Uncategorized Archives - Page 4 of 11

God’s Great Blessings

Posted on Aug 23, 2014 in Uncategorized |

Too often I find myself on the negative side of life. I’ve spent far too much time “wishing things were different”, instead of enjoying the goodness of God that is all around me in the moment. And the greatest tragedy of all is to go through life without counting our blessings on a regular basis.

Just like the news media, the negative “stuff” gets all the attention. No one is interested in hearing about the overall Goodness of God in life. God has blessed me in ways that far exceed anything that I had ever hoped or dreamed for. I have wife, Jan (the love of my life) and the three children that she labored to deliver into our home, and their wonderful Christian spouses that produced 9 beautiful grandchildren for us. Jan has been my rock over the years, a true gift of God. Our three children have grown up loving the lord and are now serving Him in their own chosen professions, their callings. I could share with you about all of them, their unique talents and abilities and how they complement each other so very well. But today, I want to focus on Sherry. This is a very special time in her life. Sherry is our first born and we knew early on that she was going to be a blessing in the lives of so many people. She graduated from Azusa Pacific University sensing God’s call in her life work with young people. Her list of accomplishments is phenomenal.

Published while still in college in the Psychiatric field
A natural born teacher, leader, & administrator, she taught in two private schools in Southern California before founding a preschool here at Pathway and having the vision and tools to inaugurate a private Christian school right here in Fair Oaks. She has worked at Pathway in some capacity or other for 20 years.
She started off as our youth leader,
She was my administrator for a time
She has been working with Pathway children since 2000
She has been a teacher, programmer, counselor, visionary, encourager, gifted communicator on and off the stage.

Organization is her middle name. Most of all, she has a deep God inspired passion for children. I believe that she was created for this particular ministry. This last weekend she received her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has spent a year working as an intern for the UCD medical center in one of the most coveted and sought after positions in her field of work. Graduating at the head of her class, she is now working full time at the Terra Nova Center on Sunrise Blvd. We are going to celebrate her 20 years of service at Pathway this coming Sunday, the 24^th of August. What a blessing it has been for me, to work side by side with my own daughter, Sherry, for ½ of my ministry. She has brought joy and happiness to my life and ministry, but also to so many children, youth, and adults (young and old). The musicals and plays that she directed were often the highlight of the year. Her vacation Bible schools and summer/vacation programs were the very best. Her reputation is tremendous in our community. Other churches, big churches, tried to hire her out from under us by offering more money, bigger facility etc. What they didn’t know was that for Sherry, it was not about the money. It was all about her kids, the Pathway kids. They truly were her family her passion her mission.

Thank you Lord for allowing us (the Pathway Family) to have our lives touched and blessed with her smile, her

enthusiasm and her passion for You Lord Jesus. We do wish her well in her new mission field, but it goes without saying that she will be truly, deeply missed by all of us at Pathway.

Soli Deo Gloria! Pastor Mike (aka, a very proud Dad)

Go With The Flow?

Posted on May 22, 2014 in Uncategorized | Tags: #, #conservative, #extremists, #MikeGoodyear, #moversandshakers, #pathway, #pathwayfellowship, #thethinkingman, #values

There are a few shows on television that I find entertaining & a challenge to the mind. They usually feature detectives or their associates who have the uncanny ability to see the things hidden from most of us and thereby be able to solve the crime. Sometimes the extrapolations are a bit far-fetched, but after all, it is fiction meant to entertain, not science meant to prove. Literature is filled with such characters like Sherlock Holmes and Jessica Fletcher, and Hercules Poirot. The Patrick Jane in the Mentalist is a current day version of such fictional characters.

The ancient Greeks had a school of philosophers known as the Sophists, who took pride in their ability to prove impossible things. Some sophists even hired themselves out at public events, where audiences could watch spellbound as they proceeded to prove propositions that were obviously false. They were quite the tricksters of mental gymnastics.

Down through history there have always been “intellectuals” who have used their positions of power and their uncanny ability to argue “nonsense” while ignoring the reality of history in order to promote their own radical agenda.
This was never more true than what we saw in the 60’s and early 70’s with the huge counter-culture movement designed not just to end the Vietnam war, but to reshape America into a Socialist state.

The “true believers” in this movement turned a blind eye to what social communism did as it swept into the vacancy left by our departure, torturing and killing millions upon millions of people. We didn’t hear a word from our own news media as the socialists set up their brutal dictatorships of oppression backed by fear of what would happen to you if you didn’t co-operated. They weren’t very tolerant leaders.

Some of the “movers and shakers” behind the American counter culture did see what happened. Their eyes were opened as they realized what these communist regimes had done in the 20th century. Literally countless numbers of people were brutally killed. Racism and intolerance skyrocketed. Many of the counter culture who were honest, had “second thoughts” about their political views as they saw firsthand the end result of their “dream ideals” in Marxism. David Horowitz is one of the leaders of this movement.

But many of these extremists stayed the course. They realized that the power rested with those who controlled the institutions of learning and culture. They put together a long range plan of taking over the institutions of education. Under their leadership, the schools of higher learning would come to be filled with sociologists, art critics, psychologists, philosophers, “sexologists,” political scientists, and a host of other “experts” intent on converting Marxism from a strictly economic theory into a cultural reality in America.

These were the roots of the secular progressive movement in America today.
“Tolerance” was the by-word that they used in order to get their foot in the door, and to eventually take over. What we have discovered today is that their “tolerance” was a virtual one way street. They wanted tolerance for their agenda’s, but there was to be no tolerating of any opposing positions.

Today they have pretty much shut down the opposition. If you are a conservative in your values and morals, if you believe in the traditional strong beliefs of Scripture and in Jesus Christ you will not get the opportunity for your voice to be heard. This seems a little strange coming out of liberal institutions where “tolerance” and “freedom of speech” were championed as the sacred stones upon which they could build their “empire”. Today they will go to any lengths to shut up conservative Christians and to put evangelicals down.

The true believers of secular progressivism have won the cultural war and they don’t intend to give an inch of ground back. And now it is up to the “true believers” in Jesus Christ to take their stand. We have enjoyed the comfort of easy Christianity since the founding of our country. But now the table has been turned. There is increasing hostility toward those of us who disagree with the ongoing normalization of homosexual conduct and so-called “gay marriage.” In recent months we’ve seen people as varied as football players, TV stars, restaurant owners, wedding photographers, and others face fines, suspensions, and even the loss of their livelihoods for failing to celebrate the new sexual orthodoxy.

As followers of the Way the Truth and the Life, we are going to have to adapt to this change. At a recent prayer breakfast in Washington, DC, Professor Robert George, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said: “The days of acceptable Christianity are over … It’s no longer easy to be a faithful Christian … They threaten us with consequences if we refuse to call what is good, evil, and what is evil, good. They demand us to conform our thinking to their orthodoxy, or else say nothing at all.”

And what happens if we don’t go along? According to Robert George : “To be a witness to the Gospel today is to make oneself a marked man or woman. It is to expose oneself to scorn and reproach. … One may in consequence of one’s public witness, be discriminated against, denied education opportunities and the prestigious credentials they offer, one may lose valuable opportunities of employment or professional advancement.”

The persecution that has afflicted Christianity in two thirds of the world for centuries is now coming to America, a country founded on religious freedom. Leave it to Satan to pull off a coup like this! I would say that they must be rejoicing in Hell, but then I remember, there is nothing but terror, weeping, gnashing of teeth in that realm of eternal flame and darkness.

Thanks to the rulers of this American world, “normal” has changed. The basic definition of culture is what a group of people have accepted as normal. The normal has changed in our culture and there is no hope in it. Good is now called evil and evil is called good. Is there any chance of repentance, (turning around) for our culture? There is a chance, but it is slim indeed. For it requires Christians to begin to stand up, and speak out, not in condemnation, but in offering the Hope and Change from the True Messiah, Jesus the Christ. And this must be done in an encouraging, forgiving, humble and winsome way.

People who are enslaved to various forms of immorality and suffer different types of brokenness need to be able to come to the church and find answers. We must wage war by offering love with our words, our lives, and our actions. The church is a hospital for the “sin sick”. If this is ever going to happen, then we need to start training the Body of Christ in how to make our case in a positive way. We have kept silent too long. We must begin to speak out. As Mordechai told Queen Esther in chapter 4 of the book of Esther:
13 “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape
any more than all the Jews (the people of God).
14 “For if you remain silent at this time,
relief & deliverance will arise for the Jews (God’s People)
from another place
and you and your father’s house (America) will perish.
And who knows whether you have not attained royalty
for such a time as this?”
You and I live in this culture. You were born, ordained by God, for such a time as this. We must pick up this Cross and follow our Lord, regardless of the consequences.
Veritas pro Christo et ecclesia, Pastor Mike

Racism Alive and Well

Posted on May 3, 2014 in Uncategorized | Tags: #beafollowerofchrist, #drmikegoodyear, #evilisalive, #Godislove, #loveGodloveall, #loveoneanother, #pathwayfellowship, #racism, #stophate, #teachkidslove

As our country grows more racially diverse each day, we see that racism is still a very difficult problem. It is a signal to all of us how deeply sin is imbedded in our hearts and lives. A part of becoming new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) involves allowing the Holy Spirit to root out the very depths of our prejudices and bias against people groups.

Recently several cases of blatant racism have been reported by the news media. There is Bundy, a cattle rancher locked in a dispute with the US Bureau of Land Management over land rights. In an interview, he takes the opportunity to reveal that there is a deep evil lingering in the depths of his heart as he makes outrageous claims about blacks.

Then there is Donald Sterling, owner of a basketball franchise, who, apparently unknown to him, has a private conversation in his own home taped and released. It went viral. Again we see the darkness of racial evil dwelling in the soul.

Shaquille O’Neal, a retired basketball superstar, after castigating Sterling on his racist comments, recently took to Twitter to mock the appearance of Jahmel Binion, who suffers from a rare disorder called ectodermal dysplasia. Thousands called out his obvious hypocrisy in condemning Sterling’s racism while mocking a disability. De-humanization comes in all shapes, colors and
Sizes.

Then a publically elected official, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., described Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the only African-American judge on the Supreme Court, as an “Uncle Tom”. He implied that it was OK for him to say it because he is black himself.

All of this is just the very tip of the racist ice-burg. This should not be shocking to us. Evil is alive and well all over the world. What is hard to believe is that after the last century where untold millions upon millions were slaughtered at the hands of atheistic socialism known as communism, there are still millions adherents to that system which promises utopia and true equality, but never comes close to delivering it. It is one of the most racist and biased forms of government ever imagined. They are willing to tear down nations and destroy as many as necessary to achieve their satanic inspired visions. They are

blind to the lessons of history.

As true followers of Christ, we need to be at the forefront of these conversations that are happening in our work places, neighborhoods, friendships and families. The Good News of Jesus Christ demands that we confess our sins, dig out the very roots of evil & prejudice in our hearts, and then offer true reconciliation that only can come through the Spirit of God.

Coram Deo – Pastor Mike

ZDKM9

The Suffering of Jesus

Posted on Apr 15, 2014 in Devotions, Uncategorized | Tags: #diedoncross, #Dr.MikeGoodyear, #Easter, #eastersunday, #hehasrisen, #Jesushasrisen, #pathway, #pathwayfellowship

It was just after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the grave. People were excited. Certainly this man was the Messiah who would restore Israel.

The Pharisee’s were angry and fearful that Jesus might cause a rebellion in which the Romans would flatten them. They decided that Jesus must die and on that day He became public enemy number one. He had to hide out for a few days. If He was going to die, He would be the one to orchestrate that whole narrative, not the Pharisees. Six days before the Passover, Jesus comes back to Bethany to have a last Sabbath dinner with His good friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The “cat was out of the bag”. People flocked to Bethany to see Jesus & also Lazarus who was giving testimony about his coming back from the grave.

The next day, the 1^st day of the week (Sunday), the day we refer to as the triumphal entry, Jesus, the “outlaw”, came out and openly entered Jerusalem with a crowd of Jubilant Israelites welcoming their King.

“Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” (John 12:13) They were convinced that Jesus was about to re-establish the Davidic Kingdom and remove the Roman domination.

(That great welcome would swing 180 degrees a few days later when Jesus didn’t deliver what they wanted) The Pharisees were powerless to stop Him, he was much too popular on that Sunday.

John records the events of the next few days, but strangely “omits” what took place on Wednesday. Sometime on Tuesday Jesus says

John 12:27,28

27 “Now My soul has become troubled;

and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?

But for this purpose I came to this hour.

28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven:

“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Soon it is Passover night, the moon is full. Jesus celebrates His last earthly Seder with His disciples. Afterwards, they cross the brook Kidron and head up to the Mount of Olives where Jesus would spend His final free hours in prayer and in agony. He had prayed here many times before, but we often don’t hear the content of His prayers. Luke 22:39-44 tells us that He was in so much agony that his sweat “became like drops of blood” Modern medicine surmises that under extreme conditions of duress, capillaries in the head burst forth drops of blood literally pouring out of the skin like perspiration.

It was while being in this state of agony, thinking forward to the excruciating pain (literally “out of the cross pain”) that was waiting for Him that He was praying so fervently.

What was so agonizing for Jesus? The pain that He was about to undergo? The disciples asleep and soon to be forsaking Him? Maybe He was focusing on the sin of the entire world (from the beginning of creation to the end of time). He was about to pay the ultimate price for all of that sin.

Our sin would be placed on Him, so that we might receive His Glory.

Whatever the reason for His agony, we see that Jesus who is fully God,

is at the same time fully man. Here, His humanity is on full display.

In Matthew 26:38-39 we see more of His nightmare into which He is freely walking. He didn’t have to do this. It was the Father’s will, but it was His choice.

“I am deeply grieved, to the point of death.

Then he prays to God, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;

yet not as I will, but your will be done”

Pause to reflect on Jesus suffering and how he handled it. His suffering was not pointless nor was it needless. Neither is ours. Each of us has our own “Via Dolorosa” (the way of suffering). And just as Jesus was the Son of God, we too are His children (though obviously not like Jesus, the 2^nd person of the Divine Trinity). But none the less, we are God’s family. He does not cause our suffering. That is the business of the evil one. But when He does allow us to suffer you can be sure that it is not needless or pointless.

As author Kim Reisman has noted, “The truth is that the Jesus way isn’t about God taking pain away from God’s people; it’s about God providing us with strength, courage, and meaning, with abundant life, often in the midst of pain.”(1)

In American culture there is a different perspective on suffering. In our pursuit of happiness and pleasure, it should never happen.

When it comes we are quick to categorize it as an accident, just a bit of bad luck. It could have happened to anyone, but unfortunately for you, your number came up. It is simply the order of nature. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Richard Dawkins and his ilk tell us that life is empty, pointless, futile, a desert of meaninglessness and insignificance. Just like the rest of the world, (“red in tooth and claw”), our suffering is a part of the evolutionary process. Tough luck, too bad, so sad!

Thank God for Jesus Christ! He tells us and shows us that suffering can and does have purpose and meaning. Ultimately God is on the Throne and He will have the last word. In the end, Jesus is resurrected to sit at the right hand of God. But His suffering and death, far from meaningless, provides our way out of sin and death. He reunites us (the prodigals) with the Father. He walked the Via Dolorosa, and so must we take up our cross.

I wonder what the purpose and plan for our pain might be.

Surely God knows, and that is enough.

Coram Deo – Pastor Mike

(1) Kimberly Dunnam Reisman, Following At a Distance

(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005), 75

Letter #3 In Memory of My Dad

Posted on Mar 20, 2014 in Uncategorized |

Hi Dad, Wow! You were always impulsive with decisions, but this is a record, even by your standards.

I’m visiting with you on Friday and then, boom! You leave your “earthly coil” behind. You must have been in a hurry to get out of that old, painful worn out body of yours, and hook back up with mom. I know there is no marriage in heaven, but I can just imagine that you are both enjoying each other’s perfect company in the presence of Jesus, dancing and singing with mom and all the saints.

I can’t even begin to tell you how happy it makes me, to know that you are no longer suffering and waiting. It is d

You have passed the baton to me in this great relay race of life. I must continue running the course in order finish the race. The finish line is Heaven, and nothing short of that will do. In the course of time, it won’t be long until we are all together again. I pray the prayer that I learned in Bangladesh; from those brave “Insiders”, “that each one of us will be faithful to God until the end!” It’s difficult to find the words to describe the thrill inside, of knowing that you are both now safely Home! It is a deep sense of peace, comfort, and sheer joy mingling with tears.

There is a lot that I wanted to share with you about our last conversation in this series of letters, but that won’t happen now, so I will “cut to the chase”.
I want to thank you dad for loving mom so deeply and your faithfulness to her and the family as we were growing up. You have set the standard:
a model of what it means to be a serving husband, a loving father, and a leader who puts the others first, above himself.

As I shared with you dad, in one of our last conversations, you not only were responsible for my existence (by the grace of God), but you actually saved my life three times as I was growing up. And you remembered each one.

When I was a toddler and we were playing at Clam Beach up north of Eureka, I slipped, was submerged in “Little Creek” being washed out into the sea, when you found me and brought me up out of the water.

When I was in grade school, I was being tested for allergies because of my severe asthma. After they had injected my back with rows of shots of different forms of pollen & so forth, everyone left the room. They were supposed to keep watch over me, but didn’t. I reacted to every one of those shots & all of a sudden I was gasping for air as my throat was swelling shut. You heard me from the waiting room wheezing and gasping for air, and came rushing into the room. Seeing that I was not able to breathe you called for the doctor. There is nothing like a shot of adrenaline in the heart to perk you right up!

And then there was that time in the woods and swamp behind our house on Humboldt hill when I stepped on a nest of mud wasps. Terrified I was frozen. Soon I was covered head to toe with those wasps, stinging me time and again. Then I saw you coming, running in a straight line crashing through the woods and brush, slogging through the swamp. You grabbed me and pulled me off the nest, wiping those wasps off of me as fast as you could while carrying me back to the house. My whole body was swollen by the time we reached the doctors. But you had saved me once again. What a dad!

Three is God’s number for completion. There is no doubt in my mind that God used you to save me so that He could use me later down the road. Little did we know then that we all needed saving on a much grander scale.
It wasn’t until we met Jesus that we began to realize His Greater Plan of Salvation for our lives. Jesus went under the water at His baptism.
He endured the stings of the whips that left His back raw. He drew His last breath hanging from a cross. There was no one to save Him as our sins were poured out upon Him. He died alone, a pre-arranged plan with His Father.
So in a sense Dad, before we knew Christ, you were a type of Christ, you gave me life, you saved me three times from myself and the pitfalls of life in this world.

I will be preaching your memorial this Saturday, so I was looking in the Word of God for a passage that would somehow summarize your life and all that God had planned for you and our family. I came to this passage and paused. I knew I had found your life story encapsulated.

Psalm 107:23-31
23 Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of the world.
24 They, too, observed the LORD’s power in action,
His impressive works on the deepest seas.
25 He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves.
26 Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths;
the sailors cringed in terror.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end.
28 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
& He saved them from their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.
30 What a blessing was that stillness as He brought them safely into harbor!
31 Let them praise the LORD for His great love
and for the wonderful things He has done for them.
You joined the Navy for adventure and to see the world. Those were some of the most difficult times of your life, certainly the most fearful. But nothing can match the tears we shared when mom was dying of cancer. We were “plunged into the depths” of sorrow and fear. The waves seemed insurmountable. You were not yet a child of God, and I was still young in my faith, but you asked me if we could pray. The doctors were not hopeful, but I remember driving you to the church where we fell on our knees, weeping, pleading with God to spare mom’s life. I can still see you as you kissed her for maybe the last time as they wheeled her off into surgery.
We cried a lot during those hours. I remember seeing you outside the waiting room staring off into the darkness of that cold winter night.
I have always wondered what was going through your mind. No doubt God was speaking to you.

But then the good news, God had answered our prayers and mom was spared. The cancer they had seen was not near as bad as they thought.
And we knew why. God had intervened. Now there were tears of joy.
Verse 29:“God had calmed the storm to a whisper and He stilled the waves.”

But God was not through just yet, there was so much more as you grew in your faith. God was truly transforming your life along with mom’s.
And now I can say with confidence, verse 30
“What a blessing was that stillness as He brought them safely into harbor!” You are safely home dad, congratulations on a life well run. With all of your love and sacrifices, your wisdom and steadfastness, we owe you so much. You have left an incredible legacy. I can see your smile, (that Goodyear smile) in my kids, and now my grandkids. It blessed me so much when you talked about them, and shared how proud you were of them, their faith, their work, their commitment to family and serving Jesus.
Verse 31 “Let them praise the LORD for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for them.” You certainly did!

Well done Dad! I am so very proud to be your son. I look forward with great anticipation for our reunion in that sweet by and by. You always gave the best hugs, so I will be there soon, hugging you once again. Love, Mike

Scan 140740009-3 for 032014

Letters For Dad #2

Posted on Mar 15, 2014 in Uncategorized |

March 9, 2014 Hi Dad,

As we visited together for the last time, face to face in this world, your biggest frustration was your 90 year old body being eaten away by cancer, pain and old age. I know that it frustrated you that you could not get up and hug me when I arrived. We Goodyear’s don’t like to be seen in our weakness, and so often we put on the masquerade pretending that all is well, when in reality it is all falling apart. It is a common plight amongst men.

But then we reach that stage in life that you are in right now, where you can’t hide it any longer, you suffer with it, and it is all there for people to see. The mask is ripped off, and there we are as naked as Adam & Eve in the garden, disrobed by our sins. In our old age we have become weak, feeble, helpless, and dependent on others for just about everything. It is maddening. Indeed it leads us back into anger, our old foe that we thought we had defeated long ago. The serpent of old is trying to bite us one last time and ruin our witness while discouraging our faith.

For some reason (no good reason) we feel ashamed and embarrassed because of our weakened condition. We leave this world as we came in, with someone feeding us and cleaning up after us. We don’t hold against others for being weak, but we don’t tolerate it in ourselves. But then time brings us to our knees and we realize that we are just like everyone else. God has worked hard at humbling us all of our lives. He thinks that humility is the greatest. We are not so keen on the idea. We have resisted His efforts in so many ways due to our ego & pride.

Philippians 2:5-13

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,

work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

There is no question, death is the great equalizer, the thing that brings us all to our knees, and humbles us like nothing else. God specializes in taking the humble and exalting them forever in His New Kingdom. It is all a part of His grand plan in preparing us for eternity with Him.

On the plane flying home, I was reading and listing to my i-pod, the play list that I put together with your favorite songs. Then I heard this song, one of yours and moms favorites. It was written and composed by Stuart Hamblen in 1954. He was the son of a Methodist preacher who had been corrupted by the success and fame in the county music industry. He was saved at a Billy Graham crusade and spent the rest of his life serving God. He as a regular guest star with Billy Graham, drawing 1000’s to the crusades.

The song was “This Ole House“. It was inspired while on a hunting trip in the High Sierras with a friend. The two men came upon what looked like an abandoned shack, wherein they found the body of an elderly man, apparently dead of natural causes. Hamblen came up with the lyrics to the song while riding horse-back down the mountain, and composed the melody within a week. It became a number one hit for Rosemary Clooney, and later recorded by the Sattler Brothers.

This ole house once knew his children
This ole house once knew his wife
This ole house was home and comfort
As they fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now he trembles in the darkness
When the lightnin’ walks about

CHORUS:
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no more
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the windowpane
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer
He’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the saints

This ole house is a-gettin’ shaky
This ole house is a-gettin’ old
This ole house lets in the rain
This ole house lets in the cold
On his knees I’m gettin’ chilly
But he feel no fear nor pain
‘Cause he see an angel peekin’
Through a broken windowpane
CHORUS

This ole house is afraid of thunder
This ole house is afraid of storms
This ole house just groans and trembles
When the night wind flings its arms
This ole house is gettin’ feeble
This old house is needin’ paint
Just like him it’s tuckered out
But he’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the saints
CHORUS

I cried when I heard it and thought of you in your pain and misery.

The stewardess on the plane didn’t know what to do, those around me just stared. They were tears of joy Dad! That old body of yours doesn’t need to be fixed up. You’re gettin’ ready to meet the saints. Mom, your life time dancing partner is there waiting for you to give her a swing!

With all my love, Mike

PS – That is going to be one of the songs of joy at the celebration of your home-going.

Coram Deo, Pastor Mike