By the River...

Father. People don't listen when I tell them about you... Treat them with love and be patient with them. My Child.


But Father. When I tell them about your son and the love that he had for them. They shout at me and throw stones... My son told you that the world hated him and that it would hate you also. So it is My Child.


Father. When I tell them of the law and how grace was proclaimed to set them free but not to replace the law. They call me a hypocrite... My Child. My ways are not their ways and as high as the heavens are above the Earth so are my ways above their ways.


Father. When I tell them of Colossians chapter one where it says: ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ¹⁸ He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 

They tell me that the bible is only a story and that your son is not the Messiah. My Child. Of this generation: They have had Moses and the prophets and they woud not believe even if someone were raised from the dead and were sent to warn them... For many are called but few are chosen 


Father. I have known great blessing in my life. I have had a loving wife and many children. I have had livestock and goods more than any others. I have known great wealth. But I count it all as nothing if I have not served you. What should I do my Lord?  I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.… Revelation 3:18...


Father. What should I do when the judgment comes. My Child look then to the scriptures. Matthew 24:¹⁷ Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ¹⁸ Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.¹⁹ And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ²⁰ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: ²¹ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 

Father. What will the Kingdom of God be like? My Child look to the book of Isaiah the prophet of the Lord. Chapter 11: ⁶ The wolf will dwell with the lamb,And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little boy will lead them.⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze. Their young will lie down together,And the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.¹⁰ Then in that day, the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;And His resting place will be glorious.

Father when will the Son of God, The Messiah return. My child at the end of the Church and at the end of the prophet Daniel's seventieth week then as the Apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation chapter 19: ^11  Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns... Then shall the Messiah return to rule the Earth.

Things Young Christians Should Know

When I was about five years old, maybe four. I remember one of my brothers, after attending Church coming home and discussing a new teaching with our Father. It was approaching milking time and Dad needed to go and wash the stainless steel vat in the milking shed and then go for the herd of cows which were on the pasture in a near by paddock.

As we walked down the tanker track on a lazy summer afternoon I remember swishing the fine hot sand between my toes and making a little plume of dust. When I got a bit too invested in doing this and a cloud of dust rose. Dad told me to stop it. So I just walked and listened to what they were talking about.

I don't remember the specifics of the conversation as well as I used too. I think it involved doctrine (salvation, justification, sanctification) and what my brother had learned at Church and what Dad knew about it.

I do remember being caught up in the conversation and it seemed that Dad was showing a side of himself that I hadn't seen before. As he spoke of Christian things it was as though we were lifted into the presence of God himself. As though Dad and my older brother were in a heavenly power. I felt safe and not at all intimidated by this turn of events, I remember asking Dad if he believed in God and he said that he did. I said "I believe in God too."

They continued to have a very deep discussion as they cleaned the vat and set up the shed for milking. Then Dad got the dogs (trained cattle dogs) and they walked  down the race to get the herd in for milking. I decided to go back to the house and leave them to it.

There were many times in those years, in the '60's, up until the middle of 1967. When my brothers had conversations with our father. He was not well at the time and I don't think any of us suspected how close he was to leaving us. He could be moody and sometimes angry. He was always talented and and had many hobbies and interests. Training cattle and sheep dogs, breeding dairy cows and farming to name a few.

Dad was a Christian, a saved sinner but didn't attend church regularly. A number of pious Christians felt he wasn't a Christian at all. However, he had a great knowledge of the bible and Christian doctrine and could shift easily into the role of teacher and mentor to his children.

Thomas Alfred Gibbs was taken home as a result of a massive heart attack on June 19th 1967. He left behind a wife and seven children most of whom were in their mid to late teens. I was six at the time. It left a massive hole in our lives.

However God is good. All of his children are Christians. I can say that God has purpose in all that he does and many people have been saved through the ministrations of Thomas and Joy Gibbs's' children.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A28&version=KJV