Orphan Ministry

There are one hundred forty seven million orphans in the world. Do you know any of them? (James 1:27).

Augustine Quote (Love of things Temporal)

"The wicked can cause no harm to the good, for they do not deprive them of what they love" (Augustine The Christian Combat Ch. 7).

Augustine Quote (The Sovereignty of God)

"Almighty God, Lord of all the universe, who, as it is written, 'hath made all things very good,' has so ordered them that He can accomplish good from both the good and evil" (Augustine The Christian Combat Ch. 7).

Augustine Quote (both the sinless and sinful subject to God)

"And since even sinless creatures are subject to Him, how much more are sinful creatures? Seeing, therefore, that all the good angels are subject to Him, how much more so are all the wicked angels, whose chief is the Devil?" (Augustine The Christian Combat Ch.1)

Melville Quote (The Sermon)

"If we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists" (Herman Melville Moby Dick Ch. 9 The Sermon)

The Unhappy Life and the Happy Life

Positive thinking is good but some have found their lot in life to be that mostly of affliction, and almost of necessity they can not seem to attain too high of a degree in such thinking. Take Job for example, "If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,' I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent" (Job 9:27,28). What extreme torment of both soul and body Job was in! His condition was so severe that he loathed his very life "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul (Job 10:1). His sufferings great as they were cannot compare with the sufferings of our Lord. "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" Hebrews 2:10).

On the other hand there are those that almost find themselves out to be the very exapmpe to Paul's exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Rejoice evermore." What a mystery that one should suffer while another does not in proportional comparison! What moderation and balance of thought and emotions must we keep! For the one it is seemingly impossible to keep up a Christian smile while for the other they may be at the very risk of thinking they are innocent when they are not. Paul, Peter, and James knowing how greatly and overwhelmingly pained one can be by persecution and sufferings were able to find with the aid of the Holy Spirit comfort and even happiness inspite of all of the bad things that happened to them as well as to other Christians. It is true that there can be peace obtained and even rejocing during hardships of Christians, while they undergo the threat of or actual outward persecution, bodily infermities, and spiritual torments.
What torment some saints go through wrestling with this perdiciment they find themselves in that they are to rejoice evermore!

So let us with job cautiously not forget that we are not innocent before God but at the same time have faith with Paul and "reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). There is place for a smile here! And with James let us "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations" (James 1:2). And with Peter let us "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13).

God The Great Artisan

Because God is the greatest of all artisans there is much beauty to be found in nature. Indeed all of creation is a masterpiece for us to behold. The world is God's magnum opus. The genius or talent of the artist can only imitate or distort what God has done. Man cannot but make an attempt to capture the beauty of things. The thing in and of itself, i.e. creation, is the most pure work of art in all aesthetics. Hear what our Lord says, "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Luke 12:27).

Both believers and unbelievers participate in observing the beauty of nature in that "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard" (Psalm 9:1-3). It is only the believer, however, that can fully appreciate and rightly glorify God's handy work.

As I walk through the park by my house and behold the mighty majestic Bald Cypress trees, how tall they are and how green their leaves are, I cannot help but that my thoughts avert to God the originator of them. When I smell a magnolia or a gardenia I think of the Lord who alone can make such aromas. As I hear the sound of running water I think of living waters. And when I see a raven I think of how God seems to have them call out specifically to me. Job observes that nature and animals speak truth to us, "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee" (Job 12:7,8).

When I consider what beauty there is on earth and ponder what heaven must be like I say with the psalmist, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:4).