In the early 70’s we had what we named, “My Brother’s Keeper”. I remember flying from Houston to Kansas City, Kansas, and buying a 42 ft. yellow school bus. The road back to Houston took me through the “Badlands of Kansas”, across Oklahoma, and all 800 miles back to Houston by myself. You can do a lot of praying on a trip like that, but our vision called for it. When we got the bus back home to Houston that is where the real work began.
We took all the seats out of it and put carpet on the walls and floot where young people could come in and be ministered to as we shared the love of God with them one on one. We used it to pick up young people on bus routes to take them to the outreaches and the coffee house we used to train and disciple young people. Hundreds of young people had a seed of the Gospel sown into their lives on “MY BROTHER’S KEEPER ON WHEELS”. All this was the result of the supernatural prayer we prayed over the East End of Houston. COME THY KINGDOM BE DONE THY WILL in the East End.
It was here I learned the true value of Life Together. Eventually, we would have a home for young men. I remember a day when I was writing down the rules for the Broadway House, as we called it. A business now stands where it once was, and though it is no longer there, occasionally my memories take me back for a visit. I had gone to the house when no one was there and saw how it was in desperate need of a good cleaning. So, as a result, I set down at the kitchen table and began a list of rules to assure that it would be clean. You know why, of course: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. I wrote down 16 rules, and when I got to my 16th, it was as though the Lord was watching over my shoulder. It was as though I heard Him say, “I ONLY HAD TEN”.
I realized then and there that discipleship was more than just rules keeping. Jesus trained the 12 by example, and for me to do that I had to live life together with those whom God had given me to serve. That was 47 years ago, and I still live my life following the lessons I learned in those early days of marriage and ministry. We called it then as well as now, HOW TO GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY. Jesus set the example and included others in His journey of purpose and destiny. If you read closely the life of Jesus’s public ministry, you will find that he only did what he saw the Father doing. That is why he taught His disciples to pray like this: THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
Your loving pastors,
Cleddie & GayNell Keith