George Wannamaker is a 83 years young, retired Methodist Minister, residing in the Atlanta-Marietta District after 49 years of ministry in Churches across the North Georgia Conference.  He retired in 1992, he and his wonderful wife Mary live in Marietta, GA. "Retired" is an oxymoron as he is very, very active in the Church and in life. I am fortunate and blessed to have he and Mary as neighbors and friends.

Mary is a retired school teacher, which is also an oxymoron as she is in great demand as a substitute teacher and she and George also teach devotionals and Sunday School lessons to retirement centers in the Marietta Area.

Drop by each month for his latest teachings. Thank you.   RICH

Click On thumbnails to enlarge first three photos of George

 GEORGE RUNS THE JULY 4TH ANNUAL PEACHTREE ROAD RACE   

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
                                                                                       Hebrews 12:1-2

 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.                                                                                       Acts 20:24     

*December Writings

JESUS  IN  THE  REAL  WORLD

     By George Wannamaker

"Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves."   James 1:22

            The Christmas music, dramas and sermons were so worshipful and inspiring. Now we must follow Jesus into the real everyday, bread and butter, flesh and blood world.

            When a man moved into a new neighborhood, he was immediately confronted by the angry face of the next door resident. "Your fence is over on my property!" was the challenge. The new neighbor trusted in the grace of God through Jesus, not his own goodness. He said, " If that is true, I will have it moved tomorrow."

The hostile man was so surprised that momentarily he did not know what to say. He was embarrassed. Then his heart opened up and he said, "Well, to tell the truth, in the back yard, my fence is on your property.
Can we just forget about it and be friends?"

Yes, the way of Jesus works in the real world.

The professor in a nursing school gave an important exam, on which one question was, "Name the lady who is always cleaning the building when you come in."  A student complained that this question was un-related to the subject. The instructor replied, "Oh, yes it is.  A good nurse has to have feelings for the needs and the worth of every person."

                      In the Marietta Battleground Park off the Dallas Highway, there is a plaque telling an inspiring story. As the Confederates were in a blazing death struggle, the woods caught fire where wounded Union soldiers lay. Seeing these human beings about to be burned, Colonel Martin of the Arkansas Volunteers ordered his soldiers to cease fire. They went over the help their enemy lift the wounded to safety. The Union commanded responded with a gracious gift.

          IN  CLOSING.  MY   STRONG  BELIEF!

I do not believe for even one minute that human nature is evil.  How could that possibly be if we truly believe, "It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves," (Psalm 100), and that God is love. (I John 4:16)?  Of course there is evil in people and in the world, but we are not made that way. It is against our nature. Hatred will tear our minds and bodies apart, for we are made to love God and people.
 

*November Writings

   BEFORE   THE  MOUNTAINS WERE BROUGHT FORTH

                                  By George Wannamaker, Retired but active United  Methodist Minister

          "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you formed the earth and the world, From everlasting; to everlasting you are God."  Psalm 90:1

          The mountains help us think of the permanence of God, his magnificence, sovereignty, consistency, beauty and love. They stand majestically as a great assurance of blessings if we love God and our neighbor, everybody. on earth. Their lofty peaks also warn of judgment when we turn from God's love to hatred, jealousy, pride, self-pity and greed.

               God's way of truth, love, justice, forgiveness and grace can no more be changed than the mountains can be moved. To defy them is death; to keep them is life, joy and peace, both now and in eternity.

             We are temped to think that popularity, social position and wealth are primary, but this is wrong.  The writer of Psalm 121  knew better; he focused his heart on God's protection as he wrote;

                              "I  lift up my eyes to the hills-
                                   from where  will my help come?
                                My help comes from the LORD,
                                    who made heaven and earth."

       Today we must dare to listen to what Jesus is telling us to think, do and say, rather than the way of the society round us says. That takes courage, audacity and faith in the face of opposition and adversity, but the victory is with God's way, for he is the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  (Revelation 1:8)

          There is a  great cloud of witnesses.  We enjoy the privilege of reading the Bible, but when William Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1494,  this was not the case.

      Tyndale became a much hated man because he opposed popular opinion, promoted by the church and government, that only priests had authority to read the Bible. He dared to translate the Bible. For this he was sentence to be burned alive, and was spared of this only because he was first strangled.

             It is not enough for us to sit back an read what saints in the Bible
and in history the actions like those of William Tyndale. God is calling on each of us to dare to be led by him today. He speaks to you and  to me just as surely as he ever spoke to Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul, Tyndale, Martin Luther and John Wesley.

             We must lift up our eyes to the hills and listen in reverence and awe to the Holy God telling us how to live in the ways of his love now!

                                                        ��

                                  BRAGGING

              I, George,  am also writing this.

                    In the fifteen years of Cobb County's Teacher of  the Year Awards,  this was the first time that a brother and sister received the award in the same year. The brother is our son, Noell  Wannamaker, a teacher in the baccalaureate laureate  program at Campbell High School and the sister is Joy McTyre, a teacher at LaBell Elementary School.  In l996 Mary was chosen as Teacher of The Year at Compton Elementary School.

As the former great baseball player and sports announcer Dizzy Dean said,
"It ain't bragging if you can do it."  RICH

*October Writings

   MORE  THAN   OUTSIDE   RELIGION;
                HEART-FELT  CONVERSION

                     By George Wannamaker,
              Retired but Active United Methodist Minister

  
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
          Matthew 22:35-40


It was still the custom during his days of Jesus on earth, for  religious people to wear phylacteries, or Scriptures in pouches on their shoulders. Since the Old Testament did not describe how large they were to be, apparently many made theirs very large to impress people with how religious they were. That's outside religion.

     Jesus was greatly offended by this, He said,  They do all their deeds to be seen by men, for they make their phylacteries broad,� and they love to have the places of honor at festivals and the best seats in the synagogue.  (Matthew 23:5-6)  There are many similarities in outside religion today!

     John Wesley preached confession of our sins and salvation by faith. Good  deeds are not the condition, but the fruit of salvation. I was glad to hear Billy Graham say on TV that what the world needs is not more religion but more conversion.

The story is told that in the early colonies missionaries taught some Delaware Indians the Golden Rule. That night as they all sat around the campfire, a brave asked the old chief if a person could really keep that rule. He thought for a while and then solemnly declared it impossible 

     There was silence as the firelight flickered on their faces; then the chief spoke again. He said, "But if a brave had the Great Spirit, he could keep the rule." What they called the Great Spirit, we call the Holy Spirit.

     To receive the Holy  Spirit, we must first thank God for this wonderful world he has given us to live in,  for making us and all people in his image and giving us free-will choice. Thank God that we are not puppets, robots or yo-yo's. We need must humbly ask God's forgiveness for rebelling against his love, the good nature he gave us,  and the love he sends to us through others. When we repent and believe, the Holy Spirit pours love into our hearts. (Romans 5:5)

     That is the heart-felt religion all the world is hungry for today. It is filled with love for God and for all people on the earth, with no exceptions.                         

     Outside religion genuine conversion only divides people. Heart-felt faith glorifies God and brings people together with tears and smiles of reconciliation and love.

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

"More than conquerors through Christ." Romans 8:35-39

St. Paul wrote with the authority of one who had suffered, but was victorious in all things through faith in Christ.

A young boy smashed his finger with his father's hammer. Because the doctor put a large bandage on it, he drew much sympathy from the teacher and his fellow students. The finger healed, but the boy kept the bandage on. He liked the sympathy too much. Is that not the story of us all, even when our pains are mostly self-inflicted?

We become more than conquerors when we get over self-pity and realize God has made us in a wonderful way, but that we ourselves have, in our various, sometimes very sophisticated, ways followed Adam in rebellion against him. Power, grace and love come when we repent and believe.

We have admired the wonderful things Mother Teresa has done to help starving people, but I did not know until recently that she had made one of the most discerning and truly Christian statements of recent times. When people tried to compliment Mother Teresa by praising her for carrying Christ to the poor people of the world, she said, 'I don't take Christ to other people. I see Christ in other people." Wow! How powerful that is!

There is good in every person because God put it there. We become more than conquerors when our own spirits are freed and we can see and encourage the holy things God has put with others. We are all winners through genuine faith in Christ. Nothing then can defeat us, come what may!

 

7/27/2003

CONVERSION  OF  THE MIND

By  George  Wannamaker.
 

    "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."  Proverbs 23:7,KJV


 Bishop Arthur J. Moore, who was a great Gospel preacher, loved to use this powerful illustration;

 A little boy playing with his father's hammer smashed his thumb. The doctor put a large bandage on it and the next day the little boy received much sympathy and attention from his teacher and the students. He liked that. The thumb healed, but he kept the bandage on.

 He had become addicted to self-pity and attention. As Bishop Moore pointed out,  that was all right for a little boy.

 Tragically many grown people are still wearing the bandages from real or imagined injuries by others,  or more the more painful ones we bring on ourselves. Spiritual, mental, physical and emotional health is severely damaged,  especially when they wear this old self-pity and 'I'm the victim'  attitude through their entire lives.

John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, wrote,  "The mind in its own place can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell."

 Two families with similar circumstances moved to a certain city. One family found the people to be unfriendly and the city a terrible place. The other family found the people warm and loving, and the community delightful. Conversion of the mind is crucial in any situation.           A lady l03 years old died recently. When 98 she was walking up and down 22 flights of stairs three times a day, while others rode elevators. That's one big reason she lived in  happiness to l03. Her favorite song was, "In The Garden." She listened when Jesus spoke.

The great Methodist missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, wrote about "Conversion of the Subconscious." Trying to be saved by good works cannot reach into the depths of the mind and heart, but salvation by faith can. That is why Jesus said, "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."  (John 3:3)

Seeking to be saved  by good deeds and obedience to laws, cannot reach into the mind, 'the secret places of the heart.' This can happen only when  we thank God for the wonderful way he has made the world, and each of us, repent of having rebelled against him, and come to trust in his redeeming love through Christ.

 A lady said, "I feel bad when I feel good, because I know I'm going to feel bad." That is just the opposite from the positive spirit of true salvation and of nature itself.  When we feel the overflow of God's grace, we cannot help but be positive and happy about our lives God's grace is all sufficient.

In true conversion, different from lip service only, people relax about their own needs and feelings, and start thinking and doing something  about the desires and sensitivities of others. There is great joy and victory in that. It is the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John l0:10.
 

LIKE A FATHER PITIES HIS CHILD

By George Wannamaker, Retired but active United Methodist Minister

"Like a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him." Psalm l03:l3

What a great tribute it is to fathers that the psalmist chose to illustrate the compassion of God by reference to a father's pity for his child..

There is truth in this old joke; in it a father spanking his child says, "Son, this hurts me worse than it hurts you." The little boy responds, "Yes, but not in the same place!"

A godly father does feel it deeply when his boy or girl hurts. Today, spanking is not as common; yet a good father still disciplines. He does it in love, for he knows only that is truly effective way. Proverbs l3:24, 29:l7 say, "Those who love their children are diligent to discipline them�.. "Discipline your children,. and they will give delight to your heart."

We learn from examples our fathers set in life. I bet you have many such precious thoughts about your father.

My father when driving the family with little children, through Charlotte, North Carolina, on the way home from a long tiring trip to Virginia. He ran into another car We all were tired and wanted to get back to Georgia, but the police said we must stay overnight and so our father could appear before the traffic judge the next morning.

My father had a lot of faith and nerve. He called the judge, telling him that the accident was totally his fault, that he was fully insured to pay for all damages, but that we needed to get back to Georgia. The judge must have been impressed with his honesty, for he told Daddy to sign the sheet for the police and head back to Atlanta.

I learned a lot from that. The first is, talk to the head man, in this case, the judge. Then, dare to believe good can come ion any situation, and act on it. . The third lesson is that if we make some bad mistake, don't try to blame someone else, but accept responsibility.

Of course, as my father fully believed, God is the 'head person.' person, the judge. As St. Paul said, "If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:3l."

It was typical of my father with his positive spirit in all situation, that he believed in and loved to quote, Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable , if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

My father passed in l978, but he really still with us in the most important ways. I bet that your father, whether living or not, is very much a part of your life. Let us all honor them, for to do so is a vital part of the worship of God

A little boy was grabbed up at the last minute to have a part in the school play.. He was to say, "Fear not; it is I," but when the time came he was so afraid that he said, "Don't be scared. Ain't nobody but me!"

Perhaps your father, like mine had little fear. We can surely honor them by loving them, following the good footprints they left and are leaving, and heartily worshiping God, as they did. "There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts our fear." I John 4:l8.

 

           WHAT   AMERICA   IS   TO   ME

                By George Wannamaker
          Retired, but active United Methodist Minister

                   

"The LORD is high above all nations."  Psalm ll3:4

     Having served in the United States Army Air Corps, (now the Air Force), overseas, but not in combat, in World War II, I immediately responded to a song, "The House I Live In," as it came on the radio. Hearing the words by Lewis Allen, I said to myself, 'That's exactly what I believe!' The music is by Earl Robinson, (l942). Frank Sinatra sung it very effectively.

     Before printing those words below, I want to say I was inspired by a statement of Mother Teresa, "I don't take Christ to other people. I see Christ in other people." I believe the Declaration of Independence is declaring the essential goodness God put in all people, and that people everywhere have the right to fully express what God gives them to do, think and say. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

       People in America and around the world cherish freedom. The psalmist is right, "The LORD is high above all the nations." He loves people everywhere. I believe we do best when we see that the good is to be brought out by love. I know that sometimes force is required, and I deeply respect  and appreciate the men and women, especially those who have died or suffered terrible wounds, in the armed service, but, as most of the service people I have known, and now know, believe,  the ultimate answer is the way of Christ.

        Let us all pray that the people of Iraq will now enjoy democracy in a government they choose, and that the new peace talks between the leaders of Israel  and the Palestinians and President Bush will bring peace. Let us pray that people here and elsewhere will have jobs.  Let us humbly pray for respect for all people and peace on earth.

                THE   HOUSE   I   LIVE  IN

    What is America to me? A name, a map, the flag I see.
A certain word, "Democracy," What is America to me?

    The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street,
The grocer  and the butcher, and the people that I meet.
     The children on the play ground, the faces that I see;
    All races, all religions, that's America to me.

      The place I work in, the worker at my side,
  the little town or city, where my people lived and died.
      The "howdy' and the hand-shake, the air of feeling free,
  the right to speak my mind out, that's America to me.

The things I see about me, the big things and the small,
The little corner new stand, and the house a mile tall,
      The wedding in the church yard, the laughter and the tears
      The dream that's been a growing, for 227 years
                             (time updated from l776)
                           
        The town I live in, the street, the house, the room,
    the pavement of the city, or a garden all in bloom.
        the church, the school, the club house, the million lights I see,
        But especially the people, that's America to me.

I got up nerve to sing it before preaching at the First United Church of Austell last Sunday. I love what the song says.  Even more importantly, an humble faith in God's goodness can bless not only America but the whole world.
 

      *  GOD BLESS OUR MOTHERS

By George Wannamaker, Retired, but active, United Methodist Minister

Honor your father and your mother. Matthew l9:l9

If your mother is living, thank God. and praise her. If she has passed, still thank God for her, and honor her.

My mother had a foot-pedal Singer Sewing machine when we lived at Brunswick, Georgia, near the Front River. When 12 years old, my friend and I had a l4 foot sailboat, but no sail, and no money to buy one. Knowing of my mother's love, my friend and I had the audacity to ask her to sew us a sail.

She worked for hour after our, day after day on the large sail, sewing laboriously through the heavy canvass. Finally she finished and we joyfully set sail. How could I ever forget her doing that for us?

St. Paul said, "Love never ends." I Corinthians l3:8He surely had that right! I'm 80 now, and it surely hasn't ended. It is stronger and sweeter than ever. I bet you have many precious memories of your mother. It is such a blessed thing to honor them while they are living, but it is just as much a sacred thing to praise her after she has physically died.

Notice that the Scripture in Exodus m 20:l2 tells of how it is to our good that we honor our parents; "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD has given you."

Let us praise God for our mothers. Perhaps your mother, like mine, would have laughed you out of the house if you had said she is perfect. Neither are we, but in the satisfying love our mothers offer, we feel the very presence of God. Let's all thank God for our mothers
 

   RETIRED  RESIDENTS  BUY GOATS  FOR  HAITI

   George Wannamaker, Retired  United Methodist Minister

   


Through  generous, totally unsolicited giving by some residents, one more goat each is being purchased by both the Winn and Sullivan section of the Winnwood Retirement Center in Marietta. The total now is 4. The Goat Project is through World Global Health Action. Over l, 400 Haitians have been trained and have received pregnant goats.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Malnutrition is a major cause of illness. Most Haitians are illiterate and untrained. The average per capita income is less than $ l  a day. The Goat Project provides Haitians with valuable skills, as well as a source of milk, meat and money.  The off-spring of cross-bred doe are larger and hardier than the Haitian goat stock and provide more meat and milk.

Global Health Action provides follow-up visits and vet care free for one year. Graduates may attend continuing education workshops. All staff members are Haitian.

The cost of a goat is $ 180.  One share is $ 30. Goats may be purchased in memory or in honor of someone, or some group.

 If you desire to purchase a goat, or a share, please contact Global Health Action at 404-634-5748,  Fax  404-634-9685, e-mail,  gha@globalhealthaction.org.

My wife, Mary, and I have been doing regular services every other Sunday at the two sections of Winnwood, and I have been doing a  Bible Study also with music and singing every Monday night. We are proud of the residents who rejoice in having a part in this most worthy Goat Project.

                  
    
         EASTER   AFFIRMS  LOVE   INDESTRUCTIBLE

                             By George Wannamaker
              Retired but active United Methodist Minister

          "Whoever believes in me shall never die." John 3:l6;
             "Love never ends."  I Corinthians 13:8

When Mary, John and Peter found the tomb of Jesus was empty and that he was, and is, alive, it proved that  nothing can destroy love.  Jesus said those who believe in him, love all people and live it, will never die. He is talking about people you and I  know. It is not enough to praise Jesus.. We must  believe him

When Mark Twain, beloved author of "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer,"  heard that he was dead,  he remarked, "The reports of my death are highly exaggerated."  To be specific, reports of my Father's and Mother's death, and those who have loved you,  are highly exaggerated.  Easter proved it.  Nobody ever loved his Father and   people, good and bad, as did, and does, Jesus.. He lives!

  Just as Jesus said, they are living now.. Our conscious and unconscious  decisions and profoundly influenced by people not physically living now.

     Way back in the l930's one the most highly spoken of men in our South Carolina family was a black man, Charlie. He walked in integrity, grace and love. My father's and mother's respect for him made an indelible impression on my soul. Charlie has long since been in heaven, but he lives here too.

   I was playing "Rhapsody in Blue,"  "Embraceable  You, " and other George Gershwin tunes on the CD while preparing a message.. The fact that Gershwin lived only 39 years and died in l937 is not of first importance. His music is there. The music of your life and mine if we truly love God will play on after we physically die.  St. Paul rightly said to us, "Fool, what does not come to life unless it dies."  (I Corinthians l5:36)

In l960 our precious little l0 months old, auburn-haired child, Laura Gay, whose two older sister agreed was the sweetest of the three,  became deathly ill with Meningitis. Not understanding what was happening, she looked Mary and I and said the only words she ever spoke, "Momma, Daddy." That was all she needed to say, for she was really speaking in humble faith to God.   Of course she lives!

The opinion got out that a famous violinist was good largely because used a Stradivarius violin, the best. When he began to play before a full house, he took the Stradivarius and slammed it on a table, breaking it to bits. He then picked up a $ 5.00 violin he had recently purchased and began to play some of the most heavenly music they had ever heard. The music was in his heart, not the instrument.  It is not what happens to us in life, but what happens in us.

If the love of God , love for yourself and all other people is in your heart, you aren't ever going to die.. Rest assured that neither are any others truly in Christ.

Love does not mean always agreeing. God parents have to disagree with children some time. If it is true, however, that 9 of l0 comments by parents are negative,  this is surely no evidence of love.  True love encourages others. We sometimes have to oppose adults, but we must always look for ways to encourage.

A little girl was very sleepy when she began to pray the familiar prayer "Now, I lay me," before hopping in the bed.  She drowsily said, "Now I lay me down to sleep..... If I should die before I live."

That is the real danger, that we would die before we live. We never really live until we love the life God has given us, the world we live in, the people in it and of course God and Christ.  As Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, though they did, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. " John 3:25-26.

    THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF EXERCISE

By George Wannamaker, Retired but active United Methodist Minister

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:l4

When a teen-age boy asked to use the family car, his father agreed on condition that his hair was cut. He said, But Daddy, Jesus had long hair. Yes, his father replied. And Jesus walked everywhere he went. We need to walk more!

Because our bodies are marvelous gifts of God, exercise has a powerful spiritual meaning. We rejoice when out gifts to others are used. God rejoices much more when we use our bodies in exercise,. Modern conveniences eliminating physical work make regular exercise crucial.. Any kind is good, but aerobic exercises can also give great benefits in breathing and heart. action.

In the book of Job, 33:l4, Elihu, the true friend offers great wisdom. For God speaks in one way, and in two, though people do not perceive it. One way God is speaks to us is through our bodies.. Notice how much better we feel spiritually and physically, and how our mental attitude. becomes more positive.

If we have the money, we are glad to pay for a good, reliable car; yet we are in it only a relatively small time. We are in our bodies all of the time. We cannot buy health, and it surely doesn't come in a bottle, but most of us can earn good health through faith in God and regular exercise at almost any age. Even those afflicted with terrible diseases, find that exercise helps.

The chemicals in the humans are coordinated with the body, mind and spirit in an unspeakably magnificent way. The writer of Psalm l39 did not have access to the knowledge the medical profession is giving us of God's unfolding wonders in creation. Yet what he did know brings forth most reverent praise.

God made it so ordinary people like you and I can understand. Through trust in Christ as Savior and taking action, we can see more of the mysteries of God's grace. Each day new revelations come forth! Exercise can help.!

SELF-CONFIDENCE,  FRUIT  OF  FAITH 

By George Wannamaker             

Methodist Minister

�I can do all things through him who strengthens me.                   

� Philippians 4:13

Excessive concern and hysteria  is caused  a lack of confidence in  magnificent way God made people and his glorious creation and harmonious direction of it all.  A positive spirit and self-trust is a fruit of faith in God.

I like this that a friend forwarded over the Internet;

Some scientists, unlike so many devout ones, declared to God  that  no longer needed him as they had discovered how to create something out of nothing. When they   picked up some dirt to begin, God said, �Get your own dirt!�

God told Job something like that when he asked Job who had begun to bitterly complain and declare how deserving he was of better things.  �Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?�  (Job  38:4) When Job repented, God restored many things to him.

Jerome Dizzy Dean, legendary pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals in the l920-30s, said, It ain't bragging if you can do it.  Later he became a colorful baseball radio commentator,  with his own version of the English language.

St. Paul could surely do it, and so can you and I. We can, and must act, for Christ gives us the power. Paul did  amazing things as he challenged the deeply entrenched religion  of legalism, and a pagan world. He daringly lifted up an entirely new way of righteousness, salvation by  faith. He was, and is, a powerful force for good in a world so filled with self-righteousness and hatred.  He presented in flesh and blood the love of Christ.

Who would deny that the world  faces many  the same demoniac attitudes and situations today?  We need self-confidence.  Notice Paul  did not say, I  can do all things. He said,  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Bible study is fine but it can be a dodge if we let it be a substitute, for what God wants us to think, say and do right now. We must not be like little puppy dogs of �dumb, driven cattle�  (Longfellow�s poem, �A Psalm of Life.� We must not go by what the  society around  says, but what God tells us direct..  He is speaking to us now and wants us to participate.  in his love and righteousness.

To respond to the love God sends to us through other people, some rather strange, and to love them, is the most exhilarating experience there is in this life.

It also enters us into heaven.

Lip service is impotent. Jesus said, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  (Matthew 15:8)   To have the audacity to act on the things Jesus personally tells us about how to  keep his love is quite another thing.  It is something new. In it we �pass from death to life.� (I John 3:l4)

ORIGINAL GOODNESS

By George Wannamaker

Genesis l:25,3l God said, "Let us make humankind in our own image." God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.

Coach Vince Lombardy of the famous Green Bay Packers, taught his players to train hard and believe in themselves. When a tackle known for humility, was asked in court to tell who he was and what he did, he declared himself to be the greatest tackle in the National Football League. The surprised Coach Lombardy asked why he had done this. He replied, "Coach, I was sworn to tell the truth."

I believe everybody needs to know who he or she is, as a creation and love object of God, and because of this to have confidence. If we know our real identify as in the very likeness of God, we each have the self-confidence to think, say and do the unique things God designed for us.

The main thrust of the Bible is not original sin, but the original and continuing goodness in which God
made the world and each one us. We are little lower than the angels, Psalm 8:5, fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm l39:l4.

The Bible plainly shows that sin was not the original, but that it began when Adam and Eve, the prototype
of us all, rebelled against the goodness of God. A man in a retirement center recently said, 'God did not
want us to be a yo-yo.' God gave us the dignity of free will.

Each of us, in our individual ways, have turned from the original goodness, but it is crucial for us to realize that the goodness is still there. If we believe that we are condemned because of original sin, we cannot live fully. Children, and children, who are continually told that they are no good tend to act that way.

In the Gospels we continually see Jesus looking for, and finding, goodness in people others had given up on. Think of the cruel crook and traitor, Zachaeus, the Samaritan whose religion was despised, the woman caught in adultery and the thief on the cross. He knew the basic goodness was there because God made each and every person on the earth. That still has held true through the centuries holds true today in 2003.

He said, "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:l7. Jesus is living today to bring out the goodness God put in each of us and to empower us with fresh love from God, flowing like the warm rays of the sun.
 

11-04-2002

Dear e-mail friends,

I don't know how the typing got all re-arranged on the copy I sent

you of "CHRIST, TRANSCENDENT REDEEMER. " I hope this copy comes through as

I typed it.

George

Note to clergy in the Atlanta-Marietta District, the article," Christ,

Transcendent Redeemer," also appears on the district web page,

http://www.amarumc.net edited by Rev. Don Underwood.

CHRIST, TRANSCENDENT REDEEMER

By George Wannamaker, Retired United Methodist Minister
 

You or I could visit someone and, at another time, visit someone

else. Christ is different; he transcendent. He can lovingly and intimately

visit with you and me and at the same time be just as warmly close with

others who want him all over the world.

It was said of a certain man, He is so heavenly bound, that he is

no earthly good.' Christ is not limited to what we call religious' and

heavenly. He, like God the Father, is transcendent, and enters fully into

all parts of secular life. He is in every room in the house.
 

Mary and I watched the movie, "Hoosiers, " which is about Indiana

basketball and a coach who offered love with discipline. The star player is

so embarrassed by his alcoholic father that he refuses to play. The coach

is condemned by victory hungry fans, but gradually his tough love wins the

son and moves tenderly toward redemption of the father. Mary asked why was I

crying. I told her it was because that is what I believe in, Christ's

transcendent, redemptive love bringing joy to troubled lives if we dare to

trust it. Mary believes that too.
 

Yes, Christ is transcendently redemptive in Georgia schools, homes

and workplaces, In all that goes on in Indonesia and Africa and every other

place on earth. It is sometimes said, He got by with murder.' So it seems,

but not really, for Christ and God's basic laws are transcendently present

and they define a person. Christ encounters every person, nation, race with

ultimate truth, and offers forgiveness and salvation.
 

One summer a little girl visited her aunt who was religious,' but

unhappy and critical of nearly all the child said or did. One day the little

girl was out in the yard looking in the sad face of the old mule. She said

to him, "Don't worry, Mr. Mule, my aunt has religion too." The aunt had

religion all right, but the wrong kind. Christ, the transcendent redeemer,

leads people to, "Rejoice and be glad." (Matthew 5:l2).

We all know people "whose words are smoother than butter...but were

drawn swords." (Psalm 55:2l) Jesus is so very different. He said, "The

thief comes only to rob and steal and kill and destroy. I came that they

may have life and have it abundantly." (John l0:10.)
 

The love of Jesus is transcendent in our souls, minds and bodies.

Any good doctor will tell us that Godly love is essential for spiritual,

mental and physical health. No wonder, for "..without him not one thing

came into being." John l:3. On television and in the newspapers there are

accounts of dire darkness, but we don't have to be dominated by that. Christ

is the transcendent light and no present or future darkness in the world,

will be able to put it out. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the

glory of the LORD has risen upon you." Isaiah 60:l. Amen to that!

10-30-2002

Dear e-mail friends,

* Special note to clergy in Atlanta Marietta District. The article

below will also appear in the district web page, www.amarumc.net.

To all; I hope this short article is helpful.. I like to get

responses, pro, con or neither, so please hit 'reply.' I felt led to think

deeply and pray and intensely about these things. My wife, Mary, helped me

greatly.

George Wannamaker

I hope this drawing of the U.S. 1776 Flag comes

up on your computer, but it may not. We are working on that problem..

Please let me know also whether or not the drawing came up on your computer.

AMERICA NEEDS GOD'S HELP NOW

By George Wannamaker, Retired United Methodist

Minister

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:l2. Faith

led to Americans democracy and respect for the worth of every human being.

Every person is created in God's image. (Genesis 1:27) Jesus ascribes sacred

significance to each individual.. God is not only the God of Israel,

America; etc; he is the just and loving God of all people everywhere. "The

earth is the Lord's and all that is in it." Psalm 24:l2

America is great, but she needs God's help in dealing with problems

of children without loving parents, drug and alcohol addiction, suicides,

breakup of families, immorality, and murder. As a world leader, America

needs God's help now.

When blood transfusions were given directly from one person to

another, a little boy agreed to give blood to save his sister. As he saw

his blood being transferred, he asked the nurse, "When am I going to die?"

Jesus gave his life to save all from our sins. God's beautiful world, now

infected with hatred, is hungry for that love. At Pentecost, people from

many strange nations repented and believed. They received the loving Holy

Spirit. They understood each other..... Let's roll with that !!!

Dear e-mail friends,

I am trying to save by sending e-mails of my messages to those of you who

have it. Many of my friends do not. If there are those in your family or

others, who would like to read this, please print a copy for them.

If you have a comment on this writing, pro or con, I would be most

grateful to receive and read it carefully.

Cordially, George W.

IN GOD'S LIKENESS

"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."

Genesis l:3l

When an eager little boy was accepted in the cherub choir, he

joyfully cried out, "Mother and Daddy, I'm accepted in the cherub choir. Now

God can hear me every Sunday!" He had it right; God does want to hear us, see

us and be with us.

Every person is in the image of God. Nothing Adam or anyone else

has done wrong, can change the basic fact. We all like sheep have gone

astray, Isaiah 53:6, and fallen from grace; yet each of the billions of

people on earth, is still in the image of God. That is why Jesus could look

at the most hated people, see the divine birthmark and with his immeasurable

love bring out the holy. By grace we can have a part in that, just as

others, by God's grace, have had a part in helping Jesus bring out the good

God put in us.

There are 46 chromosomes in a human, and each one has 20

billion bits of information, the amount in three billion letters or 4,000

books. Far from being in conflict with the glory of God in creation, true

science reveals it all the more fully. "Fools say in their hearts, "There is

no God." " Psalm 14:1.

I believe it is also very foolish for people who profess faith in

God, to reject real truth that God enables people to discover, through

science and other ways, about the world we live in and the people we are.

Unfortunately you hear often people talking about the evil in human

nature. What a discouraging thing for society to tell people they are no

good from birth! How could that possibly be, if we believe God made us in his

image? Would Jesus have said, Let the little children come to me, and do

not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.

(Luke l8:16).

A study of parent's comments. found that for every positive comment,

there were nine negative ones. Words hurt people more than physical abuse.

Children can carry that through life.

A friend, Esmer Daniel, wrote a poem, "My Name is "No, No!" I

believe that in writing it, he must have imagined he was his little

grandson, who found that his every more was greeted by "No, No!." He came to

believe his name must be "No! No!" Parents need to correct children, but

this is much more effective when there are many "Good! "Good's" to be the main

messages.

When Jesus was alive on earth, the Pharisees, who had great

religious and political powers in Israel had 623 strict rules. They taught

that by keeping these rules people would be holy. Over half of the rules were

negative. They prohibited such things as having any fellowship with a sinner,

a foreigner or person of another faith, walking over a short distance on the

Sabbath, speaking to a woman in a public place, healing on the Sabbath and

for anyone but a priest to forgive sins.

The Gospel record clearly shows that Jesus openly and

purposefully violated many of these and other rules. He did not want people

to be cast down in needless negativity. It cost him his physical life.

It is so important for us to not just talk about Jesus giving his

life for us. We must appreciate the real life things for which he stood.

These are revealed not only in his life, words and ministry, but in his

direct talks to us individually to us right now when we ask him to. These are

all part of the eternal life he gives us through repentance and faith. It is

all anchored in love.

God has laws and we all have to be corrected, but Christianity is a

positive faith. Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it

abundantly." John l0:l0. People of all ages need to be affirmed. Jesus

attacked sin not by condemnation, but through truth, love and acceptance

bringing out the holy nature God put in every person.

The greatest affirmation is that we, and all other people on earth,

are made by God to live in his way. The goodness God put is still there, in

spite of our frequent rejection of His love, and the love He sends through

people. It yearns for redemption That is why Jesus said, "You must be born

from above." (John 3:7.)

In our first church parsonage there was a room of discarded items. I

picked up a badly tarnished cup and wanted to throw it away. Mary asked me

not to and soon,. using baking soda, she had it looking beautiful. It may

have been used as a communion cup. It was fully redeemed.

In the Bible, Job bitterly complained against God. Yet in all his

tragedy, he said, "I know my Redeemer lives." Job 19:25. With that faith, his

life was blessed

again Concerning those who are being saved by faith, St. Paul wrote in

Romans 3:24, ".. they are now justified by his grace as a gift through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

In a large northern city a university professor asked his

sociology class to begin a survey of 200 students who lived in the slums. It

was followed up 20 years later to see what had happened in the lives of these

young people. The expectation was the many would be found in jails, have died

violently, or general failures in life.

The professor and the follow-up class were amazed with the new

survey. Most of the students had done well. Some had become doctors, lawyers,

preachers, business leaders or responsible workers and leaders in wholesome

families. They searched for the explanation, and found that invariably, the

answer was a certain teacher. She had loved and believed in them She taught

them to believe in themselves.

That was. and is, the way that Jesus redeems people. People among whom

Jesus was raised condemned the crooked tax collector, Zachaeus, the woman

caught in adultery, the thief on the cross, people of other religions,

foreigners.

Jesus looked at all people and saw that despite so much evil, the image

of God was still there waiting to be redeemed. Many people in history have

died for some cause, but who is it that ever looked at the murderers, and saw

within them still the good God had put there. On the cross he said, "

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. " (Luke

23:34.)

In the world today we see people hating and killing others, and the

incessant revenge seeking that results with that. There is a better,

stronger, more effective way to deal. Nobody was ever bolder or more forceful

than Jesus. He opposed evil so effectively that when we truly follow him.

When Jesus sent out the seventy with his message of love and

forgiveness, they returned with joy, because of their success. Jesus then

said, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of light." Luke l0:18.

That very same thing can happen today if in the world we go forth looking for

the good in people, forgiving as we are forgiven and truly loving all people

because of the love of God.

7/15/2002

PEACHTREE ROAD RACE A BLESSING

Someone said, "Hunt for rabbits and you will have trouble hunting for

tigers, but hunt for tigers and hunting rabbits is easy." I don't hunt

either, but love the point.

Seven years ago Dr. Bill Roane, then the pastor of Trinity United

Methodist Church in Austell, who had run the Peachtree Road Race a number of

times, heard that I liked to run. He challenged me to try the Peachtree. I

had been afraid of it, but he said I could walk if I had to. I told him I

would run it if he promised me a free funeral.

Actually, however, there is much greater danger in inactivity than in over-

activity, and the Peachtree instructions are excellent, prepare well by

training daily, drink plenty of water and use common sense. It is a great

celebration of our God-given lives!

Accepting that challenge has been a great blessing. Because of it, I

have been running or jogging an hour a day five days a week year around for

seven years. I feel young all the time. Some said 27 years ago that by

running I would ruin my knees or hip bone, that, like anything else, they

wore out with use. My knees and hip are fine!

Thanks to a son-in-law, Mr. Rick McTyre, who transports us

and runs much faster, I have now made seven races and have not had to walk

one time. This year a granddaughter Dara Satterfield, l5, who can make a six

minute mile with her cross-country team, ran with us.

Rick and I also run the l0K from Cumberland Mall to White

Water. In l997 I was convinced that I, then age 77, must have outrun all my

age. Much to my chagrin, when I looked at the electronic printout, a Baptist

evangelist, three months older than I, beat me by six minutes. I called and

congratulated him and he and his wife and my wife, Mary, and I had lunch

together. I am not jealous but proud of him. I am, however, hoping to outrun

him in the l0K Classic on Labor Day.

These races are really a great celebration of life.

God is creator of all. He is above all and transcendent in all. Including the

physical body. For that reason I see the Peachtree Road Race as being

spiritual, mental and physical

Mary is a great person. She does not run or jog but

walks an hour a day five days a week. She has the most beautiful flowers in

our subdivision. I cut the grass, but she does far more work in the yard than

I do. I would not be surprised if she is ahead of me in total exercise.

THE WIDE-OPEN ARMS OF JESUS

(Thoughts on how Jesus views other religions)

I believe we can glimpse how Jesus views other religions today in

two ways. First, we learn this from the Gospel accounts of how he dealt with

them during his physical life on earth. His heart was open to all who seek in

their hearts and lives to worship God in spirit and truth and who love all

others.

Secondly, when we repent of our sins, and trust him for our

salvation, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, (Acts 2:28), who pours the

love of God into our hearts. (Romans 5:5) We do not forget that we ourselves

are each one sinners "being saved by grace." I Corinthians l:l8.

With that love we too see others with more generous hearts. In that

spirit we begin to understand how Jesus may have viewed people in religions

very different from the religion in which he was raised in his human life.

Jesus was born into Judaism. He loved that faith and it was he

who was, and is, most true to its great high spiritual values set forth by

great prophets like Isaiah.

Even as a young child he loved this faith Jesus, however, put Godly love and

its expression to people above any outward form of religion.

One portrait of this is seen in his dealings with the Samaritans, whose

religion was vastly different and who only accepted the first five books of

the Old Testament.

Many of the people among whom Jesus was raised did not like them. Most would

not even travel though Samaria when going from Judea to Galilee. Jesus never

detoured.

In talking to the woman at the well in Sychar, Jesus affirmed to

her his belief in Judaism. He frankly said, "..salvation is from the Jews,"

but then he added this very significant statement, "But the hour is coming,

and is now here, when the true worshiper will worship the father in spirit

and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. (John :4:23.).

In his famous story of the good Samaritan we see so well that

Jesus does not look at outside conditions, but what is in a person's heart

and what that person does in real world circumstances. Jesus told this story

to say to people then, now and in all time, that the arms of God are wide

open to those whose hearts humbly trust in the saving grace of God. and who

treat all others with love and respect, and give help.

We see this same love in Jesus in Capernaum as he dealt with the

Roman centurion plead with him in total trust to heal his paralyzed servant.

If this man was religious at all, he must have worshiped on the gods

worshiped Rome at that time.. Yet Jesus said, " Truly I tell you, in no one

in Israel have I found such faith." (Matthew 8:5).

Regarding false religious claims then and now, within his own

religion as well as outside, Jesus said "This people honors me with their

lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching

human precepts as doctrines." (Matthew l5:8) We all should beware of being

like this..

The word, "name" in the Bible means more than the letters.

Name refers to the nature of the person and what he or she stand for in

life.. St. Paul said, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be

saved." (Romans l0:l3) To really understand that, we must look at such

redemptive truths as what Paul said in I Corinthians l3. "If I speak in the

tongues of mortals and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a

clanging cymbal....."

We do not have to agree with other religions. I think that in the

spirit of Jesus we will appreciate the good things there are. True faith in

Jesus requires that we ask him directly what our attitude should be. I

believe that when we do that we will stand firm for Christ and with his

magnificent spirit and way. This can truly help change the torn world for the

good of every man and woman, boy and girl, in every place on earth...

Of course evil actions in the name of any religion have to be

opposed, but this does not justify condemnation of all who belong to one of

the religions different from ours. Jesus said, "For God sent the Son into the

world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be

saved." John 3:l7..

Jesus changed people not by condemning them, but by looking

for the good in them, whoever they are, and lifting them up by believing in

them as people. I think that is the great hope of the world today. Every soul

on earth has the need for love, for, after all, each person is made by God

who is love, I John 31, with the need to be loved and to love.

The most stringent command of Jesus, the one which tests whether

or not we are genuine Christians, is to love God with all our hearts, minds

and souls and our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22;37-40)

Dear e-mail friends,

Below is the e-mail copy of my second quarter pamphlet. I

hope you will hit 'reply' and comment pro or con. Since some computers do

not copy drawings, I have put their title below the two in this.

If you get the regular mail copy, please share it. If you do

not get this copy, but want it, please send your address and I will put you

on the mailing list free.

` I know God will continue to bless you and us all.

George Wannamaker

 BAD PRAYER & GREAT ONES

Bad Prayer "God, I thank you that I am not like other

people." Luke l8;11

A Great Prayer "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

Luke l8:l3

After attending a revival, a little boy told his mother a man they

knew had come to the altar to pray. She asked if he thought the man would be

saved. He said, "No." When she wondered why,. the boy replied, "Because he

was only down on one knee.!"

Every person, race, religion and nation on earth needs right now in 2002

to get down on both knees and repent, not of what others do, as in the

self-righteous prayer, but of their (and our) own sins. Jesus asked, "Why

do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in

your own eye? You hypocrite, first take out the log in your own eye, and then

you will see clearly ... " Matthew 7:3, 5.

I. TRULY GREAT PRAYERS

One night a sleepy little girl was beside her bed praying the familiar

"Now I lay me down to sleep." Nearly gone, she drowsily mumbled not, "If I

die before I wake," but, "If I die before I live."

A great prayer is to ask God for fullness of life before we die. Most

people have not. begun to find the indescribable joy and fulfillment Jesus

intends for all.. We are blocked by negative traditions of society.. Jesus

gave his life in opposing these. He said, "I came that you may have life, and

have it abundantly.." John 10:10

Bill Moyers, an ordained Baptist minister, was press secretary to

President Lyndon Johnson. As he was saying grace one night, the president

said, "Speak louder. I can't hear you." Moyers replied, "I wasn't talking to

you!" Great prayers are not to impress others, but to communicate with our

Creator personally.

Humble prayer connects us directly with the inventor, source and

sustainer of life, God. He alone is in the core of our being, maker of the

universes, author of gravity, the source of all love on earth and in heaven.

In prayer we see what is temporary and is dissolved, and what is eternal and

increases in glory as time rolls on.

A high society lady was greatly offended when John Wesley preached

to the royalty in England on the text, "Ye generation of vipers." Mark 23:33.

She said he should have preached that at the prison. Wesley replied that

there he would have preached, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin

of the world. " John l:20,

Prayer puts us before the holy light of God's love. We cannot endure in

the bright purity and intensity if we try to keep the old spirit of pride and

self-righteousness. Humble prayer changes our attitude toward people. The

Indian saying was, before judging another, we must walk for days in the

moccasins of that person.

II. PRAYERS TO HEAVEN

BLESS THE EARTH

Someone said, �He is so heavenly bound that he is no earthly

good.' Genuine prayer enters right into the middle of the real flesh and

blood world . It enables us to change things with the redemptive love and

power of God.

Here on earth we live in real physical bodies, programmed to

change. David in Psalm l39:l4 prayed something so real and positive. Instead

of moaning and groaning about physical problems, and the frailty of our

lives, he thanked God for his body. "I praise you, for I am fearfully and

wonderfully made." I believe he is in heaven right now praising God for so

many things. And his message still enriches our lives..

When we ask God to help us love him better, people more and ourselves in

the right way,. he never fails. Dr. Karl Menninger, a noted psychiatrist,

wrote, "Love cures people-- but (only) the ones who give it and the ones who

receive it." It is from God.

This is told of nurse Annie Sullivan, who so miraculously helped

Helen Keller, struck blind, deaf and dumb at l8 months... Annie was first in

an insane asylum. She hatefully rejected all who tried to help her. Everyone

gave up on her, except one nurse who saw good.. She made some brownies.

When Annie scornfully threw them down, the nurse made some more and put them

on a stool near the cell. The next day they were gone. Annie's heart was won.

Later she became the great teacher of Helen Keller, who still inspires

millions with her magnificent victory over terrible handicaps.

In all the churches Mary and I have served, Godly people prayed

to heaven and brought love down to earth as Jesus wants.. Some ladies cooked

pound cakes and men did things to help people who needed encouragement and

Christian love.

Great prayers bring results. "Let your light shine before others

that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:1 QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIBLE

What does the Bible say about the effectiveness of a righteous

person's prayer?

What comment did Jesus make about long prayers with empty phrases?

THE CHRISTIAN FUNNY BONE

A young boy wanted to have a baby brother. His father to told him he

must pray for this. The boy did pray but after quite some time nothing

happened, and so he quit praying. Not too long after that, his father

announced that his mother was to give birth. It was a boy, but not only one,

but two and then three!!

His father said, "Son, aren't you glad you prayed?" His

boy answered, "Yes, and aren't you glad I quit praying?"

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

ANYTIME, BUT...

We need always to be ready for things, sometimes traumatic things,

to happen.

A faithful Christian pastor was on an airplane caught in a terrible

storm.

Many an board were praying, but this minister was not. When someone asked

why he was not praying, he replied, "I try to always keep �prayed up'." If

we do as Paul suggested, "Pray without ceasing," I Thessalonians 5:l7, we

will always be prayed up.

We also have the crucial need to exercise our minds and bodies to be

ready.

***** Please do hit 'reply.' What ever you

say will be appreciated. *

((180 on the e-mail list, 500 regular copies are printed,

350 mailed)

THE JOY SET BEFORE JESUS

"...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.." Hebrews l2:2

Jesus had joy knowing here in 2002, and in all times, that the love he

taught, lived and died for, would bless all who would open our hearts. It is

not enough to talk about how good Jesus is. We must partake of his love, for

it gets better all the time.

Crucifixion was a barbaric practice of the Romans to control people and

punish criminals. Jesus as a young boy living in Nazareth may have seen

crucified men hanging on crosses beside the Roman road not far away. The

inhumanity of it all the more perfectly reveals his love, as he knowingly

accepted it to open the way for us.

.When the disciples joined with Jesus for the last supper, there was

great sadness, but I believe also somehow underneath this, the impending

sense of the joy that was to come. The joy set before Jesus was his

knowledge that he had done things that were to bring happiness to millions

and millions of others who would turn to him in repentance and faith. We can

have some of that joy if we dare to listed to what he says and then fully do

what we know God is telling us to do..

He knew that 2002 years later we would be here blessed by his

breaking of negative traditions. The leaders were upset with Jesus for being

a friend of sinners leading them joyfully to salvation, for healing on the

Sabbath, for accepting foreigners, respecting the equal dignity of women,

going beyond religious narrowness and saying the true worshipers would

worship in spirit and in truth. They were especially angry when he turned

the tables of the money changers in the temple.

In an act so typical of him, Jesus washed the feet of the

disciples.. Jesus must have had joy in realizing he had taught them, and us,

with his own life, the sweetness of humility. He had great joy in knowing

that he had brought to them, and to the world, the greatest blessing that any

human can have, the joyful fulfillment of loving God with all of our hearts,

souls and minds and every person on earth.

Jesus was bold and we must be.. He faced the force of

negative powers that cripple lives. We must also to follow Jesus. He teaches

forgiveness. and offers redemption. He opposes evil with powerful

effectiveness and yet with not once ounce of hatred. If dare follow, and

take the hits, we will know something is the joy that was set before him.

A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH; EXERCISE

I praise you, (God), for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm l39: 14 

Good health does not come through some magic tonic or herb or some

over-the -counter pill. . It is something we must work for. This sentence is

not in the Bible but its meaning is surely there, �God helps those who help

themselves!' As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Your health is your wealth. /" What

good is wealth without health? 

Jesus said the man who used and increased his talents was given

more, but the man who hid his talent in the ground, had even that one taken

from him. Matthew 25:28. Our bodies are a gift from God, a precious gift.

Part of praising God is in keeping what he has given us in good condition by

regular exercise. 

Dr. Kenneth Cooper, outstanding leader in physical fitness, who

wrote, The New Aerobics and other fine, more recent, books, says that America

has an epidemic of inactivity. It is sad to note that in the schools there

are fewer physical education classes now than there were ten years ago?

Youth also need the fountain of youth that exercise provides, for, as we all

know, "..it passes as �a watch  in the night." Psalm 90:4)

. I believe those who exercise vigorously do not even want the drugs that

so curse our nation, and I have yet to see one single runner among the

thousands in the races with a cigarette in his or her mouth. Breath is too

precious for that. It is the gift of God.

I personally feel like I am a young person, though I am 79.

Exercise is a large part of that. I will be one of the older ones in the

Peachtree Road Race and the 10K Classic in Marietta this year. In the

Peachtree they call the part of the road in front of Piedmont Hospital

�Cardiac hill,' and the l0K has several such. Yet Isaiah, the great prophet,

was inspired by God to write, 

Even youths will faint and be weary,

And the young will fall away exhausted;

But those who wait for the Lord

Shall renew their strength,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40;30-31). 

This year one son-in-law, Mr. Rick McTyre and I, will be

joined in the Peachtree Road Race by a granddaughter, Miss Dara Satterfield,

age 15. Rick will out run me easily, as I am not fast, and Dara will likely

outrun us both. What a celebration of life a race is! 

I believe that many diseases can be eliminated by regular exercise.

We don't have to have all the ailments known to man. Of course we all will

get sick and eventually die, but why not add to the years and enjoy our

spiritual, physical and mental life more fully right now? Yes, I believe that

exercise is a fountain of youth.

JUDGE NOT 

By George Wannamaker

 Judge not, that you be not judged,   Matthew7:l

Back when ladies hung their washing out on the clothesline in the back yard, a certain lady had a visitor one morning.
They sat in the breakfast room nook overlooking hers and her neighbor's backyard, She said to her friend, "I wish you would look at my neighbor's washing. How dingy it is!"  Her visitor replied, "It's not her washing that's dingy. It's your window!"

So often when we are critical of others, it's our hearts and minds and hearts that are dingy  and  not right with God, ourselves, other people and the real world we live in.

Of course we all must make evaluations and choices. Jesus was speaking about the kind of judging that belittles others in the vain subconscious hope to somehow lift ourselves up  by comparison. We can hurt other people in their minds more than in any other way. 

A very grumpy husband was always complaining. One morning his wife decided that she would do all she could to please him. She asked him what he most wanted for breakfast. He requested grits, sausage and two eggs, one fried and one scrambled,
and handed her the two eggs. It was a fine breakfast and she asked how he liked it. He replied, "You scrambled the wrong egg!" 

When we thankful to God for our spiritual, mental and physical creation, we have no compulsion to put others down. Instead
we lift others up, just as Jesus did and just as he has lifted us up. 

Mary Martin, the   great Broadway singer, was terribly frightened as she was to go on stage for a fine musical. Oscar Hammerstein, the famous lyric writer for such musicals as Oklahoma and South Pacific, was her friend. Although he was on his deathbed but wrote this message to encourage her. She read it just before going on stage:

Dear Mary,

A bells not a bell until you ring it,

A song's not a song until you sing it

And loves not love until you give it away. 

That night Mary Martin had her greatest performance. Friends were amazed, and asked, "Mary, what happened to you tonight?
" She replied, "Tonight I gave love away." 

Our lives are great when we give love away. We surely have all

received an abundance of it. We have victory in life when we are truly

grateful. Then we rejoice  in encouraging  and building one another up. St. Paul said, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed your are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:ll)

BY GRACE  THROUGH  FAITH
                        
February-March, 2002            


                               WAKE  UP !  RISE  FROM THE DEAD !

   Sleeper awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 
Ephesians 5:l4

    God's  alarm call is to wake up and open our  eyes to the magnificence  
of all creation and the glorious  powers and potentials he put in each of us. 
The mighty energy of God' universe supports us.. It's time to wake up to .our 
God-given greatness. Wake up! Dodge the deadly quicksand of self-pity, 
inferiority feelings and resentment.

    Zeke Jones was working in the field and his wife, Martha, was 
shopping, when their two sons became so fascinated by the clock that they 
took it apart, to see what made it run. Hurriedly they put it back together 
before Zeke returned. It  seemed to work. At midnight, however, the clock 
struck 12 times, then l3, 14., 15 16.. Martha yelled, "Wake up Zeke! It's 
later than its ever been!" So it is for all, young and old.         
                                                                                                                                                                   
I.  WAKE  UP TO SIN OF BLAMING OTHERS,   LIFE

     A young husband said to his wife after her first meal, "I wish you 
could make pie crust like my mother." She replied, "Yes, and I wish you could 
make dough like my father did!"

    Jesus said," Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not 
notice the log in your own eye?"  (Matthew 7:3)  (What a great point  and 
what an effective  cartoon  could be drawn  from it.  If  you could draw it, 
please let me know.)

    When we reject  the spiritual, mental and physical magnificence  
God put in us, others  and the world,  we deny ourselves the joy God 
intended.  We then  put others down. Awake up to  the greatness of God in 
this  physical, mental and spiritual life. .God is transcendent. He is over 
all and in all.

    Fanny Crosby, who,  though blind, saw the greatness .of God in life and  
wrote the lyrics to the  magnificent  hymns, "Blessed Assurance,"" Pass Me 
Not," "I am Thine, O Lord, " and "Rescue The Perishing." She used her destiny 
to praise God..  She expressed her attitude toward life  in  this poem,

                                   "O what a happy soul am I, although I cannot see..                         
                I am resolved that in this world content I will be
              How many blessings I enjoy that others don't.
                    To weep and sigh because I'm blind,  I cannot,              
            and I won't..
                   

        II.  WAKE  UP  TO  EXCELLENCE  IN  NATURE        

    Ralph Waldo Emerson saw that nature works  toward our moral good.  Don't  
we feel better physically when we have an humble love to God, ourselves  and 
to our neighbor?  Doctors agree and psychiatrists say  hatred is detrimental 
to mental health.

     In the superb hymn about God's revealed glory  in nature, "This Is 
My Father's World," we sing, "All  nature sings, and round me rings the music 
of the spheres."  God is like a majestic symphony conductor. He has all of 
nature, including our own, ringing harmoniously  with the melody of love and 
grace.  We are to be  instruments of love  in  that royal music of the 
spheres,. That is magnificence..

        III. AWAKE TO NOBILITY  IN HUMAN NATURE

     God made human nature to be noble and heroic. Sin comes when we 
rebel  against the way we are made We are made to love by him who is love, 
and our souls are restless if we don't have authentic love for God, for all 
people,  including ourselves, and the wonderful world.   God made all human 
beings everywhere  to be kind...
  
    One night in the l960's in Alabama an African American lady's car stalled 
in a rainstorm. Boldly she stood on the roadside seeking a ride. A white man 
stopped, picked her up and let her out where she requested.  Several days 
there was a knock on his door. Outside was a large television. On it a note 
read,  �Thank you so much for stopping for me on that rainy night. That made 
it possible for me to be with my dying husband before he passed!'  It was 
signed, "Mrs. Nat King Cole.."   (I still love to hear that man's golden 
voice, and I bet many of you do too.)

    God's justice is a part of his love, and evil does have to be 
opposed and punished. The truth, however is that, in  the final analysis, 
love is still the most powerful force in the world. Justice without love will 
not work. � 

    In his play, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare 
deals with what  God puts  in every human being, the need to show mercy.  
Shakespeare had to have been an avid Bible reader for he  wrote this for  the 
speech of Portia to the court,

                       The quality of mercy is not strained.
                         It drops like the gentle rain from heaven                    
                                
                       Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest..
                          It blesses him that gives' and him that               
                        takes.           
                 �Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes         
                         the thronged monarch better than his crown.
                    His scepter shows the force of temporal power.
                                The attribute of awe and majesty,             
                    

                  Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
                             But mercy is above this scattered sway
                   It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.
                                    It is an attribute of God himself.        
                And earthly power doth show itself  likes God
                                         When mercy seasons justice..
                       

                           (Then Shakespeare has Portia to say to Shylock,  
and to us all, these powerful words, solid as Stone Mountain and totally, 
biblical.)                      
                                      

              If justice be thy plea, then consider this,
                  That in the course of justice none of us shall know salvation.  
                        

     God wakes us up to the eternal power of love.,    "Love never ends. But 
as for prophecies, they will come to an end, as for tongues they will cease, 
as for knowledge, it will pass away."  ( I Corinthians l3:8)   Godly people 
we have known and who with love in their hearts  died,  are very much alive. 
� We feel their presence. �Reports of their deaths are highly exaggerated!'  
Isn't that what John 3:l6 says?

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