"MELLOW YELLOW" - The Old Age Disease!
By PASTOR CHARLES PERKINS
E-Mail: kjpreacher@aol.com

"Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?" (1 Samuel 2:29)

"And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever." (1 Samuel 2:34-35)

"Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years." (1 Samuel 4:15-18)

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. (1 Kings 11:4-6)

It seems, back in the annals of my past, I remember something about the term "mellow yellow." It was a reference to a drug the dope heads tried. Then it was a Rock group. Some soda pop company picked up on the expression and marketed the stuff.

I became interested in the word "mellow" when my wife said I was not as tough as I used to be. It was her way of saying that I put up with some things now that I didn't in times past. I said, "Look, Dear, I am not compromising, I am MELLOWING in my old age."

She said: "that means you are getting rotten." I wasn't so sure she knew what she was talking about, so I fled to my dictionary. Hmmm.

Now let's see MELLOW? "1. "sweet and rich in flavor." That doesn't sound too bad. 2. "free from harshness or sharp contrast." "See, Dear, I'm becoming gentler and kinder in my old age!" (she was not impressed). 3. Made kindly and sympathetic by age or experience." Look, Dear, If there's one thing I do have, it is "EXPERIENCE."

Eli was God's priest who had two cruddy sons. Eli started out good but ended up bad.

Solomon started out good. God used him to write much scripture. He was a type of Christ in his early life. In his older age his multiple wives got him in trouble and he became an apostate.

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:1-3)

I always called Solomon the King with chapped lips. Can't you imagine trying to line up seven hundred wives every night to give them a good night kiss? That calls for mega-chap stick.

Through the experiences of life, pastoring and working with people, I have learned a few things. When I first started out as a pastor, at age thirty nine, I thought I would be like Elijah! God surely had called me to call down fire on these sinners that come before me three times a week. After all, the truth is more potent if you look at them with daggers protruding out of your eyes and a scowl on your face. These sheep must be driven.

They taught me in Bible College to look right at them, eye ball to eye ball, shake your head and point your finger. Then I must learn to yell in certain places for emphasis. Nothing worse than a poor delivery. If they start to doze off, stomp, scream and pound the pulpit. Part of preaching is learning how to be a good cheer leader.

Many of our years, in the ministry, have been in starting new churches. This results in many blessings and many disappointments. Some of the blessings include seeing souls saved, baptized and added to the church. Some of the disappointments come from expecting too much out of people.

Take soul winning visitation for instance. I have tried a number of ways to get people to come out on Saturday morning. I have preached about duty, blessings, fruit, joy, rewards, crowns and other happy topics. On the other hand, I have tried to shame them. Laid guilt trips on them. Nothing seems to move them. There are always a few who will go to reach the lost but not many.

Then there is that favorite verse of preachers: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)

I have fed this one to my sheep for thirty years. Most of them have memorized it just from hearing me say it. We still have the Sunday morning crowd who appear for a while and then vanisheth away like a vapor.

We still have the same faithful people, whom you can count on to be here, when ever the doors are open. Nothing ever changes with the old nature. People do pretty much what they want to do. Bible believing people who make a lot of noise about being "Bible Believers" are just as bad off as the liberal apostates when they do not OBEY THE WORD OF GOD.

James said: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." (James 1:22-24)

Because of disappointments, many pastors and preachers have quit the ministry. I have more respect for them than the ones who have stayed in it and have dipped their colors in the slime pit of compromise and apostasy.

Jerry Falwell started out pretty well and then got more "mellow, yellow?" with age. He and two hundred of his people, recently sat down with Mel White and two hundred of his sodomites at a "get together" at Falwell's church. Their motive was said to be to stop violence and hate language "against the gay community." Falwell using terms like "the gay community" gives great joy and comfort to the sodomites. "Gay community" gives credibility to the reprobate sex perverts in their attempt to be recognized as a viable civil rights minority.

Falwell is still big in some BBFI circles. He was the "BIG" speaker at the BBFI meeting held here in San Diego at Rev. Jim Baise' church.

Baise, a liberal BBF-er, and California State BBF President, marches with Catholics, charismatics, pentecostals and about anything else sounding religious. It was fitting, that he invited Falwell to be on the speakers roster. (birds of feather, etc.)

Sometime ago, Falwell called the pope a great man of God. I guess he had not read Revelation 17, or Fox's Book Of Martyrs. Probably too busy being a celebrity on the television talk shows. Falwell, like Baise, hob-knobs with Charismatics, Catholics, Southern Baptists and just about anyone else.

In Falwell's paper, he called John Rawlings "Mr. Baptist" of this century and compared him to Charles Spurgeon. (money shore do shed a lot of light on Falwell sayings!) It makes one wonder if Falwell meant that Rawlings should smoke cigars like Spurgeon or Spurgeon should have cussed like Rawlings.

The desire for more money and to build bigger empires causes strange bed fellows. Rawlings, in his younger days, let it be known that he was a King James Bible Believer. One wonders if he still is, now that he is in his older and more "MELLOW" age? Falwell isn't a King James Bible Believer. He only pretends to be.

Years ago, in the early seventies, we started a new church in Elma, New York, near Buffalo. It is still there and is pastored by a good Bible Believing pastor. Falwell came to town with his "I Love America Crusade" trying to raise money. My organist and her husband went to one of his rallies. During the rally, Falwell held up his King James Bible and said something to the effect that he believed THIS IS the inerrant "Word of God."

After the meeting was over, my or ganist went up and asked him if he meant the King James Bible was perfect and without error. He answered her with a question of his own. He asked, "does your pastor believe that the King James Bible is perfect and without error" She said, "YES." Falwell said: "you are in a false cult. You need to go back and get out of that church." She didn't take his advice. She is still in that same church and doing well with her old black book!

Apostates are all over the place. The older they get the more "MELLOW AND YELLOW" they become. Not me. I have just become a little "sweeter and kinder."

I was never any good at picking out a good, ripe melon at the market. I've tried all of the standard procedures. You give them a good rap with your knuckle and they are supposed to give off a certain sound. I'm not too sure what it is.

Recently, Posey and I were in the super market and they had a good buy on seedless watermelons." Boy, what a joke! Those things are not seedless. Anyway, I plunked several of them as if I knew what I was doing. "thud", "thump", "clunk". Suddenly I found one! "This is it dear," I exclaimed with glee! I couldn't hardly wait to get it home to see what a good melon picker I was.

I knew when I stuck that knife into that melon, I should have let her do the selecting. It was so ripe it would have made a good imitation of a giant prune with a green skin. It looked pretty good at first, nice and red but no juice. That thing was so dry it must have come from Phoenix!

I vowed from that time on, she knew more about mellow melons than I did. (You know what puts the water in the watermelon don't you? You plant them in the spring!)

Some of you preachers better be careful when you start to get a little on the older side. Watch out for "Mellow Yellow" - the old age disease! †