Come Home

Ever feel that you lost your way? That all your hopes and dreams in life have been dashed and lying in ashes?

Have you felt that you are basically alone, wandering as a ship with no compass, frantically trying to find direction in this crazy, mixed up world, but never really finding it?

Perhaps you grew up in a family where you were grounded in great, eternal truths that are timeless in that they have withstood the ravages of eons of human history. And yet, somewhere, somehow along the way you lost track of those truths, wandering off into some uncharted territory where the glitter that attracts you turns out to be nothing more than fool's gold in the end.

Perhaps you once lived as one who believed in the Lord with all your heart. You prayed to Him. You sang songs about Him. You read the Bible. You went to church.

But someone or something so severely disappointed you that you felt there was no alternative but to give up on it all, rejecting the very foundation of your whole life due to the misguided sins of some of the people of God.

And now, maybe you are feeling hopeless, that God has abandoned you and that you are beyond help.

Is there a message to you, just for you?

Yes. Come home!

The door is always open. You know where to go and what to do. The very same Lord you once claimed stands with arms wide open. The very truths that once gave your life purpose and direction are still there, waiting for you to claim them once again.

There is no need to hesitate or to wait, acting as if you are an outsider. You are not. You are one of His sheep who went astray. And the Bible tells us that He never abandons His sheep. You are His, no matter what you've done or how far away you have strayed.

Come home. This is where you belong. Those who love you wait with great anticipation. The Lord stands ready to throw His arms around you. All you have to do is walk through the door.

Your life is not over. You still have a chance. Turn back to Him. Let Him love you. Let God's people love you.

Come home, my friend, come home.

Song: "Come Home" by the Cathedral Quartet.

A Prayer for 9/11

"Our Heavenly Father, as we remember the horrific events that occurred on this day 10 years ago, we humbly ask for your comfort as memories come flooding back into our minds like bad dreams. And in remembering may we honor the legacy left behind by the brave souls on United Flight 93, the fire fighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel, and hold as sacred the lives of all of the victims in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. We confess to you our collective failure as a nation to keep the truth alive concerning what happened that day, allowing the misguided, and the duplicitous, to revise the sacred history of 9/11 and cloud the national vision of who and what perpetrated the attacks. Renew our sense of national unity in fighting the good fight against the forces of evil. We ask that you, O Father, would also open the eyes of the spiritually blind, even those who are engaged in terrorism around the world, so that they may recognize the wickedness of which they are a part, repent of their sins, and come to the truth. Be a special friend to those who mourn this day. And in their deep sense of loss let them experience your loving presence and find solace. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen."

The Season of Woe

In the history of the Hebrew people, who became known as Jews, a theme arises that would become a means of describing the polarity of their experience and their relationship with God--'woe or weal.'

Weal is a word that denotes a period of great prosperity, happiness, fulfillment, well-being. Woe, of course, is the opposite--a period of poverty, despair, abandonment, and distress.

The ancient Hebrews, according to the Bible, were schooled by God Himself in the simple concept that if they obeyed Him and lived according to the covenant that they themselves had agreed to, then they would be blessed. If, however, they violated that covenant with God, they would suffer the consequences.

Those consequences were dire.

The books of Exodus, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and others depict how Israel paid the price for its disobedience to God. More often than not they were overcome by their enemies, slaughtered, and the survivors carted off into other regions where they lived as slaves. These were the seasons of woe.

Once having been taught a painful lesson, the remaining remnant of the Hebrew nation would repent of its failure to abide by the terms of the covenant, turn back to God, and eventually be restored. It was then they entered into a season of weal.

In many ways America today is firmly held in the grip of a season of woe. Those who have been running the country have failed us in every imaginable way. Economic disaster looms not only for the U.S. but for the entire world. Civil unrest could break forth at any moment. And war looms on the horizon as terrorist states continue to gain power, particularly the Palestinian push at the U.N. for 'statehood,' which they plan this very month.

Are we suffering the consequences of our failure to abide by the covenant?

To be sure, America as a nation never formally entered into a covenant like the one Israel had with God. The Hebrew nation from the start was a theocracy. The U.S. was never envisioned that way.

But, we have a rich heritage of deeply spiritual people who settled here and believed that this nation was a beacon of hope and the fulfillment of a divine promise to give God's people a place of freedom in a world of tyranny.

In time, however, we have gradually allowed that very tyranny to infiltrate the society. And now, it is ever-present with a fury. Our very Constitution is in danger of being totally negated by citizens--Americans--who no longer believe in its precepts. And their chosen politicians are faithfully carrying out their wishes to change this nation from one of freedom to a Marxist, totalitarian vision of centralized control.

There is a heavy price to be paid for allowing this Godless evil to take such a hold over such a large sector of society. And if God's people do not do something post-haste to stop it, then our 'season of woe' will only continue to worsen, resulting in the most ghoulish nightmare this nation has ever witnessed in its history.

There Has to Be a Song

Gospel music mogul Bob Benson once stated, "There has to be a song."

Indeed.

Too many dark, lonely nights, too many painful events, too many days filled with hopelessness and despair, and too many memories of dear loved ones who have passed from the scene necessitate a song. A song is like a balm to the weary soul, giving utterance to the feelings deeply buried within.

When Paul and Silas were bound and jailed for preaching the Gospel, the Bible says that they sang songs to the Lord all night long.

My grandmother suffered from a terminal illness for 7 long years--an illness that eventually took away her ability to breath. Many a night when she needed oxygen, she would get up, put the tube to her nose, and begin to sing. She said it was a great help to her in her suffering.

On the day of the 9/11 attacks I awoke with a song running through my mind. I did not know at the time why I would be thinking about that song, replaying it over and over again in my head. It did not take but a few hours for me to find out. The song was of great comfort and strength to me on that horrific day.

Here are part of the lyrics:

There is never a day so dreary
There is never a night so long
But the soul that is trusting Jesus
Will somewhere find a song.

Wonderful, wonderful Jesus
In the heart He implanteth a song
A song of deliverance, of courage, of strength
In the heart He implanteth a song.    

Ask Me to Sing At Your Church?

If you do, I will accept! LOL.

There are some dates left in September, and October is wide open.

I do not charge churches a fee to sing. I only ask for a free-will love offering and the ability to sell my CDs. Sometimes churches want me to sing during revivals or conferences. Others want me to do an entire program. I can do either.

Oh, and by the way, I am also available to speak as well. This can be in addition to singing, or if you wish, I can just make a spoken presentation during which I share the Gospel.

I love doing this sort of thing. I got it in my blood way back in the late 60s and early 70s when I had my own Gospel Quartet. To this day I still love traveling to sing and mingling with 'God's people.' I always have a good time. And I think you will too.

But more importantly you will be blessed. Whenever Christian people share the Gospel through a song or the spoken word, people are blessed. I am glad and thankful to have a small part in that endeavor.

Good Deeds and Angels

I have received quite a few positive responses to my last post concerning my encounter with an unknown man on a bus in New York City back in 1978. Thank-you for your kind words. And I agree, it is always a good idea to treat people, especially strangers, with some degree of decorum, because we never know if we are in the presence of an agent from God, otherwise known as 'angels.'

People who are spiritually attuned know that life always presents endless possibilities for the divine presence to manifest itself. God works in mysterious ways.

Was the man who helped me on that bus an angel? There is no way to know for sure. Further, it depends on how one defines the term 'angel.'

Symbolically speaking, anyone can be an angel for someone at some time. For example, if you decide to purchase the meal of a member of the U.S. armed forces that you may see sitting in a restaurant, it could well be that he/she will consider you to be an 'angel.' If you send someone a monetary gift to help defray burdensome medical expenses, the recipient may consider you to be an angel, even if you do it anonymously.

In fact, I have always believed that the best way to give to someone in need is to do it anonymously. That way you can know in the depths of your soul that what you are doing is not for the praise, not for the attention, not for a pat on the back or any other pay-off. You are doing it merely because you want to help. And it is not important for anyone to know.

I remember hearing Norman Vincent Peale tell about comedienne Carol Burnett's experience in this regard.

Burnett related that when she first started out in comedy someone did something for her that helped her tremendously in the process of 'breaking in' to the very difficult arena known as show business. The person would not give his/her name. But they requested that in exchange for the gift, Burnett would promise to do the same thing for someone else once she 'made it big.'

I always liked that story, and I have shared it many times through the years.

My friends, if you give to the church or to someone in need only for the tax break, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. If you give a gift only for recognition or to be known in the community for your generosity or for being 'a great philanthropist,' you are giving for the wrong reasons. If you do good deeds for others only for the pay-off of a 'good reputation,' then your good deeds are doing you no good whatsoever from a spiritual standpoint.

Don't get me wrong, the gifts that you give and the good deeds you perform are still needed and much appreciated. But for you, there is no real spiritual value because your motivation is all wrong.

Unless your gift, your act of kindness, your generosity, comes from the heart out of a sense of compassion and out of a desire to obey the command of Christ to voluntarily, of your own free will, feed the hungry, visit the sick and the imprisoned, help the poor, the homeless, and the widows and orphans, then spiritually speaking your deeds are all in vain.

As the Bible says, "Let every man examine himself."

Thought for the Day

Afternoon, my friends! Sorry for there being light blogging at this site for the past several days. It's been super busy around here. I am working on several projects at once, and time has been limited. I do apologize and will try my best to provide more regular and timely updates.

I do appreciate those of you who loyally follow Martin Christian Ministries. I depend on people like you to make all of this possible. A new CD is in the planning stage. More about that in time. But be aware that the process for doing these things is slow...so much to do just to get ready. Right now we are in the planning phase--choosing the songs that will go on the CD, which can be a most arduous task.

But, as always, I deeply appreciate your kind gifts to this ministry. A donation using the PayPal button at the top right column is a tangible way you can help keep this operation going.

And now, for the devotional thought for the day.

On a bus in New York City in 1978 I was attempting to make my way to Grand Central Station from LaGuardia Airport. I had been to New York many times, but I had always driven there. I was totally out of my league as a young man who was not accustomed to big city public transportation.

Seated next to me on the bus was a older gentleman. He, too, was dressed in a three-piece suit as was I. He never introduced himself, and I essentially ignored him, having been told that you can't trust those New Yorkers! LOL!

At one point he simply said, "So where are you going?" Just out of the blue. I said, "I am going to Grand Central Station, and I don't have a clue as to how to get there."

I am quite certain he could tell by my southern drawl that I was not from the area, but he never said a word about it. He said, "Well, my friend, this bus won't get you to Grand Central. You are going to have to get off of this bus and catch a cab. I will tell you exactly where to get off, and what to say to the cabbie in order to make sure he gets you to the station using the shortest route possible. This will save you a load of money."

He began telling me what to do.

It seemed that just as soon as the words left his tongue the bus stopped. He looked out the window and said, "This is it. This is where you get off. Now, you get off this bus pronto and catch that cab, and do exactly what I told you."

I thanked him profusely, and I asked his name. He said, "You don't have time for that. You have to get off right now. Now, go!"

I got off the bus just as the doors began to close.

And sure enough, there were cabs around. I hailed one, and when I got in I told the driver exactly what the man had told me to say.

We got to Grand Central in five minutes.

The cabbie was a big talker. And he had told me along the way that I must know a lot about NYC because he would have never gone to Grand Central using the route I had provided. I thought to myself, "Yeah, if he only knew the real truth. And I bet he would have taken 30 minutes to get there had I not given him complete instructions."

I never forgot the man on the bus.

Shortly after I arrived at Grand Central and boarded the train northward, I began to contemplate what had happened, and a Bible verse struck me. It said, essentially, that we never know who we encounter on life's journey and that sometimes we encounter 'angels unaware.'

I encountered an angel in what to me was a most unlikely place--in New York City on a bus.