A "mini sermon" by my Great Grandfather (for those that may have missed Church)

self | 2/6/2005 | Jaysun

[Jaysun]

My Great Grandfather made a series of recordings during his lifetime. This transcript is of one of the “mini sermons” he recorded to send to my Grandfather and his fellow soldiers during WWII. None of them last very long, usually less than 5 minutes, but he made a ton of them. Here’s one from July 1943.

I received a letter from Marion last Friday and it seems that many of you are thinking about what’s to come. What’ll be your business when you get back home? What will you do? I can’t answer that question. I can only give you the simple and profound secret to success.

You’ll succeed when you come to realize that your lot in life is decided by the choices you make. That’s it. The choices you make will decide your fate. Isn’t that simple?

You needn’t make a long succession of exceptionally good decisions to have an exceptionally good outcome. However, you must be diligent in avoiding a series of bad decisions. While it only takes a few good decisions to do well, it takes even less bad decisions to ruin your future.

Who will help you with these important decisions? You can’t mimic the decisions made by your fathers without sacrificing progress. Indeed, if all men mimicked their father’s I suspect we’d have never made it out of the blacksmith shops or the gristmills. Your fathers have a great deal of influence, as they should, but the important decisions are for you to make.

The decisions that will shape your future can only be made by you, and your only true source of help is God Almighty. Choose this way or that by reflecting on the Bible and praying for guidance. I assure you that you’ll never go wrong. Consider the Ten Commandments. They’re very simple:
Worship no other gods except for the true God.
Do not take God’s name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
Honor your Father and Mother.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Do not desire your neighbor’s wife.
Do not desire your neighbor’s possessions.

I ask you, who fills our prisons if not those that have broken these commandments? So it is with the entire Word of God. If you want to succeed, if you want to choose wisely, if you want to reach your full potential, you must know God.

You can make quick use of this little lesson by beginning with the most important and good decision you’ll ever make. You can receive Jesus Christ right now by faith through prayer. Follow along with me now as we pray:

Lord Jesus, I need You. You died on the cross for my sins. Thank You. I open my heart and my life’s door and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. I ask you to take control of my life and make me the kind of person You want me to be.

That’s it. He’ll do for you just as he’s done for the untold millions before us. God Bless You.

Oh, and boys……..I love you.

[Jaysun]

Clarence E. Henry
June 17, 1901 – December 28, 2002

Please excuse any errors – I did the best I could. I have lots of recordings from my Great Grandfather and many of them are book worthy in my opinion. If you’re interested in reading more transcripts from his recordings let me know. I’ll put you on a ping list and try to post one every week or so.

[P.O.E.]

That would be a nice, fitting tribute to him. Please add me to the list.

[JockoManning]

Concise and to the point.

Excellent work.

Thank you Jaysun.

[Revelation 911]

I'd appreciate getting pinged to these lovely posts - what a treasure you have - and truly blessed with such wise counsel

pinging some pals who also mught be interested

[xzins]

Please ping me to these mini-sermons. Thanks.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so very much for the ping!

[Ciexyz]

ping me please