“A Boat or An Ark”

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     “A Boat or an Ark”

When I was young, my brothers and I loved boats. We liked riding in them, looking at them and fishing from them. Of course we couldn’t afford one, so we built some. We made one out of an old suitcase, put it in the 4’ fish pond and it sunk. Than we made one out of 1×4 pine flooring, put it in Gunnerson creek and it sunk. We helped our Daddy some, building a houseboat, and it sunk. Continue reading ““A Boat or An Ark””

“Either-Or”

 

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“Either – Or”

 

While sitting on the couch, I glanced over at my two banjo’s sitting side by side on one of our recliners. I keep them in plain sight so that I will remember to practice. I can see them from anywhere in the room. One of them has flower inlays on the neck, While the other has the tree of life inlays all the way up the neck. They are both beautiful but different. The one with the flowers is tuned in a G tuning, while the other one is tuned in Double C tuning. The reason they are tuned differently is because playing Old Time Mountain style banjo you are limited to the amount of lead notes you can play. So, the banjo is tuned in the tuning where you can play those certain notes. For instance the old tune Cherokee Shuffle, is played in the G tuning. I had taught the folks in our music jam to play it this way. While I was gone, a man came along and taught them to play it in the key of D, The problem is that some of the lead notes are just not there. The tune now sounds nothing like The Cherokee Shuffle. The tune could be played on most all of the other instruments, but not the clawhammer banjo. Everyone was having a great time playing the tune, while I just sat there quietly. When playing in public, someone might ask me to play a certain tune, I choose the banjo that is tuned in the only tuning that can play the tune correctly. I kid people sometimes and say, let me change banjos because that song is not in this banjo. Continue reading ““Either-Or””

“Change”

 

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“Change”

My wife and I lived in a small mountain farmhouse. The windows in the den were high and we had to stand on tiptoes to see out. The rooms were small. The bedroom was eleven feet long by eleven feet wide, after putting a chest of drawers in, we had to turn sideways to get in the bed. At first that was fine, but after a while that got a little old. Something had to change. Things that need to change, seem to have a buildup period before any change can take place. Well, we decided to build a new house with more room. It seems we have to get tired of the way things are before the ground is fertile enough for change to take place. There is preparation before change is wanted. Sometimes I will work so hard that I will change clothes twice a day. How do I know that I need to change? When I am soaking wet with sweat and stink. At times we have to get very uncomfortable before we want change. When I was a little boy Mama would tell us boys to come in and clean up. We would say, but I’m not dirty. We were not uncomfortable, but she was. She was teaching us to recognize uncomfortable, on our end and others. Is it possible to make someone uncomfortable, by what I look like or am doing? Continue reading ““Change””

Revelation-Finding our way

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“Revelation”
Finding our way

A revelation is a word, a phrase or a vision. All come unexpected. They are not from the mind, they come from the spirit. The makeup of man is; the outer man which is the body, the inner man, which is the soul, the mind, will, and emotions and then there is the spirit. The organ that makes us aware of God is the spirit. Only in the spirit can we hear and really know Him. Our bodies and soul are rejuvenated through baptism in repentance and water. Only baptism of the spirit can rejuvenate our spirit to know the person God. Spirit bears witness to spirit. Our communication with God is through the spirit. We worship God in spirit and truth. The word truth means, reality or real. Continue reading “Revelation-Finding our way”

Seeing The Unseen

Seeing

Seeing The Unseen
An Awakening

The most excited people I know are those who have seen what they couldn’t see. We can read about God and his ways and hear about Him from different preachers. We can have great knowledge of Him and not really see and know Him the way He really is. I hear those many voices saying, He is this way or He is that way. So, how do we really know who and how He really is? Continue reading “Seeing The Unseen”