I Don't Want It !

I don't want to live in a mansion,

While millions are without a bed.

I don't want to feast on fancy food,

While many are starving for bread.

I don't want to ride in a high-priced car,

While others must walk or stay home;

For pleasure I will not travel the world,

While homeless the millions just roam.

I don't want to waste my money for clothes,

Nor dress up just for show;

While millions a rag would be glad to put on,

And sometimes without one must go.

I don't want to spend my money for fun,

Or aimless pleasure my goals;

While others are working and giving to save

The millions of precious, lost souls.

I don't want to live just for myself,

Or let self be all my world;

While millions are dying without Jesus Christ,

And into perdition are hurled.

O God, help us who claim to be dead

To prove by the way that we live,

That immortal souls mean more to ourselves

As more to Thy service we give.

~David P. Denton

At Every Motion of Our Breath

At every motion of our breath,
Life trembles on the brink of death;
A taper's flame that upward turns,
...While downward to the dust it burns.

Moment by moment years are past,
And one ere long will be our last,
There is a point no eyes can see,
Yet on it hangs eternity.

This is that moment who shall tell,
Whether it leads to heaven or hell?
This is that moment as we choose,
The immortal soul we save or lose.

Time past and time to come are not
Time present is our only lot;
O God! hence forth our hearts incline
To seek no other love than thine.

~The Christian Hymnary #567

Let Us Follow Him

Our Lamb has conquered: let us follow Him,
with eagerness of heart and strength of limb,
Brave in endeavor, with your vision clear,
And high thanksgiving for God's purpose here-
Our Lamb has conquered: let us follow Him! ~Dorothy Conner


Hymn 587 Moravian Book of Worship

Menno Simons on... Faith

"But without faith it is impossible to please him..." ~Hebrews 11:6

True faith, which avails before God, is a living and saving power which is, through the preaching of the holy word, bestowed of God upon the heart; that moves, changes and regenerates it to newness of mind; that smothers all ungodliness; that destroys all pride, ambition and selfishness; that in malice, makes us like children, etc. Behold, such is the faith which the Scriptures teach us, and not a vain, dead and unfruitful conjecture, as the world pretends it to be.

But you should know that the righteousness which avails before God, consists not in any ceremonies and outward works, but solely in a true, pious and fruitful faith and in nothing else, in this manner. For the faith which comes by the word of God cannot be without fruit only in those who sin against the Holy Ghost, as said above, but it leads into all manner of righteousness, it willingly submits itself in all obedience and it cheerfully complies not only with baptism, but with all the words and ceremonies which God, the gracious Father, through his blessed Son, has so clearly taught and commanded in his holy gospel.

This, I say, is our foundation, and, by the grace of God, it will ever remain our foundation, for we truly know and confess that it is the invincible word and truth of the Lord; therefore we testify before you and before all the world that we do not agree with those who teach and institute a dead faith, which they gather from profane history: First, that without change, there can be Spirit, power and fruits. Secondly, that we can be saved by our own merits and works, for reasons above stated.

True Peace For Seekers

I've roamed through the world beholding, how wide and fair it lay, Yet all of my longing draws me, far, far from this world away!

I've seen men and women searching, as they restlessly come and go, While the toil and the sorrow of living, is all that their sad hearts know.

They seek where there is no answer, in the honour and love of men, And their hearts are bereft of comfort and their souls laden down with sin.

Yet there is an end to searching, where the weary and sore distressed, Find new life in the Lord and his people, and sorrow is laid to rest!

There alone is true peace given, to seekers from every land, It streams from the throne of heaven, from the wounds of the conquering Lamb!

~Unknown