| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Great thoughts from great Christians” Our Bible verse for today: “These are the names of David’s mighty men: …” 2 Samuel 23:8 (NIV) Our thought for today: “God, give us strong Christians!” After much thought and prayer, I’ve decided to continue our study from last month of “Great thoughts from great Christians.” There’s just so much for us to learn by practicing what Leighton Ford taught, “I surround myself with the thoughts of those who have thought much about God.” Josiah Gilbert Holland was a poet and magazine editor in the USA in the mid-to-late 1800s. That was a period of American history (during and after the Civil War), when there was tremendous division and strife in our country. Even after the war ended, the nation was deeply divided. Our social fabric was torn, anger and bitterness prevailed, and the need for strong Christians in our society was real and urgent. Here’s a portion of one of Holland’s poems addressing that urgent need, and it speaks powerfully of the identical need in our day: God, give us men! A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honor; men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking; For the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps. 2 Samuel 23:8 and the following verses lead us to a lengthy description of the mighty men who served alongside King David in his day – honorable men, courageous men, faithful men. They were the kind of men Josiah Holland was calling for in his poem, and they’re the kind of strong, brave, courageous Christians needed in our day as well. The segment about David’s mighty men, and the poem by Josiah Holland, were written in patriarchal times and so the focus was on men, but the truth applies equally to women. We need strong, courageous Christian men and women who will boldly stand for truth, who will willingly endure risk and hardship for the sake of righteousness and justice, and who will not flinch in the face of adversity. God, give us strong Christians! God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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