Grace Preachers List: Harry Ironside

Any time we have a discussion of great grace preachers then Harry Ironside must be included in that list! Harry Ironside was born in Canada in 1876 and experienced a difficult but amazing childhood. At birth he was declared dead and laid aside while medical attention was focused on his mother. It was nearly 40 minutes later that an attendant discovered a faint pulse and efforts to fully revive him were started. His early years were difficult too. His father died when he was only two. The family moved to Los Angeles where young Harry began to develop spiritually. His mother attempted to find a church with a children's Sunday School but they were not successful so young Harry at age 11 started his own! He organzied his neighborhood buddies to help him sew together hundreds of burlap bags and make a tent to house their Sunday School. Soon 60 children and several adults were attending. Because Harry was unable to find a teacher for the class he did that too! He began street preaching in his early teens and was deeply inspired by attending a large evangelistic crusade in L.A. that featured the preaching of D.L. Moody. Although Ironside would acquire no formal education beyond the 8th grade he was mightily used of God throughout his career.
Amazingly, Harry Ironside preached 7000 sermons to 1.25 million people from 1916 to 1929. He would preach the gospel on the streets if he had no church to preach in and he preached the true free grace gospel! His many accomplishments include the preaching of Billy Sunday's funeral and the pastoring the famous Moody Church in Chicago. Here is a fabulous quote by Ironside on the true nature of faith and repentance...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past … Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

The gospel is good news to be believed! Friend, if you died today are you sure you would go to heaven? If you did die today and you were to stand before God and He were to ask you "Why should I let you into my Heaven?" what would you tell Him? Watch the little video in the right side bar or read this short message. Trust Christ today! Harry Ironside would want you to do that and I want you to know God's forgiveness and the wonders of Heaven!

Zac Brown Band "Ain't In No Hurry" Lyrics Reflect A Typical Response To The Gospel

I have to confess that since marrying my sweet wife nearly 37 years ago that my musical tastes have evolved a bit. I used to be a little too heavily exposed to classic rock but her influence on my life has brought a lot of gospel and a little country too. We were in the car the other day listening to a classic country station out of Manhattan, Kansas, and I heard a song entitled "Ain't In No Hurry" by a group called the Zac Brown Band. The group is wildly successful. They have produced 9 straight #1 hits, won 2 Grammys and won the Best New Artist Award in 2010. The six members of this Georgia band are fun to listen to but as I reflected on the words to their new hit I was saddened in my spirit by what I heard. See if you can find the same concern in these lyrics...

You know my old car needs washing
And the front yard needs a trim
And the telephone keeps ringing
And the bossman knows I know it's him
And the bills ain't gonna pay themselves
No matter anyway
Cause I ain't in no hurry today

There's nothing wrong with an old cane fishing pole
And the smell of early spring
Sit down in a fold-up easy chair
On a quiet shady river bank
Let the world go on without me
Wouldn't have it any other way
Cause I ain't in no hurry today
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/z/zac_brown_band/aint_in_no_hurry.html ]
Ain't in no hurry
I'd Be a fool now to worry
About all those things I can't change
And the time that I borrow
Can wait till tomorrow
Cause I ain't in no hurry today

When I must return
To the cold cold ground
Have 'em take their time
When they lay this sinner down

Heaven knows that I ain't perfect
I've raised a little cain
And I plan to raise a whole lot more
Before I hear those angels sing
(Gonna get right with the lord)
But there'll be hell to pay
But I ain't in no hurry

Ain't in no hurry
Be a fool now to worry
About all those things I can't change
And the time that I borrow
Can wait till tomorrow
Cause I ain't in no hurry
Ain't in no hurry
Ain't in no hurry today

 

I bet you noticed the words in question. It may be a small matter to most folks but it bothered me. 

 

  (Gonna get right with the lord)
But there'll be hell to pay
But I ain't in no hurry

 

I'm gonna get right with the Lord, but "I ain't in no hurry". It's a subtle but super serious little insight into their thinking concerning eternal issues. We all have a problem and that problem is that we are sinners by birth and by choice in our daily lives. The penalty for that problem is that it carries an eternal punishment in a place called Gehenna or Hell. That is a serious dilemma. The good news is that God sent His only Son to die on the cross in order to make full payment for our sins if we would only believe in Him and on Him for our salvation. The Bible refers to this need as "urgent" and something that needs to be done right now!

2 Corinthians 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

 

It really couldn't get much clearer than that could it? Today is the day, now is the time! If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior then you need to do it now...today. You need to hurry! We don't know what tomorrow holds. My brother shared a story with me this week concerning his 22 year old son hearing of a dear friend in Chicago dying instantly in a car wreck. This young man was only 22 and it was doubtful that he was a believer in Christ. He never hurried to make that decision and death caught him by surprise. Do you have plans to get right with the Lord someday? Don't plan on "someday" do it now. Watch the little video in the right side bar of this site. Come to Jesus today!

 

 

 

Will A Zombie Apocalypse Happen? Why You Need A Guide To Surviving The Days Ahead

2 Timothy 3:1-4

King James Version (KJV)

3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
³ Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
⁴ Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  These words of the Apostle Paul describe the traits of people who will be alive during the "last days". I have stated repeatedly that I believe we are living in the last days, the end times. I think that any honest evaluation of natural disasters, collapsing economies, famine, mass animal deaths, earthquakes, signs in the heavens and impending nuclear war would lead any rational person to conclude the same thing. 
The two incidents of cannibalism in Maryland and Florida this past week have been seized upon by the "zombie" culture that is so prevalent in America. Americans find entertaining and amusing ways to make fun of bizarre and sinful behavior. We create books, movies and games to trivialize the collapse of society and the sinful descent of man. Many are claiming that we are seeing the advent of a zombie apocalypse. I would tell you that we are seeing more evidence of the soon coming of Christ and the beginning of the Biblical tribulation.
Paul said that in the last days men would be "fierce". That pretty well describes the events in Miami doesn't it? Paul also said that men would be "incontinent" which simply means uncontrollable. We are witnessing the total unraveling of the fabric of civilized societies. What we are seeing now is just a taste of the horrors to come. Everyone who reads this blog post would be well served by reading the book of Revelation again. Pay particular attention to chapters 5 through 19 as John the Revelator describes the events that are about to occur on this planet. Those things coming to our world will be so frightening that the Scriptures say that men's hearts will fail in fear of those coming on the Earth! In fact, the events that are going to happen will claim the lives of over half the Earth's population.
Will a zombie apocalypse happen? No, something much worse is going to happen. Your only hope of surviving is the guide to the supernatural - the Bible! The Scriptures tell us that surviving the days ahead will only be the result of a rescue by One who is called Savior and Redeemer. Paul described early believers in the Lord Jesus this way...

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

King James Version (KJV)

⁹ For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
¹⁰ And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

I like to think those word describe me. I am waiting for God's Son from Heaven. I believe that He has been raised from the dead. I believe He will deliver me from the wrath to come! Jesus is the only way to survive the coming apocalypse. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? Time is running out. Watch the little video in the right sidebar. Let me know what you decide concerning Jesus.