All posts by Robin Brandon

About Robin Brandon

God has blessed me to be the father of two and the grandfather of two (so far). I've been around the world in the US Navy and retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority. I've received a degree from Murray State and I've been married to the same wonderful woman for 32 years (so far). My home, my County has chosen me to be their Mayor. God is good, all the time.

Sunday Morning Sunday School for October 19, 2014.

Sanctified Holy.

Are you “sanctified holy”?  What does it mean to be, “sanctified holy”?

Brother R.B. Dowd, may he rest in peace, was a former Pastor of the Long Creek Church of the Nazarene at Long Creek, TN.  He introduced me to the phrase “sanctified holy” back in 1998.  Since then, I have sought to learn just what it means to be “sanctified holy”.

Could I be “sanctified holy”?  Could you, Dear Reader, be “sanctified holy”?  Could anyone be?

Taken in the religious content, “sanctify” means:  To set aside for sacred use, to purify.

“Holy” means:  Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.

So, if “you” are sanctified holy it means that “you”, defining “you” as the body, the flesh, the mind, the spirit and your soul, have set “yourself” aside for sacred use ONLY by, and through, the divine power of God.  That is, every part of “you” is set aside for God.

Taken in a generic content, “sanctification” means: “the state of proper functioning.” So, to sanctify something or someone means that we set that thing or that person apart for ONLY the use that was intended by its creator. It would mean that a pen is “sanctified” when it is only used to write.  If you use a pen as a pointer it is no longer sanctified.  Eyeglasses are “sanctified” only when worn to improve your vision.  Your eyeglasses are not sanctified if they rest on your head as they are not being used for their intended purpose.  In the religious sense, people are sanctified when they are used for the purpose according to God’s design.

If you are sanctified holy then you walk in the Spirit of the Lord every waking moment of your life.

Galatians 5:16 says,

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

So you can, Dear Reader, be “sanctified holy” but it is not as easy as it looks.  There was only one perfect being and that was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The only person that I have ever known to be even close to being sanctified holy was Brother R.B. Dowd.  He lived every second of his life walking in the Spirit and sharing the gospel.  God’s light was forever showing through him.  He showed me that it could be done, if you worked at it unceasingly.

Romans 12:1 says,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Praise the Lord.

The Bible, the word of God, is our handbook to salvation.  It is the peace that passes all understanding.  Thank you for sharing it with PNN today.

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Editor’s Note: In the interest of full disclosure; I am not sanctified holy. I try to be and I work to be better almost all of the time as I try to help people and treat people fairly but there are times when I can’t hold my tongue or my pen.  I am constantly asking God to help me with my struggle of brutally calling things as I see them rather than just rolling over and taking it like I did when I was younger.  Back then, I sat blindly by and trusted man’s “authority”.  I have learned that man’s authority is not always right.  God tells me that it is sometimes better to point out a mistake rather than let it turn into something worse.  I used to hold my tongue but now, in my older age, I have learned that if you don’t take up for yourself you will get run over and silence only empowers, even more, those that don’t give a darn about anybody but themselves.

As I have mentioned here before, I don’t hold a monopoly on the truth, just my understanding of it.  I always ask for people to correct me if they believe I have spoken incorrectly.  I am always open to hearing the other side of the argument.  I am grateful that PNN is beginning to get comments after each story. I encourage everyone to go back and read them and join in the discussion.

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STEWART COUNTY REBELS WIN!

DATELINE: Dover, TN 10/17/2014

From the opening kick-off until the final whistle, the SCHS Football Rebels played with the passion, speed, and intensity that we’ve been looking for all season and defeated the visiting and highly ranked Lewis County Panthers tonight 26-15 in front of an appreciative and adoring home crowd. The Rebels tasted sweet victory for the second time this year.

The young men played and were coached as if a fire had been lit beneath them and whipped the Panthers in every facet of the game.

Led by Linebacker Ryan Pinkowski, Lewis County could do nothing on offense and were lucky to get even 15 points against an aggressive, hard hitting, and tenacious Rebel defense.

With a superior ground game that chewed up minute after precious minute, the Rebels running backs Tobias Clark and Jeremy Waters followed an offensive line that fired off the ball play after play after play and pounded that Lewis County defense for all it was worth.  The running backs hit the line hard, like a Mack truck, and punished every would-be tackler.  They made certain that Lewis County would remember the Rebels.

QB Trey Wienk ran the ground control offense that Coach Finley is famous for and left nothing to chance as they gained first down after first down and when the Rebels scored late on a 4th and 1 at the goal line to put the game out of reach, they silenced, once and for all, those annoying cow bells emanating from the visiting side.

Left bloody and battered, the Lewis County players and coaches settled in for what surely will be a very long bus ride home.

The Rebels will celebrate tonight and they deserve it.

PNN would have liked to have seen this fire lit from game one and perhaps the Rebels could have gone to the State Playoffs, as some predicted, but better late than never and this is a win that the players, coaches, and fans can be proud of.

Confidence, attitude, and a noticeable intensity in Rebel eyes are what we saw tonight.

Remember from where you summoned up this intensity and motivation, Rebel players and Coaches.  Bottle it, and then release it again next Friday night.

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Sunday Morning Sunday School for October 5th, 2014.

“God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.”

Matthew 13:51, 52 says,

51 Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They answered, “Yes, Lord.”

52 He said to them, Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.

Some parables are old and hard to understand but we must try to understand them and apply them to our lives today.  Likewise, God says we must uncover new treasures and share new parables, as well.

Jesus made sure to ask his disciples, do you understand?

Why did Jesus make sure to ask if they understood?  Because sometimes we might not immediately understand everything in front of us.  Sometimes we come off as being nutty.  If we don’t understand something we have to think about it, we have to talk about it, we have to study it more.  Then, when we come to better understand the glory of our God, when the picture becomes clear, we will truly yield the spiritual fruits that He wants us to share with others.

Praise the Lord.

The Bible, the word of God, is our handbook to salvation.  It is the peace that passes all understanding.  Thank you for sharing it with PNN today.

RLB4

Go Houston County Fighting Irish!

The Houston County Fighting Irish 2014 football squad is a team to remember for all time.  With stout determination and fearlessness they have battled all year to keep their numbers high but injuries have plagued them and their squad has dwindled to 14, barely above the scant 11 needed to field a team.

But this is not a story about the quantity of that number.  This is a story about the quality of that number.  What is left in the numbers of this 2014 Irish football team is a program that will be marked in history.  These young student athletes play with the hearts of champions.  These young men, and the school they represent, are the future and the strength of Houston County.  They carry the mail for the County on Friday nights and they do it under a tremendous hardship.

They are 14 hearts of stone, 14 hearts of Irish green and gold.  They come together, on Friday nights, against overwhelming odds to perform, to work, and to sacrifice.  They endure this long season of hard knocks for their families and for their school.  They withstand the fight against the 50-60 young men on the other side of the field every Friday night for their honor and for their pride and they do it for the nearly four score years of history making Irish teams that did it before them.  But most of all they do it for themselves because these Houston Countians just won’t quit.  In their hearts of green and white and gold they will not let their tradition die.  Not on their watch.

Showing up, representing?  It is now a green badge of honor that this team of Irish wear on game night.  They are Fighting Irish survivors and they are models of true grit, unyielding endurance, and dogged tenacity.

They are the transition between feast and famine. They may be small in numbers and short on wins but they still share a common bond and a common connection with those heroic Irish teams of the past.  They are hungry for another win.  They sweat and bleed together from Monday through Thursday working to get one.  They work out in the weight rooms during the winter and they run in the summer.  They come together, all 14 of them now with their injured players, coaches, and legacy on certain, special Friday nights.  In the fall of Houston County with a cool crispness in the air these giants of the gridiron continue a tradition of green Irish football pride.  Its not just what they do, it is who they are.  It is the true heart of green and white and gold all over.

We can see it from Potneck.

Many current Houston County citizens have stood on the Houston County fields of old and new and sweated and bled and gave their all for Irish green.  Those Irish warriors of old are now called to return once more to the Friday night lights.  Your young Irish players need you.  On at least one Friday night this year, go and cheer loudly for your team.  They will hear you.  They fight the good fight for you, for your memory.  Honor them now with your presence and your voices.  Show them how proud you are of them for carrying your flag.

Rise up, 2014 Houston County Fighting Irish Football Team.  You stand on the shoulders of champions and they will keep you strong.

Much honor and respect from Potneck to our southern neighbors in Houston County.

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The Beauty of PNN?

There is a little button at the end of every story on PNN that says, “Leave a Comment”.

Please click on it and share your thoughts.  PNN doesn’t claim to hold a monopoly on the truth, just OUR understanding of it.  We will endeavor to correct any mistakes.

The beauty of PNN is that people can respond at ANY TIME in real time and voice their concerns and, PNN promises, your opposing views will be displayed here on this format.  You can even post anonymously.

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Life is short.

In the blink of God’s eye our lives begin, they play out, and then they are over.

How did you live your life?  What legacy, what history, do you leave behind?

Find inspiration in the video below.

God isn’t found just in a building. God is found first, and foremost, in your heart.

God bless you all.

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