Jack’s Winning Words 6/27/19
“Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.”  (Pope Paul VI)  It’s called, “Hysterical Strength,,” when an ordinary person does something extra-ordinary. Like when a Michigan man lifted a mini-van off of a man trapped beneath it.  Some say that it’s due to a rush of adrenaline.  Others call it, a miracle.  We live in a world where there are calls for help…needy people…those left by the side of the road.  Who will hear their call…and stop…and help?   ;-)  Jack

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  This is a very interesting topic regarding human behavior in values versus action:  You’re walking down the street and there a few steps in front of you is someone sitting on the side of the walk next to a building. The sign says something about help and needing food (various context).  You have seen people like this before and the same questions come into your mind:  I want to help but what if they use the money for drugs or alcohol.  Look at the dog...the dog doesn’t look hungry!  Isn’t there a shelter where this person can get help?  I bet this person has a story!  I wish I had time to listen.  BTW...there is a sign on the building that says, HELP WANTED.   You may think...Really!!!??  I donate every year to charities that help people.   ETC.  Here’s the question:  Three days ago, you saw someone else sitting on the sidewalk somewhere else.  As you passed by you put some money in the cup or gave that person some left over carry out.  You may even have said hello to the person,  WHY THEN?   What is it about situations that drive us to action one time but not other times and what is it about confronting this situation that makes people so uncomfortable?===JACK:  :Life is full of perplexities.  Last week I pulled up to a stoplight.  A man was there with a sign;;;God loves you.  He was at an "inconvenient location.  The light changed.  I drove on.===PAUL:  I had a friend who worked with the homeless. She had a very interesting take on the situation. Topic for discussion.===JACK:  "Grist for the mill," as the saying goes.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ: i take elderly friends to dr appts, lunch, errands... they like to help back. advice is always welcome w/me!===JACK:  I know that you've had the experience of answering many SOS calls from the elderly.  The world is better off because of people such as you.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  There are so many calls for help! Our limited means often cause us to weigh any "spontaneous" help. I do whatever I can; If the person is snookering me, the Bible says judgment is on his/her head, not mine.  We have many needy persons in our congregation now, and my first concern is helping them and our missionaries who do so much with so little!  But like the MI man who lifted the van, I know of several stories like that where persons were given extraordinary strength to do what looked impossible at the time. David Muir often cites such cases too, on his World News on ABC. My uncle, who was not a large man, once lifted a car off of a co-worker in his 
mechanics garage, who became pinned under the rear wheel due to a jack collapsing. A lot of folks have stories that illustrate the truth of these WW today!===JACK:  Annie Johnson Flint had a way with words.  Do you remember this poem of hers?  
Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way
He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He died
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.
e are the only Bible the careless world will read,
We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s creed;
We are the Lord’s last message, given in word and deed;
What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?
What if our hands are busy with other work than His?
What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is?
What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him or welcome His return?
===OAKS:  I've sung that poem as a special solo many times!  My last line went "How can we hope to help HIm, unless from Him we learn?"
I also memorized her poem WHAT GOD HAS 
PROMISED...and shared it many times. ("God has not promised skies always blue...flower--strewn

pathways all our lives through," etc.)===JACK:  You and I know the same oldies...BUT you can sing them, and people applaud.  I just quote them.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Enjoyed your WW this morning.  Watched the debates last night.  Maybe you watched them too.  A continuous refrain through every candidate's statements was the need to pay attention to, and give a voice to, the working people and poor people of this nation.  I am very interested in that too...Jesus is really with us, in us, leading us, helping us, working outside of us and inside of us, and hoping and praying He will lead us to St. Augustine's "the more we progress in His knowledge and charity, the more shall we become like to Him.  Christianity is both truth and love."  Hopefully, Christians everywhere being drawn to Christ and becoming His disciples and following Him will be the yeast that works out our impact on this nation's political, economic, social, etc., etc., etc. institutions and structures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We all are desparately needed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And we need to vote wisely.  Well, have thunk some, Pastor Freed.===JACK:  I always appreciate your insights...the result of your "thinking."  "the mind is a terrible thing to waste."



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