Most of my childhood days were not spent at Church in fact we just went to the special days. As a young boy I heard enough on those special days to know I needed to be saved. But in our family “you have plenty of time for that, later” was the way of thinking. Most of us were pretty much left to live how we wanted to as long as we did not bother Daddy.
When and if the subject of Church came up it was in a very general way. That was until one Christmas Eve when my brother Emmett (Everett) stood up. He was a young Christian and a teenager and to stand up at Joe Smith’s house and make an announcement was unheard of. That night he gave a clear and plain plan of salvation and with tears rolling down his face begged his family to be saved. Everyone was speechless. No one that day made any public confessing. But from that day forward we could no longer generalize the subject of salvation. Either you were saved or you were lost.
That was over forty years ago but the effects are still being felt. My brother has been hot and some times cold for the Lord over the years but that day he was on fire. A couple of weeks ago his two children spent almost two weeks in Japan on a Missions Trip. Ain’t God good. I am very thankful for the boldness and witness that he made to our family that Christmas Eve many years ago. He stood up.
Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
