The Forgiveness Of Jesus

 Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is a cute little story about faith by an unknown author.

In the west during the torrential spring rains, the rivers frequently rise and flood the lowlands. There was a little girl who lived In the valley of one of these mighty rivers and one weekend she was going with her parents to visit friends. As she was packing, she placed her dearest possession in her suitcase---a little rag doll. She had made it with her own hands and cared for it with a mother’s love. But her mother told her she could not bring it with her because it was too dirty, threadbare and falling apart. Reluctantly, she left it home.

Over the weekend, a sudden storm hit the valley and the river reached over it banks and flooded all the homes The little girl stood on the hillside looking down into the flooded valley, all she could think of was her little rag doll. When she could return home she rushed into her room, and her worst fear was realized--the flood had washed away her little rag doll.

One day while she was in town, she happened to pass a salvage store where objects found in the muddy debris were sold to raise money for the flood victims To her surprise and overwhelming joy, there wee her little rag doll with a price tag on it---25 cent. She had not money of her own, she went back home and helped her mother clean up. She earned a few pennies, she also helped the neighbors and earned a few more pennies. Finally, she had her 25 cents. She rushed to the store and placed her little sacrifice on the counter and claimed her doll. As she walked from the store clutching her treasure in her arms, she was heard to say, "I made you, I lost you, I bought you back and now you are really mine!"

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Watch The Bubbles Boys!

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was visiting my uncle on the old family farm in Central Wisconsin.  He was sharing with me about his old navy days the destroyer USS Wadleigh in 1954.  Those old destroyers were very small, and they could just disappear in the large ocean. He volunteered for destroyer service because they traveled the most around the world.

One day a large storm came upon them! One of the old salts said, "watch for the bubbles boys!"  The order went out to baton down all of the hatches!  As the little ship was thrown around the crew down below grew afraid!  When they rolled over at a 41° angle,  they were not sure if they capsize or not!  

The captain of the ship got on the intercom and shouted for the crew to prepare to abandon ship!  The crew immediately got into their life vests. Again,  one of the old salts yelled, "watch the bubbles boys!"

At this point all of the crew were down below in their life vests. My young sailor uncle asked one of the old salts what "watch the bubbles" meant. The old salt explained like this.

If the ship would capsize and flood with sea water, you follow the bubbles!  Bubbles will always flow upwards, towards the surface.  He said to watch the bubbles and swim in that direction!  Every compartment on the ship always had two hatches. One could be opened and closed at will, this is the main hatch. The second hatch is the safety hatch. That hatch would always remain closed, but always unlocked. It is the way of escape!

The ship rode out the storm and eventually came out of it. That day they didn't need to follow the bubbles! As Christians,  our way of escape is to follow the Bible. The bubbles of God's Word will lead us to safety in our time of distress!

William James Roop

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Our Anchor

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Laurinburg Exchange
Anchor down (the storm is coming)
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Community, today it is good for all of us to pause, do a little foundation assessment … and ask ourselves, “when the flood comes, am I anchored down in my Christian faith to withstand an onslaught; do I have enough concrete in my life, so that when the worse of the worst, a flood comes will I be washed away?”

Ask ourselves now, while the sun is shining and there’s a calmness around us; ask now while the health is pretty good; ask now while the diagnosis is pretty good; ask ourselves if a storm comes “am I anchored?” or will I fall apart or come to pieces? If I lost everything I have, like Job (Job 1:13-22), would I be able to keep it together? If not, now is the time to dig deep and lay a solid foundation.

In the natural we all know that when there is a storm on the horizon we look to the meteorologists to keep us informed and to warn us when there is danger; and when they do we prepare ourselves; we get batteries for flashlights; we buy bottled water; we buy non-perishable items; we get plenty of gas for our cars; we get first-aid kits; those that have boats and ships they tie it down; some people and businesses board up their doors and windows; they do all that they can to secure their worldly possessions and then they anchor down so that when the gusty winds blow, the torrential rain falls, that they will have a solid foundation.

Wise is the person who takes the storm serious and make preparation; those who do not want to be caught in a storm with nowhere to go; those who because they are prepared don’t suffer loss or lose their lives; unwise is the person who does nothing; who don’t take the warning serious; their mindset is “nothing bad will happen to me, it will always happen to somebody else!” then when the worst happens they lose everything and sometimes they lose their lives; we hear all the time about casualties in the aftermath of a storm; friends, Jesus did not say the words that He said for nothing; think about it.

He himself, the Savior is telling us to prepare now for the worst; and He tells us how do it, because when, not if, floods come, only those who have anchored down will not be washed away; those who are playing church; those who have drifted away from the fellowship of Christ; those who are not taking their spiritual life serious; those who very seldom spend quality time in the word and seldom pray need to hear this.

This is not the time to relax or be at a distance from God; no time is a good time but certainly we don’t need to be out of fellowship with God!

I was talking with my niece last week, who is really going through a trying time with her husband who is battling cancer. When I talked with her, she said, “Unc, the thing that keeps me going in this most difficult time is staying close to the WORD!” She said, “I keep the word near me and I keep it in the ear of my husband who is in the hospital. I let him hear your sermons because he like to hear you preach.” She said, “I listen to different sermons from pastors that encourages me ”.… I encouraged her to stay close to the word.

Community, it is the WORD and the WORD only and doing what the word says that will anchor you in the time of a spiritual flood. Some folk anchor around their family; not good; family can die; some anchor around their money, their possessions, their houses, their social status; not good; you can lose it all in a moment’s time, and then lose your mind too! Nothing but the WORD and doing what it says can “anchor you.”

There’s a song that we sang in church sometimes that says, “There’s a storm out on the ocean, and it’s moving this a way; if your soul is not anchored in Jesus, you will surely drift away!”

I feel sorry for the unchurched, those who are living aimlessly as sheep without a shepherd; those who don’t seem to have a care in the world; those who are alienated from God by wicked works, who are spiritually blind (Col. 1:21); those who don’t have an anchor at all, and who live only for this world; my heart go out to those who when the floods come have nowhere that they can go.

Jesus talks about this very thing. Talking to his disciples he said, “Whosoever comes to me and hears my word, and do it…is like a man that digs deep and lays the foundation on a rock: and the flood waters came and beat forcefully against it, and could not shake it: for it was built upon a rock. But he that hears, and do not what the word says, is like a man without a foundation who built his house upon the sand; and when the flood waters beat forcefully against it, immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great (Luke 6:47-49).”

To “build on the rock” simply means to obey what God commands in His Word. To “build on the sand” means to give Christ lip service, but not obey His will. Community, let us take an assessment now, look at our foundation … what are we building on? Make sure your soul is anchored in the Lord.

The Rev. George Ellis is the pastor for Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary