Thanks for the memories!
Not long ago I was watching a video of a friend of mine, Tommy Vinson, that was delivering a sermon in Tennessee. The title of his sermon was “Thanks for the memories”. He related this to a time when he was in Japan and passed a limousine with Bob Hope riding in it. He, Bob Hope, had performed at Kadena AFB and was probably on his way to another overseas location.
Hearing Tommy say this brought back some tremendous memories for me. I was able to attend one of those Christmas programs that Bob Hope brought to the troops in Southeast Asia. I was stationed in Thailand at the time just before being shipped over to Vietnam.
The program was tremendous and the stars that came with him were Connie Stevens, Miss World, the Gold Diggers, and more. I am sure some of the younger generation will not have a clue who I am talking about, but for me these people brought happiness and memories to many soldiers that will never forget them. They gave up their holiday time with family and friends to come and perform for all of us that were thousands of miles away from home and lifted our spirits.
In his sermon, Tommy spoke about the Apostle Paul and his memories of the church of Philippi. His text came from Philippians 1:1-6. The church of Philippi was very gracious to the Apostle Paul and supported him in his ministry.
All of us in our life of today will have memories from where we have been and who we have interacted with. Some of these will be good and some not so good. We will tend to remember the ones that helped us along our way and remember the good times, the teachings, and the times of listening from those that supported us. They gave us a good path to follow, so it is up to us as how we treat those traveling beside us as to how they remember us. This old world has changed so much from when I was younger. We have allowed people to display more ingratitude for things passed on to them instead of being thankful and pushing forward the good character and morals that should be given. Timothy warns us in 2 Timothy 3:1-9, that these are perilous times for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, unloving, unforgiving, and much more.
I am so thankful that I have good memories of my past. I really appreciate the teachings of my parents and teachers and what they instilled in me. They taught me about life. They were not afraid to speak up for Jesus and His Word and why we all should accept Christ as our Savior. They did not water down His Word to make it fit the world’s teachings.
Yes, I have a lot of good memories. I appreciated what Bob Hope and the others did for the soldiers that were serving overseas. I appreciate my friend Tommy Vinson for his love and dedication to the Word of God and being a preacher that is not afraid to stand up and speak up. I also have fond memories of the times he and I played baseball together in junior college.
Itismyhopethatyouhavegoodmemories of your past and I pray that you are living good and moral lives so that others will have great memories of you.
Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for the memories that I have of my past and the people that I was around. I thank you for Tommy Vinson and his ministry and pray that you will continue to bless him. Amen.
