The way Jimmy plays!

Listening to Jimmy Smith the Master of the B3 Hammond Organ while blogging takes me back to the first time I went into a record booth at a store, armed with a Jimmy Smith LP under my arm, and putting on those old round leather ear phones, boosting the volume and being transported to another world of music altogether!
The only music I was used to I heard in church, really, because we were not allowed to listen to the Beatles as PK's (Pastor Kids). So the almost guilt that washed over me as I stole away into the booth literally excited me in a way. The Pentecostal church made the road to heaven narrower as what it was meant to be.
When I began playing the organ ala Jimmy Smith people in church complained that I'm playing Jazz in church - as if that was a lethal sin!
Then I discovered Bob Dylan and then you should have heard the religious hypocrites lash out. They even got up and walked out of church when I played and sang my own compositions.
Dear Lord, it was God's mercy that I kept on being a believer, although I also finally walked out of the church, because of the condemnation and the lack of knowledge: every Sunday you were preached guilty and hell was held out in front of your eyes in no uncertain terms and you had to hear, 'what if a truck should run you down, young man, as you leave this church tonight, where will you spend eternity?' It is amazing that preachers never invited 'old men' to make right with God, I mean, given all the odds, who is closer to the edge, the young or the old?
Then we would sing meaningless songs about 'I'll fly away oh glory!' I never quite knew what we were singing about, because the pie-in-the-sky religious hype eventually wore me out so that I went on my own pathway seeking my holy grail.
It wasn't until I ended up in the Arizona desert and discovered the meaning of the words, 'Kingdom of God' that I found peace in my heart and direction for the rest of my life. I was tired of singing 'seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added unto you', and hearing the preachers tell me that you will only inherit the kingdom when you die. So what about the things? What about the things a young man wanted? What used would those things be after I die? It just did not make sense.
But when I worked my way steadily through the bible under the patronage of Dr. Roy M. Gray, the principal at Miracle Valley Bible College, Arizona, I came to Romans 14:17 that explicitly tells us that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink , but in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. At last I found the kingdom I had been looking for so long: it no longer mattered if I ate halaal or kosher meat, or whether I drank wine or not, the Kingdom of God was on a deeper level - it was within! And what's more, it was my Heavenly Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom - I did not have to forcibly grab it from anyone! Phew! Whatarelief!
So, as Jimmy, the late Jimmy Smith, I might add, plays us out with Wes Montgommery on Les Paul guitar, I am so grateful that I can listen with peace in my heart to music I really love, without guilt or condemnation, and know that I am right with God through faith in Christ Jesus'complete sacrifice for our sins on the cross of Calvary! This give me joy in my heart and I will not trade it for anything else in life! This is life in the Kingdom of God - on earth!
This is my prayer for anyone who cares to read my blog: may you enter the reality of knowing the kingdom of God and finding the things you love being added to you, in this life, and in the life to come, eternal fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and with all the spirits of just men and women who were perfected! May He perfect that which concerns you and I - today - and may we be instruments to extend His kingdom in the hearts of men, women and children as we go about our daily affairs.
I just love the way Jimmy plays!...