The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life

Greetings All,

I didn't get a chance to post a "thought" last week, so I wanted to rectify that this week!   This one is by Charles H. Spurgeon and has to do with prayer.  Actually, it has to do with the Bible's command for us to pray.  Many see prayer as an optional practice one can engage in if, or when, they choose.  But the Bible sees it differently.  Thus, I offer you Spurgeon's insights on the matter, which come from the book, "The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life," compiled and edited by Robert Hall.   Enjoy!

Prayer is Commanded 

     "We are not merely counselled or advised to pray, we are commanded to pray. This is a great condescension to our needs, weaknesses, and struggles. When a hospital is built, it is considered sufficient that the doors are open for the sick when they need help.  But no order is given that the sick must enter the hospital's care.  It is thought to be enough to offer its services without issuing a mandate that people must take advantage of them.  It seems somewhat strange, therefore, that where prayer is concerned, people need to be commanded to be merciful to their own souls.

     So marvelous is the condescension of our gracious God that He issues a command of love without which the sons of Adam would rather starve (or remain sick) than come and partake of the Gospel feast or services to help cure their soul.  God's own people need -- or else they would not have been given it -- a command to pray. Why?  Because we are very subject to periods of worldliness.  We do not forget to eat, or go to work, or go to our beds to sleep, but we do often forget to wrestle with God in prayer and spend long periods in consecrated fellowship with our Father and our God.  With many believers, the worldly ledger is so large and bulky that you cannot move it, and the Bible -- representing their devotion -- is so small that you could fit it in the pocket of their coat. Hours for the world, minutes for Christ! The world gets the best, while prayer gets the leftovers of our time.  We give our strength and freshness to the ways of making money and our tiredness to the ways of God.

     Hence it is that we need to be commanded to attend that that very act that should be our greatest joy and happiness and highest privilege to perform -- to meet with our God.  "Call upon me," He says, for He knows we are prone to forget.  "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God!"(Jonah 1:6) is an exhortation we need to hear as much as Jonah did in the storm...

     It may be helpful for some of you to find out how often in Scripture you are told to pray. "Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you" (Psalm 50:15). "Trust in Him at all times, you people, pour out your hearts to Him" (Psalm 62:8).  "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6).  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7).  "Watch and pray, that you do not fall into temptation" (Matt. 26:41).  "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess 5:7). "Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16).  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).  "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Col. 4:2). I need not multiply texts on the need for prayer when I could not exhaust them.  I have picked only a few from this great bag of pearls...

     There are also times when God commands His people to pray not only in the Bible, but directly in their hearts by the motions of His Holy Spirit. You who know the inner life understand my meaning. You suddenly feel the pressing sense that you must pray.  It may be that you do not at first take particular notice of the inclination, but it comes again, and again, and again -- "Pray!"  I find that in the matter of prayer I am like a water wheel that runs well when there is plenty of water pouring over it, but turns with very little force when the brook grows shallow. Whenever our Lord gives us the special inclination to pray, we should double our diligence. Scripture says we should pray always and never give up" (Luke 18:1), yet when God gives us the special longing and compulsion to pray, you have another command that should compel you to cheerful obedience...  See to it that you use the golden hour and reap a harvest while the sun shines. When we enjoy visitations from on high, we should be particularly constant in prayer.  If some other pressing duty comes our way, let it pass.  When God in a special way bids us to pray by the motions of His Holy Spirit, we should obey and pray." 

     It may come as a surprise to hear that God commanding us to pray is part of His condescension (in a good sense) to our struggles and weaknesses. He knows we struggle to pray. He knows we are distracted. He knows other things nudge it out. He knows we have sinful inclinations that encourage us not to pray. Therefore, out of a grace that pushes us to do those things that are good for us, He commands us to pray.  And He does so not only through the written and recorded Word in Scripture, but even more personally in our hearts by His Spirit. Spurgeon is right. Those who know the Lord know that He frequently moves us internally to pray, or want to pray, or feel we must pray, and that if we don't we will be defying Him!

Just some thoughts to ponder, Pastor Jeff 

Life Together

Greetings to All,

     Our “thought” for this week comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was martyred by the Nazi's one month before the end of World War II.  Though his most famous book was, "The Cost of Discipleship" (where he warned people against adopting the unbiblical substitute for real grace which he called "cheap grace") this thought comes from ideas expressed in his superb book on Christian community entitled, "Life Together."   If you have never read it, it is well worth your time (and the price of the book)!   It's all about those things that are necessary for true Christian community to take place.  Enjoy.

     “Acknowledgement of sin in the presence of another brother is a safeguard against self-deception.  It is a curious fact that many people find it easier to confess their sins privately to a holy and sinless God than to openly confess them to an unholy and sinful brother.  If this is so, we must ask ourselves if we are really confessing our sins to God?  We must ask ourselves whether we have not been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God – whether we have not, rather, been confessing our sins to ourselves, and also granting ourselves absolution.  Is this not perhaps the reason for our countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience?  Is it not to be found precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not a real forgiveness?

     When sin has been brought into the light and confessed it can be forgiven.  Its power can be broken.  It can no longer hold the believer in bondage or tear the fellowship apart.  The sinner can honestly be a sinner and still enjoy the grace of God and the love of the brethren.  This is the moment where fellowship in Christ becomes a profound reality. [When sin is openly confessed – even the worst of sins – and the love of our brethren continues to be extended to us in spite of it, we approach the profound and transforming reality of community.]

     Open confession of sin to another so crucifies one's pride that rarely ever occurs unless a person earnestly yearns to be rid of his sin.  By openly confessing his sin he breaks the habit of secretly cherishing, nurturing or refusing to let it go.  He becomes accountable.  He gains the support of his praying brothers in his fight to overcome its life-polluting influences.  In essence, he begins to live the life of discipleship." 

     Elsewhere Bonhoeffer equated sin with mold that grows in a damp, dark, cool basement.  How does one rid a basement of that growing mold? They open the windows, let the exposure to the air dry it out, and let the bright light of the sun shine upon it until it dries out and is easily brushed off. 

     Confession of sin is like that.  When we expose sin to the light through confession, in the presence of a brother (for me) or sister (for women), it begins to lose it's life or power, dry up and die.  But if we keep it hidden -- locked away in the dark and damp cellar of secret and repressed memories or emotions -- it will only fester and grow. There is healing, as James reminds us, in confession of sin accompanied by prayer for healing (James 5:13-16). 

     "Confession is good for the soul," as the old adage goes. (Yet one must be careful in their selection of a brother (for men) or sister (for women) to confess to. Trust, confidentiality and godliness would be essential traits.)  Hard as it is to expose some things to the light, it is much more harmful to our spirit to hold it in and keep it hidden and shut up in the dark basement of our emotions.

     In the Service of the Gospel and Church, Pastor Jeff

20 Quotes on Prayer

Greetings All, 

     This weeks "thought" consists of 20 different quotes regarding prayer.  I set them before you because next to reading your Bible, there is surely nothing that could do you more spiritual good than prayer. They are not set before you to see which you consider better, but to encourage you to pray!  Those who first discipled me encouraged me to set aside a focused time to pray at the start of the day and again at the close of the day, with continual spontaneous prayer being offered throughout the day.  And in many ways I found that easy, being converted in the days before smart phones and computers were the rage, and social media filled all of our "empty time" with constant updates, likes, pictures, posts and sometimes needless time-wasting distractions.

     Some of that is good and helpful, but much is very trivial and infringes on time that could be spent in much more meaningful, transforming and beneficial activities. In fact, for many, the vital experience with God in prayer (be it morning, evening or in between) has taken a back seat to social media sites. Many of us now wake in the morning, or end the day, by running to our devices -- be it the smart phone or the computer. Thus, if I could do anything (even in the life of one person) to change that, and encourage you to spend that time in invaluable fellowship with God in prayer, it would be worth all the time of gathering these quotes from well-known pray-ers.

     If there is any habit of the heart that believers need to rekindle, it's prayer. Try it for a day.  Choose fellowship in prayer with your greatest Friend, over scrolling through endless the posts of other friends.  For as F. B. Meyers once rightly stated: “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”   May some of these insights help sway you to offer more time with God in prayer. Enjoy.

20 Thoughts on Prayer

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."   Soren Kierkegaard

"Prayer makes a man godly, and puts within him the mind of Christ, the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of compassion, and of prayer.  If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying."    E.M. Bounds

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"  Corrie ten Boom

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."   Martin Luther

“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.”  Oswald Chambers

"Rather than set aside daily time for prayer, I pray constantly and spontaneously about everything I encounter on a daily basis. When someone shares something with me, I'll often simply say, 'Let's pray about this right now.'"  Thomas Kinkade

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."  Abraham Lincoln

"To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees."  Billy Graham

“Time spent in prayer is never wasted.”   Francis Fenelon

“Fervent prayers produce phenomenal results.”   Woodrow Kroll

“Prayer delights God’s ear; it melts His heart; and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.”  Thomas Watson

 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”   Jesus the Christ 

“Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life.”   William Law

“The right way to pray is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.”   Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The best and sweetest flowers of paradise God gives to His people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven.”   Thomas Brooks

“O, let the place of secret prayer become to me the most beloved spot on earth.”   Andrew Murray

“When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.”   R. A. Torrey

“When I pray, “coincidences” happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.”   William Temple

“There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.”  William Law

“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”   F. B. Meyer

     The blessing of prayer in one's life is hard to calculate.  Yet I believe that some day God will reveal the blessings we forfeited, and the life-transforming benefits we turned away, by the times we ignored it; and  in the opposite sense, show us the wonderful things we would never have experienced had it not been for the prayers that we, or others, prayed on our behalf.

In the Bonds of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff

Causes of Persecution Against the Church and Our Response To It

Greetings All!

As part of the preparation for my Adult Sunday School class on, "Causes of Persecution Against the Church and Our Response To It,"  we have been examining (and are now watching a video series on) the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor and theologian martyred (hanged) by the Nazi's in the closing month of WWII for being outspoken opponent of the gross evil and injustices of Hitler's regime.  In doing so I came across this excerpt from his wise and extremely insightful book, entitled, "Life Together."
     It's book dealing with the nature of Christian community and the interdependent fellowship we are to have with one another (not independent, but interdependent).  You will surely notice he is a deep thinker, having received his doctorate at only 21 years of age.  Yet he's a thinker who was deeply devoted to Christ and His Church.  With that being said, I will merely let his own words speak for him (with an explanation at the end for those who might struggle with a few of his comments)!  Enjoy.

     "Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone.  Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people.  There are Christians, too, who cannot endure being alone, who have had some bad experiences with themselves, who hope to gain some help by being in association with others. They are generally disappointed.  Then they blame the fellowship for what is really their own fault.  The Christian community is not a spiritual sanatorium.  The person who comes into the fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, no matter how spiritual this diversion may appear. He is really not seeking community at all, but only a distraction which will allow him to forget his loneliness for a brief time... 

     Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called. "The challenge of death comes to us all, and no one can die for another. Everyone must fight his own battle with death by himself, alone... I will not be with you then, nor you with me" (Martin Luther).

     But the reverse is true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called; the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of a great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you. "If I die, then I am alone in death; if I suffer they (the fellowship) suffer with me" (Martin Luther).

     We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live within the fellowship. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship...  One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.  Along with the day of Christian family fellowship together, there goes the lonely day of the individual. This is as it should be. 

The day together will be unfruitful without the day alone, both for the fellowship and for the individual. The mark of solitude is silence, just as speech is the mark of community.

     Silence and speech have the same inner correspondence and difference as do solitude and community.  One does not exist without the other.  Right speech comes out of silence, and right silence comes out of speech...  The speech, the word which establishes and binds together the fellowship, is accompanied by silence. "There is a time to keep silent, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7). As there are definite hours in the Christian's day to speak, particularly the time of common worship and prayer, so the day also needs definite times of silence, silence under the Word and silence that comes out of the Word. These will be especially the times before and after hearing the Word...

     Silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the Word of God. We are silent before hearing the Word, as a child is quiet when he enters his father's room. We are silent after hearing the Word, because the Word is still speaking and dwelling within us. We are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word belongs to God. We keep silence solely for the sake of the Word... not to show disregard for the Word, but rather to honor and receive it."

     For those who have not tried to oversee a group of believers, or seek their growth in the ways of Jesus, some of his words may seem confusing.  But for those who have, I'm sure his words resonated deeply in your soul as he spoke about the life-giving and spiritual-growth-enhancing need for God's people to engage in silence before God, and engage with His people.  The need to spend time alone before Him, and spend time together. The need to still ourselves before God and His Word in purposeful respite from our hectic busyness, on the one hand, and then join with the community of the faithful to speak words of life regarding what God has spoken to us, on the other hand.

     In it's simplest form this is nothing more than to follow the example left to us by Jesus.  If ever there was anyone who did not need others, it was Jesus.  Yet He gathered people around Himself and spoke truth into their lives constantly.  Not because He "(could) not stand loneliness," and was "driven to seek the company of other people," but  but because in His times of solitude, purposely going away to be alone with His Father in prayer, He had received from Him truth He needed to share with them.  Jesus life is the prime example of a life of radical balance -- fellowship, service, instruction and ministry empowered by times alone, in solitude, away from the crowds, off in the wilderness or on the mountaintop.  It was there in the alone times that He renewed His strength through a life of prayer that mingled silence with speaking.  We could all learn an important lesson from His example!  This is what Bonhoeffer advocates -- Along with the day of Christian family fellowship together, there goes the lonely day of the individual. This is as it should be."

And in relation to Bonhoeffer's last few remarks, I also have to encourage what he advocates -- silence before and after hearing the Word of God.  

Too many times I have seen life-changing truth that wasn't taken in because the soul was not stilled or prepared before the presence of God to be able to hear it. And the same is true in regard to after hearing the Word.  Often, people do not give it time to percolate deep down into the soul, because they rise from hearing the Word proclaimed only to engage in trivial chatter which immediately makes it drift from the memory.

     As a pastor I know my words are obviously not God's words -- unless all I do is say what His Word says.  Then they are His words.  And to hear a message from God, and then rise to disregard it with speech that has no relation to it, is to reveal a desire to shelter the soul from His truth.  We must prepare our soul to hear it, and we should then give it time (in silence) to seep down deep into our soul that we might be transformed by it.  Bonhoeffer is right:  "We are silent before hearing the Word..." and "We keep silent after hearing the Word... not to show disregard for the Word, but rather to honor and receive it."

Just some wise food for thought!  Pastor Jeff

Church Membership

Greetings All,

     After three weeks of doing ministry in and around Hyderabad, India, I am finally home and catching up on regular responsibilities - like sending out this weekly "thought."  And I get back into the swing of it with this short thought on "Church Membership."  Though membership in the local church is a highly debated issue, and more assumed as a given in the New Testament than anywhere commanded, the more I read my Bible the more I see that all the evidence weighs heavily along the lines of what Ricky Jones -- lead pastor of River Oaks Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and author of this thought -- states in this entry.  You can follow him on the RiverOaks Presbyterian Church blog.
     If you find yourself taking exception to what he says, I urge you to dig into the pages of the N.T. and see whether it fits with the overall message found there, or is at odds with with it.  I believe you will see that it fits.  Enjoy.

Is Church Membership Really Required?

     This month we will be inducting new members into the most honored body the world has ever known: the church of Jesus Christ. The initiation fee for this club is so high that no human could have ever paid it; God himself had to pick up the tab. The benefits of the club never expire. The fellowship of the club is unmatched; you receive intimate access to the Lord himself (John 17:23).

     With such benefits, you'd think church membership would be held in infinitely high esteem. But for many reasons, Christians seem to think less of it than ever before.  If you're one who looks upon church membership lightly, then I invite you to reconsider.

     When we hear the word membership, we immediately think of a club. A member pays dues, comes to meetings, and fulfills the obligations of a club member. When you move, or no longer have time for the club, you simply withdraw your membership and move on.  The Bible says membership is much more intimate. “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body” (Eph. 5:29-30).  To be a church member means we are a member of Christ's body—just like your finger is a member of your body. His blood runs through us. His Spirit animates us. His will moves us. He feels our pain, cleanses us when we get dirty, nurses our wounds, and cherishes us with pride.

     Leaving the church is not simply leaving a club. When you walk away, you dismember yourself from the body. Jesus and the rest of the body sorely miss you, and bleed after your departure. You cut yourself off from your only source of life and nourishment. Like an amputated hand, you will slowly bleed out, wither, and die.

Not Possible, Biblical, or Healthy

     I hear you complaining already. "My, he's being a bit dramatic. I'm a member of Christ; I just can't find a local church I like. I'm a member of the universal church, just not of any one in particular."  I want you to understand that being a part of the universal church without submitting to a local church is not possible, biblical, or healthy.

     First, it's simply not possible. To imply you can be part of the greater community without first being part of the smaller is not logical. You cannot be part of Rotary International without also being part of a local chapter. You cannot be part of the universal human family without first being part of a small immediate family.

       Second, it's not biblical. Every letter in the New Testament assumes Christians are members of local churches. The letters themselves are addressed to local churches. They teach us how to get along with other members, how to encourage the weak within the church, how to conduct ourselves at church, and what to do with unrepentant sinners in the church. They command us to submit to our elders, and encourage us to go to our elders to pray. All these things are impossible if you aren't a member of a local church. (See 1 and 2 Corinthians, James, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and 1 Peter for references.)  Asking where the Bible commands you to be a church member is like asking where the USGA rule-book for golf insists you be a human. The whole book is addressed to the church.

          Finally, living without church membership is not healthy. Independence—the desire to choose for yourself what's right and wrong—is at the heart of sin. You need the humility lesson of submitting to flawed elders. You need the encouragement of sharing victories with your church. You need the fellowship of sharing sufferings with your church.

      You need to know we're all in this life together, and we won't walk away from you just because you let us down or we disagree. Together we build each other up into the image of Christ; no one can make it alone. I encourage you to rethink the importance of church membership. Our fellowship may be an affliction, but we are a glorious affliction. And we will walk into glory together.

With prayers for Christ's Church - it's health, it's growth, it's vibrancy, and it's witness,  Pastor Jeff

Amy Carmichael

Greetings All,

 This week's"thought" comes to you from the well-known missionary to India, Amy Carmichael (1867-1951).  And since her life-story is as inspiring as the thought I shall reference at the end, I would like to share a little about her life before I share the excerpt from her book, simply entitled: "If"
     It is less than 100 pages long and contains only one small thought or reflection on Christ's love on each page. The first is: "If I have not compassion on my fellow-servant, even as the Lord had pity on me, then I know nothing of Calvary love."  With much blank space left on each page, I have sometimes used that space to write further thoughts on her reflections of Christ's love. (Should you desire to read more of Amy's life, the book, "A Chance to Die," by Elizabeth Elliot, is a superb biographical account of her life and work.)  Enjoy.

Here is her fascinating story:
     Amy Carmichael was born in 1867 into a well-to-do North Ireland Christian family.  In her teen years, she was educated at a Wesleyan Methodist boarding school; and at age 13, while still in boarding school, she accepted Christ as Savior.  When she was age 18, her father died, leaving the family in difficult financial circumstances as he had given a large personal loan that was not repaid.  The family moved to Belfast.  There she became involved in visiting in the slums, and seeing the terrible conditions under which many women and girls worked in the factories, she began a ministry with these women.  It was a work based on faith in God alone, and He met the needs in most remarkable ways. She later developed a similar ministry in Manchester, with her mother at her side...

     In 1892, at the age of twenty-four, Amy received her "Macedonian Call" and went as a missionary to Japan.  But there she met with disappointments. The Japanese language seemed impossible to her, and the missionary community was not the picture of harmony she had envisioned.  Likewise, her health was also a problem.  After 15 months as a missionary, Amy became convinced that Japan was not where God wanted her...

     She arrived in Madras in November of 1895, a discouraged, confused, and ill young Irish woman.  She was 28 years old.  Soon after her arrival, she contracted Dengue Fever, which laid her low for a period of time.  She was sent to a more healthful place to recuperate.  In that community she saw that the church was very "active" but there were no changed lives.  She detested the meetings with the other missionary ladies -- drinking tea and gossiping and showing very little concern for the eternal souls of those about them. She felt so alone.

     The following lines are so appropriate concerning the missionary community in Bangalore:

Onward Christian soldiers,

Sitting on the mats;

Nice and warm and cozy

 Like little pussycats...

     Amy just did not fit into the stiff, staid, missionary community of Bangalore and subsequently went to the very south end of India to live with another missionary family.  The Walkers were a godly family that really understood the Hindu religion and the tremendous need of reaching out...  For several years Amy, along with a daughter of the Walkers and several Christian Indian ladies, began an itinerant ministry through the villages in the south tip of India.  They were dubbed the "starry cluster," for the Indians recognized the sincerity and light that shown forth from them.  The members of the band had no salary, simply looking to God to supply their needs.  Their attitude was "How much can I do without that I may have more to give?"  It was during this period of time that she took on the habit of wearing Indian dress, which she continued throughout her lifetime.

     A life-changing experience took place in 1901.  A little five-year-old girl, named "Pearl Eyes" by Amy, was brought to her by an Indian woman.  The child had been sold by the mother to the temple and there was being prepared and taught all the degradation of temple prostitution. Twice she had run away only to be caught, carried back, beaten, and subjected to the terrible perversion of that Hindu temple.
     Finally, as she was running away again at night, she met with this understanding woman who brought her to Amy.  Amy gathered the little child up into her lap and picked up a rag doll and gave it to the child to play with.  It was then that she truly understood the evil of the temple practice.  Little Pearl Eyes talked freely as she played with the doll.  She told Amy things that they did to her in the temple, demonstrating them using the doll.  The date was March 7, 1901.  Amy never forgot that day nor the child's story.  It was terrible beyond imagination.  This was the beginning of her rescue of these children who had been dedicated to the temple gods.

     This incident led to the founding of the Dohnavur Fellowship.  Over the years literally thousands of temple children have been rescued and other ministries established there at the Dohnavur Fellowship in South India.  In 1918, they began to rescue baby boys, for they likewise were dedicated to the temple gods and goddesses.  Other areas of the work over the years were added such as hospital, schools, printing, etc.  Amy was not understood by many of the missionaries in India.  She was also greatly resented by the Hindu priests and was frequently taken to court on charges of being a kidnapper.
     Amy was greatly influenced by the life of George Mueller and ordered her work on the same basis, never asking for financial help except as she winged her petitions to the God of all grace.  In 1931 (at 64 years of age) Amy had a fall that left her an invalid for the remainder of her life, and she seldom left her bed.  It was during this period of her life that she was most prolific in writing -- the profits of which were used to help fund the work.  Occasionally someone would wheel her in a type of wheelchair out onto a veranda where her children would gather outside and greet her and sing to her.
     It's interesting that most of the children who are there do not know their birth dates, so they reckon on the day they arrived at the Dohnavur home, and call it the "coming day." That becomes their birthday. On the coming day there is a special occasion with special treats and new clothing; and they honor the individual in some way.
     Temple prostitution played a major part of Hinduism. This practice was known by the British who governed India and had been spoken against, but nothing ever happened. However, through the "campaigning" of Amy and some other concerned people, temple prostitution was banned toward the end of Amy's life. From the time Amy set foot on Indian soil to the day she died in 1951, she never returned to her homeland.  She went 55 years without a furlough, passing away at 84 years of age.  Somewhere, in an unmarked tomb on the compound at Dohnavur, Amy was buried.  She didn't want a marker placed over her grave.  She simply wanted to remain a part of the Dohnavur Fellowship she had started.

     Amy's thought from her book "If," which in many ways describes how she continued on in her ministry, is as follows:

     "Sometimes when we are distressed by past failure, and tormented by fear of failure in the future, we should again set our faces toward Jerusalem. Nothing helps so much as to give some familiar Scripture time to enter into us and become part of our being. The words "grace for grace" have been a help to me since I read in a little book by Bishop Moule something that opened their meaning. (Till then I had not understood them.)

     He says: The word "for" means "instead."  "The image is of a perpetual succession of supply; a displacement ever going on... The picture before us is as of a river. Stand on the banks and contemplate the flow of waters.  A minute passes, and another.  Is it the same stream still?  Yes.  But is it the same water?  No. The liquid mass that passed you a few seconds ago fills now another section of the channel. New water has displaced it, or if you please, replaced it -- water for water, or water instead of water.  And so hour by hour, and year by year, and century by century, the process holds; one stream, other waters -- living, not stagnant, because always in the great identity there is perpetual exchange. Grace takes the place of grace [and love takes the place of love]; ever new, ever old, ever the same, ever fresh and young. Old grace, new grace, hour by hour, year by year, through Christ."

     "Grace for grace."  Same God, same inexhaustible Source, same infinite flow of undeserved favor, yet ever fresh supplies of grace for every situation.  Our God is an infinite and inexhaustible supply of fresh, cool, springs of living water, always ready to refresh, renew, empower and restore. "To Him who is able to do exceedingly more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power at work in us, to Him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).  In His Service, Pastor Jeff