Words, Words, Words

Litte children have been heard on the playground chanting, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!" It is usually quite the opposite ... the school yard bully has used words to hurt them badly.

Words are the currency of our society. The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use. The Bible contains 774,746 words ... 593,493 in the Old Testament and 181,253 in the New.

Blind and deaf from the age of 19 months, Helen Keller could neither hear nor see a word but used them to great effect writing a total of 12 published books and several articles. With the help of her profound faith, she transformed her life into one lived in service of the Good.

"The Bible gives me a deep, comforting sense that things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal," she said.

It was God, Himself, who used His Word to the greatest effect. If you take time to read the first chapter of Genesis, you will find that it was with His WORD that He created everything!

David penned these words in Psalm 33:6: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made ..." Again in verse 9: "For He spoke, and it was done ..."

Isaiah stated: "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our god stands forever." (40:8)

John starts his book with these words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

In the book of Proverbs, there are 35 statements that admonish the use of the mouth, from whence pours out words. God realized the power of words when He inspired Solomon to write: "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked." (Proverbs 10:11).

But, it is John who gives us the understanding of the greatest power of the word when he quotes Jesus in John 5:24-25: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from life to death."

That is the ultimate power of words!

The little children may have been wrong in their chant ... words can hurt us. However, the good news is that words, the wonderfully inspired Words of the Bible can also give us life, in its fullest and everlasting.

That is the Good Word!

Larry Abele - Editorial Team

Peace That Surpasses All Understanding

Death is a tragic thing to those who do not believe ... people who have banked their entire existence on who THEY are and what THEY must be in this life. It is not unusual to see survivors who commit suicide rather than deal with a loved ones passing. Other’s have died of a broken heart, seeing no future for them.

When the end of life comes to those who do not believe in Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life, there is nothing … NOTHING! I cannot imagine the pain these people must suffer as it all comes to an end.

There appeared on these pages some time ago, a piece by Paul, “A Great Experience .. A Wonderful Legacy” where he commented on the passing of a dear friend .. a Christian man .. Glenn Doornink.

Recently Paul received a letter from Glenn’s wife, Mary Ellen. The content of that letter illustrates the exact opposite to the thoughts I put forth to you before. The letter exudes loving memory surrounded by the peace of understanding that we who believe in Jesus Christ will all meet once again in Heaven. Please let me include the letter, in it’s entirety:

Dear Paul and Betty,

Words are simply inadequate to convey the depth of gratitude I owe to you people for your willingness to skillfully guide our family through some uncharted waters after Glenn's departure. With Godly wisdom you helped us through the family gatherings where you encouraged open expression as we wept and laughed together at memories of the good life Glenn had lived among us. My own heart was thrilled and comforted by many things I heard during those times and also with the apparent agreement reached on many details.

So fitting were your messages as you bathed every event with God's truth from His word, at the chapel before the burial to the graveside comments and the good message at the memorial service itself. You carried a large responsibility in causing the whole affair to bring glory to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and honor to Glenn. May God reward you richly for playing such a key role in steering us all through that memorable day. Our Father even added beautiful weather with three formations of geese flying overhead at the burial site.

A wise man told us before we married, "One of you will lay the other in the grave some day if our Lord tarries", and so it has been. Death is truly an enemy as the separation robs us of the close relationship we enjoyed for many years.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. Psalm 145:17,18

Most Sincerely, Mary Ellen

That, my friends, is "that peace that surpasses all understanding" that is promised in Philippians 4:7 and that is available to us all.

Larry Abele – Editorial Team