Pastor Odie Kennedy's Pearls

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus. Baptist Preacher Robert Lowry co-penned this hymn with William Doane.  Nothing But The Blood was a poignant invitation to salvation. Lowry composed, edited, or added music to over 200 hymns.   Though his gifts were well received, Lowry's primary passion was preaching the message of Jesus Christ. He understood that his music only had power when its birth began at the cross. In the beginning, Adam lived a life we would now covet.  His time was spent in the lush garden fashioned with all that he would ever need.  He experienced the truest definition of "quality time" with a father.  Adam was even given companionship.  What closer mate could you have than one formed from your own rib? Though God gave specific instructio...

 People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care- Theodore Roosevelt There's a group of people who are waiting for the church to step up.  They aren't the traditional pew sitters.  They are the disenfranchised.  Those who have been caught in the revolving doors of the criminal justice system. No longer can we just celebrate God in our four walls. The essence of our relationship with God is solidified in how we connect with that individual that does not know God.  If we were to talk to the local newspaper today, we should be saying more than we have a beautiful edifice, good music, and lots of dancing.  We should be able to confidently say that we are reaching the lost. When we are mission-oriented to extend the Gospel, we can salvage a whole generation! Their problems may be plentiful, but we have The Solution.  The church has the answer and it's our responsibility to connect them with what they are looking...

Near The Cross Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain Free to all, a healing stream Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain. Refrain: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river. Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and Mercy found me; There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me. Written by Fanny Crosby 1869 Fanny Crosby was an amazing hymnist who penned more than 8,000 hymns over her lifetime. Some of her most notable hymns sung today are Blessed Assurance and To God Be The Glory. Though she was blind from infancy, spiritually she was a visionary.  She wrote hymns that drew attention to the suffering of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Near the Cross was not just a song, but a prayer that every believer would do well to emulate.  Our journey through the Holy Week was full of traumatic events: the betrayal by Judas with a kiss, the abandonment of the disciples, the beating of Je...