Saturday, September 29, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Landmark study: Change for homosexuals is possible
Posted on Sep 14, 2007 | by Michael Foust
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In what some are calling groundbreaking research, a new four-year study concludes it is possible for homosexuals to change their physical attractions and become heterosexual through the help of Christian ministries.
The data was released Sept. 13 at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., and is published in the new book, "Ex-Gays?" (InterVarsity Press) by psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse. Thirty-eight percent of the subjects followed in the study said they had successfully left homosexuality, while an additional 29 percent said they had had only modest successes but were committed to keep trying. In another significant finding, Jones and Yarhouse said attempts at conversion do not appear to be psychologically harmful.
Experts in the field call it the first scientific study performed on a sample of individuals undergoing Christian counseling, monitoring their successes and failures from the beginning. A follow-up study is being conducted and will be released in the future.
"These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change it's highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt," Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, said at the news conference.
Although the study simply affirms biblical truth, it nonetheless could have a significant impact in the professional realm, where such research carries much weight. A Q&A portion of the American Psychological Association’s website says homosexuality "does not require treatment and is not changeable."
The research is certain to be criticized, particularly by homosexual activist organizations. Yarhouse, professor of psychology at Regent University in Virginia, said their literary agent tried for 10 months to find a secular publisher but "no one would touch it." IVP is a Christian publisher.
The study followed 98 subjects -- 72 men and 26 women -- over a period of between 30 months and four years. Interviews were conducted three times, although by the third interview several subjects had quit the study, leaving the sample with 73 subjects. Some of them quit because they believed they had successfully changed and didn't want to participate anymore, while others quit because they no longer wanted to change, the study said.
All the subjects were being counseled by various ministries of Exodus International, a Florida-based organization that seeks to help people leave homosexuality through faith in Christ.
At the end of the study, the subjects were placed in six categories, in order from success to failure:
-- 15 percent reported their conversion was successful and that they had had "substantial reduction" in homosexual attraction and "substantial conversion" to heterosexual attraction. They were categorized as "success: conversion."
-- 23 percent said their conversion was successful and that homosexual attraction was either missing or "present only incidentally or in a way that does not seem to bring about distress." They were labeled "success: chastity."
-- 29 percent had experienced "modest decreases" in homosexual attraction and were not satisfied with their change, but pledged to continue trying. This category was labeled "continuing."
-- 15 percent had not changed and were conflicted about what to do next.
-- 4 percent had not changed and had quit the change process, but had not embraced the "gay identity."
-- 8 percent had not changed, had quit the process and had embraced the "gay identity."
[Malfunctions in the taping of interviews accounts for the remaining 5 percent.]
The study was released as an American Psychological Association task force is examining the organization's policy on counseling homosexuals. The task force reportedly is stacked with those of a more liberal perspective, and Christian psychologists fear the APA will change its policy to one that officially condemns the idea that change is possible. The report is due next year.
Said Jones, "We hope our research will say to people, 'Slow down. Let's have a civil dialogue. Let's talk about people who are making autonomous adult choices about what they do.... Let's give people the opportunity to exercise their religious freedom."
Bob Stith, the national strategist for gender issues for the Southern Baptist Convention, said he hopes the study will impact churches.
"It is important for the church to recognize that [changing] is difficult," he told Baptist Press. "The first time I went to an Exodus conference, my wife and I were stunned with the level of struggle that many of the people were still having. We had to reevaluate our whole perspective on that. I've worked with drug and alcohol addicts for years, and I've seen the same thing.... I've sent some to live-in rehabs, and they leave because it's too hard. Personally, I have seen more people walk away from homosexuality than I have from drug and alcohol addiction."
He added, "We know that Christ changes lives. You can't quantify that."
Many of the subjects had been sexually promiscuous prior to the study. Of the initial group of 72 men, 33 percent had been involved with more than 30 male partners, while 21 percent had had 10 to 30 such partners. The females were far less promiscuous, with only 4 percent having had more than 30 female partners and 8 percent having had 10 to 30 partners. The large majority of females, 80 percent, had had between one and nine female partners.
In addition, 67 percent of men and 69 percent of women reported having been touched sexually prior to age 13.
Yarhouse said it's difficult to understand why some people are more successful than others in changing. He speculated it could be because some people are "making the decision in isolation." Although such a homosexual would be embraced by their own community, "when they turn to the Christian community they often don't feel the same embrace of, 'We're going to walk alongside you as you go down this path.’"
Jones and Yarhouse also said skeptics should not dismiss the research simply because the researchers are Christians. Much research in the field, they noted, is conducted by researchers who are homosexuals and is nonetheless considered reputable.
Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, called the study groundbreaking.
"I think this is going to set the standard for research in this arena," he told BP. "It's significant because it does address the skepticism among mental health professionals that living by your faith is going to be harmful in some way.... [Jones and Yarhouse] did not find the kind of harm that has been predicted.
"The fact that it is a long-term study makes it superior to the most recent other work in this field. So I believe it does break ground."
--30--
Michael Foust is assistant editor of Baptist Press.
Detailed information about the study is available in the book "Ex-Gays?" and at http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=2846
Posted on Sep 14, 2007 | by Michael Foust
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In what some are calling groundbreaking research, a new four-year study concludes it is possible for homosexuals to change their physical attractions and become heterosexual through the help of Christian ministries.
The data was released Sept. 13 at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., and is published in the new book, "Ex-Gays?" (InterVarsity Press) by psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse. Thirty-eight percent of the subjects followed in the study said they had successfully left homosexuality, while an additional 29 percent said they had had only modest successes but were committed to keep trying. In another significant finding, Jones and Yarhouse said attempts at conversion do not appear to be psychologically harmful.
Experts in the field call it the first scientific study performed on a sample of individuals undergoing Christian counseling, monitoring their successes and failures from the beginning. A follow-up study is being conducted and will be released in the future.
"These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change it's highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt," Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, said at the news conference.
Although the study simply affirms biblical truth, it nonetheless could have a significant impact in the professional realm, where such research carries much weight. A Q&A portion of the American Psychological Association’s website says homosexuality "does not require treatment and is not changeable."
The research is certain to be criticized, particularly by homosexual activist organizations. Yarhouse, professor of psychology at Regent University in Virginia, said their literary agent tried for 10 months to find a secular publisher but "no one would touch it." IVP is a Christian publisher.
The study followed 98 subjects -- 72 men and 26 women -- over a period of between 30 months and four years. Interviews were conducted three times, although by the third interview several subjects had quit the study, leaving the sample with 73 subjects. Some of them quit because they believed they had successfully changed and didn't want to participate anymore, while others quit because they no longer wanted to change, the study said.
All the subjects were being counseled by various ministries of Exodus International, a Florida-based organization that seeks to help people leave homosexuality through faith in Christ.
At the end of the study, the subjects were placed in six categories, in order from success to failure:
-- 15 percent reported their conversion was successful and that they had had "substantial reduction" in homosexual attraction and "substantial conversion" to heterosexual attraction. They were categorized as "success: conversion."
-- 23 percent said their conversion was successful and that homosexual attraction was either missing or "present only incidentally or in a way that does not seem to bring about distress." They were labeled "success: chastity."
-- 29 percent had experienced "modest decreases" in homosexual attraction and were not satisfied with their change, but pledged to continue trying. This category was labeled "continuing."
-- 15 percent had not changed and were conflicted about what to do next.
-- 4 percent had not changed and had quit the change process, but had not embraced the "gay identity."
-- 8 percent had not changed, had quit the process and had embraced the "gay identity."
[Malfunctions in the taping of interviews accounts for the remaining 5 percent.]
The study was released as an American Psychological Association task force is examining the organization's policy on counseling homosexuals. The task force reportedly is stacked with those of a more liberal perspective, and Christian psychologists fear the APA will change its policy to one that officially condemns the idea that change is possible. The report is due next year.
Said Jones, "We hope our research will say to people, 'Slow down. Let's have a civil dialogue. Let's talk about people who are making autonomous adult choices about what they do.... Let's give people the opportunity to exercise their religious freedom."
Bob Stith, the national strategist for gender issues for the Southern Baptist Convention, said he hopes the study will impact churches.
"It is important for the church to recognize that [changing] is difficult," he told Baptist Press. "The first time I went to an Exodus conference, my wife and I were stunned with the level of struggle that many of the people were still having. We had to reevaluate our whole perspective on that. I've worked with drug and alcohol addicts for years, and I've seen the same thing.... I've sent some to live-in rehabs, and they leave because it's too hard. Personally, I have seen more people walk away from homosexuality than I have from drug and alcohol addiction."
He added, "We know that Christ changes lives. You can't quantify that."
Many of the subjects had been sexually promiscuous prior to the study. Of the initial group of 72 men, 33 percent had been involved with more than 30 male partners, while 21 percent had had 10 to 30 such partners. The females were far less promiscuous, with only 4 percent having had more than 30 female partners and 8 percent having had 10 to 30 partners. The large majority of females, 80 percent, had had between one and nine female partners.
In addition, 67 percent of men and 69 percent of women reported having been touched sexually prior to age 13.
Yarhouse said it's difficult to understand why some people are more successful than others in changing. He speculated it could be because some people are "making the decision in isolation." Although such a homosexual would be embraced by their own community, "when they turn to the Christian community they often don't feel the same embrace of, 'We're going to walk alongside you as you go down this path.’"
Jones and Yarhouse also said skeptics should not dismiss the research simply because the researchers are Christians. Much research in the field, they noted, is conducted by researchers who are homosexuals and is nonetheless considered reputable.
Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, called the study groundbreaking.
"I think this is going to set the standard for research in this arena," he told BP. "It's significant because it does address the skepticism among mental health professionals that living by your faith is going to be harmful in some way.... [Jones and Yarhouse] did not find the kind of harm that has been predicted.
"The fact that it is a long-term study makes it superior to the most recent other work in this field. So I believe it does break ground."
--30--
Michael Foust is assistant editor of Baptist Press.
Detailed information about the study is available in the book "Ex-Gays?" and at http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=2846
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
On Tuesday, my wife's great-grandmother passed away. The obituary is below:
Helen M. Snyder
Born in Schoharie County, New York on May 26, 1915
Departed on Sep. 18, 2007 and resided in Canton, OH.
Visitation: No Visitation
Graveside Services: Private
Cemetery: Private
Helen M. Snyder age 92 of Canton, Ohio, went home to be with the Lord, passing away Tuesday September 18, 2007 in the House of Loreto. Born in Schoharie County, New York on May 26, 1915 she was the daughter of the late, Walter and Pearl Stockman. She had lived the greater portion of her life in Canton and was a member of the Whipple Ave. Baptist Church and a teacher for the Eager Beaver Youth Group. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank and George Stockman, her daughter, Kay Frances Smith and also by her husband of 64 years, Guy B. Snyder Sr. who passed away August 1, 1998.
Survivors include three sons and daughters-in-law, Guy Jr. and Mary Snyder of Massillon, Gary L. and Sheila Snyder of Norwalk, OH., and Arthur L. and Vivian Snyder of Akron, OH. Two daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Ellen and David Boring of Canton and Carol and Mike Stump of Canton. Son-in-law, Lewis Duane Smith of Canton. Her sister, Alcy Bonham of Millersburg, OH. and brother, John (Millie) Stockman of Tuscon, AZ. There are 15 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren.
Private graveside services and burial will be held Friday at 11 a.m. in the Eden Church Cemetery. There will be no calling hours and the REED FUNERAL HOME CANTON CHAPEL is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the House of Loreto or Whipple Ave. Baptist Church. The family would like to express a special thanks to the House of Loreto for their care and labor of love to Helen during her residency. Those wishing to share their condolences or a fond memory may sign the Reed On-Line guestbook at our website www.reedfuneralhome.com.
Helen M. Snyder
Born in Schoharie County, New York on May 26, 1915
Departed on Sep. 18, 2007 and resided in Canton, OH.
Visitation: No Visitation
Graveside Services: Private
Cemetery: Private
Helen M. Snyder age 92 of Canton, Ohio, went home to be with the Lord, passing away Tuesday September 18, 2007 in the House of Loreto. Born in Schoharie County, New York on May 26, 1915 she was the daughter of the late, Walter and Pearl Stockman. She had lived the greater portion of her life in Canton and was a member of the Whipple Ave. Baptist Church and a teacher for the Eager Beaver Youth Group. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank and George Stockman, her daughter, Kay Frances Smith and also by her husband of 64 years, Guy B. Snyder Sr. who passed away August 1, 1998.
Survivors include three sons and daughters-in-law, Guy Jr. and Mary Snyder of Massillon, Gary L. and Sheila Snyder of Norwalk, OH., and Arthur L. and Vivian Snyder of Akron, OH. Two daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Ellen and David Boring of Canton and Carol and Mike Stump of Canton. Son-in-law, Lewis Duane Smith of Canton. Her sister, Alcy Bonham of Millersburg, OH. and brother, John (Millie) Stockman of Tuscon, AZ. There are 15 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren.
Private graveside services and burial will be held Friday at 11 a.m. in the Eden Church Cemetery. There will be no calling hours and the REED FUNERAL HOME CANTON CHAPEL is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the House of Loreto or Whipple Ave. Baptist Church. The family would like to express a special thanks to the House of Loreto for their care and labor of love to Helen during her residency. Those wishing to share their condolences or a fond memory may sign the Reed On-Line guestbook at our website www.reedfuneralhome.com.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
I'm not sure if this is legit or not, but a friend forwarded it to me. I have been thinking a lot about the poor and our call to help them and I have had to repent of some of the attitudes that I have had in the past regarding them. Just last night, my wife and I had to make a run to the pharmacy to pick up some supplies for her and there was a homeless man that was sitting on the curb asking for bus fare. I was annoyed at first, as I always am, and I turned my pockets inside out to show him that I had nothing on me. Then I remembered that I had $2 in my wallet and I opened up my wallet and gave him one of them. "God bless you, sir," he said. I replied, "God bless you."
It was not much but for me, to give out a dollar was a huge step and a move toward obedience. Here is a theological note: Repentance does not simply mean turning from something; it means turning toward something. Theologically, it means turning from sin and turning toward obedience to Christ.
Anyway, here's the story:
TO MEET SUCH A MAN
I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.
As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square."
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the front of the church, going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied, "just resting."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Oh, I ate something early this morning."
"Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Do you have some work I could do for you?"
"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."
"Sure," he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"
" St. Louis "
"Where you from?"
"Oh, all over; mostly Florida "
"How long you been walking?"
"Fourteen years," came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.
He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.
"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"
"What?"
"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"
"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."
I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.
"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord is good!"
"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied
And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."
"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...
If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!
"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed.
This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Please do not break this pattern. Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!
"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."
I sent this to more than four, but this story is so touching I felt each of you would enjoy it greatly.
GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!
Wendy R. McMackins
Patrol Division Secretary
Jackson Police Department
(731) 425-8555
fax: (731) 425-8480
It was not much but for me, to give out a dollar was a huge step and a move toward obedience. Here is a theological note: Repentance does not simply mean turning from something; it means turning toward something. Theologically, it means turning from sin and turning toward obedience to Christ.
Anyway, here's the story:
TO MEET SUCH A MAN
I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.
As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square."
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the front of the church, going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied, "just resting."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Oh, I ate something early this morning."
"Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Do you have some work I could do for you?"
"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."
"Sure," he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"
" St. Louis "
"Where you from?"
"Oh, all over; mostly Florida "
"How long you been walking?"
"Fourteen years," came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.
He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.
"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"
"What?"
"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"
"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."
I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.
"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord is good!"
"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied
And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."
"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...
If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!
"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed.
This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Please do not break this pattern. Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!
"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."
I sent this to more than four, but this story is so touching I felt each of you would enjoy it greatly.
GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!
Wendy R. McMackins
Patrol Division Secretary
Jackson Police Department
(731) 425-8555
fax: (731) 425-8480
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
This was originally posted on my blog on September 11, 2003, four years ago today. I thought it was worth a re-post:
"As I came into work this morning, I noticed that they were playing the move "Patton" downstairs in a training area in memory of what happened two years ago. If you've never heard the opening monologue that is done by the late George C. Scott in this movie, it is fantastic. It is an actual speech made by General Patton to some American troops in England, just before the D-Day invasion. I have posted this speech below, somewhat edited because of some blunt
language used:
'Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. ALL REAL Americans, love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers . . . Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in Hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the
Saturday Evening Post, don't know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating. Now we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world...Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything, we'll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy...Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?' You won't have to say, 'Well, I shoveled s--- in Louisiana.' Alright now...you know how I feel. . . . I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That's all.'
"Patton was a no-nonsense fighter. To me, this speech embodies the spirit of the fighting soldier. As a former infantryman, it makes me want to scream 'Hooooaaaah!' He is the type of General that I would want to be under.
"But I am often torn between my want to win this war that were in with being an instrument of grace. The truth is, I would really like to see Osama bin Laden strung up on a tree somewhere, but could I do that and be an instrument of grace? Would I rejoice if I saw that knowing that he will most likely, outside of the grace of God, go to a sinner's hell? What should my response be? Two years later and I still want to respond like Patton does here. And the truth is, I'm just not sure what's right. I realize that I could take it apart with theology and philosophy, but I want much more than that. I want the heart of Christ. So, what would Jesus do?
"As I came into work this morning, I noticed that they were playing the move "Patton" downstairs in a training area in memory of what happened two years ago. If you've never heard the opening monologue that is done by the late George C. Scott in this movie, it is fantastic. It is an actual speech made by General Patton to some American troops in England, just before the D-Day invasion. I have posted this speech below, somewhat edited because of some blunt
language used:
'Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. ALL REAL Americans, love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers . . . Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in Hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the
Saturday Evening Post, don't know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating. Now we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world...Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything, we'll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy...Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?' You won't have to say, 'Well, I shoveled s--- in Louisiana.' Alright now...you know how I feel. . . . I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That's all.'
"Patton was a no-nonsense fighter. To me, this speech embodies the spirit of the fighting soldier. As a former infantryman, it makes me want to scream 'Hooooaaaah!' He is the type of General that I would want to be under.
"But I am often torn between my want to win this war that were in with being an instrument of grace. The truth is, I would really like to see Osama bin Laden strung up on a tree somewhere, but could I do that and be an instrument of grace? Would I rejoice if I saw that knowing that he will most likely, outside of the grace of God, go to a sinner's hell? What should my response be? Two years later and I still want to respond like Patton does here. And the truth is, I'm just not sure what's right. I realize that I could take it apart with theology and philosophy, but I want much more than that. I want the heart of Christ. So, what would Jesus do?
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