Evangéliumi Hírnök, 1998 (90. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1998-01-01 / 1. szám

MAKE THIS YOUR PRAYER

By: Rev. A. Barton Brown

Lord of the years, those gone by and all those to come: we, who are so far creatures of time, turn again to You who are eternal. Deep within us is the conviction that we’ve only just begun, as we contemplate what this life is. For, Your word declares that this life is but a very tiny segment of what we call existence. You have given eternal life through Christ, which for us, is not just a quality of life, but also an unending existence. And, although we cannot here comprehend eternity, yet we can rejoicein the thought of it.

We thank You for folk along the way who helped us make something of our lives. We owe much to people who have influenced us and have made life more bearable and more precious. We think of parents and Christians, who did their best to keep us focused on what is most important.

And we pray that we ourselves may be good role-models for those who are around us too. We know that we should think in terms of making our lives examples of what Christians should be. Therefore, keep us alert to the pains and hurts of people we meet. We are sure that some of the folk we know are carrying heavy bur dens which we might well share. For in bearing the loads of others, (according to Your Word), we fulfill the law of Christ.

May we appreciate each new day we are given, and may we regard it as a piece of time in which we may improve ourselves. Help us to face each hour with the wisdom and strength You give. May we forget what is behind and stretch toward what is ahead. May we resolve to do something this very day that will bring honor to You, our Father, and that will help some fellow-traveller on his or her way. May race or background not deter us, but, like the Samaritan of old, when we see a person in need, let us do what we can to serve.

May You prepare us for what this day may bring. Keep us pure in thought; keep us thoughtful in speech; keep us diligent and faithful to our responsibilities; keep us humble in our estimation of ourselves; keep us honorable and kind in our dealing with others; keep us loyal to every hallowed memory of the past; keep us mindful of our eternal destiny as children of Yours.

We pray for the people of our world, the majority of whom do not have the

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blessings we enjoy. Where there is hunger, poverty, or chaos, bring Your peace. Move Your people to share with those in need. Bless our sick and aging. Comfort our sorrowing. Encourage our discouraged. Empower our weak. Lift up the fallen. Give hope to the desolate. We commend them all to Your care and keeping - praying that their needs may be met, in Your mercy.

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, With all Thy quickening powers; Come, shed abroad a Savior ’s love, And that shall kindle ours.

(Isaac Watts) In Jesus’ name. Amen

Around The Corner

By Henson Towne

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end,

Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone. And I never see my old friends face, For life is a swift and terrible race, He knows I like him just as well,

As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine

if, we were younger then,

And now we are busy, tired men. Tired of playing a foolish game,

Tired of trying to make a name. “Tomorrow" I say “I will call on Jim ” “Just to show that I’m thinking of him. ”

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner!- yet miles away, “Here 's a telegram sir ”

“Jim died today. ”

And that 's what we get and deserve in the end.

Around the corner, a vanishedfriend.

Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them.

Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you. Because when you decide that it is the right time, it might be too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets. And most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are today.

Pass this along to your friends. It could make a difference. The difference between doing all that you can or having regrets which may stay with you forever.

Ati

Eat right, exercise regularly, and go to church on Sunday

Regular church attendance is good for your health, according to scientific studies compiled by Time magazine.

“People who regularly attend religious services have been found to have lower blood pressure, less heart disease, lower rates of depression and generally better health than those who don't attend, ” the magazine reported in a cover article about changing attitudes toward health.

Supporting the link between religion and health were a series of scientific studies reviewed by Jeffrey Leven, a gerontologist and epidemiologist at East Virginia Medical School, and David Larson, a research psychiatrist at the National Institute for Healthcare Research. After examining 200 studies on the effect of religion on health, they reported:

* A survey of 30 years of research on blood pressure showed that “churchgoers have lower blood pressure than nonchurchgoers."

*A study of 30 female patients recovering from hip fractures found that “those who regarded God as a source of strength and comfort and who attended religious services were able to walk farther upon discharge, and had lower rates of depression than those who had little faith.”

* Other studies found that men and women who attend church regularly “have half the risk of dying from coronary-artery disease as those who rarely go to church.”

The researchers noted that “religious injuctions against drinking, drug abuse, smoking and other excesses” produced better health, but said that alone can not explain their findings. “Larson likes to point out that in his own study the benefits of religion hold up strongly, even for those who indulge in cigarette smoking," Time reported. “Smokers who rated religion as being very important to them were one-seventh as likely to have an abnormal blood-pressure reading as smokers who did not value religion.”

The Time article suggested that prayer may provide some of the same health benefits as meditation. “Praying affects epinephrine and other corticosteroid messengers or ‘stress hormones, ’ leading to lower blood pressure, more relaxed heart rate and respiration and other benefits, ’’the magazine suggested.

____________________________1998. január