To my brothers

Hi Jamie, Matthew, John,
I think of our dad often. I always have. I think of him concerning the past, what I knew of him, what he did, what he was like. I think of him concerning the things he is missing out on, our wives, our children, our accomplishments. I most certainly think of how I miss his heart-felt hugs. I'm sure we could all write lots of things along these lines but what I would really like to mention in this post is his refusal to compromise. I suppose you could call it his integrity.
Now, I know that I think incredibly fondly of him and one could easily say that I am making him out to be better than he was; exalting his good side and neglecting his bad one. But that is why I am addressing you guys. You know exactly what I mean, and you also know who he was.
I am both sad and honored to say that I have hardly met anyone like him. Sad in that I wish there were more people as "integro" as he was, and honored because I had the privilege of not only knowing him but also of being his son. His refusal to compromise was never accompanied by pride or stubbornness but rather grace and compassion. He must have settled in his heart at a younger age that he would not compromise his testimony nor the Word of God. He trusted God with his life. He trusted God with his family, his ministry, his belongings. He trusted God with his reputation. He believed, understood and lived the Scriptures stating "do it unto the Lord and not unto man."
Brothers, do you truly remember what a remarkable man he was? I ask this as an adult. More than anything, this post is meant to be a challenge more than a remembrance. As four adults that we are, as heads of household, are we holding true to the biblical principles we were raised with? Are we being men of integrity in our journey through life? We all have different jobs, callings, personalities, occupations. But are we refusing to compromise the Word of God in everything we do?
I have had the amazing privilege of interacting with Pastor Joe Webb over the past 2 and 1/2 years. In that time I have slowly realized that most of what he teaches, much of the way he talks and much of what he holds dear has been achingly familiar to me. It is vague in that many years have passed, but it is also familiar because it was what our dear parents taught us since tots, that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
I have shared this with Pastor Joe and he has reminded me that he was dad's youth pastor and a VERY close friend of his over the years. I have told Allyson that he is one of the painfully few people I know who have such a respect for God and a desire to honor Him above any man. Mom has also told me, or maybe I read it, that Grandpa Reed was the sweetest man she ever knew and I have a feeling that would include his fear and integrity before the Lord.
Brothers, although I praise these men, I acknowledge that without the grace of Christ in their lives, they are as filthy as the worst of men. I certainly praise and glorify God above them. May they simply be examples as men who came and went before us who followed HARD after the GOD who IS and that we would refuse to compromise even in the smallest of matters. That we would accept, believe and obey the Scriptures which are graciously given to us. The WORD will judge us someday and it is here for us to read, let us NOT be caught in slumber. Have your lamps ready my fellow 'virgins' (Matthew 25:1-13) and govern your house well. In Jesus' Name. I love you.

Sodom and Gomorrah to my 2 and 3 year olds.

Wow,
I just read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to my 3 and half and 2 and a half little girls (Hannah and Lauren) out of "A Family Treasury: Classic Bible Stories". Each story's text is written on the left page while a full size painting is displayed on the right page. I dramatized the story and exchanged God's pouring buring sulfur with burning coffee so they could visualize the effect. By the end of the story I was probably more shocked than they were because I allowed the story to minister to me too. I'm posting this about an hour later and I still am awed at the drama of the whole thing. The fact that this is NOT just a sci-fi story but a true tale of what literally happened to a wicked city.

Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 13,18,19

Abraham and his nephew Lot separated when their flocks became too big for them to stay in the same land together. Lot chose to settle in the plain of the Jordan River, near Sodom. Sodom was a wicked city; the people who lived there did evil in the sight of God. Even so, Lot and his family moved inside of the city walls.
When the Lord visited Abraham, he said, " I will go down to Sodom and to Gomorrah, and see if the people there are truly wicked. If so, I will destroy the two cities."
Now Abraham knew that Lot lived in Sodom. He pleaded with God, saying, "If there are fifty good people there, please don't destroy the city.""For the sake of fifty, I will spare the city," said the Lord.
But Abraham was afraid that God would not find fifty good people. What if there were only forty-five? or thirty? or twenty? At last the Lord promised Abraham that he would spare the city for the sake of ten good people, but ten could not be found.
So the Lord sent angels to Sodom to warn Lot, his wife, and his daughters. Lot took the visitors into his home. The men of Sodom were so wicked that they were about to attack his guests, but the angels struck the men blind.
"If you have anyone to take with you," one angel said, "gather them and run from this city." Lot went to tell some other men, but they laughed at his warnings. "Hurry!" the angels said. "Take your wife and daughters and get out of here!" Lot hesitated, so the angels grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and daughters and led them out of Sodom. "Run to the mountains!" one angel said. "Don't look back."
Lot asked if they could go to a town nearby, and the angels agreed. "But run quickly!" When Lot reached the town, the Lord rained burning sulfur from the heavens, destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. But Lot's wive looked back at Sodom, and she became a pillar of salt.------

Did you know that the same God who did that to Sodom and Gomorrah is seething with anger aching to do the same to our cities? Not only is He willing to but He will in fact do it. Our days on earth are numbered. Christ is gathering those who will humble themselves under His Lordship and everyone else will melt amidst a lake of scorching sulfur. How many righteous men and women will He find to spare from your town? To him who has ears, let him hear.