Monday, May 4, 2009

Hero #1

My first thoughts tend toward a brother who has been gone for many years although his dear, faithful wife is still among us. Bro. Charles Keeling, known to us all as Bro. Chuck. That taco hording man with the motto of "you can eat as many as you want here but you can't take 'em home" holds a dear place in my heart as a hero who in his life was an illustrious warrior of the cross of Christ. Another song reminds me of his life:
A faithful old vessel, stands in the harbor,
Bravely it's fought, many battles at sea.
It's a proud symbol of freedom and justice
Each battle scar stands for great victory.
Battle scars from the struggle,
Battle scars from the strife,
Battle scars from the conflict, it's faced in this life.
And when the battle's over and we lay our armor down,
We'll exchange these battle scars for a glorious crown.

I hold Bro. Chuck up as a hero in my life because of his preaching that I was able to hear each week when I was young in the faith. He lived " judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet" (Isaiah 28:17) and taught it each week from the pulpit. His talks were long, and my children were being born and were little babies at the time I got to hear him. But what I heard transported me to a place where I saw the picture of what God's plan of salvation was from the very beginning of time until Christ brought true peace on earth. Even now, I know that those were the days of my illumination; days that I will always hold dear. Yes, he was just a servant of God; God could have opened any other Brother's mouth and poured forth such words of life, but the eloquence he spoke with came directly from the throne of grace and I will thank God for it until the day I die. He was a man I admired for his achievements and noble qualities.

3 comments:

Jules said...

It's so nice to know someone like that :) I have several people who I look up to, who have been GREAT examples to me. He sounded like a wonderful person.

pandama said...

good post mom it's good to see the spirit work good through others and desire the same light to shine from us. I try to watch my brethren and think of the different things that make me love them and the glory always rest on what gifts God has given in each one. It seems brother chuck was definitely given of God the gift of speaking Gods word for the edification of the church, what a blessing. And by the way. The way God allowed you to raise up your boys unto the lord, my JP in particular to me of course makes you one of my heroes. I want to raise my children up that they would follow the ways of God all their lives, and follow after a meek and quite spirit like God has blessed you with. Love you mom ;D

Sister D said...

It's sweet that you chose Brother Chuck as a hero in your life. I know I testified of this the other night at the visit at your house, but we didn't get the privilege of hearing him used in the ministry regularly but when He and his dear wife would come to Oregon, the words of life God gave him, spoke directly to our hearts. It was such a time of illumination for my Husband and I in the Faith, and forever changed our lives. Just wished I had him here one more time so I could tell him so.. .

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