Dr. J.T. Lyons

Dr. J.T. Lyons  – PFAFFTOWN, NC

Dr. Julius Theophilus "J.T." Lyons passed away at his home on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. He was born in Kershaw, SC to the late Marry Idell Morris Lyons and William Edward Lyons. He was the youngest of twelve children; four daughters and eight sons. At the age of two, his parents moved to Bennettsville, SC and later moved to Cheraw, SC where he was raised. At the age of eighteen, Mr. Lyons was drafted into the Armed Forces of our country and he served faithfully for four years in the United States Navy during WWII and was discharged in January 1946. In 1947, he married Iva Janet Driggers of Wallace, SC.

They made their home in Charlotte, NC and were saved by the grace of God on December 4, 1955. God called Dr. Lyons to preach when He saved him. In 1956, he enrolled in Tennessee Temple University to further his education that would help him in his preaching. In 1959 during a Missions Conference at Highland Park Baptist Church, Dr. and Mrs. Lyons surrendered their lives to go to Liberia, West Africa as Missionaries serving with Baptist Mid- Missions. In Liberia, Dr. Lyons served as a Bush Pilot, mechanic, builder, and most of all, a preacher of the gospel.

After 18 years in Liberia, God moved them to the country of Spain where they pioneered the work there for Baptist Mid-Missions. They labored in Spain for 17 years and continued winning souls. Because of health problems they had to return to the States, but Dr. Lyons continued his ministry in Missions until his Heavenly Father called him to his new home.

Dr. Lyons is survived by his devoted wife, Iva Janet Lyons; four sons, Steven Randolph, Sanford Leroy, Michael Dean and Jonathan David Lyons; ten grand-children; and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be conducted 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 21 at Woodland Baptist Church with the Rev. Tim Gammons and the Rev. Jonathan David Lyons officiating. Burial will follow at Crestview Memorial Park with Military Honors provided by the VFW Memorial Honor Guard. The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, February 20 at Woodland Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Woodland Baptist Church Building Fund, 1175 Bethania-Rural Hall Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27105.

Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com.

One thing can be said of Brother Lyons, he was a faithful servant and he fought a goodfight and finished his course, he kept the faith.

            CHURCH

Woodland Baptist Church

P. O. Box 673

Winston-Salem, NC 27045 (336) 969-2088 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (336) 969-2088      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

            FUNERAL HOME

Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home, Inc

1175 Bethania Rural Hall Road 

Rural Hall, NC 27045

Phone 336-969-5593 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            336-969-5593      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax 336-969-6953

My Perfect Valentine

My Perfect Valentine:
                He loves me; He shows me every single day, whether it be in a big way, or a simple gesture to show He cares and that I am on His mind.  He knows exactly what I need and when I need it.  He rejoices with me, He cries with me, He encourages me, He keeps me going.  He never lets me down; He is always faithful, even when I forget Him sometimes.  He completes me.

You know those candy hearts with the little messages?  Some say “HUG ME” or “MISS YOU”.  Well I found the perfect candy heart from God today!

Isaiah 43:1- But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

At the end of the verse it says “THOU ART MINE”.  I am God’s!  He says not to be afraid, He has called me by my name…I AM HIS!!!  He loves me and he cares for me.  He gives me everything I need.  He protects me, provides every single need, gives me his presence and shows me even in the simplest way that He loves me.  I am Jesus’ Valentine!

Chocolate is a big deal on Valentine’s Day.  It just is.  There are big heart chocolate boxes, medium heart chocolate boxes and small heart chocolate boxes.  Imagine opening one up and seeing all the variety of chocolates.  Your eyes excitingly scan all the different kinds of chocolate.  The sweet aroma of the thick sweetness tickles your nose.  You reach into the box, pick one up and delicately put it in your mouth anticipating the taste.  Suddenly, you realize that is a nasty excuse for a chocolate.  But now, you cannot spit it back out, that would be gross; you cannot make a terrible face because that would be rude.  Smiling, you simply chew as best as you can and swallow hoping the taste leaves your mouth soon.

I have found that our whole life is a huge box of chocolate.  Sometimes we have those days that seem so wonderful, and suddenly, something terrible happens, or something does not go as we want it to.  What do we do?  Well, keep chewing and smiling and make the best of it.  You will not always pick up what you want, but it is what God wants.  So no matter what kind of chocolate we are stuck in right now, be it the sticky caramel, the gooey, messy strawberry or even the nutty one, we know God is in control.  Remember, we are God’s Valentine, He will not do anything to hurt us or give us anything that is bad for us.  He knows exactly what I need and when I need it, even if I do not think it is right.  He knows best.

Today, my chocolate was not the sweetest kind.  Today, my Grandpa, Dr. J.T. Lyons went home to heaven into the loving arms of our Father and Saviour Jesus Christ.  He is rejoicing in his eternal home with his Master whom he served so faithfully.  His death was not unexpected, but I am all the way across on the other side of the country in college.  There is not much I can do.  But I know God is in control.  I know He knows what is best, and I am glad that Grandpa can finally be where he has been longing to be.  His race is finally over!

Grandpa accepted each day as it came and trusted God with it!  So reach into your box of chocolates and accept what God brings today. 

Psalm 34:8- O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Isaiah 30:21
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Many times we want to hear God, but do we listen?  When we hear Him, do we obey?

One thing I have noticed in this verse is the word “behind”.  This indicates that he was already walking when he heard God’s voice.  And that is one of the requirements to hearing God.  If we are not walking in what we KNOW He wants us to do, He will not show us the next step.  WE need to be already walking and on the right path if we want God to further guide us.

Once we are on the right path and following Him, are we prepared to listen?  Do we have a heart that is open to ready to hear what He wants to hear?  Psalm 46:10a says: “Be still, and know that I am God…”  To be still, is to be quiet.  Am I being still and listening for His voice? Am I waiting for His instruction?  He WILL speak to us, He WANTS to speak to us, but He will not force us to listen.  He will speak to us in a still small voice; therefore, we must be attentive and sensitive to His call.

So say you have it down.  You are walking with the Lord, you are doing what He wants, and you hear His voice.  He has given you the next instruction.  Well, are you going to do something about it?  It is possible to listen, but not obey (James 1:22-25).  As a Bible college student, I can prepare, but all the instruction and classes taken does not automatically mean that I will do what God asks of me.  Just being sensitive to the will of God will not do anything if I do not respond.  What good is it to have a challenge, but no change?

Hearing requires a response, but this response all depends on the condition of our hearts.  A cold-hearted Christian is unemotional towards the things of God.  It does not affect them.  The lukewarm Christian is indifferent.  He hears, feels convicted, but there is no change.  Revelation 3:15-16 says: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  God does not want a half-hearted, lukewarm Christian.  He wants a hot-hearted Christian!  He wants us to be on fire for God, excited, willing and ready to serve.

The hot-hearted Christian reminds me of a teapot.  The water is put into the teapot, but it does not serve its purpose until it is boiling.  When the pot starts to whistle and overflow that is when the water is ready to be used.  We are not ready and do not serve our purpose unless we are whistling with joy and overflowing with God.

I want to be that hot-hearted Christian, but to do that, I must give Him my all.  “All means all, and that’s all all means.”  Andrew Murray said this, “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”  But unless we yield to Him, He does not have much to work with.  We can be walking in the right path, listening to His voice, but our response is what will tell us if we REALLY want to know and if we REALLY have a prepared heart.

My desire is to be able to pray this prayer (Betty Scott Stam, China Inland Mission worker):
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my time, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou will, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.” 

Abound More and More- I Thessalonians 4:1

I Thessalonians 4:1
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

George Müller said: "The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in a wrong spirit."

                I was reading this and it just shocked me when I started reading the beginning part of this quote.  I read, “The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord.”  Oh I agreed with that!  Very true! I went on reading, “The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord…” I stopped.  WHAT? That’s unbiblical!  Of course I need to serve the Lord as much and as often as possible!  What is he thinking? But I went on, “The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, BUT how my inner man might be nourish.”  Then it hit me.  Ohhhh! I can share the Gospel, I can say words of encouragement and be a blessing to others….but so can unbelievers.

Many people KNOW the plan of salvation, the right words to say, but do not believe or accept.  If I do not have a good standing with my Heavenly Father, I have not talked with Him, spent time learning about Him and what He wants for me, I will not be strong and all the works I do are in vain.

The last part of our verse says this: “…so that ye would abound more and more.”  This verse is telling us that we are beseeched and exhorted, or urged and begged, through their example of how to walk and please God, to abound more and more.  We cannot abound (or be rich and well supplied) if we are not taking time to learn about Him!  We need to spend time in the Word, absorbing all we can to better learn how to walk and conduct ourselves in a way that would better please, worship, and bring glory to Him.  In doing this, we will have a more abundant and full life and my relationship with God will be strong, and serving Him will come when I am walking with Him and doing as He asks.

Jeremiah 33:3

Jeremiah 33:3
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

God is full of power and greatness!  Just look around at His creation!  The soft clouds float by on a bright blue canvas; the shining diamonds are spread out so perfectly in the navy blue sky, each leaf on every tree placed by God Himself with only speaking a word.

We should not doubt the greatness of our God or the wonderful works of His wondrous hands.  After all, not a cloud goes by that God does not form and a leaf that does not fall without God’s knowledge of it.  Every star has been counted and named by God.  Psalm 147:4 “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”

Isaiah 40:26 “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringesth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”

Isaiah 40:28 “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.”

Our God indeed is great!!!  Sometimes, we just need to stop and be in awe of Him!  Just think, the Creator of all, the One who holds every drop of water in His hand, loves me!  He wants the best for me, He cares for me.  Dare I say “no” to Him?

He wants to show us “great and mighty things” but we must first call to Him!  He says that He WILL answer us, but we have to call to Him!  He desires to show us how He can work through us, He longs to bless us, He yearns to have fellowship with us, but we must FIRST call unto Him!

Moses, in Exodus chapter 33 calls out to God pleading to know Him.  Verse 13 says, “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now they way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”  Moses was asking to be shown the way so that He may know Christ.  Verse 17 of the same chapter is God responding to Moses: “And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”  God KNOWS us by name!!!

All the best that God wants for us is at our fingertips, all we have to do is call to Him and ask Him!  Do we not trust God enough?  We KNOW He is great, we KNOW He is powerful, we KNOW He wants what is best for us…but “knowing” gets us nowhere!  Do something about it and call to Him so that you can experience Him!

Do I really long to know God?  He longs to know me and spend time with me…He LOVES me.  But do I love Him enough to want to spend time with Him?  Do I have that burning desire to really KNOW God?  Call to Him, He will answer and show us great and mighty things.

Psalm 63:1-2 “Oh God, thou art my God: early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”

Psalm 19:1

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

As I sit on this airplane on the way back to California…at a window seat on flight number 1417 with Southwest, I contemplate the sky.  I had been flying for about 2 ½ hours from North Carolina, stopped in Missouri and am now flying somewhere over anywhere between Missouri and Colorado.  The sky is a fiery red that blends into a deep orange, smooths out to a creamy yellow and stops at the dark shadowy grey clouds.  From the clouds, a mist of baby blue rises and eventually deepens to a navy blue spread.

The only thing I can think of is God’s mighty and powerful hand!  I think of His great love for me!  I am overwhelmed and in awe when I think that all God had to do was speak and everything is as He wants it to be.  I wonder how anyone could doubt God’s power, love, and care!  After seeing this beautiful sight, God is clearly seen!

I had the opportunity to witness to the man sitting next to me.  We talked about how Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, so He could die for my sins, resurrect from the dead and give me the hope of an eternal life with Him!  All that needs to be done is recognize my sinfulness (Romans 3:23- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.") and recognize that Christ is the ONLY One who can cleanse me (Romans 6:23- "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.").  I must repent of my sins and ask Christ in faith to forgive me (Romans 10:9- "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.")!  He said He will! Romans 10:13- "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Knowing this, how can you say “no” to Him?

I am so grateful that 10 years and 5 months ago, on August 10^th, 2001, I repented of my sins and asked Christ to forgive me!  What a wonderful day when He washed my sins away!!!  I am just amazed at God’s goodness towards me!  Thank you Jesus for saving me! Thank you for your faithfulness, mercy, and love reflected in your creation where I can rejoice in it every day!

Psalm 23:1

Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Here is a well-known verse.  It is the one that begins the famous Psalm 23.

The first phrase states that the Lord is our shepherd.  If He is our shepherd, we must be the sheep.  That is pretty logical, I think.  Now if we are the sheep, let’s discover exactly what we are.

First of all, sheep are pretty unintelligent.  Sorry, but it’s true!  For sheep to learn a lesson, it takes quite times of pain for them to finally understand that they are only hurting themselves.  They are stubborn!  They stray everywhere.  They just aimlessly wander around and eat grass.  They follow each other for no apparent reason.  They are very dependent animals.  They constantly need someone who watches over them to make sure they do not get in trouble.  This “someone” is the shepherd.

We are exactly the same way.  We are stubborn; we go through much heartache to finally learn our lesson.  We follow each other around just because everyone else is doing it.  We are pretty dumb and cannot live on our own without getting into a lot of trouble.  This shows how dependent we are.  We, just like the sheep, need someone to constantly care for us.  This is our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is our Shepherd.  We are so dependent on Him, without Him we would be NOTHING!

This reminds me of the song entitled “Without Him”

Without Him I could do nothing,
Without Him I’d surely fail;
Without Him I would be drifting,
Like a ship without a sail

Without Him, I would be dying,
Without Him I’d be enslaved;
Without Him Life would be hopeless -
But with Jesus, Thank God I’m saved.

Jesus, O Jesus, Do you know Him today?
Do not turn Him away!
O Jesus, O Jesus, Without Him
How lost I would be...

                This song is so true!  Seeing how needy we would be without Him makes us realize, how much we depend on Him.  The last part of our verse says this: “I shall not want”.  This is saying that because God is our Shepherd, we are in need of nothing, we lack nothing!  Our Shepherd is all we need.  He is the only thing necessary for us to achieve completeness.  Oh how lost I would be without my Shepherd!!!

JESUS, YOU ARE ALL I NEED!!!