A Late-in-Life Conversion

When “Sam” found out a few months ago that he had throat cancer, he called for “the preacher” and accepted Christ; his body was “laid to rest” last Tuesday; he was 59.

I often worked during recent years with “Sam,” which is not his real name, at a carpet dye house and sometimes sensed his struggle with “eternal matters.”

As far as I know, he grew up attending a Baptist church in central North Carolina and never accepted the Lord until he, so to speak, “stared Death in the face.”

He’d sometimes attend the church he grew up in and leave if he “got convicted too bad,” someone said. Sam had one daughter by his first marriage, and he once indicated to me that if he “got right,” he was confused about what to do about a woman – let’s call her “Sandy” – he’d been living with for a long time. He wondered if he “made things right with the Lord,” if he’d be expected to go back to his first wife.

I forget if his first wife was re-married or not, but I told him that someone said, “You can’t unscramble an egg.” I advised him to go from where he was in life and respond to Christ.

Sam put off deciding.

Somewhere along the way, Sandy “got saved,” and, as one person put it, told Sam they’d have to get married or quit living together.

They married.

Sam and Sandy come from the Lumbee Tribe. The Lumbees have existed in and around Robeson County, N.C., since the early part of the eighteenth century. In 1885, the State of North Carolina recognized the tribe as “Indian,” but the U.S. government has yet to grant full federal recognition. Some Lumbees attended “Indian schools” until desegregation began in the South. Many Lumbees grew up on small farms that raised tobacco. Some folk who “worked in ’baccer” learned to use it. Sam was one of those people. Perhaps no one can prove Sam’s tobacco chewing caused his throat cancer, but lots of his friends figure it did.

After his talk with “the preacher,” Sam told a friend that he felt he’d wasted a lot of time during his life by not serving Christ. Word got around about Sam accepting Jesus. He gave out a good “witness” as his life came to a close. Sam suffered, underwent chemotherapy and died last Saturday.

I drove 30 miles last Monday night to a “funeral home” in Red Springs, N.C. I entered the crowded building, saw many of Sam’s former co-workers, shook some hands and walked to the casket.

Sam appeared to be resting, taking a nap. “He looks the same,” I thought. “It’s almost as if he could open his eyes and speak.” But Sam was gone, and only his body remained. The “life of the flesh is in the blood,” according to the Bible, and Sam’s blood had stopped flowing. His “flesh” had ceased living, but I believed his spirit had not.

I met Sam’s wife, expressed sympathy and told her of hearing about Sam’s salvation. We'll see him, again,” I said. She seemed appreciative of my words.

After talking with some co-workers, I left Red Springs and drove the long, flat road toward home, thinking about Sam’s late-in-life conversion.

It’s eternally dangerous to wait until “midnight” to “get right.” I recall hearing ministers mention this verse: “And the LORD said, ‘My spirit shall not always strive with man…’” (Genesis 6:3). Those preachers indicated a person could wait until he has no sense of God “drawing” him to accept Christ.

A friend told me about a man who repeatedly resisted the Gospel message. That man grew old and had a heart attack. A preacher visited the hospitalized man and pressed him about accepting Christ. The man said, “Why, if I was to get saved now, people would think I was just getting scared.” The man died a few years later, and my friend doesn’t know if that man ever accepted Jesus Christ or not.

I’m glad Sam wasn’t too proud to finally accept God’s gift of salvation. Sam came to the Lord late in life, but he came.

We have no promise of tomorrow. Come to Jesus while the voice of the Lord still speaks to your heart, while you still hear God calling you.

“…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The Japanese People Need Our Prayers

Japan was hit on March 11, 2011, by one of the largest earthquakes on record. A magnitude-9.0 quake caused a tsunami that slammed Japan’s east coast and left thousands dead.

Japan’s population in March 2009 was 127,076,183, making it the tenth most populated country. The Rev. Ron Hutchcraft, in a “Mission Network News” article, said Christians should pray for Japanese Christians. Less than one percent of Japan’s population identifies as “evangelical Christian,” and 70 percent reportedly claim no religion.

“They (Christians) are a remnant in that country,” Hutchcraft says. “(With) the millions of gods of Shintoism – the feeling that Christianity is a western religion – all these things have created great barriers, and my prayer now is for the people of God in Japan, that this could be their moment that they could (share their faith) because of their hope.”

The following information comes from Japan-guide.com, Wikipedia and “the Christian Post”:

Shinto and Buddhism are Japan’s two major religions. Religion does not play a big role in the everyday lives of most Japanese. The average person typically follows religious rituals at ceremonies like birth, weddings and funerals. They may visit a shrine or temple and participate in local festivals (“matsuri”), most of which have religious origins.

Shinto has no founder or sacred scriptures. It is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and traditions. “Shinto gods” are called “kami.” They are thought to be sacred spirits that take the form of things and concepts such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans are thought to become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami. The kami of extraordinary people are enshrined at some shrines. Some prominent rocks are worshiped as kami.

There are no absolutes in Shinto – no absolute right and wrong, and nobody is perfect. Shinto is an optimistic faith; humans are thought to be fundamentally good; evil spirits cause evil, many believe. The purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits.

Buddhism began in India in the sixth century BC and consists of the teachings of the Buddha, Gautama Siddhartha. The Mahayana or “Greater Vehicle” Buddhism found its way to Japan. About 90 million Japanese have Buddhists roots. Many households keep a small altar in order to pay respect to their ancestors. Figures that state 84 to 96 percent of Japanese adhere to Shinto and Buddhism are not based on self-identification but come primarily from birth records, following an old practice of officially associating a family line with a local Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine.

Many Japanese Christians live in Western Japan, where Jesuit missionaries were active in the sixteenth century. In 1542, the first Europeans from Portugal landed on Kyushu in Western Japan. Kyushu’s barons welcomed foreign trade that brought new weapons and gunpowder. The main reason for the extinction of Christianity in Japan by 1638 was the government’s move to exert absolute control. This was thought impossible with the interference of an “aggressive and intolerant foreign religion” like Christianity. In 1873, after the “Meiji restoration,” freedom of religion was encouraged. Since World War II, the number of Japanese Christians has slowly increased.

Michelle A. Vu, a “Christian Post Reporter,” notes that one mission leader says the problem of evangelizing Japanese is the Japanese mentality itself.

Japanese people value human relationships more than truth and principle, says Dr. Minoru Okuyama, director of the Missionary Training Center in Japan, during his presentation at the Tokyo 2010 Global Missions Consultations.

“…They are afraid of disturbing human relationships of their families or neighborhood, even though they know that Christianity is the best,” said Okuyama, who previously was Buddhist and a Shintoist. “Thus, Japanese make much of human relationships more than the truth…For Japanese, one of the most important things is harmony; in Japanese ‘Wa’…Those who harm the harmony are bad, whether they are right or not has been beside the question.”

Okuyama noted that Christianity is thriving in neighboring China and Korea because the mentality of the people is to “make more of truth or principle than human relationships.”

Pray for the Japanese people.

Joanne Thompson Tribute

Joanne and Pastor Jimmy Thompson (photo probably from the late 1950s)

“We’re here to celebrate a life that was well lived,” said Dr. Coy Barker, as he “preached the funeral” of Joanne Thompson on Sunday, March 6, 2011, at Faith Temple Church in Taylors, S.C.

Peggy Joanne Thompson (Nov. 19, 1933 – March 3, 2011) of Taylors was a wife, a mother and vice-president and co-founder of Dove Broadcasting, WGGS-TV 16, headquartered in Greenville, S.C.

Barker, founder of Metro World Outreach Center in Stone Mountain, Ga., and longtime friend of Dove Broadcasting, called Joanne “a woman of God.”

Greenvilleonline.com published this statement: “Joanne and her husband, Dr. James H. Thompson, are considered visionaries and pioneers in Christian broadcasting. Since October 1972, Joanne and Jimmy have been devoted to producing high quality, family-oriented Christian programming. Together they have made outstanding contributions to not only South Carolina but to the nation and the world.

“Joanne touched the lives of thousands of people in Appalachia, Romania and Moldova. She also had an ongoing prison ministry and assistance to families in need. She lived her life in service to children and families who were hurting and had no hope. She received many Angel Awards for excellence in media for documentaries featuring her mission outreach projects.”

Joanne is survived by her husband, their three sons (Dante, Duane and Gene Thompson), three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

My Uncle Fred Crain, 85, is a charter member of Faith Temple, which was founded in the mid-1950s and first led by Dr. James Thompson. Fred remembers when “Jimmy” pastored Gum Springs P.H. Church and met Joanne Upton who then lived in Greer, S.C., and had a brother, Fred Upton. Their father had alcohol problems, and their lives had not been easy, my uncle says.

“Doyle Zachery was preaching a tent revival and Joanne got saved there,” my Uncle Fred says. “Betty Atkins was playing the organ at that meeting.”

Betty may have invited Joanne to hear Jimmy preach.

“Joanne came up to Gum Springs one night,” Fred says. “Jimmy preached, and he told me he made sure he got to the church door after the service to meet Joanne.”

After Joanne and Jimmy dated a while, Jimmy mentioned marriage.

“They rode to Hendersonville, and he talked serious to her about marriage,” Fred says, “but she said she didn’t think she wanted to marry a preacher. Jimmy told her, ‘So, you’re asking me to choose between you and God?’ Joanne said that really ‘struck’ her.”

Joanne worked at that time at an insurance company and wanted to study nursing. She broke up with Jimmy, but 11 months later, he invited her to go with him “to hear a preacher.” She went, and they resumed dating.

Fred and his wife, Frances, met Joanne when Jimmy brought her to their home, located then in the Mountain View community near Taylors.

“Jimmy brought her to our house,” Fred says. “They were courting, and he wanted me to show her a few things about the guitar. She was a singer and had been wanting to learn to play the guitar. After a few minutes, Joanne said the strings hurt her fingers. She seemed like a real nice, intelligent young lady who was wanting to do something for the Lord.”

Jimmy and Joanne married on April 22, 1955, and helped found Faith Temple Church in 1956-57.

My sister, Shirley Crain Thompson (no relation to Jimmy and Joanne) of Stone Mountain, Ga., says she fondly remembers Joanne as her Sunday school teacher during her childhood and teen years.

“She was always amusing and told us truths I frequently recalled all my life. We would have slumber parties on Friday nights with the girls in my Sunday school class, and Joanne would take her time to attend those functions with us. We considered her our friend as well as our teacher…I knew she would accomplish great things – and she did. I was just fortunate to have her placed in my path by God.”

At Joanne’s funeral, LaVerne Tripp commented on her determination, calling her “a bulldog for people who were hurt.”

Dr. Jerry Goff talked about “Jimmy’s wisdom and Joanne’s zeal.” He said about Joanne, “There was no problem she would not attack…She was on a mission every day…searching for a new way to serve Christ.”

Baby Dedications

Police arrested a 24-year-old woman from South Carolina on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, and charged her in connection with the discovery of her newborn son in the toilet of the BI-LO Center in Greenville, S.C., according to news sources.

The woman, who already has a 4-year-old child, told police she couldn’t recall what happened after she went into the arena bathroom when she attended a circus on Friday, Feb. 4.

A custodian discovered the infant around 11:30 p.m. The child was only a few hours old; he was suffering from hypothermia and weighed around six pounds. He was rushed to the hospital and was listed in critical condition on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The mother could face 30 years in prison if convicted on one count of felony child abuse and one count of unlawful neglect toward a child.

I heard the news about that baby only days after witnessing a Sunday morning “baby dedication service” at the church my wife and I attend in Southern Pines, N.C. I thought about the contrast in images: 10 held-and-cuddled children standing on a church stage on a Sunday morning versus one newborn shivering while lying in water held by a receptacle manufactured for the disposal of human waste.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776 in the United States Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” Though we all may be in theory “created equal,” some people don’t seem to be born that way.

I remember moving years ago with my wife and our first daughter, a toddler at that time. A man, who appeared to be 20 years older than I and a bit nervous or hyperactive, knocked on the door of our newly purchased home.

“Hello, I’m your neighbor from up the street,” the man said. He told me his name and, after a few more words, said, “I was left in a basket on the doorstep of the Salvation Army when I was a baby.”

I thought it odd that he so quickly offered that information to a stranger. He concluded his welcome by saying, “This is a good neighborhood – don’t nobody bother nobody.”

I wondered how knowing he was left as an infant at the Salvation Army affected the man who stood on our doorstep. Did he spill out the circumstances of his beginnings to defuse any rejection he potentially might feel if his new neighbors heard about his start in life? Did he fear being a “bother” to anyone?

The Prophet Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’” (Jeremiah 1:5 NIV).

You may have heard that verse used to comfort people feeling insecure about their self-worth. Have you wondered if “that word” was for Jeremiah but not for you? There seem to be many babies born “without a chance in the world.”

And yet, Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29 NIV).

When parents brought youngsters to Jesus so he could “place his hands on them,” his disciples rebuked the parents. “But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these’” (Luke 18:15-16 NIV).

You don’t have to be “a Jeremiah” to be important to the Heavenly Father.

At the baby dedication service I mentioned, my wife and I saw our pastor pray for 10 children. An array of young parents stood side-by-side across our church platform. The way those parents held their children and the fact they brought them to be dedicated to the Lord seemed to indicate the value they placed on their little ones.

Every child is important to God, whether that child is red or yellow or black or white, whether he was born in a castle or a shack – or whether he was birthed and left lying in a toilet bowl.

Can Baby Boomers Grow Old with Dignity?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 77 million baby boomers in the U.S. By 2030, this group (born between 1946 and 1964) will represent an estimated 20 percent of the U.S. population.

This means more than 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 every day for the next 19 years, writes Emily Driscoll, reporting for Fox Business News.

What caused the U.S. baby boom folk refer to? American soldiers returned from World War II in 1945 started having kids in 1946.

In a recent “World Magazine” article, D.C. Innes writes, “It’s 2011. Three score and five years ago, our mothers brought forth a new generation, a big generation, a baby boom that has now started entering retirement.”

Innes says about boomers: “Many of them, whether through exercise or Botox, have no intention of ceding to others what they consider rightfully theirs: youth. The baby boomers have been the center of everyone’s attention since they were born, beginning with the publication of Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care in 1946.”

A Pew Research study tells us that “the typical Boomer feels nine years younger than his or her chronological age” and thinks old age begins at 72.

“They’ve made it our standard practice to speak of the aged as being so many ‘years young,’” Innes writes.

One reader commenting on D.C. Innes’ article about aging baby boomers writes, “Whaddya mean old age doesn’t start at 72? My father retired at age 62. He started to receive AARP stuff and went nuts. He always told the toll collector ‘Here you go, son,’ but when the guy responded with ‘Thanks, Pop,” he stopped. It was an adjustment. In his 70s, while waiting for my mother to get ready for church, he put his leg up on a kitchen chair (something we were not allowed to do), so I teased him. His comeback? ‘I’m old, I can do what I want.’ Every generation, every person, gets hit in the face with the fact that they are now “Der Alte,’ – ‘the old one.’ I do think it will be difficult for those who are not grounded in faith. They will have to come to terms with a lot of ‘stuff.’It will be my turn this year as one of those 10,000. It is sobering to realize how short it has been and how little there may be left. But I can with only increasing honesty and sincerity say that the confident trust I have in God makes the past, present and future a life of wondrous hope. I would live blindly in foolish cynicism were it not for the realized grace of The Timely God Who daily assures me ‘I Am with you.’ To believe otherwise is to fall prey to the desperate lie of our hopeless enemy.”

Another reader of Innes’ article about aging says, “I learned a long time ago I am nothing, formed from nothing, and yet He who is everything for some reason (love) cares about me, you, all of us nothings on the surface of a dust particle in space. Any worth that my life has is from Him, not from me, you, or this material universe.”

Romans 5:12 reminds us of this fact: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

The Psalmist wrote, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply (get) a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

I was born in 1947, at the front end of the baby boom generation. I half-joked recently with a friend that I, being a boomer, thought the Lord would return before I became old. Growing up, especially during the 1960s, many of us boomers thought the world revolved around us, so when I learned about the Lord’s promised return, I thought my generation would be “it,” the “chosen ones” who would see Christ’s second coming. (Hey, I still might see it during my lifetime!). I light-heartedly told my friend that I hadn’t saved enough funds for retirement nor taken good care of myself because I’d assumed the Lord was going to return and rescue me from any old-age hardships. My friend laughed. He realized I was commenting on boomers’ tendencies toward self-centeredness.

A prayer for us Baby Boomers: Heavenly Father, deliver us Boomers from ourselves. Help us grow old with humility and dignity. Continue to teach us how to number our days and share your Gospel. Help us abandon the search for the Fountain of Youth and learn to trust You, the “Fount of every blessing.” In Jesus’ name, amen.

Sanctity of Life

“When I was in Teen Challenge, as a student, I dealt with my drug abuse and my addiction to alcohol, but God showed me one day that he wanted to deal with a part of my life I was so afraid to turn over to him,” said Debby DiBianca, as she spoke about three abortions she experienced.

DiBianca gave this “testimony” to an audience at Sandhills Presbyterian Church (PCA), Southern Pines, N.C., on Jan. 24, 2004. Her husband Sal DiBianca serves as director of Sandhills Teen Challenge (TC), a Carthage, N.C., drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that is part of Teen Challenge, a ministry founded by the Rev. David Wilkerson, whose work with N.Y City gang members is reported in the book “The Cross and the Switchblade.” The DiBiancas graduated from TC and became leaders in that organization.

“This isn’t easy for me to share,” DiBianca said. “I want everyone just to think I’m the great mom that Jamie and Brandon need.” (Sal and Debby’s children, Jamie and Brandon, were teenagers at the time she gave this testimony.)

DiBianca said God wanted her to forgive herself for three abortions she experienced, but she kept pushing the problem aside.

“I gave my virginity to Sal when I was 15 years old,” said DiBianca, who became pregnant and underwent an abortion in California, where she grew up. “I found myself, again, at the age of 16, in the same line at Planned Parenthood, getting my second abortion…When I was a senior in high school, I was in the same line, signing for them to rip out my third baby.”

DiBianca, who said her operations cause ongoing physical problems and pain, became a Christian.

“From the day I accepted Christ, until our wedding day, Sal and I were abstinent,” DiBianca said.

After graduating from Teen Challenge and serving as TC leaders, the DiBiancas moved to Moore County, N.C., to work with Sandhills Teen Challenge in the late 1980s. They received invitations to speak on moral issues in public high schools. When a friend asked Debbie to speak about her abortion experiences, she hesitated but decided to overcome her anxiety and guilt.

“I walked out (on the stage) at Pinecrest High School in 1989 on a Friday in January and told 1350 kids about the damage these abortions did,” she said. “Six girls cancelled their abortions that were scheduled for the next day in Fayetteville (N.C.).”

DiBianca said her faith in Christ helped her handle life’s pressures, but that some days weren’t easy.

“I wanted to kill myself, sometimes,” she said. “Not just because of the three aborted babies, but because of the damage those abortions did. Sal and I have eight babies in heaven. I’ve lost five babies because they got attached to the unhealthy part of my uterus.”

DiBianca expressed happiness about being the mother of her daughter Jamie and her son Brandon.

“I’m an over-protective mom,” she said. “I’m afraid the enemy is going to come and snatch them, again. So, I still have these issues in my life. But I’m so glad I let Jesus come into that part of my life and deal with it. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has forgiven me. And, yet, I had to forgive myself…I turned my life over to Christ, 100 percent…He’s so faithful.”

DiBianca concluded and the Rev. Steve Hill, then serving as the assistant pastor at Sandhills PCA, spoke to the audience.

“I don’t want anybody leaving this place feeling condemned,” Hill said. “In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, ‘Come to me.’ If you’re carrying that guilt, if you’re carrying that shame, like Debby was, Jesus says, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.’”

Hill said Satan continues accusing and condemning in order to keep a person from being able to “go ahead” with a future.

“Jesus will let you rest,” Hill said. “He’s not mad at you. Debby’s identity is not ‘murderer’ but ‘blood-washed, forgiven, child of God.’ Whether you’re a Christian or not, you’re made in the image of the God of the universe.” He read from Genesis 9 and said God will demand an accounting for murder. “When you destroy the image of God, you’re going to have to deal with him. Death dishonors the image of God.”

Hill read Jeremiah 1:5. In that verse, Jeremiah said God spoke to him, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

“Children,” Hill said to younger audience members, “your parents loved you the minute they set eyes on you…but God loved you before that, before you had a name, before you had a thought.”

Bethlehem: 'House of Bread'

“Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening…”

Those lyrics greeted me as I entered the Subway sandwich shop in Aberdeen, N.C., around 5:20 p.m. on a recent Wednesday in December.

Music continued over the Subway sound system: “A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland.”

I thought about a prediction of “ice by tomorrow morning” for the N.C. Sandhills. Our sandy soil grows tall pines, but ice and pines don’t mix well. Ice can lay limbs across power lines.

The song went on, “In the meadow, we can build a snowman….”

I don’t want to build a snowman, I thought. I need to be able to drive to work, tomorrow.

Waiting to order a “foot-long tuna with Monterey Cheddar bread” to share at home with Carol, I watched a young Subway employee put a tray of doughy loaves into a tall “oven” featuring a see-through front. She closed the oven door and set a timer.

When ice or snow is predicted, many folk run to grocery stores for milk and bread. Whatever the weather, bread can usually satisfy human hunger.

“Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and frequently additional ingredients,” according to Wikipedia. “Doughs are usually baked…It may be leavened or unleavened…Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods…and is referred to colloquially as the ‘Staff of Life.’”

Writer Don Mears says, “Whether made from wheat, rye, barley, millet, rice or even potato flour, it (bread) has been the basic diet of common people. Bread has been synonymous with food for ordinary working people of many cultures. As the common food of the average Israelite, it featured frequently in the spiritual consciousness and the ceremonial and sacrificial worship of ancient Israel.”

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town in Israel. Years before Jesus’ birth, Micah said prophetically, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2 NIV).

In the Hebrew language, “Bethlehem” means “house of bread.”

God caused Joseph and Mary to journey to Bethlehem; Jesus was born there and fulfilled Micah’s prophecy.

We read in Luke 2:1-7: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

The “Bread of Life” was born in a stable in a small town whose name means “house of bread.”

Jesus later fed a large crowd with five loaves and two fish. Many from that group found him the next day, and he told them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26).

They said, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:30, 31).

"Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever'" (John 6:32, 33, 58).

During this Christmas season, let’s remember these words from the old hymn "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”: “Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more; feed me till I want no more.”