Beatified, authorized by man or God?

fiery side chats in the holy scriptures

Articles published in newpaper periodicals

Published in Linn County news, a Kansas weekly (May 11 2011).

Revised in 2012

Encyclopedia@yahooeducation.com  claims in the Roman Catholic Church,

“Canonization is the process by which a person is classified as a saint. It is now performed at Rome alone, although in the middle Ages and earlier bishops elsewhere used to canonize. Canonization is not necessary for martyrs who are considered to be enrolled among the saints on their death, but in recent years the church has approved the cult of canonized persons only. Beatification, by which a person is called blessed and his/her cult is approved, requires proof of two miracles and must precede canonization.”

 
THIS PAST WEEK the former Pope John Paul was beatified by Rome.  If I thought the Catholic church was the church Jesus sat up in the world to preach the gospel-- then I might be a catholic. Therefore, My subject is “Beatified, authorized by religious man or God?” As all peoples of the world I love THEM all, As I do all lost souls. I cannot embrace the catholic system or their doctrine as TRUTH. So my subject might not be a popular  one to discuss and may even stir up a fuss among some. I'm a soul searcher for the truth according to the Sola Scriptura. So lets a look into the good book and see who really are the saints according to THE CHURCH BY JESUS CHRIST WORLD WITHOUT END. 

According to the Catholic church history: Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals --  who pray in his or her name (intercession of saints). Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process. A person who is beatified is given the title "Blessed."

Jude 1:3: Who were the saints spoken by Jude? Whom were the saints Apostle Paul said in Acts 26:10 “did I shut up in prison and gave consent to their death.” Whom were those  Apostle Paul wrote "to the saints at Rome" very well alive and not dead and gone to the beyond. “Now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints” Romans 15:25. Who were the saints Apostle Paul greeted in 1^st Cor 1: 2. There are five more scriptures in the Chapters of 1^st Corinthians which born again Christians (baptized beleivers) are called saints. And in Rom 16:15: “Salute, Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.” If you will do your homework and search out the Scriptures you will find in many of the Apostle Paul letters to the churches; he calls the church members “saints” and his companion in tribulation the Apostle Peter called the saints lively stones, not dead. The Apostle Paul warns the living saints in 1^st Thessalonians 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” Beatified, (rhymes with lied) So for me "Canonization" is authorized by the Holy See, a worldly religous man; and  not ordained by the Head and only lawgiver of the church, the bible calls Jesus. 

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"Dead Yard" in Jamaica is not a cemetery?

 

Dead yard in Jamaica is no cemetary  

Published in “Linn County News” a Kansas weekly newspaper

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Brother Jones has been an Old Timey Missionary Baptist for 45 years, & Ordained Minister & Elder 30 years. Missionary in Jamaica 17 years

According to Jamaican culture by William Jackson “Dead yard is a kind of public wake to help the family and the communities come to grips with their grief. Friends, neighbors, and well-wishers come by every night for sound system music, dominoes, drink, smoke, and food; and they stay, very late into the night. The night before the funeral is the biggest dead yard celebration. Everybody shows up -- even all the taxi drivers who ply the road to town.”

Mr. Dixon an Anglican member and neighborly farmer dropped by the church to greet me with a hearty Jamaican “Wha’goin’ which in Standard English in Jamaica means “how is it going with you.” Upon leaving Mr. Dixon informs me he is on his way to the dead yard and walks down the hill saying the traditional patois valediction ‘a likka-more’ ( I will see you later). Then I realized he was speaking of the home of the deceased and not a cemetery. It is true at the dead yard there is a weeklong merriment and much time is spent drinking & singing in jubilation.

I have preached several thanksgiving services (funerals) in Jamaica hundreds attend men and women from different walks of life & religious practices that come to honor the life of the deceased. I’m supposed to calmly give a homily (a quiet sermon) but I like what the Apostle Paul said about preaching in 1Co 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” They honor the life of the deceased, and the Holy Ghost gives me the increase; then I preach unto them Jesus.

It is traditional at the graveyard before the casket is placed into the concrete tomb to open it for viewing one last time before it is interred. Gospel hymns are sung for an hour while the mason seals up the tomb and prayer commits the body to its final resting place.

I can remember as a kid something similar in my Kansas home the family did. When my Great-Uncle Charlie Manning died; grandma’s parlor became the dead room and my father and others sat up with his corpse around the clock. Many dropped in, family and friends, to bring food and pay respects to grandmother dear trying to be strong and hide her tears. When the day came for the funeral they interred his remains in the family plot. Today, that tradition is all but forgotten; they die today and nearly put away their remains on the morrow. I often ponder when the end-time comes Daniel sums it up best when he said “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” Daniel 12:2.  What will your dead body wake up too? 

Written on the eve of the Lord’s Day January 23 2011

 

 

 

Male Ward Bed Five- "Another must needs go through Jamaica experience"

Revised from Linn County News a Kansas weekly newspaper
Male Ward-Bed 5

I would never compare myself to the Apostle Paul’s infirmities,’ nor dare to measure up to old Job and his attack by the devil. The last fifteen years on the Jamaican mission field I have on occasion expressed to DocMike & my wife Lynn I would never want to spend a night in a Jamaican hospital.

But, I became ill in Jamaica and was admitted into the public hospital in Mandeville. I spent three nights and four days recovering. Bed-five was assigned to me. It had a broken frame (made for a lop-sided bed) and like Bed-two across the ward it would do no good to complain for it remains as is in Jamaica. The crank which raises the head of Bed-five the nurse said: It is broken too!

The bed sheets & pillow for the mattress had to be supplied by the patient. In Jamaica you supply much of the necessities such as; towels, wash-cloths, bathing soap & tub for sponge-bath.  Even a roll of toilet paper should you use the one toilet I recall that was down the hall.  

Nothing but Jamaican men surrounded bed-five some of them barely alive.  A young twenty-something lad was sick exhibiting bad behavior, but not quite as violent as a lunatic. He roamed the hallways ignoring the harsh calls from the nurses to return to his bed; Curiosity  seemed to get the best of him as he rummaged through my personal belongings. He seemed harmless, but I slept with one open, hoping I would not encounter him in the darkness of the night.    

When the IV & medicine restored my strength and I was made aware of my surroundings; the nights were filled with a calendar of daunting noises. I woke to agonizing screams of men in pain; insane cries I wanna die! Howling pleas of Lord help me!  I remember thinking while bed-fast “have I been cast in a supporting role in a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

Notwithstanding, I did find some comfort from my distress. An old gentleman with snowy white hair suffering from dementia moaning in bed-three, suddenly, bellows out praise the Lord “Let’s all sing” leading us in the male ward in “Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine! O’ what a foretaste of glory divine! I joined in with a grin and then quietly his mind slips back in time to his childhood days.   

In spite of my surroundings I cannot complain about the nurses or the doctors; they were all professional, knowledgeable, very gracious, genuinely concerned about my welfare and with prayers I received exceptional care on the male ward bed-five in the Mandeville Public Hospital.

When I checked out of the hospital to my surprise I learned I had no bill; nil (you owe nothing) replied the hospital billing clerk. 

However, my only regret, if I was a millionaire I would buy a new frame for Bed-five and a wheel-chair for the Male Ward.   

Craighead beginnings- 1st. service on new lot-Jan 97 & 98 Curtis,Dyer & Spurgeon, Ethopian saved, Sis. Carlene's dream finds church lot, Toddlers on Gods holy hill!

CRAIGHEAD BEGINNINGS

SEPTEMBER 1998

 (1st Service on Holy Hill)

I had previously spent the year preaching over the island and like my Brother before me John the Baptist my message was "repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." US brethren traveled to the little island nation and joined me on occasion preaching in Jamaican synagogues (churches).

Elders Dean Dyer, Don Curtis & Ron Spurgeon (Pastors) on several occasions two years prior helped me in the laying the groundwork and did accompany my wife and I in January '97 to make the move to the island Fairview Memorial Missionary Baptist Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky hosted a farewell service at their annual New Year’s sing for Lynn and me and on Monday we were flying out to a strange country  to begin our mission work.

On arrival (by a previous invitation given), the brethren and I attended the “Church of the Firstborn” in Mandeville. True to: Act 13:15 “And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”

Brother Ron (a singing tenor for gospel groups) on that beautiful Lord's Day, first sat quietly in the congregation. Jamaican tunes filled the room with joy. Then they sang a hymn Brother Ron was familar with. Brother Ron sang loud well above the crowd in his signature high tenor voice. The pastor came off the platform and placed Bro Ron in the choir.

Brother Don Curtis during the service in his "say-on" way preached a message that day that stirred up the lost and several came to the altar seeking the Lord; one I know of testified of being born again that morn.

That week Brother Dean set the scene in the marketplace for a number of other US brethren who came after preaching of the impending disaster of this present evil world. On one occasion during the marketplace preaching I remember well the crowd that gathered there at the curb of the busy thoroughfare; their lively voices filled the air in the Mandeville town square. Joesph Johnson, a Jamaica Baptist preacher was our host it appeared he was sent out by the Baptists to pasture and he went to preaching on the streets. He was a resident of Mike-town. He pleaded for me to come there and I conceded for the Lord taught me early on in the mission field "one lost soul is precious as one-hundred.  

Now, the atmosphere around this little corner on the square made folks aware of a divine presence; for when the preaching began many came to stand and listen (curious seekers) to hear  the overseas preacher-man.

The preaching was bold as the preachers told of a salvation you could feel & know for yourselves; that God is real & by His Holy Spirit He instills in the heart of a repentant believer -- a know-so salvation.  

Several fell, fearful of descending into hell, moved by the message and truth of the sermon that the bible describes hell as a  place of torment several cried out for forgiveness as they repented of their sins. I counted 15 that fell down on bended knee in the street crying and seeking the Lord. Several acknowledged a born again experince that was real by the fruit of the Holy Spirit they could feel. One particular Jamaican traveler a woman of a sorrowful spirit stood out to me. I saw her walk off a bus from Kingston and as she walked toward the other side of the square where she would have jumped on another bus to the southern part of the island, she was struck by the boldness of Tennesee's Barry Brawner's preaching.

I watched her as her countenance changed. Standing there it was evident the Holy Spirit was convicting her heart. I saw inner emotions affected by her broken and contrite spirit as she fell onto the street begging the Lord to save her. Her pleas unto God touched me very much; As I made my way off the curb of the street I bowed and prayed near her with my own heavy heart. When she rose up from off the road she no longer carried a heavy load but stood with hands clapping motivated by the joy she was now feeling; happy that the Lord saved her soul. Like the Ethiopian eunuch the woman went on her way boarding another bus, as she thanked us for praying for her as she continued her journey rejoicing on the road to St. Elizabeth. To this day our paths have never crossed, only the Lord knows the rest of the story and in glory I will see again the Ethopian woman of Jamaica saved on the road in the Mandeville square.

GREAT REVIVAL OF APRIL '98

For 14 months I had already seen much action on the battlefield for the Lord. I had been cursed by a voodoo priest tossing down white bones at my feet while standing & preaching on holy ground. I had been roared at by Rasta’s wolfs in the Lion's den in George's valley; chased by a madman in a Mandeville alley, nearly mugged by a Jamaican thug in the market and continuously the target of bandits waiting to steal. I learned that only the greedy nag and the needy are quiet in their affliction.

Craighead is a little English settlement in Northeast Manchester parish & legend has it dating back over 200 years and home to many yam farmers. The Anglican Church had a great influence on the community when the Lord sent me and Brother Dwen there to hold what I call “The great revival of 98.” Brother Barry Collins, Craigheads charter member claims he is the offspring of the old Scotsman by the same name who migrated to Jamaica long ago.  

The lofty hills upward which rose above the  hillside of Craighead it was alledged had a reputation lately harboring thieves and men and women of ill refute. Some residents come to detest my presence in their community while others welcomed the opportunity to come and hear our doctrine of repentance & faith and a heart-felt salvation as it was "strange things to their ears." Decisional Regeneration has swept over the tiny nation as it had in America and even around the world. There are more recipients of the deceivers "Accept Christ" phraseology then true belivers in Jamaica "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat."  Brother Dwen and his football (soccer) team built a little meeting place out of ply board with a tin roof and spread the word of a revival 7PM nightly. The crowds were inside and out, some walking about during the service. The Lord visited and the Holy Spirit came and many in the crowd resisted the draw to call on God but a good number fell on the altar and about three days into the meeting the altar was full of mourners and I was mesmerized by the scene. I was rejoicing at the souls who came to know the Lord as I had known Him in the free pardon of sin.

Young & old men were saved & would bring their friends and family and they would get saved. Young & old women would get saved and bring their loved ones to the revival. In all, there was 35 souls dating their salvation time & place to that great revival of 98.  

The mission was established Easter Sunday 1998 with 15 souls who told that day of being saved during the revival.

CRAIGHEAD CHURCH BEGINNINGS ON THEIR NEW CHURCH GROUNDS

SEPTEMBER 1998 - PSALMS 99:9

The lot I bought with donations from my Missionary Baptists church friends is seen in the above picture. I found its rocky ground in the most unusual way. After asking the little congregation to help me pray for permanent church grounds, Sister Carlene came to me wanting to share her dream. It is a Jamaican tradition often in their dreams strange things appear; some bring cheer, others sadness.

Sister Carlene set the scene for me. Her thoughts were on the prayer I asked when she laid down to sleep. Most dreams are inspired by our subconscious mind, but not this time. Sister Carlene's dream, like Daniels, was divine and the Lord gave me the intrepretation. In her heart she saw an old neighbor standing tall beside his donkey saddled ready to go to the bush staring on a lot she remembered walking by in her childhood.  As he stood gazing she then saw a Jamaican babe in diapers crawling, calling out to her. “Suddenly Pastor,” Sister Carlene said in her dream, "the babe stands up, walking and talking, pleading for me to 'buy me this lot and build me a house 'pon it'.” The interpretation of the dream; the Jamaican babe was saying "Buy me this house and build a house of prayer on it." The old man and his donkey turned out to become I call today my Anglican neighbor, Mr. Dixon, it was his brother that sold the lot to us. And today many toddlers are crawling and walking on this holy hill. What an awesome God that has favored our Missionary Baptist undertakings!

Toddlers

                                                                     Dwen's Kim

                                                             Bro Steves Tasha

                                                               Warsop kids

Craig Kids

Today there two Old Timey Missionary Baptist churches in Jamaica

Brother Dwen Gritton, My Dear Freind & Brother in Christ

DWEN-MY BROTHER & MY FRIEND
About the time Lynn & I met him 14 years ago

“When Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26).

Brother Dwen was Lynn and I' Jamaican Apollos. I found him in a Jamaican synagogue testifying how God had saved him the year before. It was his mothers church where I was holding a revival with a few visiting brethren. They were very emotional and the only one I found to be genuine and spiritual that night was Brother Dwen. That was 1997 when the Lord (Rev.8:3, 4) from the storehouse of heaven answered the “prayer of the saints” stored there on behalf of my mission work.

I preached in Missionary Baptist churches scattered in several states expressing my burden to relocate to the island of Jamaica and begin a mission there. I had asked humble as I knew how my church friends to bow and pray, that God would send a Jamaican brother as I knew no other could help me better than a native of the island. That year was 1996.

After meeting Dwen I soon found he was saved in the spring of the year the same time while I made this cross-country mission tour asking the churches to pray for such a one who like Timothy has become like my own Son. What an awesome God preparing the path for me in Jamaica I must trod.  That was this spring 14 years ago. 

 In the fall of 1998-after a year of going with me over the island preaching in the Jamaican synagogues and in open-air meetings in public market-places with a number of US preaching brethren; Brother Dwen was moved to become a Baptist and what a thrill to bury my brother in the watery grave after he died and was saved, 16 months after the fact. He was the first to be baptized of 27 into the fellowship of Goodson Missionary Baptist church.

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen 1:1). Almost like Moses was describing the origin of the ocean waves. The Caribbean Sea was a turquoise green and made a heavenly baptismal scene; as I knew that the Heavenly Father was well pleased and favored our undertakings; as the Lord God had been with John the Baptist and Jesus His Son in the Jordan River.   

Brother Dwen

First Jamaican Baptized

September 1998

                                             

Brother Dwen, Sister Carlene, & Sister Donna baptized together

"unto the place the rivers come, (Sea) thither they return again" Ecc 1:7    

                                                   

This brother unlike the others in Jamaica has seen his brother saved, his sister saved, 3 of his cousins saved, and a number of friends. I have baptized six of his kinfolk & freinds  into the fellowship of Craighead.  It sounds like a great payday from the Lord for his longtime service to the Missionary Baptists.

 He is my designated driver over the island after I braved the roads of Jamaica for two years I gave it up to my best friend Brother Dwen in Jamaica. He is loved by all Church & US friends and I beleive will help his brethren carry on the work when I'm gone.

Dwen & Me March 2011

MY PIKE ALL-AGE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

I have been acquainted with Pike All-age school for 14 years and it is a door of utterance the Lord had opened unto me when I first began my preaching on the island. Much of the learning institutions here are founded through a church under the Ministry of Education.

So it was a surprise to me when I was asked to come and lead the morning devotional. That is all but gone in our school system.

A Pike teacher heard me preach in revival and asked me if I could come to preach for the students in their morning devotional. I learned from Brother Dwen this was his former school and several of the teachers taught him in class.

The morning I went with Brother Dwen, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand," bore on my heart; but I thought “Oh Lord wouldn't the golden rule be more suitable for a school.” As I arrived the children first stood outside in line with their appropriate classroom. “Good Morning students” said Principal Brown and in unison they replied adding "How are you." Then with an English twang they sang their national anthem titled "Eternal Father Bless Our Land."

As we gathered inside for the morning devotional it was a sight to see and I must confess the experience humbled me. I was so nervous but just before the service was to start Principal Brown introduced herself and said “Brother Jones, feel free to preach; you have full liberty here at Pike.”  Her encouragement that morning at Pike school reassured me to preach on “repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2) and not teach on the golden rule.

It was some six years later in Silent Hill revival a young student now a young adult ended up in the altar and related back to that first I came to preach at Pike and of his being there. I have learned in mission work you can search to your heart’s content results may be sent to you at a later date. Several brethren have had the opportunity to come and preach to the kids at Pike churches & others have brought shoes, sports items and school supplies to the children and for their kindness I’m grateful for their desire to aid the poor in Jamaica.

Today, I have a mentor class at the school in Pike and in Craighead. I call it the bully class I think I’m babysitting more than anything. But the Lord has blessed me in this new effort in my mission work on the island. Several of the students have jumped on the bus to go to church with us. Pike & Craig schools as I have already said have been a blessing and for the record I did teach later at Pike on the Golden rule.     

My creditials salvation experience-calling of God to preach & old Antioch like ordination

Brother Rick at age 16
saved, baptized & called to preach!

My Salvation Experience

My salvation experience begins down on the old Boyd Farm in the rolling hills of the Southwest Missouri Ozarks where historical Missionary Baptist churches dot the countryside.

The church where I was saved originally was called Bethel and was organized in 1889. The church is located in Charity, Missouri; once a thriving Dallas County Missouri hamlet. The local Missionary Baptists call Charity church "Hog-eye."

After seventy seven years of “earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” I was saved in this rustic one-room frame it was there I sought to be rescued from hell, crying out unto God on a mourner’s bench. I was not raised in church, as a mischievous boy was sent there so kindly religious folks could babysit me. Although, a good man he was an alocholic and my mother seldom attended church.  My grandmother was the other influence on my life, as the wife & widow of a Kansas preacher. When her eyes became dim she would have me read the Holy Bible to her and sometimes, she would break out in tears and sing old hymns. She told me there was coming a day in my life when the preacher’s preaching would condemn my heart and I would feel condemned of my sin. I want you Richard, Grandma would say, when that moment comes you feel your heart broken set apart from God kneel down and pray on the altar, repent and ask the Lord to save you. I kept that promise at old Hog-eye church one summery night before my 16^th birthday (45 Yrs ago) I was fourteen years old when I became lost. I was working in the alfalfa field. That night Uncle Francis Boyd loaded us kids in the back of his truck and carried us to an old fashion revival meeting where the bible becomes a path unto your feet. Hobart "Bud" Bybee, son of Ozark preacher Sherman Bybee preached and conviction swelled up in my dying soul. I did not get saved at Green Mountain Missionary Baptist Church that year, but a fear of God set up in my heart that I never forgot.

That next summer when I came to work on my Uncle’s dairy farm again my cousins and their friends wanted me to go to Hog-eye church. Don't you know I did not want to go! To entice me into going that Sunday night, they told me about the deacon’s daughter about my age, and how pretty she was. I have to confess I did have girls on my mind that summer’s night and she was a sight to see. I joined the other sinner boys my age sitting uninterested in the service. I had my eyes feasted on the deacon’s daughter. The hymn time came and during their melody-making the older church members testified and some shouted out loud. I thought of the strange behaviour of this crowd and what have my cousins got me into. But I soon found these folks weren’t crazy. They were heaven bound and I knew something divine had to have moved them to express from the heart such bliss.  And I wanted some of this! When the preacher came to the pulpit to preach his message on hell it got my attention. He preached hell so hot I soon forgot that pretty deacon’s daughter. Bro Alvie Dill instilled with power and in demonstration of the Spirit made hell a real and terrible place for a lost soul to spend eternity. His was a message that had my name written all over it and made my soul tremble. The congregation was singing the hymn "O' Why not tonight." The evangelist, Paul Raymond Gann, now there stands a lanky sort of preacher man in his Key brand of over-alls who had an uncanny resemblance to Honest Abe. He gave the altar-call exhorting sinner-boys like me to flee the wrath of God which is to come. I realized that my sins were going to imprison me forever in this place of torment; I knew in my heart, I needed to go to the altar & repent. I hesitated to go besides the Ole devil that angel of light sang in the ear of my soul "Why not tommorrow night!"  My heart was filled with pride that night. I tried to hide my feelings, I didn’t want my cousins and these strange people see me crying.
Psalms 34:18 “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

While standing during the altar-call I turned to look at my backside; I just knew the seat of my britches was on fire for I could smell the scent of smoke in the air. Hell was made so real to me that night and as I said ran to the mourner’s bench crying & praying in my heart that the Lord would save me. Exhausted in earnest seeking & weeping I submitted to Gods’ will and trusted in Him to rescue me from hell where by now I saw myself falling down deep into its burning flame. As I rose off the altar of prayer I experienced the sweetest peace in the depths of my soul and I know like Apostle Paul in whom I have believed that the Lord saved me.

I remember that winter (in 20 degree weather) my baptism in Mill Creek just across the Missouri line near Olathe Kansas. JC Pinkley an old home missionary from the Ozark hills, a 50 year veteran of the gospel buried me in the watery grave having been previously saved that summer. I became the first member by baptism into Oxford Missionary Baptist Church organized in October 1966.  

      My preaching experience

The Lord called me to preach in my 16^thyear while a junior in Olathe High School. I was a new born babe happy I had been saved from hell. I was sitting on the front pew my 1^st cousin, George F. Medlin, newly-elected pastor of Oxford Missionary Baptist Church preached that night.  The one-hundred year old one-room school house made of clapboard siding abiding even after the rain, wind, & storm of a bygone era; became the site, one Sunday night on the southwest corner of the front church pew where God called me to preach. The call to preach for several weeks brought me much unrest. I couldn’t sleep I tossed and turned in my bed. My mother thought I was sick and took me to the family physician; but no pill could cure my ill from that still small voice calling me to preach God’s word. Finally, I submitted to God’s will in my life and one wintry Sunday night, I told the church how the Lord called me to preach. From that night I never again sat on the site where the Lord called me to preach in the southwest corner on the front pew. Tears stained the pages as my first sermon was taken from Psalm 1:1-6 stressing “how we need to be careful not to stand in way of sinners.” At first the source of my ministry came from my head; instead from within my heart for I could not get self out of the way. Uncle Joe, the church deacon appeared to know my trouble and his suggestion was “just be me and try not to be a carbon copy of another preacher.”

And since 1982 that is what I have tried to do; rise from the church pew depending on the Holy Spirit to preach my sermon. J.H. Smith Missionary in Japan, said it best:  “Know when to stand up -speak-up & shut-up."

Ordination into the full work of the Ministry

I was ordained by Oxford Missionary Baptist Church June 3 1984. Contrary to the tradition of the fathers ordaining a brother to serve a church as a Pastor, I was ordained to the full work of the Minstry as the Apostle Paul & Barnabas was by Antioch, "I was sent out for the work in Arkansas "whereunto I was called." I have been blessed laboring in ten mission efforts in 5 states and 2 foreign nations. I have see seven of those missions organized into sister Missionary Baptists churches. My mission work in Jamaica and in the Gulf of Mexico is under authority of the Old Timey Missionary Baptists in Craighead with Warsop blessing.  

My uncle Deacon Joe Pinkley, son of baptism adminstrator, JC Pinkley presented me the bible at my ordination service and marked within it pages a special scripture I still abide by it today. A tribute to my early preaching experience. Psalms  121:1 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Today, I have preached for 30 years in churches of like faith in 16 US states, 6 associations, and 2 foreign countries & traveled over a million miles on land, in the air, and across the sea preaching and doing mission work. I have been blessed to see many saved & baptized. I take no personal credit for the Lord edits all my mission work. I’m but His unprofitable servant and He deserves all praise and honor. I have seen my three children saved & still active in churches as well as six out twelve of my grandchildren saved all in one night; a sight to see their grandmother shouting jubilant praise moved by the Spirit making a joyful noise unto the Lord. I’m still having a fulfilling ministry besides a history filled with unique experiences as a sheep (harmless as a dove &wise as a serpent) in the midst of ravening religious wolves on the battlefield for my Lord.

US & Jamaican Missionary Elder Rick Jones

Pictures of Church before & after the Fire

Craighead Church before the fire!

Brother Stan Stringer assisted by brother Hunton

& Jamaican Brethren tiled floor & Brother Stan

installed the tongue & groove all destroyed in the fire! 

                                         Church Ablaze

Craighead's 911- 2008

The church building the Missionary Baptist built

& the devil destroyed in matter of an hour!

Original church then Dwens home

 

Brother Dwen survey's damage

Aftermath

The morning of our 911 experience the sun had risen and was shining "ever so" brightly on the holy hill in Jamaica. That awful morning I wished my tears could have put out the fire ten years in the making the beautiful building the many sister churches of like faith helped their fellow sister church build, so many acts of kindness by so many US brethren instilled by God  in a matter of few hours destroyed. That dreary morn my Anglican neighbor saw me in my distress standing; staring in awe! He & I embraced and Mr. Dixon replied "Brother Rick, take courage your church has not died it is alive and well; standing in awe with you at your backside!"

Dwen lost his household belongings. The house burnt to the ground. In this plyboard frame here many members found the Lord while seeking after Jesus on the mourners bench when it housed the membership in the early years of the Church.

Clean-up after the fire

Church services one week after fire 

Brethren from Alabama & Sw Tn

Craig Church Brothers Dwen, Steve

Warsop Brothers Patrick, Simon & Lennox 

Before the new roof

                                                          Before the new roof

                                                           Building scaffle

                                                                 Church new rafters

Beginning church new steel roof

                                                                       New Roof

New roof Crew

Carpenters & plummers



In spite of the devil setting the church ablaze, Gods Amazing Grace  fell on the church & crew on Sunday morning. Brother Jeffery from over at Warsop fell in the altar a mourner and rose up with a bright smile and a testimony sharing how the Lord saved his soul.

Perhaps had the fire not happened that service where Warsop came over to visit its sister church of like faith would have never materialized under the divine providence of Gods will and Jeffery might still be lost.

Jeffery baptized in the Hector River