I just
finished reading a very good book entitled, “Speak Life,” by Brady Boyd. His
message is how we need to learn how to speak only that which is good. I learned
a lot from this book.
But one of the most moving parts of this book
for me was when Boyd wrote about how God impressed him to follow James 1:27.
This is something all churches should do. To help widows and orphans is
something God asks from us all through the Bible, in the Old Testament as well
as the New. This is the first time I have ever read of a church making concrete
decisions on this verse and my heart was lifted up in joy and thanksgiving.
Here is an excerpt from the book:
“Many years
prior, during a quiet time with the Lord, he sealed a verse in my mind and
heart that would direct my ministry endeavors for decades to come. The verse
was James 1:27, which says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and
faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to
keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I’d read and
re-read that verse, I’d memorized it, and I’d preached on the fact that those
words were my official “life verse,” and yet during the darkest moments of my
ministry, I’d forgotten what that verse instructed me to do.
I now know
that whenever I can’t hear the voice of God, it would serve me well to review
the last input I received from him to see whether I’ve tied up all the loose
ends…
So, as a
church, we opened a health clinic for under-insured moms; we launched an effort
to find every orphan in the care of the State of Colorado a loving Christian
home; and we purchased and renovated an apartment complex so that single moms
and their children would have a safe, clean place to live rather than living on
the streets or in the backs of their cars. Only then could I expect God to chat
with me again – only after I’d fulfilled the instructions he’d already sent my
way.”
What a blessing from God this church is! There are so many homeless and people without hope out on the streets. It would be wonderful if many churches followed Brady Boyd's compassionate outreach. I do know there are many churches that give food and needed items away. What a blessing they are to the poor or homeless!
