A few years ago, at about 2 in the morning, as I was getting ready to do a paper route, I was scrounging through some of my dads old tapes, looking for something to listen to. I found a couple of tapes of a guy named "Ian Thomas", a man I'd never heard of at the time. I casually popped the tape into the player as I made the 20 minute drive to pick up my papers, and in the wee hours of the morning, listened to Ian Thomas preach on 1 Samuel. The message talked about a time when the Hebrews, for fear of the Philistines, put the Ark of the Covenant at the head of the battle, like a trinket for good luck, but their hearts were far from knowing God. He goes through the drama of how the ark was lost and then recovered again, rolled into Jerusalem where it destroyed Uzzah, and finally how David, in obedience, discovered the proper way to approach a holy God, that he is a living being, and not merely found in a physical item (ark), howbeit consecrated it was. It then gave a parallel of the ritual set up for the handling of the holy instruments of God, and the crusicixion of Christ, the great High Priest who bore the covenant on his shoulders, between two pieces of wood (cross), without a cart to carry it for him (as with Kohath). The repeating theme seemed to be "Not IT, but HIM". Long story short, I was blown away with this message, and ended up preaching from that very text and theme only 16 hours later. It became, for the time, my favorite sermon. I always had it in my truck, and I listened to it several times.Just wanted to say all that so you understand how much I loved this message. But... I lost it! I've torn my house and truck apart, looking everywhere I can think of, and I don't know what I did with that tape! So I've been searching for it on the internet for the past couple of years. Ian Thomas is an incredibly elusive fellow, and his best material is often hard to find. I don't know where this sermon came from, where it was preached, nor when, and dad does not remember, either. SO... if someone knows the message I am speaking off and has or knows where there is a copy of this message, I would be forever grateful! Please let me know if you have access to a copy of this message. Thanks!- Jerrod
