Pastor Robert Morgan: "This was our last project together."

Very special guest on the phone with his name is Robert Morgan Pastor Robert Morgan. He is the teaching pastor the Donelson Fellowship in Nashville is the author of 7000 books. No I'm just kidding that he's written a whole bunch of books of things up to like 40 something male in his newest book is whether were going talk about today that some 100 Bible verses that made America and Robert is we we been friends for some time now and were both fellow caregivers.

Robert has logged in many many many many years. In this journey and I let him tell you what's happened in the last year, but I wanted to have them on to talk about this book talk about his journey talk about his message. I am always so impressed with caregivers that are producing and doing things, ending and encouraging others in the midst of their journey in Roberts, one of those, Gazans done that for me. So Robert, welcome to the show. Her earlier encouraging boys will tell me about this last year while Katrina and I were married in the American Bicentennial year 1976 about 10 or 12 years later, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during that time would had three daughters who are now grown and so for the last 30 years or so. We have just lived with multiple sclerosis. She has been a pastor's wife. She never lost her smile.

The last year became very difficult because not only with the progression of MS but with the infections and some of the other side effects and debilitating ancillary problems that come along with it and so when she went downhill quickly in October. I took her to the emergency room. They told me that they didn't think that she would survive. We will all standing there waiting for her to update her next breath and praying for her. In fact, I said to the doctor at Vanderbilt emergency room here in Nashville. I said that, would you mind if we prayed we were going to anyway but I wanted to be ethical implied. And I said, would you mind if we prayed that he said would you mind if I went and this Dr. prayed the most wonderful plan for us and the four very much time at elapse that Katrina opened her eyes and looked at me and smiled. And God gave us another month together. She was able to come home.

We had so much enjoyed with our girls during that month and then she passed away quietly on November 11 and 11:11 AM that we did the best that we could throughout. The years battling the frustrations that come with multiple sclerosis. We both would tell you that you know we want perfect with that. There were times when the frustrations got careless, but we never looked into the future and ask where is this disease going. We just take things one day at a time and on the day or two before she passed. When I was lifting her into bed and she was sort of confused and more or less added that she suddenly started quoting that great him. Diane Charles Wesley 04 thousand time, she quoted the verse that says my gracious master and my God assist me to proclaim to tell to all the world abroad. The honors of thy name and she quoted that twice and she just love the Lord and had a smile on her face until the very end and, on been trying to figure out what grief really feels like it's such a mixture of emotions that it may be because there was so much anticipatory grief involved in her extended illness.

I haven't felt overwhelming sadness as much as I just felt thankfulness at that architecture. Every wall or table in our house right now has a picture. You would think that it's the shrine, but that those pictures are making me sad they're making me feel grateful just grateful so you know she made in heaven before I did, Peter. But overall, all of us who have come to the blood of Christ on that same journey and you made it safely home. I love that we are we are to love that human love that that was the last human that did that she left this world with that that is a the last line of that hymn is one that means a lot to Gracie.

Me and Gracie sings with such passion and leap you Lane for joy. All yes when I did – to exit means a lot to her with Jesus and leap you Lane for Juliana and I thought you there there that's that is a very meaningful thing for her to leave this world with that in mind and in her heart and we we rejoice that she is free from all of this stuff with MS, we agree with you and your family and we celebrate her life with you today and in the I know that as a caregiver through all these journeys you stayed on message for also for the calling you have in your life is as a writer is a pastor and Emily into your ear. Your books have touched so many people in your books about history male at the history of our hymns and now you've you've dealt in the same with the history of our country and you are doing this as your wife was passing away and and and yet you you were able to do this and this is always this is one of things I really encourage my fellow caregivers to do is to don't stop being who you are in the midst of this, you may have to limited he may have to be creative but but this is who God made you to be while you care. Give you don't have to put your entire life on hold. You can write and you have tell us about this book that you've written and why was important for you to to delve into this wanted a charge of riding it was one thing that Katrina could help me with right up until near the end. The last few months. She had trouble with that but I would write a chapter or an article or something printed off and she would read it and look for errors and I gave her a unit should sit in her wheelchair and she could remark to Lal, but she could make a big circle around no mistake with the parent that she found it and this was the last bit that she help me with that was in production when she passed away, but that is epic. Peter about American history and the role of the Bible and it is a series of 100 stories. Each story is three pages long. It's very something that that caregivers and and their care receivers tend to agree to one another and and like the look of daily devotions every story has a Bible verse and then there is the story of how that Bible verse impacted some significant moment in American history and you know the secularist right now. I can tell you there, shouldn't you know it, are trying to push everything that is biblical or Christian everything about our Judeo-Christian heritage. Adiabatic experts out of our schools and out of their media in every way and I just wanted to share my American matter, because trying to take the Bible out of American history and the significance of the impact of the Bible out of the lives of those who have found that indicted this nation is an impossible task. There is not an eraser big enough to erase the influence of the Bible in American history and so this is just a very readable set of stories giving specific occasions when that happened well to me once. What are some things you learned as you dug in the distant surprised. I learned that America is much more infiltrated with Scripture than we realize, for example, at the battle of Lexington and Concorde. When the British came towards those towns. It was a pastor named Jonas Clark who rang the church bell gathered his members and villagers that had been preaching liberty to every Sunday from his pulpit and they were standing there in the churchyard when the British emerged in the first shots of the American Revolution, we call it the shot part around the world was fired at a pastor and at his congregation. I learned that Andrew Jackson was a wild, scandalous sort of fellow and hypomanic and had a real temper and got into Jules and you know Santa Cherokees the Oklahoman bit things that were both good and bad but we like Adam and think what a character he was bent after he retired when he was an old and tired man to his home in the Hermitage. He attended a revival meeting and gave his life to Jesus Christ and studying his Bible and gave the message to everyone who attempt to see him and he loved to him how firm a foundation and he sang it on his deathbed, and I learned that Ronald Reagan wrote a letter on White House stationery and his own unique scrawl to his father-in-law beseeching him to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and according to him.

John 316 air was as an evangelistic a letter as you'll ever see.

So all the way through from the pilgrims all the way up to the presidential prayer breakfast. The role of the Bible is so entrenched in American history.

It is like the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty will and I want to one mind, that little bit more but one thing someone also interjects unity to the listeners is who you are as far as the church hymns because you've written these tremendous books then sings my soul is a whole series of them and you tell the story behind the hymns of these things are sold millions of copies I have. I think two of them to two copies of so these are things that I just cherish and love it. And as you probably know the story would usually by the Revolutionary war because Isaac Watts wrote so much of our early hymnal in this country that we used Isaac Watts is also the one who wrote the joy to the world with the text with that I believe but his hidden there was was used prolifically and there was a pastor. Another pastor in Rhode Island name of a Campbell acute members first name but he was. His wife was shot through the window of their home in and she was killed. His house was burned out and he became a chaplain for the American troops in the Revolutionary war and at one point they ran out of they ran out of packing paper wadding paper for their muskets that he rated to the church building.

You brought out a hymnal held that relapse would use the paper for the hymnals is given Watts voice is clearly is Watts's hymnal to help pack the muskets that they were literally firing at the enemy with with the hymns of the church about the sure you've heard that story before I heard the story but will recently let me tell it all. No, I didn't included and you know Peter I could've been up thousand Bible verses that made America I mean the biggest challenge I had was what to leave out the cause. There are so many stories like that you can trace back to Scripture and back to the great hymns and they have influenced American history and I think each one of them gives us hope you know have another that that caregivers it is very widely call the Red Sea rules and it is written, and little short increments. But as caregivers we don't always have time to sit down and write for half an hour. But when you have something brief they can give you encouragement for 100 days in a row and that you can share with others and you know there's something about the power of those verses in the stories behind them that encourages us and that's what I hope for this book that that I really did ride while caregiving and my wife we say that we were both caregivers, one to the other, but this was our last project together 100 Bible verses that made America pastor Robert Morgan. One of my absolute favorite people in the whole world use or have been an inspiration to me for many years are passive intersected on a lot of different levels and so grateful that you called in the show today and took the time come up with this out of the podcast. This interview with him and I want you to be able to download share with people you know, get this book. He is a wonderful life. He got 11 is available wherever books are so and please take advantage. This 100 Bible verses that made America pastor. Thank you very much for the time they okay already do this is over the caregiver. This is Peter Rosen 877-655-6755 you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you. I'm Gracie Rosenberger in 1983 I experienced a horrific car accident leading 80 surgeries in both legs and became it. I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me. But over time the questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God that understanding along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs led me to establish standing with help more than a dozen years we been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people on a regular basis. We purchased ship equipment and supplies and with the help and inmates in a Tennessee prison. We also recycle parts from donated lambs all — is to point others to Christ. The source of my help and strength, please visit standing with help.com to learn more and participate in lifting others standing without.com. I'm Gracie and I am staining with help and this is the nation's number one show lead 877-6557 55 that is Gracie and rest half of her new record, resilient, and that congrats but would rest half. He was at Carnegie Hall last night and that's quietly not get to Carnegie Hall. John, practice, practice only on his head to do it if you want to get a copy that record. This is the last month were doing this and they were going to do some little different with but this is last month for any amount that you want to give to staining with hope, which is the present expense of the show need for Gracie story you've heard her share her vision for this many years ago she give up her legs.

She envision a way of reaching her fellow amputees with a powerful way of lifting them up literally employing them to Christ, and we do that within the next 15 years in the West African country of Ghana and we ship prosthetic supplies over there along with used prosthetic supplies recycled prosthetic parts of things like the pilots defeat the needs and the screws and adapters and connectors and sleeves, all those kinds of things it can be recycled and they go to a prison in Tennessee run the course of a core civic has many faith-based programs and one of them is our program where inmates volunteered to disassemble limbs forms to in an entity that means it figured out what you just said if the light is it. It's very cool.

The amount of light they had to come together for this to be pulled off is rather unexpected set will admit I will tell you that at the front desk there at this prison. There used to getting up in your guilds often see stacks of legs that have come in the right way.

It used to it by now our land arms to it. We just had one. I think that was from a World War II veteran, so it was very old, like the old style the leg and it and the manager their core civic group meetings and I don't know how to describe this facet.

That's okay I do and is a just tell me was it above me are below knee I'll go from there), but let them ask those old legs it you know there still parts on there that we may be able to do to use. Let us make the determination don't float away will take it and if we can release unattended into a lamp, you know, I mean we've we've actually had people do that and we went. We were actually contacted by American horror story. I don't if I ever told you that know you never tells a really weird show. Yeah harvester and they contacted us and wanted to talk about getting some of our prosthetic legs to use an episode lasted no more use for a CPT suffered West Africa back maybe I didn't. I didn't have that confidence and said alright I figured you know I'm not. That's a little sad to pizza tree. I think I just surprised did you absolutely know they think they can we we go through we disassemble them.

The inmates there.

This this facility they they help us organize them and then we ship above, we have shipment going this month and and then Gracie and I and the team were to go over the summer and were going to do this and continued if you want to be a part of that you will support that there are several ways you do want to miss know what, pray for us it's it's it's an amazing work that we do. Gracie could be nursing their own wounds and retreating into no isolation but she's not. She's going out there and she's she's putting herself in a position to object it it it cost her something physically to do this to get on a plane and go to Africa and she does this with her broken body and she works with these broken lives in the prison and we take part from other broken people and we go over there to African week provide limbs to other broken people is extraordinary work and we do all this to point to the one was broken for us, know how, but being a part of that and you can do it today and glad to staining without.com and you can suggest what if whatever's on your heart to give will send you copy Gracie CT is a very good CDC is a no kidding singer and that voice of hers. I have listened to it for life to that I would know I had to laugh job what he was talking about the Roberts about his wife, Katrina was editing his stuff tried that in our house it gets.

And I have real look at what I've heard about that are always the first goes, I believe that you know it it it it she does it right with big circles she right it comes back it's all in the margin.

I believe it's it's mindnumbing it it at up like you can't edit my stuff anymore I got a letter this is killing isn't it it's but I had to laugh because I cannot read Brightwell Bay and made a habit that they had anything that he could, but it's rare is very even keel – and Katrina very even keel lady even killed.

That is, those are not words that are normally associated thinks it is for Gracie and me. I was going to say this is that these are not adjectives that I would pick out of a hat that it's I would pick out very positive adjectives. We only have we have our positive traits. Yeah even keel does not yield is not an on its own, but she is help me with that over the years and still does some times that I go with their with great trepidation that I just hated to have his you know stuff he says is right.

Yes, there is that because he said I told you this is really good yes, but but look at us were were in the ICU. Following this event. We don't need to do this. I highly creative people find I mean I don't meet up of UDF.

Yes, you. This is entertaining to you so that we are highly creative people. That's what we do. But while in a lighthearted thing is and what a delight to see the result. A really Gracie just texted. She followed and she said careful hope. So if you want to be a part of this we would welcome that you can you can do whatever you want to do towards the show towards the depressing glib outreach, pray share with friends. Tell somebody you know about this recycling program is an extraordinary thing that that is going on part of the day staining without.com hey listen, read a ton. The podcast is free. It's out there it's all now at our website. Just take a look. Don't try to do this alone. Friends don't let friends care, give alone okay. This is why we do the show you what we can help the caregivers make better cared. Our goal is every show that we leave you better do that today let us know that Peter Rosenberg will see