THYME Magazine: Prayer, The War Room

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume X, Issue V

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.

The War Room
New Film Explores the Power of Prayer

THYME Magazine: Lee Jong-Rak and IMAGO DEI

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume X, Issue IV: Lee Jong-Rak tenderly lifts an abandoned baby.

Living in Light of IMAGO DEI

In the earliest days of the Christian church, child abandonment was a problem too. Unwanted children were simply cast into the Tiber River. Understanding the preciousness of human life, the Faithful pulled as many of these young souls as they could from the water and raised them as their own. Pastor Lee Jong-Rak of Seoul, South Korea is a man who lives in light of that great Truth today, the Truth that man is created in the image of G-d according to the Holy Scriptures. Each life is precious.

Pastor Lee was moved by the sight of abandoned babies that were simply left on the streets of Seoul. Most of these infants died, so the man of G-d came up with a solution... a heated "mailbox" where infants could be left anonymously. It is estimated that about six hundred childrens' lives have been saved through this unique ministry. Many of the abandoned children are handicapped, having conditions like Down's Syndrome. They are seen by many in that part of the world as a curse and a burden.

Pastor Lee's own son is handicapped, and Pastor Lee sees him as a blessing, noting that such children increase our capacity to love.

The Drop Box” was directed by Brian Ivie, a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. “Through this movie, we’re hoping that people would see more than Christians working on behalf of orphans,” said Ivie. “We’re hoping that people would see a G-d who has always and will always love the broken and the lost.” Ivie was personally impacted as he directed “The Drop Box.” As he accepted the “Best of Festival” award for the documentary at the 2013 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, Ivie told the audience: “I became a Christian while making this movie. When I started to make it, and I saw all these kids come through the drop box it was like a flash from heaven. Just like these kids with disabilities had crooked bodies, I have a crooked soul. And G-d loves me still.”

The Drop Box [click to read] was shown in theaters in a very limited release. It is now available for home viewing on DVD. In an era when unborn life is so casually disregarded it is good to remember this: Scripture says that our children are created in the image of the Lion of Judah! That is what drives the work of Pastor Lee!


The film: The Drop Box is available on DVD.



Special Book Section

Several weeks ago we began the serial presentation of "Pontifus, The Bridge Builder's Tale in Three Parts." [1.] This week we present the second chapter of the second book: "Zimmerman's Folly" Here [click to read]. This special book section will continue through the Summer. The full publication of THYME will resume in the Fall. Look for a new installment each Wednesday morning.

THYME Magazine: Interview with Neil Armstrong

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume X, Issue III

Interview with Neil Armstrong!


The first man to set foot on the moon!

In this rare series of interviews, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, tells the story of the historic mission from his own perspective. Alex Malley of Australia's EvoTV's The Bottom Line looks at the life and leadership of the lunar mission's commander. Fascinated by aircraft, even at a very early age, Armstrong obtained his pilot's license at the age of fifteen!

He went on to fly combat missions during the Korean War and later became a test pilot. He then became an astronaut as NASA geared up to meet President John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon in the decade and return him safely to earth.

The Russians had already orbited the first satellite, Sputnik, on October 4, 1957 and subsequently orbited cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the Americans struggled to develop a dependable booster. After Alan Shepard's short suborbital flight in 1961, President Kennedy challenged the fledgeling space agency to go to the moon.

Armstrong is refreshingly honest in his discussion with Malley. The interview is presented in four parts and is worth watching to the very end. Neil Armstrong expresses very real concern that the space agency lacks the vision and sense of purpose it had in those early years. He ends with a challenge that we as a people would do well to heed and pursue in our own time!


Forty-five years ago two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it.

Man's First Act on the Moon:

Buzz Aldrin describes, in his own words, the first act of men visiting another world, to honor G-d: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly. …I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

Eric Metaxas writes: "And of course, it’s interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon — and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the “Love that moves the Sun and other stars.” [3.]

Solving an Age Old Problem


At Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, items left on a plane are returned quickly as Sherlock sniffs out their owners!



Special Book Section

Several weeks ago we began the serial presentation of "Pontifus, The Bridge Builder's Tale in Three Parts." [1.] This week we present the second chapter of the second book: "Zimmerman's Folly" Here [click to read]. This special book section will continue through the Summer. The full publication of THYME will resume in the Fall. Look for a new installment each Wednesday morning.

THYME Magazine: The America I Know

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume X, Issue II, Photo: Flag Pipes by Xaver Wilhelmy

The America I Know

I cannot watch the scene in Sound of Music where Christopher Plummer sings "Edelweiss" without feeling great emotion. Plummer, portraying Captain Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp, responds to the Anschluss (the German occupation of Austria in 1938) by singing it as a love song for his country. No doubt, many of us can identify with Captain von Trapp these days.

But a friend shared this incredible little video with me. It is a great reminder of who we are as a people.

Boatlift: An Untold Tale 
of 9/11 Resilience


"A hero is a man who does what he can." -- Romain Rolland

THYME Magazine: Restoring All Things

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume X, Issue I

Giving Marriage to the World
Once Again

Warren Cole Smith and John Stonestreet write in their book: Restoring All Things, that: "G-d did not begin the world with a government or even a church. He started it with a wedding. That's also how it will end. In Genesis we find Adam and Eve, and in Revelation we celebrate the restoration of all things with the wedding feast of the Lamb: the consumation of history and the final and everlasting coming together of Christ and His Church."

They continue: "Marriage was built into the fabric of this world from the very beginning of time. Through marriage, G-d provided the basic building block of all civilizations, establishing the context within which future generations would be procreated and preserved. In other words, marriage matters."

Pointing out that statistics generally paint a pretty bleak picture of the state of marriage today, Smith and Stonestreet dig deeper. The much touted study that shows the divorce rate the same within the church as for those who do not identify with any church counts pretty much everyone who identifies themselves as Christian in the second group.

Among those who actually attend church regularly, there is a significant drop in the divorce rate, falling from about half to 38%. Among those who actively practice their faith, the rate drops to less than 20%. Clearly the more thorough investigation shows a different picture of the impact of Faith in marriage.

If that's true, then why all the bad press?," the authors ask. "The answer is... a bad press!" Sociologist Bradly Wright studied the Barna data more exhaustively and concluded that the media: "are quick to paint gloomy pictures of Christians because these negative stereotypes reinforce their own ideologies and sell well."

But Christian media and Christian celebrity authors also are quick to promote these sorts of stereotypes because, again, they sell well. 'They'll find the worst statistics, and tell them in the first chapter, and then spend the next eight chapters telling you how to fix the problem.' It's a strategy that sells books and fills seminars, but it also misrepresents Christianity and the many Christians who, by following Biblical principles, are seeing good fruit in their married lives."

The problem is that the true story is that of transformation and redemption. G-d fearing people elevated the place of women, children and family from that of their Pagan neighbors. History tells us as much. The Apostle Paul, often painted by secularists as having low opinion of women, actually treasured the fellowship of his colleagues in both tentmaking and the Gospel: Priscilla and Aquilla. This couple is mentioned by name seven times in his writing, noting that they TOGETHER were instrumental in instructing Apollos in the Faith. [1.]

The very real power of redemption is seen in the stories of countless couples who have tasted it in their own lives. The world needs to hear our stories.

THYME Magazine: Building Bridges

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IX, Issue XXV

Building Bridges

One of my favorite scenes in the movie: 'Remember the Titans' is the one where Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell realize that they are indeed brothers. Though they are of different cultures in segregated Virginia, they come together as teammates and develop bonds that are far deeper. The film is one we should perhaps dust off in these difficult days and pause as well at the scene where the team runs at dawn to the battlefields of Gettysburg.Coach Herman Boone speaks:

Anybody know what this place is? This is Gettysburg. This is where they fought the Battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fightin' the same fight that we're still fightin' amongst ourselves today.

This green field right here was painted red, bubblin' with the blood of young boys, smoke and hot lead pourin' right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men:

I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family.'

You listen. And you take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together, right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed -- just like they were. I don't care if you like each other or not. But you will respect each other. And maybe -- I don't know -- maybe we'll learn to play this game like men."

Indeed, upon learning of the death of the Reverend Honorable Clementa C. Pinckney and eight of his congregation, I read his biography on the church website. I grieved a brother. The man and I held dear the same things. He died loving the people of G-d and building the Unseen Kingdom. Reverend Pinckney and his little circle were co-laborers in my most cherished work.

Surely that would be a brief thought, only to be lost in the onslaught of politicized news to come in the days to follow.

But I had made a fatal miscalculation. I underestimated the G-d that Reverend Pinckney and I serve (the present tense in intentional, for I believe he stands in the Presence of our shared Master today). To know the true greatness of a man, look at his pupils! As the members of the congregation who had just lost loved ones at the hands of a depraved gunman stepped forward to extend forgiveness to him, I recognized the hand of the Divine in their lives.

As thousands lined the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, arms and hands joined,to remember and pray; the Divine was at work! Dr. Henry Blackaby tells us to look for G-d at work and join him in that work. That call is clear today.
_______________________________________________
Special Book Section Continues Tomorrow:

THYME Magazine will continue to present the SPECIAL BOOK SECTION: Pontifus, The Bridge Builder's Tale in Three Parts. Many of the subjects and ideas presented in the book first appeared in THYME. Please do enjoy the weekly presentation of each new chapter. THYME will resume its regular format in the Fall.Until then, enjoy the book and spend some time making a difference in someone's life.



Special Book Section

Five weeks ago we began the serial presentation of "Pontifus, The Bridge Builder's Tale in Three Parts." [1.] This week we present the fifth chapter of the first book: "Dinner Stop at the End of the World" Here [click to read]. This special book section will continue through the Summer. The full publication of THYME will resume in the Fall.

THYME Magazine: Finding Imago Dei

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IX, Issue XXIV

Finding Imago Dei

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." -- Luke 10:2

From the Pastor's Page of Emmanuel AME Church:

The Reverend Honorable Clementa C. Pinckney was born July 30, 1973 the son of Mr. John Pinckney and the late Theopia Stevenson Pinckney of Ridgeland, South Carolina. He was educated in the public schools of Jasper County. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Allen University with a degree in Business Administration. While there, Reverend Pinckney served as freshman class president, student body president, and senior class president. Ebony Magazine recognized Rev. Pinckney as one the "Top College Students in America". During his junior year, he received a Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Summer Research Fellowship in the fields of public policy and international affairs. He received a graduate fellowship to the University of South Carolina where he earned a Master's degree in public administration. He completed a Master's of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Rev. Pinckney answered the call to preach at the age of thirteen and received his first appointment to pastor at the age of eighteen. He has served the following charges: Young's Chapel-Irmo, The Port Royal Circuit, Mount Horr-Yonges Island, Presiding Elder of the Wateree District and Campbell Chapel, Bluffton. He serves as the pastor of historic Mother Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston, South Carolina.

Rev. Pinckney was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1996 at the age of twenty-three. In 2000, he was elected to the State Senate at the age of twenty-seven. He is one of the youngest persons and the youngest African-American in South Carolina to be elected to the State Legislature. He represents Jasper, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, and Hampton Counties. His committee assignments include Senate Finance, Banking and Insurance, Transportation, Medical Affairs and Corrections and Penology. Washington Post columnist, David Broder, called Rev. Pinckney a "political spirit lifter for suprisingly not becoming cynical about politics."

Rev. Pinckney has served in other capacities in the state to include a college trustee and corporate board member. In May 2010, he delivered the Commencement Address for the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. He and his wife Jennifer have two children - Eliana and Malana.
 _______________________________________________

No doubt, Reverend Pinckney has heard the Master's commendation: "Well done, good and faithful servant," as he stepped into his eternal home, but his life well lived instructs us even in the wake of his death.

My friend Chris Lassiter writes: "Some of my friends use Facebook (and the internet) for pure comedy. Others use it to weigh in on important social issues. If you use it to weigh in on issues, please don't ignore the horrible shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston because the racial implications can be uncomfortable. We've 'gotta' talk."

Indeed Chris, we do. I had decided to take a break from blogging this Summer and simply serialize my book, but your challenge is important. Reverend Pinckney lived the life I look for for my stories. He answered G-d's call at a young age and has already done far more with his short years than I have with mine. I pray for young people I know who have also answered the call... their lives are not that different from that of Reverend Pinckney's, so when I actually got to know something of the man through reading his biography, I was shaken. I know people like him. His death diminishes something I hold dear.

Not only must we pick up the torch of our fallen brother in ministry but we must renew our commitment to see IMAGO DEI, the Image of the Divine, in each person we encounter in our daily lives. In fact, as Reverend Picnkney was being brutally murdered, I was sitting in OUR Pastor's Bible study as we discussed just that... that G-d would have us see His Image in our fellows. We must see and celebrate the Divine Beauty in each person and see them as someone G-d loves extravagantly! Can we love as Christ loves? That would leave no room for our blindness and prejudice.