No Need to Git Preachy: Parables for the Twenty-First Century

Copyright © 2013 Gerald P. Jackson.

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All Biblical citations come from the New American Standard Bible,

The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids Michigan, 49530, copyright © 1999

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-0239-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-0240-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-0238-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913340

WestBow Press rev. date: 3/11/2016

Table of Contents

Chapter One

From the Mouths of Babes

Words Have Meanings

I Need a Shot

When I Look at My Kids

Time Stands Still---But Only between the Ticks

Where Did the Time Go?

But We Gotta Preach

Chapter Two

Heaven or Hell

The Echo of Loneliness

Camouflage Easter Eggs

How to Know Where You Are by the Traffic

Prayerful Calculations

The Fork in the Road

Who Asks for Directions When They Are Lost?

How Much Does It Cost?

How Much Is Too Much?

Hot and Crowded

Questions I Want to Ask God When I Get to Heaven

You've Got to Let Go of Something

You Look Nice

Chapter Three

Serving Others

Everybody Needs One

Take Your Watch Off

Fast-Food Restaurants Beware

A Friendship Stronger Than Friends

Speak to Your Love

They Never Made It Home

From Cradle to Crypt

Remember the Price That Was Paid

Chapter Four

Summon Your Strength

Many Hostile Returns

The Camera Doesn't Lie---But It May Not Tell the Whole Truth

We Didn't Choose How We Were Born

A Humble King

Tears Are Necessary but Temporary

You Can't Take a Clown Seriously

Daughters of Sarah

Get Up, Pick Up Your Pallet, and Walk

This Is the Day the Lord Has Made

Chapter Five

Gittin' Preachy

That's My Brother, Brother

The Old Preacher

Chicken Wire or Poultry Mesh

Buzzards in the Middle of the Road

A Common Path for Common People with an Uncommon God

Chapter Six

At Face Value

Things Aren't Always as They Seem

Be Careful with Your Influence

Gimme a Cup of Joe

Flip-Flops on the Freeway

Priority for Today

Chapter Seven

Blessings from the Father

If You Have Ever Loved

There's an Emptiness Inside

We Called Him Daddy

Mercy and Grace

Will God Really Answer My Prayers?

Living beneath Our Privilege

Rain

Chapter Eight

Someone to Watch over Me

What Kind of a Shepherd Would Do That?

Tough Love

The Orphan

What If?

The Porch

Chapter Nine

God Said It; He'll Do It

Seasons

What More Could I Do?

Don't Throw the Stick Away

Why Bruce Runs

The Empty Hand

A Smile and a Wave

There Ain't No Grand Canyon

Chapter Ten

Rhyme and Reason

Truth Seekers

Free Will

The Godhead

Me or the Tree

Grace

Prayer

When You Love, You Give

Acknowledgments

As in anything that I do that is worthwhile, I must give the Lord all praises and honor for what He has done for me, in me, and through me. It is through Him that I have been able to do what I do to His glory. He has put so many wonderful people in my life to help me along this journey. He has also led me away from some others who guided me down a path toward eternal destruction. And in both cases, He allowed me to use these life experiences to know how to walk before Him and all humanity humbly.

I owe a debt of thanks to the men and women at the Sunset International Bible Institute who invested their love and talent in me in order that I may be used to continue to spread the marvelous gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks to those brothers who gave me the knowledge and boldness to speak and those wonderful women who encouraged me to develop the compassion necessary to serve. Every good thing I do in this ministry has Cline Paden's influence on it. I pray that his passion for saving lost souls will never leave my conscious thought.

I have a host of professional associates to thank, most of whom I don't have time or space to name. But there are some I must recognize. Thanks to Dr. Charles Stephenson at Lubbock Christian University, who encouraged me as a friend and a teacher. Thanks to the elders of the Lord's church whom I have served with: Lawrence Guyton, Thomas Davis, Johnny Evans, Dail Griffin, Troy Randolph, Richard Welch, Walker Stevenson, Sonny Lee, Milton Lee, David Daniels, Ray Clendenin, Bill Goble, Percell Duckett, Bruce Haynes, David Bobo, and Mike Reaves. May the Lord continue to bless you all.

It is doubtful that I could have done anything worth mentioning were it not for my family. To the Harris and Rainwater families, thank you for all your love and support. I always carry a part of you inside of me to share with the world. Hopefully those I encounter will be blessed the way you blessed me. I love you all so much.

In all my writings Lisa Richard has been an unlimited resource for me. She constantly encouraged me and worked through the text, keeping me going when I was ready to throw in the towel. Thanks for all of your love and hard work. May the Lord reward you for all of your efforts.

I offer a special thanks to my former wife, Pepsi. I would have never have begun this writing ministry if she had not continually encouraged me to do so. I did not change the stories that included her to reflect our divorce. I believe this is the right and kind thing to do.

To my beautiful new bride, Carol; thanks for insisting that I finish this project to the glory of God and that it may be a blessing to other's faith. I look forward to our life together. I love you Princess.

Gerald P. Jackson

Dedication

I want to dedicate this writing to Jane and Charlie Moore. Jane has been an encouragement and a support to me since I was a fifteen-year-old student at Dunbar High School. She and Charlie lived Jesus right out in front of everybody, even when they didn't know that my younger eyes were watching. Back in the sixties and seventies, when racial division was the norm for the American culture, Jane always demonstrated her love for all of the students at Dunbar High School, regardless of color. Whenever I had to go to the principal's office, Jane would always have a word of encouragement if I needed one before a required behavioral adjustment was rendered. In those days she offered a lot of encouragement. May the Lord bless you both for all that you do and have done for the kingdom of God.

In Christ,

Gerald

C hapter One

From the Mouths of Babes

The religious leaders and lawyers got upset when Jesus healed the blind and the lame in the temple (Matthew 21:14--16). They became indignant when the children began to praise Him for doing so. He corrected the adults when they asked, Do You hear what these children are saying? Jesus answered, Yes, have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself'?

Innocent children can make the most profoundly divine statements without even knowing it. They are not polluted with the concerns of propriety or etiquette. They simply speak from the innocence of their hearts. It would appear that God confirms His greatness in their words and deeds at His pleasure. These stories demonstrate how God uses these little ones to teach those of us who supposedly have a greater understanding.

Grace and peace.

Words Have Meanings

Brady is one of the cutest little two-year-old boys you could ever meet. He attends the Mother's Day Out ministry here at the church. Whenever he arrives, his big smile and wide-eyed expression announces that he is ready to have a good time. This usually is a signal for the teachers to put on their game faces.

One of the ladies at the church was hosting a birthday party for her granddaughter. It was a typical grandparent-hosted birthday party, lavish and with all kinds of family there: parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, and so on. And you know there was plenty of ice cream and cake along with balloons, a clown, a petting zoo, and even horses.

Brady was invited to the party, and he was excited when his grandmother told him there would be horses.

Shortly after the festivities began, a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer drove up to the house. Someone told Brady, and when he saw the horses being taken out of the trailer, he began shouting for joy, The hussies are here! The hussies are here! His grandmother, along with everyone else, laughed in amusement and through embarrassment.

They turned a brighter shade of red when he shouted with great anticipation, We ride the hussies! We ride the hussies!

Even now some of you are blushing. Why is that? We blush because we understand the meaning of words. Brady's childhood innocence spared him from what made the grown-ups blush.

One thing that separates humanity from the rest of creation is our ability to create, reproduce, and preserve our languages. Our words communicate our beliefs, intellect, and emotions. They preserve our history and prophesy our future intent. Words enable us to accomplish our daily tasks.

The other thing that separates us from the rest of creation is that each of us has an eternal soul. God Almighty chooses to communicate to humanity through His Word. His Word leads us to faith in Him, enlightens us with His intellect, and reveals to us His emotions. He communicates humanity's history with Him and prophesies our future in His presence.

God's Word tells us how to conduct ourselves throughout our journey on this earth and prepares us to live with Him eternally. The Word He uses to communicate His will, intent, and promise is Jesus. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world (Hebrews 1:1--2).

Certainly, God's Word has meaning, but it can only have meaning to us if we understand it. The people in Berea were considered noble because they received the Word of God and with great eagerness examined the Scriptures (Acts 17:10--11). They wanted to make sure they understood exactly what God was communicating to them.

This should be the method and motivation for all those who seek to know the Lord. Let's seek that clear understanding of God's Word that we may know how to conduct ourselves in this life. And when the time comes, we will be prepared to spend our eternity with Him.

Father, create in us a desire to know Your Word and learn Your will for our lives. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

I Need a Shot

Memphis, Tennessee, and Lubbock, Texas, have one significant thing in common: allergy sufferers. A friend told me that if you don't have allergies when you come to Memphis, just wait---you will. I told him that I didn't have to wait; I brought mine with me. In west Texas, they replaced the traditional greeting of good morning with a snort, a hack, and spit.

It came to be the time of the year that allergy sufferers in Memphis dread. Brenda, one of the ladies from the church, was suffering with her allergies and went to get a shot for some relief. Her three-year-old grandson, Easton, was in tow. When they arrived at