Month: October 2019

Note: This is a blog I shared a few months ago that has been unfortunately updated due to the death of my friend. 

Have you ever had a mentor in your life? I have had many. In my work career I can think of at least three different guys who took me under their wings. They took the raw talent I had and shaped it into a formidable force. I gained all kinds of knowledge under their tutelage.

But today I am not talking about that kind of mentor. Today I want to talk about a spiritual man who has over our short friendship through his quiet, unshakeable faith has been able to show me the character of God in such a powerful way by just being who he was. Today I want to talk to you about my friend Joey Grimsley.

I am sure some of you reading this who knew Joey are already grinning. I bet you are thinking about some time when he had done something in your life that has brightened, enlightened or just filled that empty space with a Godly joy. Joey was that kind of guy. For those of you who have not had the privilege of knowing my friend, I guess the best way to share is to tell the story of our friendship.

It starts months before Joey and I ever met. In an amazing, God-led turn of events in 2016 I ‘met’ RuthAnn on Facebook. I have shared the story several times. From May through July of that year our only form of communication was through instant messages. Somewhere in July we graduated to actually speaking on the phone. And it was not long after that I first heard the names of RuthAnn’s friends Joey and Robin Grimsley.

I knew very little about them except they lived in a remote part of northern Georgia. A place I had vague and very dated knowledge about because once upon time about 3 decades ago I had worked on some TVA dams in the area. Now living a continent away in the wilds of Oregon, none of it rang out solid memories. But the more RuthAnn shared the more I heard about a couple who loved with their hearts, not just their heads. Christians who were really living a Christ like life. I was fascinated that they accepted me as their friend without even meeting me just because RuthAnn was growing in love for me as I was for her.

As the story goes RuthAnn and I finally met in September when she flew out to Oregon. We knew that there was little doubt that God had drawn us together and after a few more meeting in our trans-continental relationship we decided to marry. It was not until the wedding day itself in late December of 2016 that I finally met Joey and Robin.

As I entered the church and was preparing for the ceremony I was approached by this couple with broad warm smiles. They both hugged me like a long, lost friend. I have to admit, I was already in shock. My stable life in Grants Pass, Oregon was about to be exchanged for a life in Georgia among strangers but meeting these two seemed to give me an easy feeling. Maybe all was going to be alright. Maybe this was not going to be as scary as I thought.

Once I was settled into our life, I found that even though Joey and Robin lived 4 hours away, we met often. Normally for birthdays among a group of friends who had been doing this for quite a while. Again, in this group I felt out of place. RuthAnn’s deceased husband had been a member and I felt like I was intruding in a way. But it was Joey who broke through my fears. Yes, all the others were loving and accepting but Joey quietly and so lovingly let me know his friendship was genuine. It was his presence that was my assurance.

Over the next years Joey was there. When I started writing a blog, he and Robin became my most avid readers, encouraging me in ways that only true friends can. When I was asked to be an elder in the Macon church, it was Joey who I turned to for prayer and counsel. When disappointment and discouragement was handed me in that church it was Joey who had simple words of faith that lightened my heart. Believe me, folks, I am not the only one who knows all this about Joey. Whenever RuthAnn and I visited the Blairsville SDA Church where Joey had been an elder and leader, I saw the same love and respect shown by every person I met. I was treated like an honored guest being a friend of the Grimsley’s.

There is so much more I could write. His strong prayer life strengthened mine. His sense of humor brightened dark corners when I needed it, his calming words and genuine love gave me more than I gave in return. Joey Grimsley changed my life in ways that have drawn me closer to my Savior, what more can I say!

Sadly, on Sunday October 27^th my friend and mentor fell asleep in Christ. To say we all mourn his loss is a big  understatement but words fail me. I will miss his sometimes-sneaky sense of humor. I will miss his encouragement. I will miss his strength and his love. I will miss Joey and I know I am not alone.

Jesus said this, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) I have struggled to live this simple but amazingly hard verse, but I can truly say I knew a man who did it daily. I love and miss you, my good friend, Joey. The light of Christ in you has been a beacon for this lost man. Thank You!

Blessings,

John

Updated

10/28/19

He sat down next to me. I thought, “there are plenty of open seats on this bus, why does he have to sit here?” As the Greyhound pulled out of Chicago station I tried to ignore the man, but found myself glancing over. He looked like the oldest black man I had ever seen. I pulled a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket and was about to light up, when I heard him say, “Them things are gonna kill you, son.” I lit up anyway blowing smoke in his direction. A smile came on his time etched face. He began to chuckle.

For the first time I looked directly at him and said, “What is so funny?” He looked at me with dark eyes that seem to sparkle, “Why, I was just thinking how young folks loves to do everything that ain’t no good for them.” He said almost laughing now. “Some things never change.”

I turned toward the window and smoked in a sulky silence. In a while, I heard he was humming a tune. Something I had never heard before. The sound was melodic and soothing but it irritated me that I was enjoying it. The old man nudged me and said, “Son, have you ever been to a circus?” I replied, “Yeah, lots of times.” Of course, this was a lie because I had only been to a circus once when I was so young I barely remembered it, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him. He returned to humming, even louder and a few of the passengers near us were looking now. In a while he grew silent.

“I worked the circus for many years,” he said suddenly, “You know what a roustabout is?” I had to admit he had my interest and said, “No, what is it.” At this he became animated and strangely even looked younger. “When you is a roustabout, working the big circuses, you need to know how to do everything. Some days you is setting up the big top and others feeding and caring for the big cats. You just never know. I was a roustabout for nigh 45 years.”

I waited for more but nothing came. We drew back into silence until he hummed his song again, this time so quiet that even I could barely hear him. I must have dozed off and when I awoke, he was reading. He looked up from the book and said, “It is fine that you can sleep on these buses, I never could, so I always carry my good book with me, a fine time for me and the Lord to catch up with one another.” At that he pointed at the old battered book and said, “You know this book, son?” Irritated again, I said, “Yeah who doesn’t, everyone knows about the bible.” With this he smiled again and said, “It ain’t knowin’ about it that counts, it is about knowing Him who is in it, how you doing with that?” I didn’t want to talk about it and asked him, “How did you become a roustabout?” He quietly said, “Know ye that the Lord he is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

Then he turned to me and said, “I was born in Boone County, Kentucky. My daddy was a preacher man. When I was young, maybe even younger than you, a circus came to town. Man, I was lost in all of it and decided right then and right there that I was going to get me a job working in a circus.” The laugh returned, it was full this time and his whole body shook with the fullness of it. “The problem was that my daddy had me pegged to be a preacher, just like him. But being of a wise young age… I knew better.” He grew a bit more solemn and said, “Within a year, I had run away. And I found that circus, alright.” Silence then, “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) He sighed, “Almost 50 years ago I made that deal with the devil and if it wasn’t for the Lord himself, I could have lost it all.” His smile returned as he said, “Now I take every chance I can to talk to young folks, let them know, you don’t have to decide to lose your soul today.” He then quoted this verse, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:28)

He talked more about his life, the good and the bad. I listened with ears of a 17-year-old. Knowing that his failings would never be mine. I even felt superior to this man because in my eyes he was a failure, a sad old man riding a bus with nothing better to do than bother young folks with his story of woe.

The thing is I am now as ‘ancient’ as I thought him to be and I regret that I did not take his words to heart. I too went on to live my life of woe and now I travel the ‘bus ways’ of the internet sharing my story. And today I want to agree with that traveler. I never knew his name but he left me with something better, his testimony and his hope. I want to leave you with that today. Before he got off the bus at Oshkosh, he said this, “Son, try to share the love of God with everyone you meet, if they don’t want it. It’s like puttin’ money in the bank for them. Believe me the time will come when they need it.” In my mind I see him slowly walking away down the aisle of the old bus and know he was right. Today I got a withdrawal with interest, I hope you did too.

By the way the song he hummed is called, “Give me Jesus”, here are a few of the words:

Take the world but give me Jesus, All it’s joys are but a name; But His love abideth ever, through eternal years the same.

Oh, the height and depth of mercy! Oh the length and breadth of love! Oh the fullness of redemption, Pledge of endless life above.

To that I say amen,

John

10/21/19

Dead End, the sign read. I had been driving around this neighborhood and ending up here at this exact place for at least an hour. Straining my eyes to see the address, that had been written down on a bar napkin, I was sure it had to be somewhere close by. 2347 Highland Drive. But that could not be right. I was sitting at what had to be the end of Highland Drive and the last house had been 2237. There must be another street by the same name or there had to be another section of this road somewhere else. It probably made no difference any more. I had been a half hour late when I arrived in the neighborhood and with the time I had spent looking, my opportunity must be gone. The guy I was seeking to meet must have left. Another waste of time.

As I sat thinking and was about to turn the car around one last time, I noticed headlights coming my way. Must be someone who lived in one of these houses just behind of where I was parked. Wrong again. As the car drew closer it lit up red and blue, great, a cop car.

Now I was panicked, I was holding about an 1/8 a gram of speed and there was no place to ditch it. Still maybe I could shove it in the lining of the trucks seat cover and then hope for the best. Grabbing under the seat I tried not to look too suspicious. I did not want the cops to think I was reaching for a gun or anything. Slowly I slipped the baggie up and tucked it near the seat belt just as I heard a car door open and could see an officer approaching in my driver’s side rearview mirror. He stopped near the taillight of my truck and in the glow of it I saw his hand was on his holster. I raised both of my hands and settled them on the steering wheel where he could see them, shouting over my shoulder through the driver’s side window I said, “I am unarmed! What is the problem?”

I looked in the passenger’s side mirror in time to see while I had been distracted with the one cop, another had moved silently to the passenger’s door and now turned on an enormous flash light, lighting up the entire interior of the truck. Keeping my hands on the steering wheel I lowered my head to cut the glare and heard a voice through the open driver’s window, “Son, don’t move till I tell you, I am going to open this door and ask you to step out of the truck slowly… keeping those hands where I can see them.” The rest happened quickly, as I got out, hands raised I was turned and leaned against the truck cab and searched. By then both cops were in front of me. Again, I asked, “What is the problem? I am lost and have been looking for an address but haven’t been doing anything.” The cop who had frisked me now was looking inside my truck. Under the seats and in the glove box, while the other held the light on me, they did not speak. Finally, the cop leaned back out of the truck with my registration. “Are you John Weston? Is this your truck?” As I nodded, I could feel sweat running down my back. As I glanced into the truck in the bright light, I could see a corner of the baggie with my drugs poking out near the seat belt buckle. Raising my head toward the sky and out of the glaring flashlight, I saw the Dead End sign again. “Yeah,” I thought, “ain’t this perfect? No where to run, no where to hide…my life keeps ending up right here. Another dead end!”

I’ve written a lot of blogs about my messed-up life and how accepting Jesus has changed it, I guess that is what I do. Every one of those stories were about dead ends because that was my life. Like in the story I am sharing today, my life was me wandering in the dark in search of something, I never was sure of what, and of course never finding what I was seeking. Coming to the realization I was at the Dead End sign again. Drugs, alcohol, sex and all the worldly pleasures are so enticing, yet every one of them is the real ‘dead end’ better known as death.

I am sure I could quote all kinds of statistics, but I think God’s Word says it best, “For the wages of sin is death…” that is from the book of Romans. And if it ended there a guy like me would always be at a dead end forever and so would you, but there is hope because the second part of that same verse says, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

When I began to trust in Jesus, all the dead-end roads were now open. Yes, I had to leave behind those things that had kept me wandering and lost. And it took time to find a new and better GPS. Oh, not the one you have in your car or on your phone this GPS stands for “God’s Plan of Salvation” and it is found in His Word. When you have this GPS there are no more dead ends, only roads that lead to eternal life. And it is free because Jesus already paid the price on the cross. How cool is that?

Back at that Dead End sign, I was not arrested. One of the locals had called the cops seeing a strange truck wandering through their neighborhood for over an hour. Once they were satisfied, I had no weapons and was basically harmless, they let me go without searching my truck further. I had been saved again at another dead end in my life, but I was to lost in my addictions to see it at the time. How blessed am I today to know that at all those dead ends there was hope and a new road if I just looked to the one who was already looking for me? If you are at a dead end today, seek Him using a better GPS. With it you can’t miss the road to eternity. It is a sure thing.

Blessings John,

10/14/19

 

Are you a person who finds words fascinating? Well, I sure do. I will be having a conversation and hear a word l have probably heard 1000 times before and all of a sudden it will hit me, “Hmm, that is an odd word. I wonder where it came from?” That happened this morning when RuthAnn and I were talking about a deadline for the grand opening of our renovated community center. When I heard the word deadline, I was struck how strange it is and immediately began to wonder where it came from.

Now I have used the word innumerable times myself. In construction you are always working against one deadline or another. The pressure is always on. So, I had heard the word repeatedly but this morning something set off my ‘word alarm’ and I needed to find out.

The wonder and the curse of our age is that just about all information known is now at our fingertips. I have to admit I have become as jaded as anyone when it comes to using the internet to seek the most trivial information. So, of course, when I wanted an answer to this word alarm question I headed to the unimpeachable source (said with much sarcasm), Google! And here is what I found:

Most etymologists agree that the word “deadline” first appeared during the American Civil War (1861-1865). According to author Christine Ammer, deadline was coined at the hellish Andersonville, GA prison camp, and first appeared in writing in the report of Confederate Inspector-General, Colonel D.T. Chandler, on July 5, 1864. In describing the horrific conditions, he famously wrote: “The Federal prisoners of war are confined within a stockade 15 feet high, of roughly hewn pine logs, about 8 inches in diameter, inserted 5 feet into the ground, enclosing, including the recent extension, an area of 540 by 260 yards. A railing around the inside of the stockade, and about 20 feet from it, constitutes the “deadline,” beyond which the prisoners are not allowed to pass . . . [as a large portion is] at present unfit for occupation . . . [this] gives somewhat less than 6 square feet to each prisoner . . .”

I was amazed by the source of the word. Living where I do in Georgia, I have walked the grounds of Andersonville Prison and seen the very location that D.T. Chandler spoke of. With this knowledge, all of a sudden, the word deadline takes on a deeper and, in some ways, more disturbing meaning. From now on either fortunately or unfortunately for me each time I either hear or use this word I will recall the inhumanity that we as mankind can wrought on one another. But when I reread the Colonel’s description of the prison, it made me think that when we are prisoners of sin, Satan has us in the exact situation as is described.

Now you may think I am stretching the point here but bear with me a bit. When I was living the ‘free’ life having no thought of the laws of God or if I did almost reveling in breaking them, I was actually building my own prison and erecting a ‘deadline’ I never dare cross. The difference was that the men in Andersonville knew they were in hell and if they crossed that line it meant sure death. In my case Satan convinced me that my prison was a place of endless pleasure and if I crossed the deadline, I would never have joy in my life again. The truth was I was entrapped in a life that meant death unless I was willing to cross not the deadline but the lifeline, allowing Jesus to transform me.

You see, being trapped in Satan’s prison is, in some ways, more hellish than even Andersonville and the main reason is that those of us who have lived or are living there are convinced that God is the jailer, he is the one who has set up deadlines, he is the one who steals and kills, but the truth is, it aint true. Here is what Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) It is Satan who steals and destroys, it is he who imprisons and he who lied to me all those years, convincing me that I could not live a life filled with joy and freedom obeying the laws of God. I am here to tell you; I have and I am.

This is the truth and if you can believe it, it will set you free, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16) God does not set ‘deadlines’ he will not let us cross. We have free will and can choose our own path. But I have lived in Satan’s prison and he sure does not give you these same options. But fear not, cross that line and trust in Jesus. Unlike Andersonville there is no deadline in the prison you may be in today. There is a lifeline, named Jesus Christ!

Blessings.
John
10/7/19