THYME Magazine: The Voice of C. S. Lewis

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue XVIIa

BBC Talks Encouraged Nation

A war-weary nation was once greatly encouraged by the BBC addresses of C. S. Lewis. These talks would later become the basis for his apologetic: Mere Christianity.I found an audio book version of this classic and was impressed at how the work flowed as it was read aloud. There is only one small fragment of BBC audio remaining of C. S. Lewis speaking and here it is presented for your enjoyment!

THYME Magazine: The Gift of Language

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue IX

The Gift of Language
How Sequoyah Gave His People Written Words

Perhaps the most remarkable man who has ever lived on Georgia soil was neither a politician, nor a soldier, nor an ecclesiastic, nor a scholar, but merely a Cherokee Indian of mixed blood. And strange to say, this Indian acquired permanent fame, neither expecting or seeking it." -- H. A. Scomp, Emory College

He was hardly someone you would predict would create such a significant contribution to his nation. George Gist was born to a Cherokee mother, Wu-teh, a member of the Paint Clan, and Nathanial Gist, an English fur trader near the village of Tushkeegee on the Tennessee River. The year was around 1760 but no one knows for sure. Learning the ways of the Cherokee, young George became a trapper and a fur trader himself. He would probably have lived out his days as a man of the forest, but he suffered a hunting accident (or possibly succumbed to a crippling disease, depending on which version of his story you read), but the young man was permanently disabled, unable to earn his living by the skills he had been taught in childhood.

George Gist developed a talent for metal working. He learned to be a blacksmith and silversmith. His disability became both a source of ridicule (Sequoyah means "pig's foot" in Cherokee) and a spur to greater things. The man was a good learner and became a competent craftsman. A man who purchased one of his pieces suggested that he sign his work, but he was unable to. He could not write! And here as well his story might have ended, but events in the greater world were to spur him to his greatest work. Sequoyah married a Cherokee woman and raised a family. They moved to Cherokee County in Georgia where George learned how to write his name from a local farmer. Later he joined other Cherokees who fought under Andrew Jackson against England in the War of 1812. Though he never learned to read or write English, Sequoyah was fascinated by the white man's ability to create "talking leaves" by making marks on paper.

As early as 1809, Sequoyah was exploring the creation of a Cherokee alphabet. Though scholars believe there may have once been a written Cherokee language that was later forgotten, there was no written Cherokee language when Sequoyah was a youth. People suspected that the white man's words "moved around on the paper," and the time was right for Cherokee to be able to read things for themselves. Cherokee soldiers could not write letters home, read military orders for themselves, or record events they wished to remember. When he returned home from the war, he worked in earnest on a phonetic alphabet of 86 letters to write the Cherokee Language. Sequoyah became something of a recluse. His friends and family ridiculed him. Some said he was insane or practicing witchcraft. Moving West to Arkansas, he continued his great work.

He found that his young daughter Ayoka could easily learn to use the syllabary and demonstrated this to his cousin, George Lowrey, who encouraged him to demonstrate the use of the syllabary to the public. In a Cherokee court case in Chattooga, he read an argument about a boundary line from a piece of paper. In 1821 the Cherokee Nation officially adopted Sequoya's alphabet and within a matter of months thousands of Cherokee learned to read and write! In 1824 the Cherokee National Council at New Echota, Georgia presented him with a silver medal. Sequoyah proudly wore it for the rest of his life. He was given a $300 annuity and his widow continued to receive it after he died.

By 1825 the Cherokee had the Bible in their own language along with hymnals and all sorts of educational materials. There was even a large group of Moravian Cherokee. Legal documents and books of every kind were available, all translated into the Cherokee Language. In 1827 The Cherokee National Council funded the printing of Tsa la gi Tsu lehesanunhi," the Cherokee Phoenix. It was the first Native American newspaper printed in the United States. It was produced in the Cherokee Capital, New Echota on a press shipped there from Boston. The paper had parallel columns in Cherokee and English, printed side by side.

Sadly, the discovery of gold in North Georgia, unscrupulous men and treachery in treaty would lead to the removal of most of the Eastern nation. Sequoyah moved to Oklahoma were he served as an envoy to Washington D.C. to assist the displaced Eastern Cherokees. He continued to serve his people as a diplomat and a statesman. Well into his eighties, he traveled West again, looking for a band of Cherokees who were said to have moved to Mexico. He took ill and died in 1843 and the location of his grave remains unknown to this day. Two species of giant redwood trees have been named in his honor, as has Sequoia National Park in California. He gave his people the gift of literacy. His contribution is unique, as he, an uneducated, seemingly undistinguished individual, created a totally new system of writing for his beloved nation. [1.]

J. Lanphier's Journey of Prayer
How A Nation Was Turned to G-d and Restored


Jeremiah Lanphier discovered the power of prayer in his own life.

By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, America found herself at a crossroads. Wild speculation and greed had built a house of cards. While a few became incredibly wealthy, the gap between haves and have-nots grew ever wider.   The economic crash had put 30,000 men out of work on the streets of New York City.  Churches languished as people explored Spiritism and other "new" ideas. We, of the Twenty-first Century, would find the condition of the culture strangely familiar.

Political corruption, shady dealings in business and a general moral decline were the norm.  "Atheism, agnosticism, apathy and indifference to God, to the church, and its message abounded on every hand. The decline was fourfold: social, moral, political and spiritual." -- Tom Shanklin

Then came the crash! Factories were shuttered. Banks failed and merchants were ruined. Thousands were destitute. Winkie Pratney, who chronicled the great revival, says: "A near socio-economic collapse jolted America away from her apathy into a national cry for spiritual reality." Chuck Balsamo presents a wonderful concise history of this revival in his book Make Me a Legend [click to read]. The story does not begin with a mighty move and thousands of conversions, rather it begins in a rather small way.

Jeremiah Lanphier was a middle-aged businessman caught in the crossroads. Having no children and no family, he was drawn to minister to the needs of those living in the dark slums of Hell's Kitchen. Leaving his business, he became a lay missionary with the North Dutch Church in Manhattan. Pouring his life into the lives of those he saw caught in hopelessness, he soon came to the end of his own strength. Physically and mentally exhausted, Lanphier discovered that just as the body needs food, the soul and spirit of a man need to be nourished in prayer.[1.]

Each day at midday, Lanphier would seek solace in the Church Consistory Building, where he would cry out to G-d for spiritual strength. He experienced G-d in a mighty way in these times and felt that others would benefit from prayer as well, especially the city's businessmen. He printed up and distributed 20,000 flyers advertising his first noontime prayer meeting, on September 23, 1857.

That day he prayed alone for thirty minutes before six others joined him. The next week there were twenty. The week after that forty people showed up. In time over 100 churches had noonday prayer meetings going throughout the city. G-d's powerful move was felt far beyond New York City. Newspaperman Horace Greeley wanted to get a count of the number of men  praying in New York so he sent a reporter out to the meetings. Racing around the city in a horse-drawn buggy, the reporter was only able to get to twelve meetings in the noon hour, but he counted 6,100 in attendance.

Spiritual awakening followed and Americans found strength in G-d for the turbulent days that followed. This Third Great Awakening not only revitalized the spirit of America's people, but led to missionary outreach around the world.  [2.]

THYME Magazine: Independence Day Issue

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue I

Reverend Richard's Prayer
From Homer Hickam's Book: 'Sky of Stone'

I was reading Homer Hickam's book: Sky of Stone when this passage riveted me with its profound wisdom, succinctly stated. Hickam describes a 4th of July celebration in Coalwood where the Reverend gave this invocation: [1.]

"Dear Lord, we are gathered here to celebrate not just the independence of our great land, but also the document on which it stands. There is much to admire in that document but what we best remember is this: We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

To prepare for this invocation today, I have pondered long and hard these words. Most of you know that I rarely go anywhere without my Bible. It is an old Bible. It belonged to my grandfather. What you don't know is that inside this book, I have always kept a copy of the Declaration of Independence. It also belonged to my grandfather. He believed it to be as Holy as his Bible.

When I was a boy, somebody once asked me if my grandfather had been a slave. I couldn't imagine that could be true so I went to him and asked him: Grandfather, were you a slave? He said, Child, a man called me that but I was never a slave and you know why? Because I could read. My mama, she taught me when that man wasn't looking, just as her mama taught her.

When he became officially a free man, my grandfather purchased this Bible and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. He kept them both until the day he died. He left them to me.

I have come to understand my grandfather was right. No man or woman can be a slave if they can read. Especially if they can read the Bible and the American Declaration of Independence.

But that means there are still slaves in this land. There are slaves who do not know that they have inalienable rights given to them by God, and that they also have, by the grace of the Lord, life, liberty, and the right to pursue their happiness and the happiness of their families.

They are slaves to their own ignorance. Ignorance is the ultimate slave owner.

So on this 4th of July, I pray a special prayer.I pray for the day when the tyranny of ignorance will be banished all across this great land and every man, woman, and child can read and understand what they read.

I pray for that day.I pray every day for that day."

The good Reverend had planted in me a renewed vision of the mission before us. That is the mission of educating ourselves and our children.


The U.S. Capitol.

A Victory for Religious Freedom

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that certain "closely held" for-profit businesses can cite religious objections in order to opt out of a requirement in the so-called "Affordable Care Act" to provide free contraceptive coverage for their employees. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion of the 5-4 decision that the contraceptive mandate was unlawful. The big winners, besides Amendment One, are Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Products. Obamacare exemptions have already been negotiated for a number of religious institutions.

Although White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday afternoon that the decision: "jeopardizes the health of women who are employed by these companies," it is clear that all that is decided by this ruling is that companies run by people of Faith don't have to pay for abortificants. It does not stop employees from obtaining them on their own. There was a fair amount of "discussion" about the "problems" this legislation could cause, like a company run by Jehovah's Witnesses might not want to pay for blood transfusions. Mrs. Clinton said she found the ruling: "Deeply disturbing!"

Most of the scenarios presented fail to acknowledge the long tradition of religious tolerance this country has practiced. Horse drawn buggies with reflective triangles operate safely on modern highways to accommodate the needs of the Amish and Old Order Mennonites. Religious accommodation is actually something we as a people are quite good at.

Mr. Earnest and Mrs. Clinton would do well to address the very real plight of thousands of women who's health is truly jeopardized because they can no longer receive life-saving cancer treatments or heart procedures. The reason, loss of coverage as a result of implementation of the so-called: "Affordable Care Act!"

A growing culture of respect for life in the womb is taking place in America today. Clearly those of us who see the sanctity of unborn lives will see this as a victory for an even more fundamental right... that of life itself!

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VI, Issue X

A 'Best of THYMEs' Feature...

G-d's Word to Praying People

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." -- Isaiah 58

A special thank-you to Carl Tate for pointing out this scripture. As the 'other' weekly news magazine celebrates the 'Me' Generation's potential to become the next 'Greatest Generation' a number of great messages have been preached about dying to self and seeking to "decrease that G-d might increase." Indeed, men and women such as Jeremiah Lanphier, George Müller and Florence Nightengale began their journeys in prayer with a recognition of the heart of G-d.

This led them to minister to the pain of people around them. Then, realizing their own inadequacy, they redoubled their laboring in prayer.G-d met them and did amazing works through them.

Such is the hope that we should have as we begin a season of earnest prayer... that G-d will shine forth in the world, and that we will be open to His Spirit doing so.

Jeremiah Lanphier's Journey of Prayer

How A Nation Was Turned to G-d and Restored


Jeremiah Lanphier discovered the power of prayer in his own life.

A Milestone Monday Feature:

America found herself at a crossroads. Wild speculation and greed had built a house of cards. While a few became incredibly wealthy, the gap between haves and have-nots grew ever wider.   The economic crash had put 30,000 men out of work on the streets of New York City.  Churches languished as people explored Spiritism and other "new" ideas. We, of the Twenty-first Century, would find the condition of the culture strangely familiar.

Political corruption, shady dealings in business and a general moral decline were the norm.  "Atheism, agnosticism, apathy and indifference to God, to the church, and its message abounded on every hand. The decline was fourfold: social, moral, political and spiritual." -- Tom Shanklin

Then came the crash! Factories were shuttered. Banks failed and merchants were ruined. Thousands were destitute. Winkie Pratney, who chronicled the great revival, says: "A near socio-economic collapse jolted America away from her apathy into a national cry for spiritual reality." Chuck Balsamo presents a wonderful concise history of this revival in his book Make Me a Legend [click to read]. The story does not begin with a mighty move and thousands of conversions, rather it begins in a rather small way.

Jeremiah Lanphier was a middle-aged businessman caught in the crossroads. Having no children and no family, he was drawn to minister to the needs of those living in the dark slums of Hell's Kitchen. Leaving his business, he became a lay missionary with the North Dutch Church in Manhattan. Pouring his life into the lives of those he saw caught in hopelessness, he soon came to the end of his own strength. Physically and mentally exhausted, Lanphier discovered that just as the body needs food, the soul and spirit of a man need to be nourished in prayer.[1.]

Each day at midday, Lanphier would seek solace in the Church Consistory Building, where he would cry out to G-d for spiritual strength. He experienced G-d in a mighty way in these times and felt that others would benefit from prayer as well, especially the city's businessmen. He printed up and distributed 20,000 flyers advertising his first noontime prayer meeting, on September 23, 1857.

That day he prayed alone for thirty minutes before six others joined him. The next week there were twenty. The week after that forty people showed up. In time over 100 churches had noonday prayer meetings going throughout the city. G-d's powerful move was felt far beyond New York City. Newspaperman Horace Greeley wanted to get a count of the number of men  praying in New York so he sent a reporter out to the meetings. Racing around the city in a horse-drawn buggy, the reporter was only able to get to twelve meetings in the noon hour, but he counted 6,100 in attendance.

Spiritual awakening followed and Americans found strength in G-d for the turbulent days that followed. This Third Great Awakening not only revitalized the spirit of America's people, but led to missionary outreach around the world.  [2.]

The Prayer Meeting that Touched the World

Moravians Prayed Around the Clock for 100 Years


The village of Herrnhut in Saxony.

A Milestone Monday Feature

The Moravian Brethren Church was born in the 1720's when Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf gave refuge to persecuted Hussites from Moravia and Bohemia. The village of Herrnhut, Saxony, now a part of Germany, was built by them.

Count Zinzendorf started a round-the-clock prayer meeting in 1727. It lasted one hundred years. People in Herrnhut signed up to pray for an hour a day.

What G-d did as a result of that prayer meeting is amazing. In an era when travel was difficult and dangerous the Moravians became a major force in reaching the world with the Gospel. Their ministry took them to many parts of the world. Moravians settled in the new world in Pennsylvania. The cities of Bethlehem and Nazareth are Moravian settlements. Count Zinzendorf secured a large tract of land in North Carolina where the Moravians established Bethabara. From here they began outreach to the Native Americans around them.

In 1753, Moravians from North Carolina travelled into the Cherokee Nation, which extended into North Georgia and Alabama from Western North Carolina. The nonacquisitive Moravians eventually developed a long standing ministry among the Cherokee. Since unmarried Moravian men and women lived in communal houses, one house for men and another for women, they may have been philosphically closer to a long house people than other Europeans. The New Georgia Encyclopedia states of them:

"Generally, the accomplishments of the Moravians lay in the fact that their missions not only opened their doors to all visitors, including African slaves from nearby Cherokee plantations, but also functioned as model farms for European agricultural techniques. Particularly, the Spring Place Mission served as an exemplar for other missionary enterprises to emulate."

The Moravians certainly were lovers of innovation in agriculture and craftsmanship. Visit the restored Moravian settlement in Salem, North Carolina today and you will see some of the first water pipes in America -- hollowed logs with metal couplings -- that carry water inside the Single Brothers' House.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XXII

G-d's Word to Praying People

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." -- Isaiah 58

A special thank-you to Carl Tate for pointing out this scripture as we as a community prepare to participate in Spark 2013 [click to read]. As the 'other' weekly news magazine celebrates the 'Me' Generation's potential to become the next 'Greatest Generation' a number of great messages have been preached about dying to self and seeking to "decrease that G-d might increase." Indeed, men and women such as Jeremiah Lanphier, George Müller and Florence Nightengale began their journeys in prayer with a recognition of the heart of G-d.

This led them to minister to the pain of people around them. Then, realizing their own inadequacy, they redoubled their laboring in prayer.G-d met them and did amazing works through them.

Such is the hope that we should have as we begin a season of earnest prayer... that G-d will shine forth in the world, and that we will be open to His Spirit doing so.

Jeremiah Lanphier's Journey of Prayer

How A Nation Was Turned to G-d and Restored


Jeremiah Lanphier discovered the power of prayer in his own life.

A Milestone Monday Feature

America found herself at a crossroads. Wild speculation and greed had built a house of cards. While a few became incredibly wealthy, the gap between haves and have-nots grew ever wider.   The economic crash had put 30,000 men out of work on the streets of New York City.  Churches languished as people explored Spiritism and other "new" ideas. We, of the Twenty-first Century, would find the condition of the culture strangely familiar.

Political corruption, shady dealings in business and a general moral decline were the norm.  "Atheism, agnosticism, apathy and indifference to God, to the church, and its message abounded on every hand. The decline was fourfold: social, moral, political and spiritual." -- Tom Shanklin

Then came the crash! Factories were shuttered. Banks failed and merchants were ruined. Thousands were destitute. Winkie Pratney, who chronicled the great revival, says: "A near socio-economic collapse jolted America away from her apathy into a national cry for spiritual reality." Chuck Balsamo presents a wonderful concise history of this revival in his book Make Me a Legend [click to read]. The story does not begin with a mighty move and thousands of conversions, rather it begins in a rather small way.

Jeremiah Lanphier was a middle-aged businessman caught in the crossroads. Having no children and no family, he was drawn to minister to the needs of those living in the dark slums of Hell's Kitchen. Leaving his business, he became a lay missionary with the North Dutch Church in Manhattan. Pouring his life into the lives of those he saw caught in hopelessness, he soon came to the end of his own strength. Physically and mentally exhausted, Lanphier discovered that just as the body needs food, the soul and spirit of a man need to be nourished in prayer.[1.]

Each day at midday, Lanphier would seek solace in the Church Consistory Building, where he would cry out to G-d for spiritual strength. He experienced G-d in a mighty way in these times and felt that others would benefit from prayer as well, especially the city's businessmen. He printed up and distributed 20,000 flyers advertising his first noontime prayer meeting, on September 23, 1857.

That day he prayed alone for thirty minutes before six others joined him. The next week there were twenty. The week after that forty people showed up. In time over 100 churches had noonday prayer meetings going throughout the city. G-d's powerful move was felt far beyond New York City. Newspaperman Horace Greeley wanted to get a count of the number of men  praying in New York so he sent a reporter out to the meetings. Racing around the city in a horse-drawn buggy, the reporter was only able to get to twelve meetings in the noon hour, but he counted 6,100 in attendance.

Spiritual awakening followed and Americans found strength in G-d for the turbulent days that followed. This Third Great Awakening not only revitalized the spirit of America's people, but led to missionary outreach around the world.  [2.]

Spark 2013 in Stuarts Draft, Virginia

A Concert of Prayer for Our Place and Time...



"In the mid 1700s, pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards coined the term “concerts of prayer” to describe corporate gatherings of Christians for intercession and spiritual renewal. Regular prayer meetings at the time became a spark for the First Great Awakening in the United States.

Similarly, the Third Great Awakening was largely initiated and sustained through a movement of prayer. In 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier started a noon prayer meeting on Manhattan’s Fulton Street. The meeting quickly grew to several thousand business leaders and revival spread across the country, spawning some 2 million conversions and great works of social reform. Slavery was cut short in the United States through the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865 largely because of this awakening. The Salvation Army, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, and other Christian movements found their birth during this period, and the mighty Student Volunteer Movement was launched which sent approximately 25,000 students to the mission field in the coming decades.

Such corporate gatherings for prayer and around-the-clock Prayer Watches have worked together through history to strengthen prayer ministry. The New York City “Concerts of Prayer” initiative, for example, combined their Concerts of Prayer with a Prayer Watch that united 35 churches in 1995. The combined effort continued and over the next five years, the murder rate in New York City dropped 70%, making it one of the safest cities in the country with over a million people" -- Concerts of Prayer [click to read].  
Henderson County Ministerial Association.

Spark 2013 [click to read] begins May 12, 2013 and continues through May 19, 2013.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XXI
  
"The true great works are rooted in love and born in prayer" -- Unknown

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." -- Galations 5:22,23

A Great Work... Ushering in the World to Come

Who among us has not at some point imagined themselves involved in some great work? We love the stories of triumph and bravery and wonder if it might be our lot to ever be part of such a tale? So-called 'Realism' raises a hand at this point and argues that most men live in obscurity and live lives that are insignificant. Yet the belief that significance is something to be desired presses the possibility of it being attained. Travelling to Bolivia last year, I sensed there were a thousand stories in search of a Hemingway.

I saw an amazing medical mission that grew out of one woman's loving heart. She herself survived breast cancer and when most people would have started savoring retirement, this soft-spoken RN was G-d's instrument to bring decent medical care to the poorest people in Santa Cruz and now Sucre. (Her SECOND clinic just opened in February)! Cindy Thacker is doing a great work, as are the comitted staff of Mission of Hope Bolivia. It was a priviledge to hear their stories and by our work there to contribute to them.[1.]

In a South American slum there is a man who creates orchestra instruments from trash! 'Landfill Harmonic' brings beautiful music to young people who would otherwise know only the sound of despair. [2.] Redemption! all the great stories tell of it. Is it a false hope?, or something that the great stories hold out to us because its realization could be nearer than we dare imagine?If we can imagine something, is it possible that that ability to imagine is rooted in sound reasons?

These are the stories the media rarely report to us. One hears so much about the dysfunction in our world... and it is real. Yet, quiet your heart. You will find amazing stories around you. You might even find yourself a part of one! Great works abound in our own back yard. How shall we find them... be still, watch and listen!

Watching Kristina Elaine Riley paint her latest mural depicting "Acts of Kindness Rooted in Love," it was clear that she was engaged in a great work. [3.] The painting she is completing with elementary and middle school children in the Farrier Court Community center carries a redemptive message. Indeed, it could be seen as an extension of her "Journey to Jesus," [4.] where she took ordinary children's photographs, often in places of great hardship, and painted them as princes and princesses of the New Heaven and the New Earth spoken of in Isaiah 60, Isaiah 61 [5.] and Revelation 21 [6.]

Audio Aredrenalin's "Kings and Queens" echos that message [7.] To love "the least of these" is to make kings and queens in G-d's Kingdom. Empowering children to be noble by rooting themselves in love... an unseen foundation upon which to build a noble edifice!

Hebrews 11 talks of Faith: "The evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things not seen," and tells of Abraham, who wandered and lived all of his life in tents, longing for "that city who's architect and builder is G-d!" Those who share in the hope that Abraham had have a stake in the greatest of works... joining G-d in building His Kingdom!

Nehemiah engaged himself in a great work... rebuilding the walled city of Jerusalem. Just as he became a man of singular purpose, we too should consider the ruined state of our own culture and "arise and build!" A study of Nehemiah's life reveals that he didn't begin by sorting stones or drawing plans, he PRAYED. Scripture is clear that he began by seeking G-d and the mighty work sprang from that prayer [8.]

 In the Nineteenth Century, Evangelist George Müller was moved by the plight of unwanted children. He prayed. Without asking for a penny, he saw G-d provide the means to care for thousands of children and build fine homes for them to live in [9.]

In a world of chaos, we seek order, beauty and truth. These things will elude us if we do not seek the AUTHOR of order, beauty and truth. Great works do not just happen, they spring from the hand and mind of purposeful authorship. If purposeful authorship is evident in Creation, then it behooves us to seek to learn from the Author of purpose.

Pastor Chuck Balsamo of Destiny Fellowship in Stuarts Draft invites all who would to join in a time of Prayer, Fasting and Worship [click to read]. The purpose, not unlike Nehemiah's, is to seek G-d in a world where order, beauty and truth are all too rare.

My point in writing this is that G-d has a great work and the promise is clear. The murky uncertainty of our post-modern world is all too evident and threatens to obscure OUR view of that purpose. If we as a people will come away to seek His face, we will find ourselves in the very presence of G-d. Perhaps it is time to stop saturating ourselves in the news and MAKE news... led by the same fire that "turned the world upside down" in the First Century [10.]

That is key. This is not about growing bigger churches or merely creating a moral superiority, or economic prosperity, it is about unleashing the power of G-d's Holy Spirit to build G-d's Holy Kingdom! How does one describe the Kingdom of G-d and His promised presence there? It is like describing a mountain vista to a blind man. Where do you begin? Yet this is a picture that I as an artist feel compelled to paint! Mankind needs this vision. How does one begin to paint it?

Does one start by descriptions rooted in the scents of seasons... the smell of leaves and lavendar, the deep smell of Earth beneath the firs? One CAN deduce from what one CAN percieve that there is more unseen. That is the artist's mission. Just as a visual artist creates depth with line and shadow and aerial perspective, we can point to that which is beyond our ability to literally render.

Can we "see" the promise, pushing onward. and offer relationship with G-d Himself to a world of lonely and injured pilgrims? Can we join together as G-d seeks to rebuild lives and bring His Kingdom to Earth? Can we see that G-d is at work, purposefully authoring the promised Kingdom? In the combined sense of PEACE and PURPOSE found in communion with the Divine, might we have a part in ushering in the World to Come?

Andrea Oakes, Moses and Joshua...

Going Outside the Camp to the Tent of Meeting

After the people sinned while Moses was receiving the Law, the Tabernacle was pitched outside the camp and those who would seek the Lord had to venture out to it.

"For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp." -- Exodus 33:5-7

Prayer before city counsel meetings has been relegated to the 'work session.' Here is where we are as a culture today. The presence of G-d has been removed to "outside the camp," and we must make the effort if we are to seek G-d for the welfare of our city.

The scripture says that Moses went out regularly to meet with G-d, "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." -- Exodus 33:11a.

But then we learn a most interesting fact about Joshua: "but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle." -- Exodus 33:11b. Here was a man who wanted to linger far beyond what was required in the presence of G-d.

Moses and Joshua remained in the presence of G-d and were shown the grace of G-d toward the people. Often people see the giving of the law and the sternness of G-d in the books of Moses, but miss the grace. Finding the grace requires a trip to the Tabernacle and time in G-d's presence.

The Law, given on Sinai, is the basis (like it or not) for the right governing of our society. The grace, it is not so easily written on tablets. One needs to seek it in communion with the One who is gracious.

We are blessed to have public servants like Andrea Oakes, who do so.

Jackie Evancho Sings "To Believe"

Eleven Year-Old Vocalist Honors G-d with Her Talent

"...and we'll see in one another, the loving Image of You!"

Nehemiah Had the Right Idea

Prayer is the Place to Begin


A sign on a heavy equipment dealership in Fishersville, Virginia says it clearly: Pray for recovery.

We have often relied so much on our own self-reliance that we face the problems before us with great anxiety. The actions of a handful of men in Washington and in corporate offices have had consequences that have been beyond our ability to overcome.

Nehemiah faced great problems and opposition when he set out to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, yet he began wth prayer. He won the monitary support of a hostle king, overcame opposition close to home and led each family in rebuilding the section of wall by their house.

If that sounds like what we face today, join in prayer.

40 Days of Prayer is a call to fervent prayer for our elections. We are in desperate days as a nation as the spiritual, moral and financial fabric of our nation is disintegrating around us. Believers need to pray as never before. America's National Prayer Committee and its member organizations are putting out a call to pray 40 days prior to the elections (September 28 - November 6). Here you will find information and links to other prayer initiatives that are focusing on this election. We are not endorsing these initiatives, but making you aware of them. Our intent is to stay far away from anything that looks like an endorsement or movement for any particular candidate or party. What we are asking for is the intervention of G-d on behalf of our nation.

The United States is clearly a nation in trouble. A battered economy, political divisiveness, the culture wars, racial uneasiness, and a sidelined church, provide the dry tinder for an inflammatory national election in November of 2012. Many stake their hopes or fears on the outcome.

While believing in and encouraging the importance of exercising our right to vote, we also call the Christian Church in America to do that which is even more critical in these days... to pray. The seriousness of our day requires an intensity of prayer that is unprecedented. Accordingly, we call for 40 days and nights of unrelenting intercession on behalf of our nation, immediately preceding the Nov.6th election (September 28 - November 6).

Join Us For 40 Days of Prayer [click to read].

Memo to the President from the Private Sector

Seen Along Interstate 64 in Fishersville, Virginia


I photographed this sign on the side of L.E. Wood Equipment Company in Fishersville, Virginia. Mr. Wood sells heavy construction equipment and has had this message on his building since 2008. Some people may think that the private sector is 'doing fine,' but I'm with Mr. Wood in praying for recovery.

Jackie Evancho Sings 'To Believe'

Eleven Year-Old Vocalist Honors G-d with Her Talent


"...and we'll see in one another, the loving Image of You!"

A Note from Binyamin L. Jolkovsky

"The power of prayer is often spoken of. But those of us
who truly believe in it, act on it"


Spring Crocus.

I have been asked by family members of a rabbinic mentor who still acts as my second father to offer their gratitude to those who continue to pray and do extra acts of kindness on his his behalf.

It's human nature to reasses success if it's not soon in coming. But a down-side in relating the improvements of one who is critically ill is that one may presume wrongly that merits are no longer needed.

So let me put it this way: The status of Yisroel ben (Hebrew for "son of") Chana Tzirel has improved, but he is a long way from healed and still in a critical, if stabalized, condition. He is very much in need of as many prayers and meritorious acts preformed on behalf of him as possible.

Those acts can be as simple as being more patient with somebody who doesn't deserve it or holding a door when you are in a rush. The gestures of making our world better can likewise increase according to your ability.

Every prayer is precious to the Almighty. So are doing extra acts of kindness (no matter how small) in the merit of those who need Divine mercy.

No matter what your faith, PLEASE act on behalf. Please forward this note and post it to social media.

The power of prayer is often spoken of. But those of us who truly believe in it, act on it.

May the One who is the True healer, bless you in kind for your kindness,
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky,
Editor in Chief,
JewishWorldReview.com

Sir Francis Drake's Prayer (1577)

Disturb Us, Lord, When We are Too Pleased...


The form of a dove is seen in the morning clouds. I did not really see it until I looked at the picture after I snapped it. Funny thing, I'd been musing on a conversation I'd had a week before with a friend about being led by the Spirit.

This is the prayer of the famous navigator who bested the mighty Spanish Armada:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow many of us will begin a week of praying for our nation and our communities at 6:00am each morning. May the Lord show us Himself in a way we can't even begin to fathom.

A People of Prayer [click to read]

We Need Another Dunkirk

Call for Prayer at Houston Gathering


Some of the 300,000 British troops who were evacuated from France by private boats in 1940.

One of my all-time favorite movie scenes is the one in Mrs. Miniver where Miniver's husband joins in the convoy of small boats to rescue the troops who are trapped in France. I've been out in the Chesapeake Bay in a boat that size and thinking of the actual historical event is inspiring.

At the recent prayer gathering in Houston, Dr. James Dobson referenced this perilous time in the history of Great Britian:

"The year was 1940. The moment was one of the darkest in the history of the English people. More than 300,000 British troops suddenly found themselves pinned down in northern France. Nazi forces were bearing down on them. The Brits didn’t have enough ammunition or supplies. At any moment, Hitler’s forces would launch a ferocious attack. The Brits faced imminent annihilation. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his advisors thought at best the navy could rescue 20,000 to 30,000 before it was too late. Others feared even that might not be possible. And the stakes couldn’t have been higher. If so many forces were wiped out, Hitler and the Nazis would invade the British Isles — and win.

So the King of England called for a national day of prayer. That Sunday, an estimated 70 percent of the British people showed up at churches all over the country. They begged for the Lord’s mercy on their fathers and sons, and for their national survival. And the Lord heard those heartfelt prayers and responded with what became known as “the miracle at Dunkirk.” Hitler inexplicably delayed giving his generals the order to finish off the Brits. A great storm over Germany prevented Nazi planes from being able to take off. The British people quickly assembled some 900 fishing boats, yachts, trawlers, and other private and government vessels, and began ferrying the troops of the French beaches and back to England a few at a time. By the grace of God, nearly a third of a million souls were saved as a result, as was the British nation." -- Joel Rosenberg

More on the Houston Prayer Gathering [click to read].

National Day of Prayer, May 6th

In Times of Crisis Our Leaders Have Always Sought G-d...


Oak leaves.

Washington at Valley Forge, Lincoln when our nation's survival was at stake, and even FDR, when enemies across the great oceans stood ready to test our greatness, all sought prayer for our country. Today, faced with the threats of global jihad, economic upheaval and the destruction of our national sovereignty, can we honestly say we should do less.

Jim McCloskey of the Staunton News Leader questions the need for a national day of prayer in his McCloskey Monday. Jim, take a hard look at the problems facing us today and see if you don't want to rethink this.

A Friend of mine wrote this letter to the editor in response:

In regard to Jim McCloskey's article in today's paper, May 3, 2010, on The National Day of Prayer, I have a few comments:

Jim claims to be a church going person so I wonder why he is so concerned about having a National Day of Prayer?

I hope that he realizes that this is a time...
a day set apart for ALL faiths not just for the Christian or Jewish faiths.

It is a day set apart and the churches have this wonderful opportunity to have special services apart from Sunday.

There are prayer breakfasts, prayer in the park, prayer at noon, prayer called at different times ALL DAY throughout the United States...

We have extreme National concerns. We are a nation bordering on bankruptcy, threats of terrorism, immorality throughout our schools, government control of all or our lives i.e. National Health Care---there are bank failures, etc. There is MUCH to pray about. So, think of it as wonderful, that a day is set apart for ALL people, of ALL faiths, to join together to pray. I and my family look forward to participating in it together every year.

All faiths are called to prayer on this National Day of Prayer...I hope all of us realize that.

I do hope that he will not be so sensitive to a day that means so much to all of us and if he does not want to participate in it, he certainly does not have to---just give us the freedom to continue participating in this, our NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER.

Nancy Summers,
Staunton, Virginia

An Urgent Call to Seek Divine Intervention...

On May 1st a number of Christian and Jewish leaders called for urgent prayer for our nation. I was not able to be in Washington but I joined in the prayer and repentance as I helped my lovely wife do a craft show in Middlebrook. Surrounded by Civil War reenacters it wasn't too hard to get in the mood. Across the aisle from us was a Confederate camp and they were cooking a rather delicious smelling meal on their campfire. When I remarked that that was richer fare than my Great Grandfather would have eaten in camp they pulled out the hardtack and cracked corn that most of the men actually ate. "I don't think there are many of us who could live like that today," the reenactor remarked. He was camping there with his family.

Our first challenge, I fear, is to learn to PRAY like our forefathers. [1.] [2.] [3.]

Learn More About the National Day of Prayer [click to read].

The Power of Prayer

Our Greatest Resource is Found on the Road Unseen


Although possessing 10% of the world's crude oil reserves, Iran's economy is in very difficult times. Life is very difficult for the average person there.