Branson Icon Discovered the Way
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By Mike Radford
 
They say music can calm the soul and stir our hearts to achieve great things.  In Christian music today, there are countless songs' lyrics that fill our hearts with everything proclaimed in I Corinthians 13:13… and the greatest of these is Love.  And who can't remember a song that filled your heart with love as you gazed deeply into the eyes of the one you were to marry?
 
Music is a powerful method of communicating from heart to heart.  If We Are The Body by Casting Crowns, gives all of us a wake-up call through its hard hitting lyrics, simple words with the power to motivate all of us to take a good look at ourselves.
In the chorus of the song, the tempo and beat will surely have your toes tapping, but is your heart hearing the larger question?
If we are the Body, why aren't His arms reaching, why aren't His hands healing, why aren't His words teaching… and if we are the Body, why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them-- there is a way.
 
There is an underlying message that might be subtle to some, but to me it shouts one of the major reasons WHY millions of people are turned off by Christianity and especially religion.  Recently a friend of mine was dying of cancer.  This man was a Branson icon who owned many popular theatres and those who knew him also knew his distain for things religious.  Needless to say, he was not in the mood to listen to any Christian witness including mine.  Many had tried over the years, but he was a stubborn, wealthy old man who thought happiness was in how much power you had, stuff you owned or the millions you had in the bank.  And he had lots of worldly riches, but a man whose heart was on empty except for the love of his life.
 
When it was obvious the time was near, I visited him on his deathbed sharing Christ's love for him and how simple it was to accept The Lords free gift.  He wasn't interested; in fact he was very bitter right up to the end.  He'd lived life on his terms and pretty much controlled his world.  But it was his heart that I wanted to connect with.  I knew he was abused and rejected as a child, a runaway who found more acceptance in bars than in churches.  What was it that turned his heart toward God's light?  It happened in a flash when I shared the fact that Jesus hates religion as much as he did.  Gently holding his hand I shared from my heart to his, that the Son of Man came to tear down the wall between mankind and our Heavenly Father.  That Jesus loved him, and knew all the good he'd done throughout his life, but Jesus wanted a personal relationship with him, and religion had nothing to do with it.  When I got up to leave he said, don't you want to pray for me?  I was honored and I knew the Holy Spirit was doing His work.
 
I returned one more time before his death.  Walking into the bedroom his wife said, He won't know you are here.  I gently squeezed her hand and said, His spirit will.  I walked over to his bed and leaned down whispering in his ear, Have you made your peace with Jesus?  He replied, Yesssssssssssss …tears spilled down as we realized we would spend eternity together.
 
A few days later my friend took his last breath on earth and passed into the arms of his Savior.  His wife said it was the most beautiful passing she had ever seen.  When the final moment came, she watched as her husband of 42 years lifted his arms and reached out toward the invisible heavenly visitor who had come to take him home.
 
His arms were reaching, His hands healing, and His love showed my friend there truly is a way.
 
  
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