Ralph T. Henley, Temple of Apollo, Corinth, Greece, 2003
| For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. Apostle Paul, II Timothy 4:7 |
| The Church of My Dreams When churches with more than one preacher will send all but one to the fields where there is no preacher. When elders will assume more and more of the teaching and preaching duties: their primary responsibility. When college-university presidents, Bible Chairmen, boards of directors and professors will remain faithful to the school's charter and tradition-or have the intellectual honesty to resign. When elders-with a sense of values-will choose to send missionaries to places such as: Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, Russia, China, etc., rather than build gymnasiums or Family Life Centers to entertain church members. Americans are already the "most entertained people" on Earth. It is a sin to do so with the Lord's money when the whole world is lost. When sending Bibles and preachers around a lost world is more important and pressing than building a tennis court or a "spaghetti" hall. When high academic, moral and ethical standards will be demanded for gospel preachers and church leaders. There can be no surrender on this point. To accept otherwise will have tragic results. To permit youth minsters, outreach ministers, singles ministers, benevolence ministers to be replaced by deacons and deaconesses and send these other ministah's to some place where there are no preachers, elders or deacons. We got along very well for centuries without all these ministah's. A church where the preacher is loved and respected, where elders are active leaders of the congregation, and where each member is counted as dear. A church that is held with fond memories when its' boys and girls grow up, go off to college, marry and move away; a church to which they always want to return. A church which has a burning sense of mission, to their local community, state and nation, and our world with a zealous desire to serve. A church whose members march to the cadence of that distant drummer-not the cadence of this sinful world. A church which understands the meaning of salt, light, leaven. A church which has set its' course for Heaven; members who feel in debt to our Lord-and countless faithful brethren who built bridges and roads upon which we now walk-to be a part of the redeemed of all the ages-a Heaven where we can love and serve our Lord and our God as eternity rolls. Amen. - Ralph T. Henley |
from Charles Sumner Death takes us by surprise, And stays our hurrying feet; The great design unfinished lies, Our lives are incomplete. But in the dark unknown Perfect their circles seem, Even as a bridge's arch of stone Is rounded in the stream. Alike are life and death, When life in death survives, And the uninterrupted breath Inspires a thousand lives. Were a star quenched on high, For ages would its light, Still travelling downward from the sky, Shine on our mortal sight. So when a great man dies, For years beyond our ken, The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the paths of men. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| Ralph T. Henley His Life and Masterworks from the Holy Bible |
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All of us will be somewhere forever - Thomas B. Warren, Ph.D.
Updated 3/20/2008