This quote could be applicable to Mt. 7:24

"There is a stronghold we can win with our own hands, 

where we may dwell in deep contentment—

so long as we do not linger there in idleness and sloth, 

but remain ready to ride out at another’s call for help. 

This stronghold, which each of us may build, 

is the fortress of peace, beauty and joy. 

We cannot enter it by right; we must win it. 

In an anxious and troubled world, we should seek such a place for rest and renewal, 

yet never for idle or selfish pleasure.

It must be an interlude between toil and the painful deeds life demands, and we must be ready to charge forth the moment duty calls.

Though hard to win, such a fortress is dangerous once gained, 

for it tempts us to seal ourselves in peace and watch life only from a distance—

shutting out not just wind and rain, 

but the cries of the wounded and wronged. 

And if we do that, the day will come when our castle is besieged, and we will be forced to ride out defeated and ashamed to face the duties we neglected.

It is right, natural, and wise to have a stronghold in the mind— where we keep the company of those who have loved beauty wisely and purely.    

lest the world’s daily grind swallow us whole. 

We must not shrink from its work, 

yet remember it is only a mortal discipline, 

and our true life is elsewhere with God. 

If we treat life’s cares as all that matter, we lose its freshness; just as we lose its strength by shunning its toil." Arthur Benson. 

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

 

"I remember how when I had a long and dreary illness, with much mental depression, one of my greatest tortures was to be for ever seeing the beauty in things, but not to be able to enjoy it. That part of the brain that enjoyed was sick and uneasy; but I was never in any doubt that beauty was there, and had power to please the soul, if only the physical machinery were not out of gear, so that the pain of transmission overcame the sense of delight." Arthur Benson. 

 

"We judge Thomas for his doubts. 

Almost no one remembers he was the first one willing to die.

We’ve branded him with a nickname "Doubting Thomas", reducing his entire life to a single bad weekend. 

We treat him like the weak link in the chain, 

a skeptic who didn’t love Jesus enough to just believe.

You need to read John 11 again.

The context here is terrifying. Lazarus is dead, and Jesus announces He is heading back to Judea to wake him up. 

The disciples aren't just hesitant; 

they are shaking in their sandals. 

They remind Jesus that the religious leaders in Judea barely missed stoning Him to death a few days prior. 

Going back wasn't a mission trip. 

It was a suicide mission.

Naturally, the room hesitates. They value their lives. 

But while everyone else is looking for the exit, 

Thomas stands up. 

He looks around at his terrified friends and drops the bravest line in the Gospels:

"Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

That is not the voice of a coward. 

That is the only man in the room with the guts to walk into the fire because he couldn't bear the thought of Jesus walking into it alone. 

He was ready to take a rock to the skull just to stay close to his Rabbi.

So, when he struggled with the resurrection later? 

It wasn't because he didn't care. 

It was because he cared  "too much."

His heart wasn't just skeptical; it was crushed. 

He had resigned himself to die for Jesus, 

but instead, he had to watch Jesus die without him. 

His "doubt" was trauma, not intellectual pride. 

He was afraid to get his hopes up again.

Notice that Jesus didn’t scold him. He didn’t lecture him. 

He just showed him the scars. 

See Thomas holding those hands, shedding tears of love.

We are so quick to define people by their lowest moments. 

We judge an entire biography by one hard chapter. 

Thomas had a moment of doubt, sure, but he backed it up with a lifetime of loyalty. 

Tradition tells us he traveled further than any other apostle, taking the Gospel all the way to India, where he was eventually speared to death.

He died exactly the way he lived: Committed to the end.

Are you judging someone right now because their faith looks messy? Are you writing them off because they’re asking the angry, hard questions?

Be careful. They might not be enemies of the faith. 

They might just be heartbroken believers who need to see the scars before they can risk trusting again."

Ellis Enobun Ref: John 11:16 and John 20:24-31

 

Last night was ladies night at the jail; I was anticipating something special from the Lord because I've been reading the inspiring and stirring book called, "The Strip Club Chronicles" by Kelsey Decker. 

Although our ministries are in different locations, hers in the strip clubs, red light districts and wherever women are exploited, it is much the same; so I was inspired and hoped something deeply spiritual would happen. We meet in a small room on the main floor,  tucked away in a corner, it's my inner sanctum, that special place where Jesus sheds His love lavishly on the souls of the women I meet there, as well as my own. 

Five women came and I've met four of them before. The new person was a late teen girl wearing a hooded puffer jacket, zipped up to her chin revealing only her round little ebony face. She's the youngest girl in this part of the jail, so I expected her to be shy and withdrawn, but to my surprise she lit the room with her broad sun-bright smile.   Let's call her Tia. She wasn't a Christian, but was in love with a boy  whose father was a Pastor and was exposed to some Biblical themes there. 

She was eager to hear and, eager to talk. She began telling her story when we were interrupted by a guard who called her away: I know not why. I was a little disappointed but continued on with the other four women. About 15 minutes later she returned and was eager to tell her story, but we were right in the middle of a study so I asked if she could share it at the end? She happily agreed and said she could stay late, so we finished up and the other four ladies left us alone. Of course in the jail you are never alone, you're always under camera view. 

The Lord's presence envelops the room with feelings of safety, trust and acceptance; so she soon revealed that she was pregnant by her lover, but, in her despair, confusion, fear and poverty, decided to abort the child, and did so without the father's knowledge. This led to a break-up and now she sat weeping for the loss of her child and her lover. 

So here I sat, in front of this broken young girl fighting tears of deep grief: surely Christ's words encapsulated this moment -- 

"The Spirit of the Lord, the Eternal, is on me.

    The Lord has appointed me for a special purpose.

He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

    He has sent me to repair broken hearts,

And to declare to those who are held captive and bound in prison..."

We spent the next hour together, wrapt in the Lord's embrace, as I reached for every heavenly word I could find, shared every verse and gave her all the resource material I had. 

She was my daughter that night, truly, these are the riches in Christ. 

 "When I turned 65 a few years back, I sat in my favorite chair, looked back over my life, and thought to myself,

“So… this is the beginning of the final stretch.”

And slowly, the truths I had ignored for years began to rise to the surface—quiet, firm, impossible to dismiss.

Children?

They’re busy writing their own stories.

Health?

It slips away faster than sand through open fingers.

The world and its systems?

Headlines, promises, and numbers that rarely change real life.

Aging doesn’t wound the body first.

It strips away illusions.

So I sat with myself—and with the Lord—and carved out a handful of honest, necessary truths about how to live the rest of my days with purpose, dignity, and peace.

⸻

Children don’t save you from loneliness

Children are a blessing—but they are not meant to be your identity or your safety net.

They grow. Life pulls them in every direction. One day you realize you’re a cherished chapter in their story, not the center of it.

You love them deeply…

and yet something inside still feels quiet and hollow.

Only God was ever meant to fill that space.

⸻

Health is not guaranteed

One day, the activities you once jumped into with enthusiasm feel heavy.

You realize health was never a background character—

it was the pillar holding everything else upright.

Your body is not just something you live in.

It is something you steward.

And stewardship matters to the Lord.

⸻

Retirement is not a reward—it’s a reality check

Depending on systems alone is like standing on thin ice.

Bills grow.

Needs grow.

Prices grow.

Faith does not mean irresponsibility.

Wisdom means preparing while you can.

Provision is part of stewardship.

⸻

So I rebuilt my life around new rules—

honest, practical rules for finishing well.

⸻

Rule 1: Be wise with money, but trust the Lord—not wealth

Love your children.

Bless them.

Pray for them.

But don’t make them your retirement plan.

Save what you can.

Plan wisely.

Give generously.

Financial independence preserves dignity—but faith reminds us where true security comes from.

⸻

Rule 2: Your health is part of your calling. Work to strengthen yourself to remain independent as long as possible

If your body refuses to cooperate, everything else becomes harder.

Move.

Walk.

Stretch.

Sleep.

Eat cleaner.

Reduce what slowly poisons the body.

You don’t do this out of vanity—

you do it so you can keep serving, loving, and showing up.

Your body is a vessel.

Honor it.

⸻

Rule 3: Create joy—and root it in gratitude

Waiting for others to make you happy leads to disappointment.

So you learn to notice the gifts:

A quiet morning.

A warm cup of coffee.

Scripture that settles the soul.

Music that lifts the spirit.

When your joy comes from the Lord, loneliness loses its grip.

⸻

Rule 4: Aging is not permission to give up

Some people turn aging into a habit of complaints.

Over time, even those who love them drift away.

Strength is attractive.

Resilience is inspiring.

Capability honors God.

Exercise. Stay engaged. Stay useful.

⸻

Rule 5: Release the past

The good old days were beautiful—but they are gone.

Clinging to them steals today.

God is not finished creating moments worth living.

There is still purpose here.

⸻

Rule 6: Guard your peace fiercely

Not every argument needs your voice.

Not every opinion needs your energy.

Not every relationship deserves access to your heart.

Peace is precious.

Protect it—from drama, bitterness, and emotional chaos.

Peace makes room for the Lord’s presence.

⸻

Rule 7: Keep learning, growing, and serving

The day you stop learning is the day you start shrinking.

Learn something new.

Try something different.

Move your mind and body.

Growth honors God.

Stagnation dulls the spirit.

⸻

You are still here for a reason

Aging is an exam no one can take for you.

You can adapt.

You can rebuild.

You can rise—with faith, wisdom, and strength.

And if no one comes to rescue you…

Stand up anyway.

Lean on the Lord.

Steward what you’ve been given.

Serve with what you still have.

Because you still can.

And that truth—anchored in faith—is enough to transform the rest of your life." ❤️

Kathy Goff.

 My experiences ministering at the jail are so vast, so strange at times, as well as sorrowful, I doubt I can put words to my thoughts today. 

A young woman, 20? Has attended my Bible study, and it's the first Bible study she's ever been too. What a privilege for me!!! She is thin, petite, timid on the outside, always walks with her head down, her conversations are fragmented, she speaks with little more than a whisper, but when she does talk, she has no filter and just spills her thoughts out with no restraint. But surprisingly, she is very bright and her thoughts and questions always amaze me. 

She is cute, but seems to go to great links to hide it. She's shaved her head and her eyebrows, why, I have no idea? I've yet to learn her story, but in the years I've spent with men and women in jail, I know her past is harsh, dark, and whelming.

But this little person has captured this near eighty year old heart. And it appears there's something the Lord has done to give her a fondness for me. What a joy, how gratifying! 

I saw her last night and she said she had a note for me. Huh? That's interesting, I couldn't wait to read it. As I began trying to decipher it, I had to smile because I don't think I've ever read a note that so clearly illustrated the author! I wish she wrote it in darker letters, but, like I said, she speaks in a whisper. 

But within that whisper are these sweeping, bold and artistic letters, along with almost illegible thoughts and curious ramblings, again, illustrating her personality to a T! I had to read it over and over to come to the conclusion she was saying she enjoys the meetings, and when she is released she would like to hear me again and she wondered if I spoke at the women's shelter I recommended for her. I don't, but I think I'll ask her to friend me on FaceBook so we can continue to chat. 99% of the time, inmates never follow through, but I hope she does......

Here's her letter -- 

 

 

Okay, I need your theological minds, here is a passage on “True faith.”  

Is it? 

“True religion is NOT something we accept merely because an authority tells us to. 

It must be something we personally see as true and good through our own awakened conscience and moral insight. Otherwise, our obedience is empty imitation, not genuine faith. 

Jesus appeals to the “pure heart” and the awakened conscience in each person. 

If we follow religious rules only because they are imposed, certified, or stamped with authority, then our obedience is not truly moral or spiritual.

A rule that does not prove itself inwardly as holy, good, and binding on the conscience cannot really command the soul. If a rule is accepted only because:

• “God said so,”

• “The Church says so,”

• “This book says so,”

…but we do not inwardly see it as right, holy, and binding, then:

• it is not truly a moral rule,

• it becomes only a policy, a strategy, or a self-interested calculation,

• and our obedience is only mimetic (imitative), not ethical.

We are copying behavior, not responding from conscience.

If Christ alone could truly see moral and spiritual truth, and everyone else was blind, then Christianity would become absurd — like teaching blind people to imitate the movements of someone who can see. 

That would turn religion into:

• external mimicry,

• empty performance,

• “posture-making of the soul,”

not genuine spiritual life.

Every person must have some direct capacity to recognize truth and goodness — otherwise religion collapses into hypocrisy and meaningless ritual.

Jesus did not come to replace human conscience, but to awaken and guide it.

Religious truth must be inwardly recognizable as good, holy, and binding — or it is not truly religious.

Obedience without inward moral vision is not virtue, but imitation.

A faith that only one person can truly “see” is no faith at all — it reduces everyone else to puppets.

Therefore, Christianity appeals to what is deepest and clearest in the human soul — conscience, moral insight, and the love of goodness itself.

True Christianity must be personally seen and recognized as good and authoritative by the conscience of each believer; otherwise, it becomes 

empty imitation, 

blind obedience, 

and spiritual hypocrisy 

rather than living faith.

Obedience that is not grounded in inner conviction is not moral obedience at all — it’s imitation.

So if someone follows a religious rule 

only because it’s said to be authoritative, 

without ever grasping its moral worth, 

that person is spiritually impoverished — even if their behavior looks pious. 

Genuine religious faith must be personally recognized by conscience and moral insight, rather than accepted purely on the basis of authority or tradition.”

What do you think? 

 Do you remember where Jesus said - "The light of the body is the eye?" 

That's in Matt. 6:22-23 That passage has always been unclear to me, especially where He says, "If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" 

How can light be darkness? What a paradox? 

I was reading Martineau's commentary on this, and he explained it like I've never heard before. His writing is antiquated so I ran it through ChatGPT for an interpretation. This is the result -- 

"This passage is saying:

To live in spiritual or moral darkness is not merely to lack truth, but to live inside a false reality that your own mind actively constructs — a reality in which the good looks evil, 

the simple looks threatening, 

the innocent looks corrupt, 

and the beautiful looks trivial or false.

The tragedy is not that such a person sees nothing —

it is that they see wrongly, 

and cannot tell that they are seeing wrongly.

So the darkness is “great” because:

• it is internal,

• it is self-reinforcing,

• it feels convincing,

• and it replaces reality rather than merely obscuring it.

In short:

Darkness does not just blind — it hallucinates.

And when the soul lives by those hallucinations, 

it becomes estranged from truth, 

from others, 

and from itself.

That is what makes “that darkness” so great."

I love that, and I think it's sooo true! If you want to read more, I'll include what Martineau said, and all that Chat said. 

James Martinuea’s commentary really shed light on this statement; although hard to understand; He said - 

 “Great indeed is that darkness!! 

Because it not only hides realities, 

but produces all kinds of deceptive unrealities; 

to the blinding character of all darkness, 

adding the creative activity of light; 

suppressing the clear outline and benign face of things, and throwing up instead their twisted and malignant shadows.” 

I had a sense of what he meant but I asked ChatGPT to interpret it, this is what it said -- 

 

1. “If you live in darkness, how great is that darkness?”

This echoes Jesus’ saying in Matthew 6:23 — “If the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

The “darkness” here is not ignorance alone, but a condition of the inner life: a person’s moral, spiritual, and perceptual world.

It means:

When someone’s inner guide (conscience, truth, love, humility) is corrupted or absent, then the very faculty meant to see truth is what distorts it.

So the darkness is “great” not because it is dramatic, but because it is internal, pervasive, and unnoticed by the one who has it.

 

2. “Because it not only hides realities…”

Darkness normally conceals things.

But this passage says it does something worse:

It doesn’t just hide truth — it replaces truth.

So the person in darkness doesn’t merely miss reality — they live inside a false version of it.

 

3. “…but produces all kinds of deceptive unrealities”

This is the key idea.

The mind in darkness becomes productive, not passive:

• It invents explanations that justify itself.

• It projects motives onto others that are not there.

• It interprets events through fear, pride, resentment, or self-interest.

So instead of seeing the world as it is, the person sees:

• Enemies where there are none,

• Threats where there is safety,

• Corruption where there is innocence,

• Or virtue where there is actually vice.

This is why the darkness is dangerous — it becomes self-confirming.

 

4. “…to the blinding character of all darkness, adding the creative activity of light”

This is a paradoxical and very subtle line.

Light is normally creative — it reveals, gives form, brings clarity.

But here, the darkness borrows the power of light and uses it wrongly.

Meaning:

The mind still thinks, imagines, reasons, and creates — but it does so under false premises.

So the person is not empty or dull — they may be very articulate, very convinced, very emotionally vivid — but the whole creative faculty is misaligned.

That makes the deception richer, more persuasive, and harder to escape.

 

5. “Suppressing the clear outline and benign face of things…”

Reality, in its true form, is described as:

• having a “clear outline” (truth is coherent),

• having a “benign face” (reality is not fundamentally hostile).

Darkness suppresses both:

• It blurs clarity.

• It makes the world seem harsher, more cruel, more threatening than it is.

So instead of a world that is structured, meaningful, and ultimately good, the person sees a world that is chaotic, hostile, and ugly.

 

6. “…and throwing up instead their twisted and malignant shadows.”

Shadows are distortions of real things.

So what the person sees are:

• exaggerations,

• caricatures,

• warped reflections.

People become villains, motives become sinister, events become conspiracies, and suffering becomes meaningless cruelty rather than something that can be redemptive.

So the mind lives in a shadow-world, not a world of solid things.

An Encouraging Word To Anyone Who Has Fallen Into Sin

“And I'm not speaking of those who have committed small sins, 

but suppose the case of one who is filled full of all wickedness, and let him practice everything which excludes him from the kingdom,

and let us suppose that this man is not one of those who were unbelievers from the beginning, but formerly belonged to the believers, and such as were well pleasing to God,

but afterwards has become a fornicator, adulterer, effeminate, a thief, a drunkard, a sodomite, a reviler, and everything else of this kind;

I will not approve even of this man despairing of himself, although he may have gone on to extreme old age in the practice of this great and unspeakable wickedness.

For if the wrath of God were a passion, one might well despair as being unable to quench the flame which he had kindled by so many evil doings;

but since the Divine nature is passionless, 

even if He punishes, even if He takes vengeance, 

he does this not with wrath,

but with tender care, and much loving-kindness; 

wherefore it behooves us to be of much good courage, 

and to trust in the power of repentance.

For even those who have sinned against Him 

He is not wont to visit with punishment for His own sake;

for no harm can traverse that divine nature; 

but He acts with a view to our advantage,

and to prevent our perverseness becoming worse 

by our making a practice of despising and neglecting Him.

For even as one who places himself outside the light inflicts no loss on the light,

but the greatest upon himself being shut up in darkness; 

even so, he who has become accustomed to despise that almighty power, does no injury to the power, 

but inflicts the greatest possible injury upon himself.

And for this reason God threatens us with punishments, 

and often inflicts them, not as avenging Himself, 

but by way of attracting us to Himself.

For even a physician is not distressed or vexed at the insults of those who are out of their minds,

but yet does and contrives everything for the purpose of stopping those who do such unseemly acts, 

not looking to his own interests but to their profit;

and if they manifest some small degree of self-control and sobriety he rejoices and is glad, 

and applies his remedies much more earnestly,

not as revenging himself upon them for their former conduct, but as wishing to increase their advantage, and to bring them back to a purely sound state of health.

Even so God when we fall into the very extremity of madness, says and does everything, not by way of avenging Himself on account of our former deeds; but because He wishes to release us from our disorder; 

and by means of right reason it is quite possible to be convinced of this.” 

St. John Chrysostom.

This is not a "once saved always saved" quote, 

but a revealing of the heart of a pure and loving Heavenly Father, who loves us more than we love our own children. 

 

The Quiet and the Messy Revival

They say there is a quiet revival —

soft as breath on stained glass,

a hush that Spotify,

TikTok,

and cynicism couldn’t kill.

The soul, stubborn as ever,

still remembers how to kneel.

And they come —

students and searchers,

middle-class, 

secular spiritual, 

young professionals with

coffee and questions,

drawn to bands and liturgy,

Alpha Course chats and candlelight.

The lure of meaning

in a world fraying at the seams.

Something ancient

leaking through the cracks

of their disenchanted age.

And this too is grace.

Don’t despise it.

But don’t confuse revival

with bums on seats

or hands in the air —

as good as these might be.

Revival is when the Wild Goose

breathes her fierce breath,

when justice stirs,

and mission is reborn.

It is a thin place —

where heaven brushes earth,

where hearts ignite

in both university halls

and urban streets.

For authentic revival

never flatters the powerful

or stays safe in steeples.

It breaks bread with the broken,

brings the margins to the middle,

and births a hunger for justice

that cannot be tamed.

And yes —

there is also a messy revival

in forgotten corners:

in prisons and shelters,

on council estates and recovery rooms.

It smells like roll-ups and sweat,

sounds like broken laughter

and half-remembered hymns.

There are no bands,

just trembling voices

singing praise

through nicotine lungs

and trauma-shaken hands.

And Jesus —

the penniless preacher from Nazareth,

the God-Man of Jubilee —

he’s here too.

Not watching from afar,

but dwelling where the Spirit pours:

in the quiet hush of a communion rail,

and in the refuge of a prison chapel,

in the homeless shelter at dusk,

in the guitars and anthems of auditoriums,

and in tear-streaked prayers on street corners.

He proclaims good news still —

not to the polished,

but to the poor.

He eats with tax collectors

and those on tag,

blesses the bruised,

welcomes the wasted,

and announces

a year of Jubilee —

where hoarded wealth is released,

where systems bend,

and the forgotten find their name.

Let the quiet revival flourish.

Let the messy one rage.

Let incense rise from both altars.

Let both be called holy.

For the Spirit blows

through polished sanctuaries

and shattered shelters alike,

and Christ —

scarred,

smiling —

walks freely between them.

- Rev’d Jon Swales

 

 I read that less than 10% of our thoughts on any given day are just rewinds: thoughts we repeat over and over. As I listen to my thoughts I'm persuaded this is true; redundant repeats, like a song that gets stuck in your head. So when I read this quote it revealed why I love to read, doing so ushers in new material and creative thought that refreshes my mind and relieves me of my "ennui" of thoughts.

 

 

 Ruskin was walking the streets of London lamenting that not a shred of country life was left in them.

“For these streets are indeed what they have built; their inhabitants the people they have chosen to educate. 

This fermenting mass of unhappy human beings – news-mongers, novel-mongers, picture-mongers, poison-drink-mongers, lust and death-mongers; the whole smoking mass of it one vast dead-marine storeshop –accumulation wreck of the Dead Sea, with every activity in it, a form of putrefaction.”

To soothe and recover from his visit to the city of vanity, he consoles himself back in the country when he notices an old woman and her pig – 

“I got some peace and refreshment by mere sympathy with a Bewickian little pig in the roundest and conceitedest burst of pig-blossom. His servant, - a grave old woman, with much sorrow and toil in the wrinkles of her skin, while his was only dimpled in its divine thickness – was leading him, with magnanimous length of rope, down a grassy path behind the convent; stopping, of course, where he chose.

Stray stalks and leaves of eatable things, in various stages of ambrosial rottenness, lay here and there. The little joyful darling of Demeter shook his curly tail, and munched; and grunted the goodnaturedest of grunts, and snuffled the approving’s of snuffles, and was a balm and beautification to behold, and I would have fain have changed places with him for a little while….”  

He then shares his thoughts about his home on a mountain – 

“On my own little piece of mountain ground, I grow a large quantity of wood-hyacinths and heather, without any expense worth mentioning; 

but my only industrious agricultural operations 

have been the getting of three-pounds-ten worth of hay, 

off a field for which I pay six pounds rent, 

and surrounding with a costly wall six feet high, 

to keep out rabbits, which consider it a kitchen garden, 

which, being terraced and trim, my neighbors say is pretty; 

and which will probably, every third year, when the weather is not wet, supply me with a dish of strawberries.” 

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces.

But I see everything.

Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat. Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments.

One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?"

"6:15," he said, confused.

"Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it."

He blinked. "You... you can do that?"

"I can now," I said.

Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?"

"Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing."

He cried. Right there in the parking lot.

Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic.

But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!"

"Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel."

He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us."

The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over."

Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it.

But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note,

"Take what you need. You're not alone. - Raymond & Friends"

People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket.

I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece."

So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones.

Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees.

It's not glamorous. But it's everything." 

Let this story reach more hearts....

Credit: Mary Nelson

 

If you have a heart for the marginalized; when you walk downtown and the sidewalk surges with sorrow and loss, and human misery is evident in every face as you walk by the homeless, or a jail, or a nursing home, or whenever you see people in desperate need, and you sense the Holy Spirit prompting you to do something, but you feel completely inadequate, and simply have no idea what to do or say, here are some thoughts that may help.

No one in ministry began confident, not one. I think it's best, if possible, to join with another that is experienced, just tag along. I think this is especially important if you venture into areas that are dangerous. 

I read this by a woman who goes into strip-clubs, red-light districts and anywhere women are being exploited; I think what she says is so important. --- 

"I went not to rescue, but to witness.  Not to dominate, but to dwell. This trip had no agenda other than to occupy. 

And the moment a woman behind a glass window opened her door—and her heart—and invited me inside, closing the red curtain behind her, the assignment was sealed.

This wasn’t an easy trip." 

But it was a holy one.

Some conversations were brief.

Some were tender.

Some were divine disruptions I’ll never forget." 

These are comments made by Kelsey Decker about her trip to Amsterdam where she reaches out to the exploited women there.

I like that quote so much because we never know what God has planned, and if we simply go, with no pre-planned agenda, God will bring us someone we can help, how? We never know: but God orchestrates these divine encounters; all we have to do is make ourselves available. If we go trusting Christ, sensing His Spirit, and willing to step out, feeble as we feel, He will bring fruit.  

  

In an old and complicated structure of society, the number is multiplied of those who exist in a state of benumbed habit; who move through their years methodically, not needing to be more than half awake; who take their passage through life in an easy chair, and think no more of self-mortifying work than of the ancient pilgrimage on foot; and are so pleased with the finish and varnish of the world around them as to fancy demons and dangers all cleaned out. Thus the perfected methods of travel by plane and train, excellent as facilities for swifter activity—often have the effect of putting activity to sleep.

 I had church at the jail;

There were only three of us this week, 

one woman, let’s call her Joy, who I saw last week, who has a marginal faith, but is growing at warp speed! 

What a joy to see how the Lord is moving in her during her incarceration! 

The other woman, fortyish, let’s call her Faith, suffered from a brain infection, which I knew nothing about, so I looked up the symptoms online and now I understand what she was trying to explain.

Symptoms of a brain infection – 

Confusion and Disorientation:

Psychosis and Hallucinations: Many experience psychosis, involving difficulty distinguishing reality from delusions, or hallucinations (visual, auditory, or sensory perceptions that aren't real). These can lead to paranoid thoughts or irrational fears.

Personality and Behavioral Changes: Sudden shifts in personality, such as increased irritability, aggression, or withdrawal.

The woman seemed to have all these symptoms and although she is much improved, she was slow to form her thoughts, but has begun, for the first time in her life! To read the Bible, and she is absolutely captivated by it and it was such a joy, for all of us, to talk about her new faith and the love of Jesus.

The other woman, Joy, felt such compassion for Faith that at one point she told Faith that if she feels alone, or confused, or insecure, or whatever she may feel, that she will be there for her, and will help her in any way she can. 

I was overcome by her expressions of love, her budding faith had now found a place to attach itself, and it was the epitome of what church is supposed to be. 

The presence of God permeated the room with the fragrance of Christ.

What a joy, what an experience for me to be part of. 

Truly, it is better to give than receive; my paltry efforts to glorify Christ were met with a “rush of a mighty wind.”   

Better felt than told.

 

The way to a reprobate mind begins by - 

"The shrinking from difficulty, the dread of ridicule, the love of ease, which drains off the sap of a man's moral earnestness, soon dry up the sources of all moral faith from the very roots of him. Though in one sense it is true that he must believe before he acts, yet assuredly he will not long go on believing, when he has ceased to act. 

They plainly show, that any truth a man ceases to live by necessarily becomes to him, if he only persevere, an entire falsehood. God insists on having a concurrence between our practice and our thought. If we proceed to make a contradiction between them, he forthwith begins to abolish it: and if the Will does not rise to the Reason, the Reason must be degraded to the Will. This is no other than that "giving over of men to a reprobate mind," by which "the truth of God is changed into a lie." James Martineau.  

 

The battle of life is no longer a visible fight forced on us from outside, but an inner, unseen struggle we must willingly confront. 

It is not against flesh and blood, but against hidden forces that cling to us in the dark. 

To master our appetites, redirect ambition toward Christian holiness, restrain anger to serve justice, stir a sluggish will to honest work, awaken dull affections to joy, and rouse pity to purposeful action—all this demands vigilance, devotion, and endurance natural to the “good soldier of Jesus Christ,” but far beyond the reach of the skeptics and triflers of our age.

 

Here are the six mood changing hormones (neurotransmitters.)

• Dopamine → Motivation

• Serotonin → Mood stability

• Endorphins → Euphoria & pain relief

• Oxytocin → Connection

• Norepinephrine → Energy & alertness

• GABA → Calm

Here is how they work and how faith in Christ impacts them. 

1. Dopamine — Motivation & Reward

• Often called the reward neurotransmitter.

• Gives the feeling of anticipation, motivation, accomplishment, and “yes, that felt good — let’s do it again.”

• Released during:

o Achieving goals

o Novel experiences

o Exercise

o Healthy social bonding

Our new walk with Christ is a continual state of anticipation, motivation and accomplishment.”

Jesus said – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Lk.6:38

He is explaining how joy will be our reward, and joy raises Dopamine like nothing else! 

Boost Dopamine by:

Small wins: Break tasks into tiny steps and check them off. (Dopamine loves completion.) 

Becoming a Christian gives us unending goals, pursuits and challenges.  Living in the kingdom of God makes every experience “Novel.” 

Each new victory is a “small win.” Each step forward, every obedience, every effort to trust, to step out in faith, to experiment with the promises of God, to put our trust in them, each day, each hour provides us with opportunities for joy and gladness. 

New experiences: Everything in the walk of faith is about “New wins.” We choose a new direction, a new way of thinking, a new way of acting, a new way of achieving 

Exercise: Even 10 minutes lifts dopamine. 

The Christian life is an active life! We worship, we sing, we fellowship, we serve, we engage the world by deeds of charity, love and hope. 

Creating something: Writing, art, or any kind of making.

If the Christian life is anything it is creative! The Holy Spirit living within us launches us out into the world, where every person we meet gives us opportunity to show the love of God. If by an act of kindness, we need to be creative; if by a word spoken at just the right time; if by sharing the sorrows of others grief, or sharing their joy, we have unending opportunities to creatively show the love of God. 

Healthy social bonding

Christ has joined us to His church; and in the church we join others to fellowship, to worship, and to serve Christ. The world is our mission place; the church is our launching pad. 

2. Serotonin — Mood Stability & Well-Being

• Often associated with contentment, emotional balance, and calm.

• Helps regulate:

o Mood

o Sleep

o Appetite

o Anxiety levels

• Sunlight, exercise, and certain foods influence serotonin pathways.

As a Christian we know that we are “loved with an everlasting love and held up by the everlasting arms;” nothing raises Serotonin more than being in the arms of Christ! We have His precious promises; His Spirit within us; the contentment that comes by seeing His Spirit remove the destructive hurts, habits and hangups from our life. The emotional balance we are patiently led into by His Spirit, where we learn to balance the pursuit of pleasure with our duties. Purpose clear, duties fulfilled, all lead to lower anxiety levels, better sleep and lifted moods. 

3. Endorphins — Natural Painkillers & Euphoria

Boost them by:

• Laughing: One of the strongest endorphin triggers.

• Exercise: Particularly running or brisk movement.

• Spicy foods: Chili peppers stimulate endorphin release.

• Dark chocolate: Small amounts help.

• Deep massage or stretching: Can trigger mild endorphin release.

Although the methods to boost Endorphins isn’t mentioned here, feelings of joy, gladness, and hope do stimulate the brain’s natural “feel-good” chemistry, including endorphins, but also several other key neurotransmitters.   

The Bible says the hope of the righteous is gladness, and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

And it says in Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,”

4. Oxytocin – Bonding, Trust & Emotional Warmth 

Boost it by:

• Physical touch: Hugs, holding hands, or even petting a dog.

• Acts of kindness: Giving boosts oxytocin more than receiving.

• Meaningful conversation: Genuine emotional connection.

• Worship, prayer, or singing in groups (studies show oxytocin rises during communal experiences).

• Eye contact: Warm, non-threatening eye contact builds trust.

As I read over the causes for increasing Oxytocin, it’s obvious that all these methods to raise Oxytocin are integral parts of Christ’s church. Each one is a part of the kingdom of God, and in a healthy church, one should feel a rise in Oxytocin just in entering the church doors. 

5. Norepinephrine — Alertness & Energy

Boost it by:

• Cold exposure: Splash cold water on your face or take a 30–60 second cold shower at the end.

• Short bursts of exercise: Climbing stairs for 1–2 minutes.

• Challenging your brain: Reading something mentally stimulating or learning a skill.

• Deep breathing: Slow, strong breaths can increase alertness.

Within the methods to raise Norepinephrine, we see that “Challenging your brain” is a part, and certainly studying the Bible, learning to live and love as Christ did, as well as reading biographies of great Christians all have the ability to raise Norepinephrine. 

6. GABA — Relaxation & Calm

Boost it by:

• Slow breathing: 4–6 breaths per minute dramatically increases GABA activity.

• Prayer, meditation, or silent reflection: Calms neural pathways.

• Chamomile or green tea: Contains compounds that activate GABA receptors.

• Warm bath: Heat increases GABA activity in the brain.

• Magnesium-rich foods: Nuts, leafy greens, pumpkin seeds.

The disciplines of the Christian life, such as - prayer, meditation, silent reflection, are all significant and part of the normal Christian life. 

King David displays this silent reflection when he says -

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: Psalm" 139:23.

How much is too much? 

Play station, Netflix, scrolling reels, how much is too much? 

Is it sin? Is it harmless entertainment? 

How do I know? 

Questions like this fall under the category of "Christian liberty." 

There is no direct command, and their is no single answer for everyone, 

but we have the word of God to direct us in principle and example.

These are things we know for sure, over fifty times the Bible tells us 

there is an urgency, calling for readiness, repentance, or sober living.

Our wives are tempted in many ways to seek fulfillment in ungodly desires. We too, face countless temptations each day. 

Our children live in a world Jesus described as 

"An evil and perverse generation." 

So, as men of God, we have a limited amount of time to prepare them to meet the flood of temptations that face them now, and even more so, as they leave home. 

Building character in children and rearing them to be strong, independent, and deeply devoted to Christ demands many hours of consistent, intentional effort. 

So we must carefully measure the time we spend on pleasure. 

Shall I be truant? Shall I be playing games while the world and all of its evils are calling my wife, my children, and my very own soul to lean into darkness? 

Little by little, day by day, there are constant messages to compromise, to dabble, to investigate the the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Every hour we spend in entertainment teaches our family how to live, how to redeem the time. 

So, do we have a goal, do we have a plan to rear children to be a light in this world? 

How then, do we accomplish this? 

"We must put our families first; but what is the true aim in raising our children? 

Is it to train them for themselves alone—closed in their own pleasures, armed only with knowledge that serves private interests?

Should not our first care be to breathe into them the spirit of Christians—giving them a generous concern for humanity, 

fitting them to live and even die for others? 

Should not our everyday speech awaken sympathy for the poor, the ignorant, and the fallen?

Should not the influences of home prepare them to go forth as benefactors of their race? 

This is Christian education." 

So, again, measure your time for recreation, which is good for us in the right quantities, a little does good like a medicine, but we must remember, the time is short, the days are evil, and we are responsible.