What Is Out Of Bondage?
FREEDOM!
That which follows is a personal response to a granddaughter who
has three children of her own (1997).
A small question that cannot be answered in only a few words. I have
thought about it many times and pondered the circumstances of its
beginning.
It may have begun as a concept in the mind of a child many years
ago. It may have been from seeds sown in a young mind by the "Old
Folks"1 talking about the Bible, the love of God and how
we, by God's grace, will know a better life and a better world when this
one is past as well as providing us with chart and compass to better
navigate the rocks and shoals in this life. Of course, the child was not
aware or conscious of it then.
Life is built one day at a time, one experience at a time, as well
as one lesson at a time. Very much like a house--one brick or wooden
board at a time.
The real beginning of Out of Bondage grew slowly, slower
than a rose--more like the Oak--through the years and over the miles.
There was an ever abiding and growing need to share the good news of
God's saving Grace to an undeserving, sinful mortal.
The more I studied God's word, the more beautiful it became and
for the life of me I could not understand people preaching a
"Hell-fire-and-Brimstone"2 religion. Today I think
I can understand it to some degree. Men (and women) want to be honored,
lifted up, and given credit for great things. Out of this greed,
inherent in the human being, they will use virtually any method or means
to arrive at a desired end.3 Such a labor as Out of
Bondage requires a selflessness which is not in the normal
makeup of the carnal being. That is one of the great driving forces to
keep Out of Bondage alive in the knowledge that only good comes
from God--not man--to educate those who have ears to hear and eyes to
see the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The message of God to His people
is a message of love--mercy--grace. That message was not being preached
for the most part then and so it is today. Yea, even during the time
when Jesus left His footprints upon Galilee's shore, there were those
who insisted on corrupting His message. Yes, much noise is being made by
the hucksters of the world. If you listen and watch critically, you will
see more of the Man man than of the Man Christ. The carnal man
resists giving honor and praise where it is due.4
In those early years I wrote articles for some of our church
papers. That was rewarding to some degree, but short of the burning ache
for fulfillment in spreading His word. More years passed.
The first overt effort for evangelism requiring a greater measure
of faith and money was in a radio broadcast from Butler, PA in the early
50's. We cast our bread upon the waters.5 The crying
need to do more grew as did the effort. Tape recorded messages were made
from far and distant places--Alaska, Washington State, California, Guam,
Japan and ships at sea. The tapes were broadcast from WZOB, Fort Payne,
AL. Another beautiful experience was from a small radio studio amongst
the moss draped trees of Milton, FL, we sent the word out for a short
season. The years faded into history.
At one time during the late 70's Out of Bondage was being
broadcast from three radio stations in Georgia, one in Alabama, one in
Tennessee, one in Indiana and one in Illinois. Memory fails me--I don't
remember if there were more. However, Out of Bondage was being
televised on Channel 9, Chattanooga, TN during this time.
All the while, through the years, reading, studying, searching for
ways to reach as many hungering souls as possible with the message of
God's Sovereign Grace. Only God knows how many hungering and thirsting
souls saw a glimmer of hope in those words of His that were being cast
upon the waters. I have no idea. It has been and still is a labor
of love, faith and the conviction that God is as good as His word when
He said, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it
shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
(Isaiah 55:11)
The burden continues as the times in which we live are more
intense. The Devil's doctrines are being pressed upon the unaware, the
unlearned, the ill-prepared, and those thinking they have found it in a cult
or among mystics or charismatics who depend upon some ecstatic
experience and give the back of their hand to the Word of God. Pagan
rites and doctrines are being proliferated in great abundance--what with
TV and the ease of printing being what it is. Any experience, any good
news that comes down the pike needs to be thoroughly examined under a
microscope against the backdrop of God's word to try the spirits to
see if they be of God and not Satan!
Yes, only God knows how many millions are hungry for something,
searching for answers that are not found in text books, or upon a
psychiatrist's couch, before a pagan altar or a charismatic fervor
of babbling tongues! Such hunger and thirst has but one element
which satisfies--Spiritual comprehension of God--Who He is--What He is
and who we are and how He deals with us in love, mercy,
discipline and chastisement.6
Such answers as these do not come all-of-a-sudden. They come, for
the most part, like a gentle whisper of a breeze on a bright spring
morning. Sometimes like a flash, a bolt out of the blue. As an
understanding of Scripture opens up, we in awe wonder why we did not see
it in one of those untold number of times we read it before.
The message of FREEDOM! is What Out of Bondage7
is. The freeing of minds and hearts of those being held in bondage to
the man-made religions of this world to the glorious freedom and light
that is to be found only in God's own Holy Word."
Khomer
Footnotes:
A
CHARGE TO DEACONS