"Certainly it is not those who are busiest who are best employed. Two of the most useful people in the world that I know are people of leisure. One is an elderly lady who lives in the country and has no particular duties. But she is a woman of great intellectual force, with a poetical and deeply religious mind. The result is that every one who is brought into contact with her goes away with a heightened sense of the significance and interest of life. She is always ready to consider other people's problems, and does it with a zest and sympathy that make it a pleasure to consult her. The result is that she holds the threads of many lives in her hands. You leave her presence feeling that your own existence is an infinitely beautiful and important thing; she kindles one with a desire to act worthily." Arthur C. Benson. 

Free Burma Rangers

This man speaking is truly a heroic Christian, he mentored my son and they went on two missions into Burma a few years back taking relief supplies, Bibles, malaria nets and medical to the displaced people oppressed by the Burma army. He is a fearless Christian, and goes wherever there is oppression. Notice he is not crouched down in a fox-hole, but stands and speaks boldly. Yes, he is a hero of mine; and if the body of Christ had more of his spirit we would see the world greatly changed.

   I talked with a woman that has four children last night; three of whom are in Foster care and her youngest is with her sister as she completes her jail sentence. I listened to her as she frantically, through gushing tears, describes her plan to get them all back. I think her pain is as high as one can feel without just cashing it all in.

She mentally scrambles to find solutions to problems that have none. Addiction, relapse, jail, bail and relapse. Her parents are Meth addicts and she began using at twelve. The reality is that DHS is planning to take her youngest as well, and truth is, it's probably the best solution, but as I look into her eyes of anguish and frenzied attempts to resolve it all.....

Oh God, what hope is there? Who can untangle this web of madness? Children torn from what little security they have ever known! Mom, desperately clawing at every closed door with all of her might, fueled by fear and pain in a toxic mix of confusion and failure absolutely coloring every fiber of what's left of her self-image. But still, she grasps a tiny thread of hope, that she will pull this all together. She tells me she thinks she feels something of God calling her. Oh! I tell her, "Seek Him first."  Oh! Run to Him! Let nothing get in your way! Seek Him like you have never sought anything before!"

Forgive me for pasting the page, it is soooo much easier. I just love Arthur C. Benson's insight into the spirit of the Psalms, worth a reflective read. 

  "Success in life depends more upon forming habits than upon anything else, except good health. I could name two or three friends of my own, men of high intelligence, admirable humor, undiminished zeal, who have failed, and will fail to realize their possibilities, simply by a lack of method. Who does not know men who, up to age forty, their friends say that they could do anything if they would only choose, and after the age of forty that they could have done anything if they had chosen?"    A. C. Benson.

Here is a page from a book titled, "The Beauty of Life," by Arthur Christopher Benson. I like these simple, practical thoughts, you may as well. You may have to click on it to enlarge it. 

  When driving in the city of Portland you will see some absolutely beautiful churches. These churches were built with loving thought and a sacred dedication to honor God with their beauty. But now, sadly, many are empty or have been sold and now house secular interests. It reminded me of a passage about seeing an old abandoned church in England a hundred years ago. 

 "Inside the deserted shrine there was a sense of broken trust, of old memories despised, of the altar of God shamed and dishonored. I turned away with a sense of deep sadness; the very sunshine seemed blurred with a shadow of dreariness and shame."

This is, "The Old Church," one of the most beautiful; now a concert hall. 

  "St. Yoo of Kermartin, was a lawyer in early life, and was called "the advocate of the poor." As a lawyer he always endeavored to prevent rather than promote quarrels. As a judge he was just and incorruptible. For the poor he felt special interest, and from them would take no fees. One morning a poor, half-naked beggar was found upon his doorstep, who had passed the night there shivering with the cold. The next night he made the beggar sleep in his own bed, and he himself lay upon the doorstep, that he might learn from experience what the sufferings of the poor are, and have always a true sympathy for them."

  In my 47 years as a Christian I have watched Christendom in America spend, what I call a preoccupation, with End Times Theology. During the seventies the book The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey fueled it. Countless crusades were given with end times as the subject. The radio blazed with hours and hours spent unraveling the mysteries of Revelations; Bible studies formed to study the theme; countless sermons spent expounding the topic; some prophecies were made predicting the end. It seemed every Christian in America was focusing on Gog and Magog. This continues today.

  When I look at the last 47 years I ask myself, to what end has this obsession with End Times resulted in. Has God used it as a great tool to bring in the lost? Have the poor, the addicted, the abused, the orphans and widows, the hungry and oppressed benefited from it? Has the esteem of Christ been elevated? Has church attendance swelled because of it? Has Christian giving increased? In every case I would say sadly, but resoundingly, no.

Church growth in America has decreased; Church giving has gone down; converts are fewer; drug addiction has become epidemic; immorality has exploded to near Sodom and Gomorrah levels; and the doomsday doctrine is used to mock Christ and His followers.

The exhortation to feed the poor, comfort the downcast, release the captives, visit the prisoners, make disciples, visit the widows and orphans and care for the stranger has been replaced, in large part, with interpreting the last book of the Bible.

In my opinion this has been, in some small way, part of the reasons for the downfall of the Church of Christ. 

  If you missed this minute video take a moment to watch it. This is the power of love and kindness put into emotion where words fail.

The longer I'm a Christian, the simpler my beliefs become. 

I think this little ditty I wrote sums it up. 

Gonna try n' treat everybody right!

Yes, color aside, black or white, 

I'm gonna try and be a peace maker,

Try and be a trouble taker!

Gonna help the heartsick man

reach out for a brand new plan. 

Tell 'em 'bout way up yonder

filled with joy, peace and wonder. 

Sins of scarlet left behind,

Jesus cleanses body and mind.

Hope and faith on Jesus casting

rescued soul, life everlasting. 

Help me Jesus,

treat everybody right.