For Fair Use Discussion and Educational Purposes
Link: http://www.raptureready.com/soap/twobears108.html
Note: Before commenting on any posts please make sure you either watch or read each post in it’s entirety. Before, making a comment, if you don’t have the time to watch or read fully please restrain from commenting. When you do this it will help to reduce confusion.

Thank you for visiting Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum!

Please add us to your favorites!
http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com
Our Facebook page is :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rapture-Bible-Prophecy-Forum/362856490414697
Please LIKE our Facebook page! Facebook is growing daily!

I Remember the Old and Live in the Present!



By Don Twobears



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I remember...I remember...



The tent revival was a thing to behold in those early days of the 1950s, the rural roads of South Central Texas. It seems that in those days everyone came to the revival tent wearing Sunday’s best: Gentlemen in their suits and ties and ladies in their finest Sunday-go-to-meeting dresses and hats, even in the sweltering heat of the day! Most of the smart ones had a hand-fan with them, while others used the free brochures at the tent, none the less it was a priority to have something to help with the heat.



The pastor had his water glass and a small towel to wipe his brow, as he would extol the Word of God. Of course as a small child, I had other ideas of how he was expressing his thoughts to all of us. It seemed that most of the time, he was yelling and waving his Bible at us and then at other times he was quiet and reserved. Still, it was quite the experience and one I will never forget!



During the day, the heat would simmer across the fields and then roll and undulate in regular cycles. On occasion dust would swirl about in what we called, dirt devils. Even though the heat was most oppressive, the breezes never once came as a cooling relief. It was just plain, hot and dry and not unusual for mid-July in the Texas barren areas! In almost every tent revival, the pastor would holler and growl and then he would slam his Bible on the pitifully small podium and everyone would jump at least a little.



Some of the older men would pop awake and then look around to see if anyone noticed them sleeping, to some degree I believe this was the point of the pastor smacking the podium. There was never a dull moment to say the least! I know some would abhor this sort of preaching, but then you would have to have been there in those days to appreciate what was happening. These tent revivals were nothing compared to the revivals of say:



Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon 19 June 1834 - 31 January 1892.

Dwight Lyman Moody (D.L. Moody) February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899.

William Franklin “Billy” Graham, Jr. (Born November 7, 1918.)



And yet these pastors worked hard and endeavored to meet the needs of the lost. In my mind today, I look back and see the zeal of these men and I understand their efforts. Today, I wish there were still men of this type around, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, that eternal life is a choice to follow HIM. How different would this USA be today, if there were men of this stature and mind-set?



I know filling the tent would be difficult because people today are more interested in everything else than hearing the Word of God, especially on days that are so hot and oppressing. It is said that Satan has already determined a following. To do anything other than listen to the Word of God they would more than likely take potshots at the tent, just for fun. The pastors would probably have to fight for the chance to obtain a temporary License for assembly from the gay pride folk, or some other group that fills the halls of the local, state, and government buildings. Such are people today in the USA!

If there were tent revivals today...What (in your mind’s eye) do you think we would see and hear? I would hope and pray...



Brother and sisters...God stands at the door of your heart and HE knocks. Don’t stand or just sit there! ANSWER IT! Ask Jesus Christ to enter, to sit down and make HIM SELF at home. Offer HIM some of your best sweet southern iced-tea! Tell HIM to put up HIS feet and rest HIS dogs for a while!



Tell HIM to make your home HIS home, that you plan to have HIM here with you, for a really long time! Brothers and sisters...HE...is the Son of God! The pastor then whispers: “Best thing there is, HE is here with you and that don’t get no better than that!”



Ahh…and can ya imagine being on the floor at HIS feet with the dog and the ticks ‘n fleas... just listening to HIM talk, to tell ya stories of the past and the future? Ya get to ask HIM questions and find out the answers, to see HIS face and touch HIS hands and feet where them nails was. I think that to myself and I don’t think I could say anything, cause Him being who HE is and all. I’d be a tongue-tied for sure!



Today though...it ain’t the same, that’s for sure! This old world is a hurling toward hell faster than ever before and it seems to me, that everyone is too busy havin’ a party, getting all drunk and liquored-up and carousin’ round like a tom cat!



They are too busy listenin’ to the devil, just like all them folk in Sodom and Gomorrah were, but...ya gotta remember, God destroyed that place and burnt it to the ground! And why did HE do that?



Cause of all the SIN, that’s the reason we have so many troubles in this world, like we do today. They just won’t pay attention to the Word of God. We have blasphemers and the like, we have scoffers yelling all their hatred at you and me...and ya know why? Huh? Ya know why? Because they hate God!



Some how, they believe that God is doing all these horrible things to them and the like! They don’t even know how loving and kind and wonderful our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ truly is!



If someone had done gone and showed them the Bible and everything in it...They’d be sitting here alongside you! I know the reason they act the way they do, I know why they ain’t sitting here with all of us tonight, ain’t no one gone out there and showed them the Bible, the holy Word of God! That’s why! “Oh well, their such hoodlums ‘n such, they’ll beat me up!



You might be saying: “Well, Daniel did it, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did it, what’s so special about you? Now stop and remember, they went on in their lives and became big men in their societies...and why is that? They TRUSTED God─ that’s why!



We folk here tonight...we ain’t got no excuses worth mentioning, do we? We MUST...go out there and tell them what we know is the truth. We must be TRUSTING God to help us find a way to get them interested, and to listen!



What are you going to say, as God stands there and begins to say to you, ‘Well...come on in. By the way… How come you never told no one ‘bout me? Were you to afraid to say anything? Too afraid they would jump on you and beat you senseless? Just plain scared. Right? How come ya didn’t think to ask me for some help? Yeah! That’s what I thought!’



Ya know...if HE said that to me, I’d feel like jumping in the deepest hole there is! He goes to a Roman cross and allows them folk to nail HIS precious body to it and then die there, just to save you and me!



Somehow, somewhere the two just don’t jive none. See what I mean? Cause one gives up HIS life and the other goes and hides in a hole...cause of fear! It just ain’t right! You...brothers and sisters...you know the truth, you know your Bible! Tell ‘em about it, don’t go and get all scared─just tell them!



I’m afraid I would not be able to say things like some of those revivalists did back in the day, although I can still hear them in my head. I can still see the crowd, the congregation, sweating and fidgeting about from the heat. I can still hear the old hymns being sung and if I work at it really hard, really close my eyes and think back, I can still “feel” the togetherness of a people praising and worshiping the Lord God Almighty.



Yuppers! The 1950s into the 1960s in South Texas at those revival tents were something else, a time that has been relegated into a time capsule of sorts. If you have never been to one, I sure wish I could give you my memories for a moment, just to experience how the Word of God moved. Sad to say, those days are long gone and we few that knew them and had been to them, know what it means to be God-fearing, Bible believing, born-again Christians of old...the old school, if you will.



I don't mean to sound like no one else is of the like, it's just those days, those old ways, the sense of knowing what was truly right and wrong! There wasn't any talk of gray areas, no worries about what was “politically correct” and what wasn't. Marriage was always between a man and a woman, a male and a female, because that was the “covenant” that was set-up by God.



Moms and dads loved their children and they worked very hard to provide for them, as best they could. There were no handouts! Communities took care of each other, helped each other, sacrificed for each other, because that was the right thing to do and the Bible said so. Children grew up being respectful to their elders, loving and respecting their mom and dad and each other. Where has this world gone? Here are some verses that tell us exactly how things are going to be in this day and age. How sad to be a part of this, too.



Mark 13.12-13: “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”



1 Corinthians 6.9-10: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”



2 Timothy 3.3-7: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”



There are 1,239 prophecies are in the Old Testament, and 578 are in the New

Testament.



The Bible is like no other book in the world. It is filled with internal evidence that it is the Word of God. No other religion has a book filled with prophecies, fulfilled one right after the other. The few books with so-called prophecies have proven to be written by false prophets who cannot foretell the future. But you can trust in the Bible, which is the true Word of God, Who proves that He is the Author of it by fulfilled prophecies. As He said more than 3000 years ago:



“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9a; 10b).



As I look at this world today and everything that is going on, I can’t believe I am seeing the same place, as I did when I was a kid. And then when I tell my children and grandchildren how things were when I was young and it is so different, they think I am crazy! They have no idea of how people could live without cell phones or television or homes, much less cars, and that did not have air conditioning. It sounds so foreign to them that I must be joking around with them or something:



“What do you mean, you didn’t have air conditioning in your house? How did you stay cool then?” My grandson asked me.

“We would open a window and pray for breezes or we would turn on the fan,” I replied “Are you serious?” he asked.

“Yup, that was about it, well...till we got our first swamp cooler,” I said.

“A swamp what?” he asked.

“Swamp cooler! It was this really big machine, that had all this straw inside and you hooked it up to your water hose outside. It had this little slit at the top that fit just inside your window. When you turned it on, the water would trickle through the straw and the fan would blow the air through the straw and the water and cool the air. Then the cool air would come out the slit in your window and cool off the room,” I replied rather spryly still thinking it was pretty cool for the day and time.

“Papa, you’re just making that up, right?” he said laughing.

“Nope, that was the best in those days, problem was, everything would get all wet too,” I replied.



Problem is, these days we have so much to be thankful for and yet how many get on their knees to thank the Lord for these things? Look at our churches, how many are out for the all-mighty dollar, instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ and HIS salvation unto eternal life? How many are out for the “feel good” gospel, instead of the cross of Jesus Christ and HIS precious blood?



And left-leaning media rolls out all the garbage it can find and yet nothing is said about God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. And we wonder what is wrong, what is happening to everyone now days? Please my friends, reread the verses above and then think and ponder on them for a while. If you are not saved to Jesus Christ...then YOU are one of those people that those verses are talking about! It's as simple as that!



The Bible has been around for better than 3000 years, it has been translated into every single language there is and it is presently telling everyone that we are living in the last days! Problem is, too few pick it up and read it, other wise they would already know what is going to happen next, because all the prophecies so far, have come true, therefore all the rest of them will come true as well! What is most important here is this: Where will YOU be when all these events take place? Where will you be in one hundred years from today? According to the Bible, there is heaven and there is hell...and that is all there is!



John 3.16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

If you are new to this site and would like to post articles, opinions, youtube videos that are appropriate for this site just e mail me at

stevensandiego@ymail.com
I will send you a PASSWORD

Ybic
Steven