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THE SANCTUARY MESSENGER

WHC is a registered United Kingdom Charity No 232409


Website & Webcam: - www.world-healing-crusade.org.uk
Contact Brother Roy: Roywhc@aol.com & www.broroy.com

Dear Friend

Your letters are always most


welcomed and no doubt in the
coming days your neighbourhood
will start to put up Christmas
decorations (this happens
earlier and earlier each passing
year) in preparation of
celebrating one of the most
important festivals in the
Christian calendar, the birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a surprising freshness about Christmas, it comes


round once every year and yet it always brings with it a
quality of magic. Even though we may groan at the
preparations that must be made, a feeling of excitement still
runs through us all. Christmas is the one time of the year
when an element of change comes into everyone’s life. We
are forced to stop our hum-drum daily routine and take a few
days break from our work and live in an entirely different
manner to the rest of the year.

BroRoy
there’s always room for
a couple of beers.
Sometimes we tend to take ourselves too seriously and we need to
lighten up, so I thought I would share the following story that I came
across with you all.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in
front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very
large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into
the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas
between golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and
poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He
asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a
unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cans of beer from
under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends,
your favourite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only
they remained, your life would still be full. "The pebbles are the other
things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is
everything else--the small stuff."If you put the sand into the jar first,"
he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The
same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small
stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with
your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner
out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the
house, and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first, the things
that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer
represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to
show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always
room for a couple of beers.
Sanctuary
Of
Remembrance

I am often called upon to


conduct the funeral services
of our dearly departed
Crusaders

After conducting their service the family often request that


their wreath and a card be placed upon the Altar in the
Sanctuary of Remembrance at the Crusade.

One of our Crusaders whose husband passed away two


years ago has requested that both a Valentine card and
Anniversary card be placed on the Altar in memory of their
love each year. It is one of many requests that we receive
here at the Sanctuary.

Why do I mention this you may ask, because maybe you are
not fully aware of our Sanctuary of Remembrance?

If you would like your Loved One or your Favourite Pet to be


remembered, then why not send a card, photograph or
article that you would like to rest on the Altar of
Remembrance, where prayers are said daily for those now
at peace.

Brother Roy
BOOKS
By
Brother Mandus

Why not treat yourself to a good


read and order one of the
following Books:

‘Power Thinking’
In this book Brother Mandus devotes chapters to ‘The
Creative Power of Prayer.’

‘For Women Only, with Mankind in Mind’

This book tells you why women are ‘Queens’ of the


Earth and should aspire to the God-given role that is
theirs.

‘The Grain of Mustard Seed’

This book shares the good news about the gospels of


Jesus Christ.

‘The Divine Awakening’

This book was written to authenticate Brother Mandus’


adventures in faith. Read about the medically certified
cases of divine healing as witnessed by him.

All the books are available from the Crusade’s online


bookstore at:
http://www.world-healing-crusade.org.uk/

Or you can order from the Sanctuary. Price £6.00 plus p & p.
Why Faith
in God
Really Can
Relieve Pain

This was an article that was published in the Mail on Sunday


newspaper that drew my attention. Research at Oxford
University had been carried out to see if one‟s faith in God
could relieve pain. In a bizarre experiment, academics at the
Oxford Centre for Science of the Mind induced electric
shocks to 12 Roman Catholic and 12 atheist volunteers
whilst viewing two images. Sassoferrato‟s 17th Century
Virgin Annunciate (Virgin Mary,) and Leonardo da Vinci‟s
15th Century Lady with An Ermine.

A sparking device was strapped to the back of each


participant‟s left hand so that it could deliver an electric
shock whilst they viewed the images. The volunteers were
not told the true purpose of the experiment, only that it was
designed to judge how people felt pain while contemplating
pictures of different things. They spent half an hour inside an
MRI scanner, receiving a series of 20 electric shocks in four
separate sessions while looking at either the religious image
or non-religious image. Each time the volunteer had to rate
how much it hurt on a scale of 0 to 100.
The Catholic volunteers said that looking at the image of the
Virgin Mary made them feel „safe‟, „taken care of‟ and „calm
and peaceful‟. More significantly they reported feeling 12 per
cent less pain after viewing the religious image. Also the front
right-hand side of their brains lit up on the scanner, indicating
that the neural mechanisms of pain modulation had been
engaged.

There was no such brain activity among the atheist


volunteers, whose pain and anxiety levels stayed roughly the
same throughout the experiment, whilst they found that the
Catholic volunteers seemed to block out much of the pain.
Writing in the scientific journal „Pain‟, the researchers
concluded that at least some religious believers can moderate
their pain by thinking about it more positively.

I share the same thoughts on faith as expressed by the


Anglican Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Tom Wright, who
said: “The practice of faith should and in many cases does,
alter the person you are. It can affect the patterns of your
brain and your emotions.” So it comes as no surprise to me
that this experiment has reached such conclusions.

In answer to the many questions I have received regarding


faith, I am reminded of H G Wells. He was never a particularly
religious man, but after he had studied the history of the
human race and had observed human life, he came to an
interesting conclusion: “Religion is the first thing and the last
thing, and until a man has found God and been found by God,
He begins at no beginning, he works to no end. He may have
his friendships, his partial loyalties, his scraps of honour. But
all these things fall into place and life falls into place only with
God.”
I don’t know about you, but at this time of year I’m not really fond of
the cold. It makes me feel miserable - and, if I’m honest, a bit bad –
tempered at times! Recently I came across an article about the Inuit
(Eskimos.) It was by a writer called Gontran de Poncin, who had spent
some time living with them.

He wrote: - “Here was a people living in the most rigorous climate in


the world, in the most depressing surroundings imaginable…shivering
in their tents in the autumn, fighting the recurring blizzard in the
winter, toiling and moiling fifteen hours a day merely in order to get
food and stay alive. Huddling in their igloos through this interminable
night, they ought to have been melancholy men…instead, they were a
cheerful people, always laughing, never weary of laughter.”

Well I now find it difficult to complain about the cold after that! But
doesn’t it just go to show that the most important thing is not our
circumstances but how we react to those circumstances that really
matters.
My Letter to the Lord
Why not share the needs of your family and friends with the
Lord right now? That‟s right; just unburden all those thoughts in
a letter to Him. This is a release Ministry and we entrust all our
fears and worries to Christ. Believe and receive just as a child
trusts its earthly parents to care for it, then so we must trust
God.
We share prayers at nine o‟ clock each weekday morning and
your private letter will rest on the Sanctuary Altar. GOD is in
your midst as you pray. Feel His love enfolding you and thank
Him for the blessing of wellbeing. Now you can share blessings
with others.
We welcome your personal letters as well! It is a great honour
to be able to read your words and to be able to offer prayers for
you and your loved ones.
All correspondence will receive our sincere attention, and we
will help and assist you to the best of our ability, so please write
in again soon.

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