Dear Reader,
Thanks for being a free subscriber to this newsletter. “The Three Taverns” is about stories. Stories of life, redemption, real transformation. Families. Government. Education. Business. You know, the stuff you talk about in a tavern and the stuff we live through every day.
Paul was on his way as a prisoner to face down Caesar in Rome with the message that there a a greater King than him. Along the way he stopped in a town called The Three Taverns and there he was encouraged by other believers. That’s what this newsletter is all about.
I hope the story below encourages you to look at those around you BY FAITH not by sight. These are the types of stories that I am writing in a book I have been working on for a year, please some teachings that show how this and other transformation in our lives can take place through the UNLIMITED (my favorite word for God).
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“SMUT”.............REDEEMED
I had just resigned from a professional youth ministry position I had started immediately after college. Emily and I had a toddler and a one week old newborn. I now had no visible means of support. It was my first step out into trusting God for our provision and to lead us to the next step.
The next step turned out to be me working with a HVAC expert who installed systems into multi-million-dollar custom homes in Williamson and Davidson County. He worked by himself and wanted a helper.
This was 1991 and I started out in this new job earning $6 an hour. I did not have a CLUE how to install ductwork, galvanized gas-pipe, build ventilation, or even saw a piece of wood to build our air returns. But I showed up every day for work for a year and a half and literally took a lunch of pork and beans and PBJ sandwiches every single day because it's all I could afford.
Thankfully we were just a two-man team and Dennis was not only a very patient boss but he was a strong believer. He trained me to do the work, and he encouraged me in my walk.
But this was not the only thing that was new for me. I had grown up being very well-off, going to private schools and not really being exposed to the rougher elements of the world. Now I was working with people from all walks of life who didn’t talk or live like me. This was good training for the years ahead.
We went to Ed’s Supply in Nashville every morning to get our necessaries for the days’ work. One of the staff there was this six foot eight inch giant named Rich and he called me over to him one morning. “Hey, I hear you have a guy working on your jobsite that I went to school with. He’s about five and a half feet tall and wiry, about 45 years old?”
I had just met this guy the day before working with the concrete guys, so I said, “Oh, sounds like you are talking about Robert.” He said, “Yep, that’s him. We called him “Smut” in high school. He wore the same clothes every day to school, always dirty, his mom died when he was little and his dad was a drunk and beat him. He was nothing but trouble in school. They kept passing him through. He can’t even read! They just wanted to get rid of him. But the main thing I wanted to tell you is, DON’T mess with him. He will mess you up without even blinking.”
I said, “Rich, you are a foot taller than he is! You’re scared of him?” Rich answered with, “He has a temper like no one I ever met and he will not hesitate to hurt you or put you down.”
We loaded our gear and headed to the work-site. Pulling into the drive I saw Robert standing in the yard having a quick smoke. I got out of the truck and walked over to him standing there and said, “Hey Robert. Guess who I met that knows you? Rich over at Ed’s supply. He said their nickname for you in high school was “Smut”.
He simply said, with a small grin on his face, “Yeah.”
I said, “I will never ever call you ‘Smut.’ God doesn’t think of you that way. I will call you Robert and God thinks of you as ‘Redeemed.’”
With that he gave me a quizzical look and said nothing. I gave him a quick nod and walked on inside to start the day’s work. The next few days we struck up an interesting relationship where I would be working somewhere in the house and Robert would walk around and find me, ask me a question about what I meant about “redeemed” or what God had to say about so-and-so. They were short little bursts of curiosity, and when I attempted to answer his question Robert would stand and think and then walk off just as silently as he walked up.
One day he brought it down to this: “So if like you have said, God doesn’t count my sins against me but crucified them with His Son Jesus, who then buried them and rose again so I could have a new kind of life, what does a person do to get that for himself?”
What a great question! In fact it is THE question of all questions.
And my answer was something like this: “From the beginning it comes down to a person wanting to live differently, seeing that his sin cost God a lot for God to be able to forgive it, then changing his mind about the relationship he wants with God, believe in Jesus as his new Master and live in thankfulness to Him every day. There’s nothing new to DO, you receive as a gift what’s already been DONE.”
He stood there quietly, thinking, then walked away.
Next day I was upstairs in the rafters of the attic installing ductwork. It was just a framed house at this point so everything was open-air, and you would hear throughout the property. I heard feet stomping up the stairs to the second floor which was below me and I saw Robert coming up stairs, standing below and looking up at me.
He said, “I’ve decided I want to live the rest of my life for Jesus Christ.” I jumped down out of the attic and we walked out into the back yard and he received Jesus as his new Master, praying in his gruff voice with tears of conviction and relief.
The next day he came to me with a pack of cigarettes in his hand and asked, “If I follow Jesus does that mean I have to give up smoking?” I told him, “Follow Jesus and His Spirit will always tell you how to live.” He said, “He told me to give them up” and he crunched the pack and threw it down on the floor!
I was stumped at how to help him read the Bible since he had been passed through school without learning to read. I bought him a NIV Bible and a package of the whole NIV Bible on cassette. I gave this to him and suggested he read the Gospel of Mark (I marked the page) and listen to the cassette of the Gospel of Mark (I put a pen mark on this one, too). Over the coming months he started learning to read by listening to the tape and following the words along in the Bible!
There are people all around us that the world has called “Smut” but that God has called “REDEEMED!”
MICHAEL FARREN AT "TAVERN TALKS"
For those in the local Mid-TN area, Michael Farren will join us in the tavern at "Tavern Talks" tomorrow, Tuesday May 21 at 7am.
We just know him as Farren in the The Mission Cigar & Social
Farren is a Grammy nominated song writer. He also wrote the Dove-winning "LET IT RAIN" first recorded by Michael W. Smith. Best of all he is a great guy and his wife is a jewel!
He has a compelling story of redemption and he doesn't edit his story.
He also thinks in rhymes as a prolific songwriter.
He founded BOURBON GOSPEL Songwriters Round which is a live show that highlights local new song-writing talent.
Come hear his story and maybe get a spontaneous song or two.
Learn more about Farren here: https://curbwordmusicpublishing.com/blogs/writers/michael-farren
Bring your Bible, a friend, purchase a cigar (not required, we have non-cigar smokers who join us too!), your Febreze if you have to go to the office after, and be ready to participate with honesty, humor, open conversation, challenging looks at truth, all in an accepting atmosphere.
Coming up in "Tavern Talks":
May 28, Daniel Willis, Spring Hill police officer
June 4, Cactus Moser, drummer, producer, writer, Wynonna Judd’s husband
Looking Up (Luke 21:28),
Tod Bell
Chief Tavern Host
P.S.
