Are You Shouting?

Are You Shouting? - Tony Evans

In His Presence: “Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones” (Psalm 33:1).

Shirley Caesar sings a song entitled “Hold My Mule.” Itis a song about a man who was called Shouting John because he loved to worship God. The problem was that he ended up going to a city church whose members did not appreciate his form of worship. However, this did not stop John. When he felt the Spirit move, he shouted all over the church. 

It wasn’t long before he had irritated some of the members, and the deacons decided they needed to have a talk with Shouting John. Standing in one of John’s fields—where the old man had been plowing with his mule—they explained why he could not continue his antics. “We’re a quiet church,” one of the men said, “and you can’t be doing all this.”

Shouting John listened for a moment, and then he said, “Just a minute. Look out there.” He pointed to his fields. “You see all that land? I’m a [former] slave; I’m not supposed to have anything. Yet, I got all this land. Whenever I see that land or think about it, Shouting John gotta shout!”

He paused a moment and then continued, “Look at my chillen. All my chillen are alive. All my chillen are saved. All my chillen are doing fine. Whenever Shouting John thinks about the goodness of God to his chillen, Shouting John gotta shout!”

Then he said, “I get up every morning when the rooster crows and Shouting John get on the back of this mule, and it pulls that plow so Shouting John will have food all year long. When I think about God giving Shouting John a mule and the strength to plow when he is 85 years old, Shouting John gotta shout!” It was then that Shouting John turned to one of the deacons and said, “Hold my mule, I feel a shout coming on.”

When we realize where God has brought us from and the plans He has for our future, we will want to shout and never stop!

One Minute Please
The thing that determines whether or not a person is a true worshiper of Jesus Christ is the gratitude that overflows from his or her heart.