by the outpouring of love at his funeral service. I am so blessed to have known Harold Wayne Leonard. I thank him for pushing me back to serving the Lord through song and I will keep doing so in his memory. He will always be remembered by me.
I love to sing. I've loved it my whole life. I feel that God gave me a gift and throughout my life I have tried to give Him the glory and share my talent as needed. I've always loved to sing in a choir. In my teenage days I was selected to serve in the Mississippi Baptist All State Youth Choir. We toured the south east over the course of a month and sang at various churches. It was an experience I will never forget.
After I married and became a mother, my priorities changed. I didn't want to commit to choir practices and cantatas. I felt I needed to be home with my babies. And I was home with them. I was so distracted with the mom life that I fell out of church service all together. A divorce and remarriage happened and I found myself and my new husband along with our now three children in a church setting once again. Soon after we joined our new church I was thrust into a leadership role. I was music director for a time at Oak Grove Baptist Church. We were too small to have a choir so it was mostly me leading the congregation in song. God has His way of getting you back to what He wants you to do.
After several sweet years at Oak Grove our family felt like it was time for a move. The first church we visited was Friendship Baptist Church in Vineland. We fell in love the first Sunday we were there. The people were so loving and friendly, the pastor's message was poignant and well thought out and gratefully received, but the music..... the music was spectacular.
This is where Harold Wayne Leonard comes in. Friendship Baptist Church's choir was wonderful but the piano behind it was what perked my ear. Our first Sunday there Harold Wayne played the most beautiful offeratory hymn I'd ever heard. I knew talent and he was surely talented.
I later learned that he had quite a legacy on his piano. Years of accompanying the Centurian gospel group had made him a local celebrity. You wouldn't have known that to talk to him. He was so humble about his talent. My father in law complemented him about a particularly heart rendering offeratory hymn one Sunday and he piously replied "Did it make you want to put a little bit more in the plate?" He was joking in his quiet way... but the truth is that it did make us want to put another dollar in the plate. His playing made you want to be a part of something. It made my family want to be a part of Friendship Baprist church. Harold Wayne's graceful piano playing was the bait and the rest of the Friendship family was the hook.
It took all of two weeks of regular attendance for Harold Wayne, along with others (Pauline, Stacey, Charlotte, Darron) to seek me out and recruit me for the Friendship Choir. We'd not even moved our letter before I was in the choir loft singing old southern gospel music with some of the most talented singers I've ever sung with. I think after the third week there we knew we were home and our family officially joined the church.
It was in the fall, and revival was fast approaching. Harold Wayne didn't skip a beat. He called and asked me to come to the "Playhouse" to practice some specials for revival. My introverted self balked. I didn't want to go. I didn't know these people that well. I went anyway. And God had a blessing for me out on that little farm in Vineland. Harold Wayne played and me and Joyce Vick and Jim Patrick sang hymn after hymn. Harold Wayne called it practicing but for me it was worship.
We had church in his little play house that night and I never for one second felt like a newcomer or an outsider. He and I were kindred spirits through music. We may have both been a little introverted in some situations but when it came to music we let our light shine. He'd be grinning at the piano in the fellowship hall and I would know he wanted me to sing a solo. He'd always play a new song for me on Sunday night and make sure I thought the choir would like it. He was my friend and I will miss him so.
But I'm not alone. He was a friend to so many. That was definitely evident today by the outpouring of love at his funeral service. I am so blessed to have known Harold Wayne Leonard. I thank him for pushing me back to serving the Lord through song and I will keep doing so in his memory. He will always be remembered by me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)