DO YOU KNOW SO-AND-SO?

When I was young, there was a little country store in a place called Hatchie Bottom, in Goose Pond, Mississippi. It was just down the road from Union Center. The owner’s name was Early Crum, and his wife’s name was Short. No lie. No joke. That was actually their names. They were old even when I was young. They had retired and sold the store by the time I was a teenager. My cousin Tim and I did some work for Early one year while we were out of school for the summer.

Soon summer was over and we were back in school. I had a friend named Lisa Crum. Since she had the same name as Early and his wife, I wondered if she was related to them. So one evening on the school bus, as we were going home, I asked her a simple question. Do you know Short and Early? She said, “No, but I know long and late.” We both laughed until tears came to our eyes. I’ve been telling that story now for over 30 years, and it always gets a laugh.

Many times when I meet someone who has the same last name as another person I know, I’ll often ask them if they know So-and-So. It’s a good conversation starter, and the conversation can go on for a while if they actually do know the person.

When I was a young Christian, our church youth leaders taught us to start a conversation directly to the point by saying, “Do you know Jesus?” Well over the years, I’ve discovered that most people’s answer is yes, even though their lifestyle says the opposite, so I realized that many of them were saying they know Jesus because they know of him or about him. To truly assess the situation, a better question would be “Have you been born again?" 

We don't hear many people talking about being born again, but Jesus told Nicodemus that a person can't go the heaven otherwise (John 3:3). Because Adam sinned in the garden, we are born sinners, so we have to be born again. 

However we want to start our conversations with others, the point is, we do need to start a conversation. We need to be telling people about Jesus in some form or another. If we truly know Jesus, we should be spreading the good news about his love and sacrifice for all mankind.

When Andrew met Jesus, he went and told his brother, Peter, and the Bible says, “he brought him to Jesus” (John 1:41-42). When Philip met Jesus, he found Nathanael, and told him about Jesus, then brought him to Jesus (John 1:43-46). When the Samaritan woman at the well met Jesus, she went back to her city and told the people about Jesus and invited them to “come and see” him (John 4:28-29). That’s the biblical model. That’s what every born-again believer should be doing. When we know Jesus, we should want to tell others about him and bring them to him.

Some Christians are not as outspoken as others, and some have a hard time starting a conversation. It takes practice, but you have to start somewhere. There are many ways to witness to others, and there are many tools to help you start. You can begin by giving them a tract, a book, or a DVD or you can share a link with them to a video or a meme that has blessed you. The key is to share Jesus with others like the people in the Bible did. The more you do it the easier it will become, and you will be blessed by it as well, and many who might otherwise be lost forever may spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven because of you. That would be awesome.

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FINDING TREASURE

We lived in Theo, Mississippi from the year I was three years old until the year I turned twelve. I had many adventures in that little community and I loved living there. We lived in four different houses during those years. I remember five different little country stores being in the community during that time. There were two pretty close to our house and they were in business at the same time with a third one a few miles down the main highway. One of the two that were close together closed down when I was maybe five years old, but another one opened up across the road so there were three again. We always lived within walking distance of a store and we would walk to our aunt’s house as well.

By the time the fifth store opened, we had moved again, and it was about the same distance from our house as the other two where we usually went, but we only had to walk a short distance on the highway and then cut through a church parking lot. Then it was just a short walk up a gravel road that never had much traffic.

One day, as we were walking to that store, I was dragging behind my grandmother and my two sisters at the time. We weren’t really in any hurry, anyway. Then, all of a sudden, I saw a dollar bill on the ground. A dollar was an awesome discovery at that time, so imagine how excited I was when I picked it up and realized it was a ten-dollar bill. I was so excited! I ran to catch up with my family yelling, “Look what I found, look what I found! I found ten dollars! Y’all walked right over it and didn’t even see it!”

I was rich! We walked on to the store, but I was not trailing behind this time. I was out in front, leading the pack. I went into the store and started looking to see what I could buy. What do you think a kid with ten dollars would buy in a grocery store forty years ago? If you said candy, you’re right. Sodas were only a quarter then, and so were candy bars. You could get ten pieces of candy, like Jolly Ranchers, for a penny. Double Bubble chewing gum was only a few cents each, and a pack of 16 baseball cards with a stick of gum inside was only a quarter. I bought several things for myself and my sisters and still had lots of money left over. That was a great day.

Another time, I found treasure was really like a scavenger hunt or an archeology dig. Back then, Coca-Cola was giving away prizes. I think you could win several different things, including free drinks and money and you didn’t have to wait. You just give the store owner the cap and get your drinks or money. We didn’t have much money to buy drinks, so we didn’t have many opportunities to win, but I had an idea. The bottle caps that could only be opened with a bottle opener were still being made, and the stores in the neighborhood had coke coolers with bottle openers that hung on the front with a long reservoir that held the caps. When they were full, they could be taken off the cooler and emptied into the trash. I asked the owners if we could look through their bottle caps before they threw them away. One store owner, Mrs. Wilbanks, said, “Sure.”

There must have been fifty or sixty caps in there and we looked at every single one of them but only found one winner. It was a prize of ten dollars cash. I gave the cap to Mrs. Wilbanks and she opened the cash register and handed me a ten-dollar bill. I don’t remember what we bought that time, but I’m sure we went wild.

These memories remind me of a parable that Jesus told about finding treasure. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he went and sold everything he had and bought that field (Matt. 13:44).

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven to show us how valuable it really is. He wants us all in his kingdom. When we understand what a treasure he has to offer us, we will give up all worldly things and put our trust in him.

In John 3:3, Jesus said, “Unless a person is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God.”

At first, Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying. Many today do not understand what it means to be born again. Jesus explains it more clearly in Matthew 18:3. He said, “Unless you are converted, and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Children are pure and innocent. Jesus, Peter, and Paul compared being born again to becoming like babies; like becoming a new person. We’re basically starting over with a new life like a baby. We drink the pure milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2, I Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:13). We learn like children until we become stronger in knowledge and graduate from milk to solid food. We are learning to be holy instead of the old sinful person we were. 
We’re born into this world as servants to sin because of Adam. The new birth is absolutely essential if we want to go to heaven. Without it, we can’t be saved. Remember, Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

Salvation is free, but each person has to accept it for themselves. If you haven’t been born again, I urge you to ask Jesus to save you right now. If you need more information on how to be saved here’s a link that will help.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

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WHAT'S IN A NAME?

“What’s in a name?” That’s part of a famous quote from the popular play, Romeo, and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. The full quote says, “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” I’ve heard the first part of that quote from time to time as long as I can remember. I’ve never really thought about it for more than a few minutes each time though, until recently.

It got me to thinking about all the names I’ve had over the years. Other than all the sweet names my wife calls me, I’ve been called Daddy, by my children, Fred, by my friends, Ted, Teddy, Teddy Ruxpin, Tetty Theodore, Bobby Q, Christopher, and occasionally, a few other names I’d rather not mention.

I’ve always been fascinated by names. Names have the ability to define us. In Bible days a name actually meant something. For example, Abraham means “Father Of Nations.” We see several examples of people having their names changed because of something they did. For example, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Simon’s name to Peter. We also see name meanings change to reflect something someone did, like Judas, which now means Traitor.

In thinking of all the names I’ve had over the years, I started thinking of all the names of Jesus we see in the Bible. It’s amazing how many names and titles he has.

I think “Jesus” is his most popular name in Christianity. The angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the Son of God, and she was to call him Jesus (Luke 1:31). He also told Joseph to call the baby, Jesus and added: “because he will save his people from their sins” (Mathew 1:21). The name Jesus means “salvation.”

The New Testament writers often refer to him as Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, and sometimes just Christ. The word Christ is the English translation of the Greek word Messiah. It means “Anointed One.” So saying “Jesus Christ” and “Jesus, the Messiah” is the same thing. Jesus is the Messiah.

In the New Testament, he is called the Son of God. He is also referred to as the Son in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:12). In Isaiah 9:6, he is called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Other names include Shiloh, Emmanuel, Lord, Master, Rabbi, The Word, the Lamb of God, The Son of God, the Son of David, The Son of Man, Savior, King of Kings, Rose of Sharon, Redeemer, and many more.

That’s a lot of names and titles, and each one reveals a different aspect of his character. So, what’s in a name? A lot, but no matter which name he is called, he is just as sweet.

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My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
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