From my side bar you can tell that Toby Logsdon, founder and Bible Teacher of Biblestudypodcasts.org is my Son-in -Love. But I want you to know how very proud and honored I am to call him SON.
It fills my heart with JOY to hear him preach and teach God's TRUTH from his wealth of wisdom and understanding of the BIBLE.
Fifty some years ago...my own father began his first pastorate in a small Kansas town. It blesses my soul, that more than a generation later...I am experiencing Toby, together with my daughter, and their two children continuing this spiritual heritage that I was born into. I was 5 days old when the family made the move from Kansas to Oklahoma for dad to go to college so he could step into God's calling on his life.
Years before Dad's calling...my great great uncle "Ulysses Grant" T. was a 'circuit rider' preacher.... :) Yeah, he rode a horse to the distant parishes throughout the land. Is that just way cool :) I'm told he was a 'power packed' preacher...and blessed with a spiritual confidence that facilitated the Holy Spirit's work of opening wide the hearts of men.
Dad tells the story of 2 men marching into the church one Sunday as Ulysses was preparing to preach...they had a rope...intending to hang him! Ulysses dared anyone to step one foot on the platform where he was standing. He said.... "the Lord will strike you dead!" The church fell silent, as the two men turned and walked right out of the front door, that they had just came through - dragging their rope behind them! (dragging their tails behind them :) - Ulysses knew that as a christian he was the HEAD and not the TAIL :)
"If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God and carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand. " Deu 28:13
I have inherited my great-great uncle Ulysses' old black leather satchel packed full of neatly organized handwritten sermons - some typed - but all organized and easily read....what a treasured heritage!
Is it any wonder why I too have come to know this Jesus as my Lord and KING? This wealth of spiritual HERITAGE became my personal INHERITANCE when I stepped into my calling as daughter of the Most High King....and now Warrior Bride of My Beloved King!
Tomorrow, Feb 6 - My Son-in-Love, Toby, will deliver his 2nd sermon as the new senior pastor of Lynnwood Evangelical Free Church in Lynnwood WA . His first sermon was heard by a full house, I'm told - regular attendees as well as new people and people that hadn't come in a while. The congregation is excited to have a full time pastor again. And Toby and the family are just as eager to join them.
I'm linking to his first sermon "The Identity Factor: Who Am I?" for anyone interested. Toby's message comes from Matthew 16:13-18 - as he shares how our identity changes when we recognize and respond to Jesus' identity.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" "Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." Then he asked them, "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." Matt 16:13-18 NLT
You can find Toby's future sermons at www.Lynnwoodefc.org
Who do you say that you are?
And are you really who you say you are?
A whole world is watching and reading our open book.....what do they see?
We are a reflection of what lies beneath the skin...
Do we reflect JESUS?
Does His Glory shine from within our body, mind, and spirit?
Do we light up the darkness when we walk into a room - just by His Presence in us?
Who do YOU say that you are?
NO IDENTITY CRISIS HERE!
I AM HIS AND HE IS MINE,
MY BELOVED
HIS WARRIOR BRIDE
