"I Have Come By the Way of the Cross"

JESUS answered, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through ME."
John 14:6

Dear Friends
Last Sunday evening, Hannah Beth and i got dressed and ready to go see our friends the Greene's (www.thegreenesgospel.com) sing over at Underwood Baptist Church in Florence, Al. The drive was only about an hour from our house, and except for not having directions how to get there, i was really eager to get on the road and see them. John Mac had to do a repair job on the computer so we couldn't "google" the directions before we left. Thankfully, HB was able to get the address up on her phone (oh the miracle of technology) and with a quick call, we were able to get directions to the church. HB slept most of the way over, after having her friend Tab spend the weekend, so it was a quiet drive for me on the way over. The directions were great, and with a little assistance from HB, we made it to the church with 20 minutes to spare.
Underwood Baptist was packed when we arrived, including the balcony,and thankfully we found a seat right up front on the second row. The lady who sat beside us introduced herself and was so friendly and made us feel right at home, and i did...it's amazing how you can not know folks, and yet because you're one in the body of CHRIST, you are family and you are loved. After a few minutes, i caught my first sight of Tony Greene limping in, from gout, i think. He was limping the worst i'd ever seen, and he looked the tiredest i've ever seen him. They had been on the road for 10 days, and driven from Atlanta that morning where they sang at First Baptist Atlanta. This was their last stop before heading back home to Charlotte, NC for a few days rest before they headed out again. The service started and we sang along with the large choir up front, and had a time of greeting one another. Then it was time for the Greene's to sing. As ya'll know, we have been blessed to hear them sing many, many times now over the past 5 or 6 years we've come to know them, and always the LORD JESUS is lifted up and exalted and our hearts are encouraged in CHRIST.
When the Greene's got up to sing, Tony's tiredness seemed to disappear, and they sang "Miracle in Me," a song that became very special to me when their brother Tim was singing with them. As many of you know, Tim and i met at the clinic where he was being treated for mold exposure and me for pesticide poisoning. Tim couldn't walk and almost died before the LORD led him to the Environmental Health Center in Dallas, Texas for help several years ago. Now, Tim is pastoring a church in Calabash, North Carolina, along with serving the LORD in other ways, with his dear wife Amy and their two girls, Brittany and Brooklyn. Tim is not able to be on the road with the Greene's, for the same reasons i have trouble traveling, but GOD had a plan and has raised up some wonderful replacements for Tim through the years. HE has shown Tony and Taranda that HE is faithful to supply all their needs. As Tony and Taranda and Paul, Tim's replacement, sang "Miracle in Me," my mind always goes back to the miracle that CHRIST brought forth in my life...the miracle of when HE called me to be HIS child, when HE drew me to an altar at Central Baptist Church in Decatur, AL, and by HIS grace, I surrendered my life to HIM...that was the beginning of my "Miracle in Me." My journey continues each and every day, and CHRIST becomes more and more real to me through the twists and turns of this life...especially in the "dark nights of my soul."
I had been listening to the Greene's on my ipod at home last week, getting "primed" for the concert. They sang two songs at the concert Sunday night that had really spoken to me as i listened to them earlier in the week. When Tony started sharing about their friends, the Crofts, who had almost given up on GOD because of all the trials they had been through, I knew he was about to sing, "I Can't Even Walk Without YOU Holding My Hand." GOD gave the Crofts this song in the midst of their "dark night of the soul," that has encouraged countless believers through the years who were going through desperated struggles, including me. I've used those lyrics more than once in my emails, because GOD continues to teach me that lesson over and over in my life, as i too have learned that "I Can't Even Walk," without HIM holding my hand. As Tony literally hobbled slowly down off the podium holding on to the speaker stand as he limped heavily down the steps to make his way down the aisle to sing...he shared that when he was 18 he looked his parents in the eye and told them he could do things by himself and didn't need them anymore. Not an exact quote, but it was something like that. I could relate to him declaring "his independence." My own declaration was not so blatant, but when the LORD called Johnny and i to be "foreign missionaries," we both were only too thrilled to move away to Ft. Worth Texas, for Johnny to attend seminary and me nursing school and exert our "independence," though his family was very much still helping us out financially. When the LORD called us back to Athens, 5 years later, and i was broken in health, and my husband returned to the family restaurant business instead of full time ministry, it hurt, and it hurt a lot...and it was very humbling. Yet the LORD in HIS graciousness was teaching us humility, dependence on HIM, and that yes, we did indeed need our family, and they needed us...and GOD had a plan for us in Athens, Al. Tony later shared Sunday night that when his Daddy died suddenly a few years ago that he not only lost his Daddy, he lost his best friend in the world. Tony had long ago made his amends with his parents and they faithfully served the LORD as they traveled together as a family singing the gospel until his Dad's health caused him to retire from the road.

That second verse shares...
"I thought I had done a lot on my own,I thought I could make it all alone,
I thought of myself as a mighty big man, But I can't even walk with YOU holding my hand."

Yes...i can relate to that a whole lot Tony Greene and how thankful I am the LORD has graciously shown me that...though it sure did hurt.

Tony, who was born with one kidney and he only discovered that a few years ago, had complete renal failure last summer. He was 39 years old with a 2 month old, and 3 year old at the time. He said when the doctors told him he needed to have surgery so he could take dialysis through a port in his stomach (he is awaiting a kidney transplant from his wife, Taranda, this May), he said he didn't want to do that. He said an old country preacher whispered in his ear, this may have taken you by surprise Tony, but GOD isn't panicked up in heaven. Tony shared that after that, he told the LORD if the LORD could bring more glory to HIMself through Tony having to take dialysis four times a day (and he does that on the bus when they travel), that he would surrender to that. As one who has followed the Greene's for the past several years, i can tell you, HE is bringing more glory to HIMself through Tony's suffering...and it's always when the Greene's are going through difficult times that CHRIST is the most powerful through them, just as it's true in my life and yours.

They sang another song that has been ministering to me called, "GOD DID," that Phil Cross wrote. In that song, i am reminded that GOD did it all to save me:
"The teacher could not move me to understand, the preacher could not reach me to take my hand,
Who came when i was caught to rescue me, who looked beyond my fault and saw my need...GOD Did."

Wow, how many teachers and preachers had i listened to before GOD rescued me and opened my eyes up to who HE is and gave me understanding and forgave me of my sins? GOD did it all for me, and HE does it all for each one of us whom HE has called and chosen to be HIS own..."For it is by free grace (GOD's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of CHRIST's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves-of your own doing, it came not through your own striving-but it is the gift of GOD. Ephesians 2:8 Amplified.
Taranda, Tony's wife, who CHRIST just keeps making her more and more powerful as she sings, and HE is so powerful through her, sang a song I had never heard before called, "I Have Come by the Way of the Cross." I'm sorry i don't know who wrote it, i wasn't able to find out that information, but it told the story of the Cross from the perspective of the thief who hung beside JESUS on the Cross. That song touched all of our hearts... and brought the crowd to our feet for a standing ovation for the LORD. I knew it was powerful when i heard it, but it wasn't until later that i was listening to it on the way home with Hannah Beth that the words really started sinking in...

"I Have Come By the Way of the Cross"

"Condemdemned to die on a cross for crimes he had done,
He was guilty everyone could see,
But his destiny was changed when he looked at CHRIST and said,
When your kingdom comes remember me."
In paradise that day he stood just like the LORD said that he would
Surrounded by those who had gone before.
And one said, "Friend how do you come, what are the deeds you have done?"
With tears in his eyes I can hear him reply:

"There are no merits to my name, no works that i can claim,
HE who brought me here told me to say...
"I have come by the way of the cross, I have come by the way of the cross...
It is nothing i have done, it is the suffering of GOD's SON... I have come by the way of the cross."

I had nothing to claim but my guilt and my shame
Hopelessly lost i could not find my way
Then HIS glorious light of love shown down on me
HIS mercy washed all my sin away
And what HE did for me that day,
Was a price i know HE paid
And by HIS grace I too can say....forever say...

"I have come by the way of the cross
I have come by the way of the cross
It is nothing i have done
It is the suffering of GOD's Son
I have come by the way...

I see millions gathered round the throne from every kindred and tongue
Those redeemed by the blood of the LAMB
And as they cast their crowns down at HIS feet this will be their story,
This will be their song...

"We have come by the way of the Cross, we have come by the way of the Cross,"
It is nothing we have done, it is the suffering of GOD's Son
We have come by the way, we have come by the way, we have come by the way...
Of the Cross, by the old rugged Cross, by the Cross, by the old Rugged Cross, by the Cross!

Last week, i shared my "Cardboard Testimony" with you that i used to glory in my abilities, and believe me i still do at times. GOD has graciously given me a "thorn in the flesh" through my infirmities to remind me , that "I Can't Even Walk " Without Him Holding my Hand...and from time to time HE lets me bite the dust. It is then HE whispers to me that "HIS grace is sufficient for me and HIS power is made perfect in my weakness. Therefore I will gladly boast in my weaknesses that the power of CHRIST may rest on me." II Cor. 12:9,10. GOD has used the Greene's to be a living demonstration of this verse in my life since i met them...because i can see and feel HIS power in their weakness.


Tony and Taranda, in humility, both share their weaknesses, and don't try to hide them and GOD gets the glory. When the Greene's suffer, you can count on this... GOD is going to save more souls, and more folks are going to be encouraged and strengthened through the ministry GOD has called them to, to encourage the saints and share the gospel of JESUS CHRIST wherever they go. GOD throws in some extra perks along the way, like Taranda being "Favorite Female Vocalist" in 2007, along with a number one song, "Sky Full of Angels, " and blessing them with two beautiful little girls, Belle and Josie, when the doctors told them they could never have children. He does that for the Greene's, and encourages them, and rewards them with HIS loving kindness and HE does that for me and you...HIS mercies are new every morning and along with the struggles comes HIS "sweetness," and HIS favor if we will but look for it in the midst of the hard times. Tony shared that HE has never walked as close to the LORD as HE has this year since HE had his surgery and has been taking dialysis four times a day...the "sweetness of the LORD," to reveal HIMself in the hard struggles and that's what HE does over and over and over for you and me.

"The mark of rank in nature
Is capacity for pain;
And the anquish of the singer
Makes the sweetness of the strain."
-Streams in the Desert, Jan 21


As i shared that "Cardboard Testimony," last week, i realized that i hadn't shared my salvation testimony with you, ... i shared more how GOD has dealt with me since HE rescued me from my sin. "I Have Come By the Way of the Cross...it is nothing i have done, it's through the suffering of GOD's Son" is my salvation testimony, and though i tried many times to pray my way in by responding to altar calls, and going up during countless invitations...I came away the same person. I wasn't "born again," (John 3:3) or a "new creature" in CHRIST (ll Cor. 5:17) and i was still lost in my sin, "condemned to die," until CHRIST saved me by HIS grace, HIS amazing grace...and brought me in "By the Way of the Cross." I can't tell you exactly how it happened...i just know that "GOD Did it all for me." How thankful i am to HIM for paying my debt for my sin on the Cross of Calvary and bringing me to HIM, "by the Way of the Cross."
As i mentioned above, HB and i were eager to go see the Greene's but not having the directions to the church made me a little apprehensive about starting out on our journey and unsure of our destination. I had a general idea of how to get there but not exactly. What a blessing it was when one of the church members answered the phone at Underwood Baptist and told me the way to come. I'm sure there were many ways to get to Underwood Baptist Church...but there is only ONE way to receive forgiveness for our sins, have a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST and live in heaven with HIM and our brothers and sisters in CHRIST forever. Many have a general knowledge of how to get to heaven, but unlike Underwood Baptist Church, there is only one way to the FATHER and that way, is through HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, "by the Way of the Cross," John 14:6. "For GOD so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that HE [even] gave up HIS only-begotten (unique) SON, so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies on) HIM shall not perish-come to destruction, be lost-but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16 Amplified. May we be ever be diligent to tell others how they too can know JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR and spend eternity with HIM...sharing faithfully, "I Have Come By the Way of the Cross."

With all HIS love,
mitzi


"For CHRIST, the Messiah, sent me out not to baptize but to (evangelize by) preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel); and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of CHRIST should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain-fruitless, void of value and of no effect.
For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestaton of] the power of GOD.
For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning, I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing. [Isaiah 29:14].
Where is the wise man-the philospher? Where is the scribe-the scholar? Where is the investigator-the logician, the debater-of this present time and age? Has not GOD shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world's wisdom?
For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know GOD by means of its own philosophy, GOD in HIS wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [of salvation, procured by CHRIST and to be had through HIM], to save those who believed-who clung to and trusted in and relied on HIM."
I Corinthians 1:17-21 Amplified


I have included a video of "By the Way of the Cross," from You Tube. It's not Taranda singing it, but whoever is singing does a beautiful job...to GOD be the glory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyZDhk4YfFU&feature=related