Loving Father by Mizpah Woffenden Loving Father, holy, gra cious! As I kneel to seek Thy face, May I bow in deep contri tion, L ean ing only on Thy grace. Loving counsel hast Thou given, In Thy Word, for me to see; May my footsteps follow only, In Thy way laid out for me. Loving Father, may I ever, Keep my heart for Thy de light; May I trust for my sustain ing, In Thy holy power and might. Abba, Father, gracious, ten der; Hear the child, Thy love hath bought; Cleanse me, mold me, guide me, keep me; Make me love Thee as I ought. THAT LITTLE CHAP WHO FOLLOWS ME A careful man, I want to be; A little fellow follows me. I do not dare to go astray, For fear he'll go the self-same way. I cannot once escape his eyes; Whatever he sees me do, he tries. Like me, he says he going to be, That little chap who follows me. He thinks that I am good and fine, Believes in every word of mine. The bad in me, he must not see; M y life must an example be. I must remember, as I go Through summer's sun and winter's snow, I am building for the years to be, That little chap who follows me. Psalms 37:23-24. Romans 8:14-17
A num ber o f years ago, when Los Angeles fir s t became the c u lt center o f th e U.S.A., some one wrote: “ A ll it takes to s ta rt a re ligion is to w rap a tu rb an about one’s head and s it in the sun under a palm tre e w ith a book.” Appa r e n tly it is not much ha rder today to found a c u lt o r to become a m in is te r o f one, according to an a rti cle in “ T im e " magazine, 2 /2 1 /6 9 , en titled “ Mail - O rder M in is te rs ” * from which we quo te by pe rm is sion: “ All a candidate needs is a postage stamp. Any man, woman or ch ild can become a m in is te r in the Universal Life Church. The only th in g th a t Hensley [w ho founded th is c u lt in 1962 a t Modesto, C a li fo rn ia ] demands is a name and ad dress so th a t he can fill ou t the ce r tific a te . A fte r tha t, the new m in is te r is on his own. In C a lifo rn ia , and according to Hensley, in many o th er states, he can pe rform marriages ( if he is over 21 ), o ffic ia te a t fu n e r als, dedicate churches, baptize, take up co llections and ordain o th er m in is te rs .” Founder K irby James Hensley cla im s a m embersh ip o f 18 ,000 and 1,000 m in iste rs. A lthough he cannot read o r w rite , he possesses
a m a il-o rde r Ph.D. and an honorary degree in m e ta llu rg y and makes a liv in g as con tracto r. “ T im e " quotes him : “ My w ife and o the r people read the verses to me, and I would m em b rize them ; I have a good mem- bry . . . I membrized the B ible from Genesis all th e way th rough , and then I realized I was only he lping Peter, Paul and John to preach th e ir story. I had my ideas to preach too . . . I believe heaven is when you have what you want and hell is when you do n ’t have it . . . I be lieve in reinca rna tion, an eternal beam in you r body th a t moves from one to another. I believe th a t death is no th ing more than a lapse o f m emb ry from one life to the next. I believe th a t Jesus C h ris t was a human being ju s t like me and you w ith a little advanced knowledge. He was the Son o f Man, g it me?” He most ce rta in ly d id depa rt from the Gospel th a t Peter, Paul and John preached in the Word o f God! Meantime he continues m e rrily on his taxfree way, having complied w ith requirem ents o f incorpora tion and church charter, issu ing even D.D. degrees fo r $ 2 0 .0 0 each! *Courte$y TIME; copyright Time Inc. 1969. KB
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