<TITLE>12. Par -</TITLE>L-710-107 Oh, there's so much of this legalism today, the "touch not, taste not." You don't do things legally. I didn't come to this church tonight legally. I feel tired; I--I--I've been nervous; I'm upset; I'm wondering about something that's out before me; my heart's burning, even as such as much till my heart's a-fluttering. I got a cramp, pain, right at this minute, just shooting back and forth, up and down through here; weak, nervous, trembly; catch a hold here and squeeze; got my toes squeezed up in my shoes. I felt anything but come down here. Why did I come, then? Because I love God. Live or die, I must stand here for Him. It's not because I have to. He wouldn't care about whether I did or not. I'd--If I'd die I'd go to heaven anyhow. But I'm coming because I love Him. You serve God because you love Him, not because you just got to do it. Because you love Him enough...

L-711-109 I'm not true to my wife because I'm afraid she'd divorce me. I'm true to her because I love her. There's no other woman in the world but her. That's the reason I'm true to her. Not because... If I done a mistake and they thought I did something wrong, come to her, say, "Meda, honey, I didn't mean to do that." She'd forgive me for it; I know she would. I'd forgive her; I love her. But I--I'd forgive her; she'd forgive me. But I wouldn't do it for nothing; I love her too much to do it. It isn't because I didn't think she'd forgive me; it's the idea that I love her too much to do it in the first place. And as long as I love her like that, I'll never do it; and if she loves me the way she's supposed to, she won't either.
And you love the Lord with all your heart; you don't have to worry about these things. If you make a mistake, you don't sin willfully, you just done something wrong. See, you've slipped back. True, you was up here in fellowship; you've dropped back down in this muss down here again.

L-711-111 But what is it? It's just like a--an eagle. One time I saw up here at Cincinnati Zoo; I took Sarah and was going down there. If anything I seen that hurt me, is to see something penned up.
I just can't stand to see anything in a cage, even little birds. And I know you women have them little birds, you turn them out.
When I was a little boy I used to say, "If ever I get a chance, when I get to be a man, I'll slip in every house and turn them poor little guys loose." Yes, sir. I said... Setting up there in the hot sun, and them say, "Hah, hah, hah," and the woman out somewhere on the back porch smoking a cigarette, and that poor little bird setting there burning up. He can't do nothing about it, he just has to set there. And he wasn't born for that. I thought, "Boy, if I could slip up there and let him out, he wouldn't be there very long." See?


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