We are happy to share with our readers the good news that on Sunday, August 11, our youngest son, Derek L. Garner, announced his call, and the surrender of his life, to the gospel ministry. For the past four years Derek has directed the musical end of our services at Landmark - with an occasional devotion or word of exhortation.
    Our hearts rejoice in the public surrender of Derek's life to the service of our Lord! And we are sure that you will join us in prayer that he will be so fully yielded to the Lord's will, and so wholeheartedly cast himself upon the adequacy of God's grace, as to be an effective witness and a blessing to multitudes.
    It is his expressed desire to begin seminary studies as soon as possible - that he may more quickly be equipped for the work to which he has been called.

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; PRAY...."

    Rich in his use of illustrative metaphor, the apostle Paul pictures himself as being bent double with labor-pains as he painfully yearns to see the Christ manifested in his beloved children. He was not satisfied with a mere profession of faith on the part of those who heard his messages. He could settle for nothing less than the manifestation of the Christ-life emanating from their very beings.
    Christ formed in the believing heart, and reflected from the life of every believer, is the objective that should lie before every minister of the gospel and every New Testament church. Nothing short of this is sufficient. To settle for a lesser goal is unworthy of the Christ Who has redeemed us at such terrible cost!
    The thing that really counts is not some attempt to imitate the Christ, but His actual indwelling presence in our hearts. When He so dwells within, by faith, the expression of His own life will radiate from us to those around us.

    There was a time when the people of God sang:
"Live out Thy life in mine." "Live out Thy love", "Thy peace", "Thy rest". And then they concluded:
"By Thy wonderful power,
   By Thy grace every hour,
Live out Thy life in mine!"
   This is the secret of power in the Christian's profession. It is not by our carefully selected words, or our exact recital of a true creed, that God is pleased and honored. But, He delights in the fragrance of a Christ-filled life!
It is not what you say
   By which men see the Christ
     in you,
The way you say it counts for more-
   The tone, the heart, the bound-
     less store
Of love - these speak the Christ-
     in you;
   Your fellowship with Him portray,
The fragrance of a smile

   The sweet aroma of a word of
     cheer,
A quiet mien, a look of love,
   A presence lighted from above,
Eclipse an orthodoxy drear,
   Correct, yet bitter, all the
   while!


    In Jeremiah 35 one finds the story of the prophet (at God's command) bringing the Rechabites to the temple, setting wine before them and bidding them to drink. But, they refused. Their ancient father, Jonadab, (some 300 years earlier) had forbidden them to drink wine - along with numerous other things. And they had explicitly obeyed the words of Jonadab all these years.
    This incident was not recorded either to approve or disapprove the wisdom of Jonadab's orders. It is given to illustrate how more readily men will bow to the dead traditions of their earthly fathers than give attention to the living voice of their Heavenly Father!
    What folly for men to bow to the tyranny of tradition - to be held in the iron grip of a dead past, when it is gloriously possible to hear, from the lips of the Most High, ever-fresh whisperings of His will and direction toward triumphant living in the present! But men will persist in such folly! In so doing they overlook the fact that God, Who alone knows man (Psa. 139), and his varied circumstances, is always at hand - immediately available if one but seeks Him with a willing heart, (John

    With what perfect confidence did the Lord Jesus commit Himself to His Heavenly Father's guidance in everything! He loved to call Him "My Father"! In that name was such music as encouraged Him to face the most trying hours and to drink the bitterest cup. At the scene of the crucifixion there arose the scoffing taunt: "He trusted in God that He would deliver Him!" But, the faith of Jesus was not shaken for a single moment! With unswerving confidence He trusted the Father - even when the sensible tokens of His Father's presence were withdrawn. Sustained by His assurance of the Father's love, He cried, "My God! MY God!"
    What perplexity we would spare ourselves if we could so implicitly commit ourselves, as He did, to our Heavenly Father! In times of darkness and trouble - when our way seems shut up - how blessed to be able to lift the confiding eye of faith to Him and say: "I am oppressed! Undertake for me!" How comforting to know that He directs whatever befalls us; that nothing can frustrate His plans; and that the way He leads is not only A right way; but, with all its briars and thorns, its tears and sorrows - it is THE right way!
    An habitual staying of ourselves upon Him will bring a deep, abiding peace. There may be ripples on the surface, but they will not disturb; all beneath will be a serene, set-

tled calm. So it is written: "Thou wilt keep Him, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee!"
    "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want!, (Psa. 23:1). I will be content with what He appoints or withholds. I must not wrong that love with a single shadow of suspicion! I have His promise of unchanging faithfulness, that "all things work together for good to them that love the Lord".
    There may sometimes be earthly sorrows that are hard to bear - unkind accusations, when least deserved or expected; the estrangement of trusted friends; the failure of cherished hopes; the demolishing of plans for usefulness. "Commit thy way to the Lord!"
    How little do we know what tenderness there is in the blast of the rough wind - or what blessings are folded under the wings of the storm! "All is well!", because all is from Him!
    It would be well that each of us look back on the checkered paths over which we have passed. How marvelously has He led us through the mazes of life - disappointing our fears and realizing our hopes!
    Are threatening evils looming through the mists of the future? Do not anticipate the trials of tomorrow, to aggravate those of today. Leave your tomorrows with Him who has promised - "Casting all your care upon Him" Who cares for you. No affliction will be sent that is beyond your ability (by God's grace) to bear. Even from the bosom of the threatening cloud, you may hear His voice: "Be still, and know that I AM GOD!"

    "My Father!" With such a confident commitment you may yield your neck to any yoke to which He calls you. As for Israel of old, He will make the very waves that seem so threatening a fenced wall on every side! "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths!"
    Let such a mind be yours!


7:17).
    Recognizing how deeply His beloved people were enslaved to a dead past, our Lord DELIBERATELY and consistently, set Himself to

    violate, repudiate and eradicate those traditions from their national life. While God was eagerly rising early - ready to whisper to His people the secrets of a new day, and give direction for the mysteries of a life they could not fully comprehend - they submitted the perplexities and mastery of life to the traditions of yesterday, and would not listen to the voice of their Maker, Father, Lord and King! Yet, how desperately they needed to hear His voice, and to walk in His fellowship! (Jn. 17:3).
    It is feared that many of God's people today are more fully guided by the traditions of men than by the principles and precepts of God's word. Principles never change but fresh applications of those principles are required by the change of circumstance, time and place. Human rules and creeds, designed to regulate the lives and beliefs of posterity - even when found within the body of Christ - are just as potentially destructive as were the traditions in ancient Israel!
    If one would live a life that is so triumphantly great and fulfilling as to challenge the ages, he must walk in constant fellowship with God, and render joyful obedience to His word. Such a life will be gloriously liberated from the tyranny of tradition and the fear of public opinion, because it is lived in the light of its Giver, Sustainer, Lover, Helper & Friend!
    Let us be sure that, in both our walk and doctrine, we are following the word of the Lord rather than the traditions of men! E.G.