That's All Folks!

I was transported back in time this morning to the early 1980’s when I read a couple portions of very familiar scripture that clicked on a whole bank of wonderful… and quite foundational to Piper’s and my ministry, that occurred just about the time we started growing our family!  Truth be known… those memories began… BECAUSE of the birth of our first child in May of 1980.

But today’s teleportation actually began yesterday when I was checking out my groceries at our local Walmart Superstore.  I was chatting with the young cashier about her employment at Walmart and she told me how she had originally got the job through her mother who has worked at Walmart for many years.  Her plan was to work there until she graduated from college.

I had to laugh when she informed me of her story and related how I understood, as I had also gotten my first (real) job in 1971, while going to college.  The job was at Sears and I got it on the merits of my dad and sister who had worked at the Santa Rosa mainstay store before me.  Then I paused as I considered our generational age difference and asked the cashier if she even knew what Sears was… to which she replied that she did!  Whew… I didn’t feel quite as old then!  So, from the early 1970’s on Friday, I moved up into the next decade with today’s memories!

The scriptures that sent me back in time were both found in the book of Luke and served to establish a Biblical truth for all of us who profess to be Christians and understand the Word of God to be the truth in our lives… beyond question or doubt.  These verses tell us the same basic reality and that being that,

“Jesus responded, “What appears humanly impossible is MORE THAN POSSIBLE with God. For God can do what man cannot.” (Luke 18:27 - The Passion Translation)

And some 33 years previous to Jesus’ declaration above, the angel of the Lord visited a young teenage girl named Mary… who would become the earthly mother of Jesus… and boldly told her what she was about to experience and answered her life-altering surprise and meaningful questions by matter-of-factly stating…

“For with God NOTHING shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37 – KJV).  Which is literally translated as, “For NO WORD from God shall be void of power.” (The Revised Version)

The phrases that really arrested my senses from these versus was first off, like we discussed in last week’s blog post, that the things that are humanly impossible with mankind, … and especially when looked at from the viewpoint of our own limited resources… are POSSIBLE with God - simply because NO WORD of His shall ever be VOID of POWER...  And secondly, that the operation of the miraculous power of God is not only possible in our lives (as demonstrated through the miraculous pregnancy and birth of Jesus through Mary) but is clearly defined as MORE THAN POSSIBLE for both you and me!

The truth of the possibility of having the power of God’s POSSIBLE being MORE THAN POSSIBLE in our lives is stand up and shout: “Praise the Lord!” material for me… Am I alone in this reaction?

So, after I stood up and shouted this morning, I forced myself to sit back down at my desk and immediately thought of a special song that has occupied a special, meaningful and vital part of our lives… that we first heard and learned to sing and play in the early 1980’s entitled: ♫ “He’s More Than Enough ♫”* written by an Oklahoma native and resident and pastor, evangelist, song writer, actor, Christian radio station network owner and DJ named David Ingel’s.**

We were first introduced to David Ingel’s when we discovered the Gospel Bill Show on the former PTL (now INSP) TV Network.  He played the part of a singing, traveling country pastor on the western themed Children’s show.  With our growing family we were very interested in finding good, modern Christian Children’s ministries.  We were also entering into a transitional time in our church ministry lives as we added the leadership of Children’s Ministry responsibilities to our Youth and Praise and Worship assignments.

Up to that time, most Church Children’s ministries were still focused on individual age and/or school grade specific classes and a more (what we considered) sedate classroom teaching style, using flannel boards, quiet songs, snacks and denominational produced teaching handouts. 

But our budding experience, Piper as an Early Childhood Education major and Preschool teacher and myself with my Adolescent/Family Psychology degree... and then both of us with five years of Church Youth Ministry under or belts… felt that the church kids (as well as our own) needed a different, more up-to-date and active Children’s Church experience.

And Willie George’s Children’s Ministry (based in Tusa Oklahoma), who produced the Gospel Bill Show, fit the bill and more for us!  Simply put, this ministry operated in and taught (through various teaching materials and seminars that were held across the country as well as at their first-class children’s western themed camp… Camp Dry Gulch USA… located an hour or so out of Tulsa) a cutting-edge, different style of Children Ministry that incorporated a unique, fast moving Children’s Church experience where all the elementary age kids are in one large, kid-centered decorated room.

The well written and performed Gospel Bill series on TV was the foundation and center point of the ministry and the half hour children’s western drama was shown on both Christian and secular TV stations across the country.  And like I stated previously, David Ingel’s was a reoccurring character on the show.

The song that he wrote was a popular tune in Charismatic and denominational hymnals, and is likely familiar to most of the readers of this post.  The truth that the Lord is MORE THAN ENOUGH for anything that you and I may need and/or desire in our lives should ring close to the heart of every Christian and the simple lyrics and melody of David’s worship song will quickly warm your heart and become your hearts cry as soon as you awake each morning and close your eyes at night.  God is MORE THAN ENOUGH quickly became the attitude of faith that Piper and I choose to depend on as the filter of our lives… for each and every day we faced for 48 years… and now beyond!

As I was writing down personal notes while studying these verses and what became the theme of my study this morning… as well as for this blog post today… I began to let my mind wander a little with more memories of how Piper and I tended to see our world through the lens of God and the truth of His Word being MORE THAN ENOUGH for us in any situation we faced in life, and I suddenly stopped and giggled as I played in my mind, the closing tune to the old Looney Tunes cartoons and heard Porky Pig stammering… “That’s All Folks!”***

And I thought YES!  That’s it!  That’s the way to look at every moment of everyday, in every year that we live our lives!  We should look at it through the lens of the truth that God and His Word is MORE THAN ENOUGH for any challenge, give it to God and then set your expectations high while you shout: 

“That’s ALL FOLKS!” 

And then never worry about it again… but let God be God in your circumstances… and thereby, be MORE THAN ENOUGH for you!  For He is:

“♫ MORE THAN ENOUGH ♫

Have a great and greatly blessed weekend!  “… And That’s All Folks!”

 

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1UZ8BRI-84

**https://www.davidinglesmusic.org/biography

***https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHEeG_uq5Y