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IPS Features
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I was speaking in
a church recently. They had a practice of members coming forward and
sharing a concern or a blessing and lighting a candle. I loved it. Each
person who came forward imparted an insight or an inspiration to me. One man came
and spoke words identical to those in my own heart. He said, "I
don't even know what the word 'Christian' means anymore. What I am
seeing on TV and hearing in the political arena from preachers is
not my lifelong understanding of what it means to be a Christian." Mind you, this is
not a disagreement between fundamentalists and religious liberals. My
father was a fundamentalist and my mother was much more liberal but both
of them were kind and seldom judgmental. They literally took in poor
people. Most of my life someone outside the family was living with us
for periods of time. For example, a little homeless Cherokee boy spent
a year with us. I'm not talking
about theology. I am talking about the spirit of Jesus Christ. I do not
see it in so many of the churches with mile-high steeples and sprawling
buildings or in the political preachers. I see churches doing
almost nothing for the poor, mentally ill, imprisoned, widows, orphans
and other needy souls in our society. I am overwhelmed
when I read the Bible at the attention devoted to such people. Our duty to
befriend and help them is made crystal clear. Jesus said the
day would come when he would say, "I was in prison and you visited
me, I was sick and you came to me," and the disciples said,
"Lord, when did we ever visit you in jail? When were you
sick?" and He said, "Inasmuch as you did it to the least,
you did it unto me." I am like Mark
Twain who said it's not the things in the Bible I don't understand that
bothers me, it's what I do understand. When Jesus said those words, He
spoke words I readily understand. The way to do something for Him
is to help people who are sick, poor, and in trouble. Like the brother
who lit the candle, I am confused by what I see but I am not confused
about what we will be doing if we catch the spirit and inhale the simple
teachings of the Master. We will reach out to the least. We will care.
We will love. "By this
will men know you are my disciples (students), that you love one
another." Even to the least. Dalton's website: www.daltonroberts.com.
His writings are gathered at www.ipsfeatures.com.
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