Paradise Opened - Brooks, Thomas

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Résumé :
The main reason why so many gracious souls are so full of fears, doubts, darkness, and disputes about their internal and eternal estates, is because they have no more clear and full understanding of these two covenants, the covenant of grace and the covenant of redemption; and if such Christians would but more seriously buckle down to the study of those two covenants, as they are opened and applied in the following treatise, their fears and doubts, etc., would quickly vanish. Neither do I know anything in all this world that would contribute more to seriousness, spiritualness, heavenliness, humbleness, holiness, and fruitfulness, than a right understanding of these two covenants, and a divine improvement of them. There are many choice Christians who have always either tears in their eyes, complaints in their mouths, or sighs in their breasts; and oh that these, above all others, would make these two covenants their daily companions! Let these few hints suffice concerning the following treatise. Now the God of all grace fill both your hearts with all the fruits of righteousness and holiness, and greatly bless you both with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and make you meet-helps to each other heaven-ward, and at last crown you both with ineffable glory in the life to come! 1 Pet. 5:1; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:3.

Biographie:
Command Sergeant Major (Ret) Thomas R. Brooks was born January 7, 1948 in Hattiesburg, MS. He was raised in the small town of Seminary, MS - one of six sons. He enlisted in the Army in Jackson, MS August of 1967, and received Basic Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, OK as a Field Artillery Crewman. His early assignments included a tour in Vietnam with subsequent assignments at Fort Carson, CO. Command Sergeant Major Brooks joined the Recruiting Command in 1972 as a Field Recruiter and Station Commander attached to the New Orleans Recruiting Battalion in Greenwood, MS. He continued to move up in rank and position with assignments in Jackson, MS, Ft. Worth, TX, Denver, CO., Albany, NY, and Ft. Baker, CA. August 1, 1996, he assumed duties as Command Sergeant Major of the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), headquartered at Fort Knox, KY. His awards and decorations include: the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Vietnam Service Medal with five campaign stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal. He has a BS in Business Administration (Cum Laude) from Columbia College. Command Sergeant Major (Ret) Brooks and his wife, Wanda, currently reside in MS where he entered the Army some fifty years earlier. CSM Brooks' post-retirement endeavors include teaching high school in Arlington, TX, serving as a senior training analyst at Fort Monroe, VA and as the Director of Military Personnel Services at Fort Gordon, GA. He then retired for a second time in November 2013 and now enjoys traveling, taking piano and dance lessons, community service projects, winemaking and spending quality time with his extended family including his four dearly loved grandchildren Olivia, Avery, Ashley and Cooper Thomas.