Pastoral Resources

Had Adam and Eve retained their original state, they never would have died. But Eve and then Adam yielded to the serpent’s temptation, and death came into the world. Before that moment, they were in a beautiful, pristine state. They existed on a level far above the present condition of the human race. It is difficult to imagine what man was like then by viewing him as he is now. It would require something like trying to reconstruct the original version of an aircraft from its wreckage. If we knew nothing of flying, we would hardly suspect that it had once soared above the earth. The material would be the same; the capability of flight, however, would be lost.

Adam was human; he didn’t want the apple for the apple’s sake; he wanted it because it was forbidden. - M. Twain

Fifty years ago parents were apt to have a lot of kids. Nowadays kids are apt to have a lot of parents. - E. Lawson

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which nothing at anytime is to be added whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of man.

The following series of advertisements reportedly appeared in a daily newspaper:

Monday: “The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap.”

Tuesday: “We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday’s paper. The ad should have read: ‘The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626-1313 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.’”

Wednesday: “The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday’s paper. It should have read: ‘The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap. Telephone 626-1313, after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.’”

Thursday: “Please take notice that I, the Rev. A.J. Jones, have no color TV set for sale; I have smashed it. Don’t call 626-1313 anymore. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Donnelley. She was, until yesterday, my housekeeper.’”

Friday: “Wanted: a housekeeper. Usual housekeeping duties. Good pay. Love in, Rev. A.J. Jones. Telephone 626-1313.’”

Mistakes are inevitable in the publishing business.

Chances that a first time cigarette smoker will become addicted: 9 in 10.

During World War II General Creighton Abrams and his command were surrounded by the enemy to the east, west, north and south. General Abrams said, "Gentlemen, for the first time in the history of this campaign, we are now in a position to attack the enemy in any direction."

What has you surrounded, tied down, fenced in? All of us have limitations in life. Some we will have to bear with while others the Lord wants us to break through! It will only happen if we give ourselves an attitude adjustment.

In a recent survey by the Assoc. of Life Underwriters of Washington, D.C., it was shown that for every dollar reaching the needy, the sick, the underprivileged child, and the aged adult, the cost of channeling it through the church is just eight cents, while the cost of channeling it through voluntary charitable organizations or the federal government is 27 cents and $3, respectively.

How do you go about curing a drunk? The answer to that is, you can't. Before a man can lead a consistently sober life, he has to be motivated from within. He has to admit to himself he has a real problem, and he has to want to lick it. Only then can anyone help him. It is the same way when a man is obsessed with a false idea. You can't change his opinions simply by telling him he is wrong. He will only become more firmly set against you, and more determined than ever to defend his idea. No, a man must first admit to himself that following his idea to its logical conclusion in his life has led to utter spiritual poverty; he must want to know the truth. He must be willing to follow it once he is convinced.

One of the most eloquent admonitions I have ever encountered along these lines is in Bishop Burnet’s preface to the classic work The Life of God in the Soul of Man, written by Henry Scougal in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Here is what Burnet wrote:

“There is scarce a more unaccountable thing to be imagined, than to see a company of men professing a religion, one great and main precept whereof is mutual love, forbearance, gentleness of spirit, and compassion to all sorts of persons, and agreeing in all the essential parts of its doctrine, and differing only in some less material and more disputable things, yet maintaining those differences with zeal so disproportional to the value of them, and prosecuting all that disagree from them with all possible violence; or if they want means to use outward force, with all bitterness of spirit. They must needs astonish every impartial beholder, and raise great prejudices against such persons’ religion, as made up of contradictions; professing love, but breaking out in all the acts of hatred.”

Adolph Hitler lived the last 4 months of his life in Berlin. It is believed that he went prematurely senile or insane. On April 29 he married Eva Braum and dictated his political testament in defense of his actions. On April 30 he said farewell to a few remaining military men, retired to his suite and shot himself while his wife took poison. Their bodies were burned in accordance with their instructions.

The following ad once appeared in a London newspaper: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.” The ad was signed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. Amazingly, the ad drew thousands of respondents, eager to sacrifice everything for the prospect of meaningful adventure.

Somebody said that it couldn't be done.

But he with a chuckle replied,

"Maybe it couldn't, but

he would be one

Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried."

So he buckled right in

with the trace of a grin

On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done, and he did it!

Caution to newly promoted executives—remember what the mamma whale told the baby whale: “When you get to the top and start letting off steam, that’s the time you’re most apt to be harpooned.”

A football coach gave this advice on how to deal with failures. “When you’re about to be run out of town, get out in front and make it look like you’re heading a parade.”

A football coach gave this advice on how to deal with failures. “When you’re about to be run out of town, get out in front and make it look like you’re heading a parade.”

My advice is to say you love each other for the rest of your lives. Don’t get a divorce. -

Third-grader Britney (An 8-year-old who helped her class write a book, Advice for a Happy Marriage, for their teacher, Debi Crawford of Telluride, Colo. Associated Press, April 9, 1995.)

Someone in his congregation pointed out several faults in him and his preaching. Instead of retaliating, or trying to defend himself, he looked at the woman and said, “If what you say is true, would you mind praying for me?”

Before we are too harsh in judging those scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, let’s stop and look at ourselves. All too many Christians today go to church to find fault, to gossip, and to criticize. Warren Wiersbe, in his book Angry People, wrote,

“An incident in the life of Joseph Parker, the great British preacher, illustrates this tragic truth. He was preaching at the City Temple in London. After the service one of the listeners came up to him and said, ‘Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical error in your sermon.’ He then proceeded to point out the error to the pastor. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, ‘And what else did you get out of the message?’ What a fitting rebuke!”

Don’t write or say anything that you won’t sign your name to. If you receive a negative, anonymous note, ignore it! If they’re not willing to sign their name, it’s not worth reading—don’t take heed to it. Like the pastor who received an anonymous note with nothing but the word “FOOL!” written on it. The next morning he got in church and said, “I’ve gotten many notes without signatures before but this is the first time I got one where someone forgot to write the note and just signed his name!”

Advice from Ross Perot about how to treat your people:

“Never ask anyone to do what you haven’t done before and wouldn’t do again. That’s a pretty fundamental rule in leadership...treat them like you treat yourself. Things you don’t like, they don’t like. You don’t like to be jerked around, they don’t either. You don’t like to be talked down to, and they don’t either. You would rather work with somebody than for somebody. So would they. You hate people who pound on your head after you gave everything you had and failed… It’s that simple.”

Always trust them to God's care.

Bring them to church.

Challenge them to high goals.

Delight in their achievements.

Exalt the Lord in their presence.

Frown on evil.

Give them love.

Hear their problems.

Ignore not their childish fears.

Joyfully accept their apologies.

Keep their confidence.

Live a good example before them.

Make them your friends.

Never ignore their endless questions.

Open your home to their visits.

Pray for them by name.

Quicken your interest in their spirituality.

Remember their needs.

Show them the way of salvation.

Teach them to work.

Understand they are still young.

Verify your statements.

Wean them from bad company.

Expect them to obey.

Yearn for God's best for them.

Zealously guide them in biblical truth.

Illustration of Aesop’s fable of the wind and the sun trying to get the cloak off the man.

Power can’t force submission.

Love can earn submission.

Aesop, the ancient storyteller, told this fable: Once upon a time, a donkey found a lion’s skin. He tried it on, strutted around, and frightened many animals. Soon a fox came along, and the donkey tried to scare him, too. But the fox, hearing the donkey’s voice, said, “If you want to terrify me, you’ll have to disguise your bray.” Aesop’s moral: Clothes may disguise a fool, but his words will give him away.

Recently, I heard a touching story which illustrates the power that words have to change a life—a power that lies right in the hands of those reading this article.

Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. She was born with a cleft palate and had to bear the jokes and stares of cruel children who teased her non-stop about her misshaped lip, crooked nose, and garbled speech.

With all the teasing, Mary grew up hating the fact that she was “different”. She was convinced that no one, outside her family, could ever love her … until she entered Mrs. Leonard’s class. Mrs. Leonard had a warm smile, a round face, and shiny brown hair. While everyone in her class liked her, Mary came to love Mrs. Leonard.

In the 1950s, it was common for teachers to give their children an annual hearing test. However, in Mary’s case, in addition to her cleft palate, she was barely able to hear out of one ear. Determined not to let the other children have another “difference” to point out, she would cheat on the test each year. The “whisper test” was given by having a child walk to the classroom door, turn sideways, close one ear with a finger, and then repeat something which the teacher whispered. Mary turned her bad ear towards her teacher and pretended to cover her good ear. She knew that teachers would often say things like, “The sky is blue,” or “What color are your shoes?”

But not on that day. Surely, God put seven words in Mrs. Leonard’s mouth that changed Mary’s life forever. When the “Whisper test” came, Mary heard the words: “I wish you were my little girl.”

Dads, I wish there was some way that I could communicate to you the incredible blessing which affirming words impart to children. I wish, too, that you could sit in my office, when I counsel, and hear the terrible damage that individuals received from not hearing affirming words—particularly affirming words from a father. While words from a godly teacher can melt a heart, words from a father can powerfully set the course of a life.

If affirming words were something rarely spoken in your home growing up, let me give you some tips on words and phrases that can brighten your own child’s eyes and life. These words are easy to say to any child who comes into your life. I’m proud of you! Way to go! Bingo … you did it! Magnificent! I knew you could do it! What a good helper! You’re very special to me! I trust you! What a treasure! Hurray for you! Beautiful work! You’re a real trooper! Well done! That’s so creative! You make my day! You’re a joy! Give me a big hug! You’re such a good listener! You figured it out! I love you! You’re so responsible! You remembered! You’re the best! You sure tried hard! I’ve got to hand it to you! I couldn’t be prouder of you! You light up my day! I’m praying for you! You’re wonderful! I’m behind you! You’re so kind to your (brother/sister)! You’re God’s special gift! I’m here for you!

Some of the greatest benefits to mankind have had their source in men who have experienced great affliction. The German poet Goethe said, "I never experienced affliction that did not turn into a poem." The music that gives man a taste of heaven has often come from afflicted hearts.

A Child Visits Abraham Lincoln, and Saves the Life of a Condemned Soldier.

During the war I remember a young man, not twenty, who was court-martialed down in the front and sentenced to be shot; The story was this: The young fellow had enlisted. He was not obliged to, but he went off with another young man. They were what we would, call "chums." One night this companion was ordered out on picket duty, and he asked the young man to go for him. The next night he was ordered out himself; and having been awake two nights, and not being used to it, fell asleep at his post, and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to death. It was right after the order issued by the President that no interference would be allowed in cases of this kind. This sort of thing had become too frequent, and it must be stopped. When the news reached the father and mother in Vermont it nearly broke their hearts. The thought that their son should be shot was too great for them. They had no hope that he would be saved by anything they could do. But they had a little daughter who had read the life of Abraham Lincoln, and knew how he had loved his own children, and she said: "If Abraham Lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother he wouldn't let mm he shot." That little girl thought this matter over and made up her mind to see the President. She went to the White House, and the sentinel, when he saw her imploring looks, passed her in, and when she came to the door and told the private secretary that she wanted to see the President, he could not refuse her. She came into the chamber and found Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his generals and counselors, and when he saw the little country girl he asked her what she wanted. The little maid told her plain, simple story--how her brother, whom her father and mother loved very dearly, had been sentenced to be shot; how they were mourning for him, and if he was to die in that way it would break their hearts. The President's heart was touched with compassion, and he immediately sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a parole so that he could come home and see that father and mother. I just tell you this to show you how Abraham Lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for the sorrow of that father and mother, and if he showed so much do you think the Son of God will not have compassion upon you, sinner, if you only take that crushed, bruised heart to him?

The lawns which we wish to keep in the best condition we mow very frequently. But out in the fields there is no such repeated cutting. The tall unkept grass of the field may be proud that it has never experienced the power of the mower blades, but the cut grass is more beautiful and more serviceable. Do we as human beings before God have any more voice in the matter than the grass in our lawns? There is nothing that the grass can do to hinder the frequent cutting by the owner. Aren't we as impotent in the hands of God as the grass is under the mower? Affliction is a fact in life. Let us accept it and endeavor to find out, not so much why God permits it, as how God wants us to use it.

Oh how I love Thy holy Word,

Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!

It guides me in the peaceful way;

I think upon it all the day.

What are the mines of shining wealth,

The strength of youth, the bloom of health!

hat are all joys compared with those,

Thine everlasting Word bestows!

Long unafflicted, undismay’d,

In pleasure’s path secure I stray’d;

Thou mad’st me feel thy chast’ning rod,

And straight I turn’d unto my God.

What though it pierced my fainting heart,

I bless’d Thine hand that caused the smart:

It taught my tears awhile to flow,

But saved me from eternal woe.

Oh! hadst Thou left me unchastised,

Thy precepts I had still despised;

And still the snare in secret laid

Had my unwary feet betray’d.

I love thee, therefore, O my God,

And breathe towards Thy dear abode;

Where, in Thy presence fully blest,

Thy chosen saints for ever rest.

Oh how I love Thy holy Word,

Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!

It guides me in the peaceful way;

I think upon it all the day.

What are the mines of shining wealth,

The strength of youth, the bloom of health!

What are all joys compared with those

Thine everlasting Word bestows!

Long unafflicted, undismay’d,

In pleasure’s path secure I stray’d;

Thou mad’st me feel thy chast’ning rod,

And straight I turn’d unto my God.

What though it pierced my fainting heart,

I bless’d Thine hand that caused the smart:

It taught my tears awhile to flow,

But saved me from eternal woe.

Oh! hadst Thou left me unchastised,

Thy precepts I had still despised;

And still the snare in secret laid

Had my unwary feet betray’d.

I love thee, therefore, O my God,

And breathe towards Thy dear abode;

Where, in Thy presence fully blest,

Thy chosen saints for ever rest.

In preparing for this book, I have talked to a lot of people, and the fear issue comes up front again and again. What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me:

“I am afraid I might do more harm than good.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions.”

“I may seem bigoted.”

“I may invade someone’s privacy.”

“I am afraid I might fail.”

“I am afraid I might be a hypocrite.”

Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, “What is your greatest hindrance to witnessing?”

Nine percent said they were too busy to remember to do it.

Twenty-eight percent felt the lack of real information to share.

None said they didn’t really care.

Twelve percent said their own lives were not speaking as they should.

But by far the largest group were the 51 percent whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react! None of us likes to be rejected, ridiculed, or regarded as an oddball.

Afraid?

Of what?

To feel the spirit’s glad release,

To pass from pain to perfect peace,

The strife and strain of life to cease.

Afraid of that?

Afraid?

Of what?

Afraid to see the Savior’s face,

To hear his welcome and to trace

The glory gleaned from wounds of grace

Afraid of that?

Afraid?

Of what?

A flash, a crash

A pierced heart

Darkness!

Light!

Oh, heaven’s art!

A wound of His,

A counterpart

Afraid of that?

Afraid?

Of what?

To do by death what life could not

Baptize with blood a stony plot

Till souls shall blossom from this spot

Afraid of that?

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall.

Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us. - John Emmons

Athanasius, early bishop of Alexandria, stoutly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Christ was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being. Hounded through five exiles, he was finally summoned before emperor Theodosius, who demanded he cease his opposition to Arius. The emperor reproved him and asked, “Do you not realize that all the world is against you?” Athanasius quickly answered, “Then I am against all the world.”

Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half-mile in less than two minutes.

Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.

Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary’s world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.

At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty-one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history—Abraham Lincoln.

There is not much difference lexically between agapao and phileo. Both involve a voluntary (I’ve decided to love you) and involuntary (I can’t help but love you) response.

One point: there is no command to love in scripture that ever uses phileo.

The Greek word agape (love) seems to have been virtually a Christian invention—a new word for a new thing (apart from about twenty occurrences in the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is almost non-existent before the New Testament). Agape draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God in Christ. It is not a form of natural affection, however, intense, but a supernatural fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is a matter of will rather than feeling (for Christians must love even those they dislike—Matt. 5:44-48). It is the basic element in Christlikeness.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 and note what these verses have to say about the primacy (vv. 1-3) and permanence (vv. 8-13) of love; note too the profile of love (vv. 4-7) which they give.

A widely respected man known as “Uncle Johnson” died in Michigan at the incredible age of 120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful outlook that characterized his life.

One day while at work in his garden, he was singing songs of praise to God. His pastor, who was passing by, looked over the fence and called,

“Uncle Johnson, you seem very happy today.”

“Yes, I was just thinking,” said the old man.

“Thinking about what?” questioned his pastor.

“Oh, I was just thinking that if the crumbs of joy that fall from the Master’s table in this world are so good, what will the great loaf in glory be like! I tell you, sir, there will be enough for everyone and some to spare up there.”

In American lore no volley quite compares with the one between Dorothy Parker and Clare Boothe Luce, who approached a doorway at the same time. Luce stepped aside, saying, “Age before beauty.”

Parker swept through the door riposting, “Pearls before swine.”

Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University. One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped—but he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college.

A short time after the tragedy, Bruce’s father wrote this letter to the administration, faculty, student body, and the corps of cadets: “I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of my family for the great outpouring of concern and sympathy from Texas A & M University and the college community over the loss of our son Bruce. We were deeply touched by the tribute paid to him in the battalion. We were particularly pleased to note that his Christian witness did not go unnoticed during his brief time on campus.”

Mr. Goodrich went on: “I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter. We know our God makes no mistakes. Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home. When the question is asked, ‘Why did this happen?’ perhaps one answer will be, ‘So that many will consider where they will spend eternity.’“

Shall we sit idly down and say,

The night hath come; it is no longer day?

The night hath not yet come; we are not quite

Cut off from labor by the failing light;

Something remains for us to do or dare;

Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.

- Henry W. Longfellow

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship. October came and the farmer had his finest crop ever—the best in the entire county. When the harvest was complete, he placed an advertisement in the local paper which belittled the Christians for their faith in God. Near the end of his diatribe he wrote, “Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper.”

The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite. In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared. It read simply, “God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October.”

Augustine was the great preacher of grace during the fourth and fifth centuries. Although his understanding of the doctrineof justification did not have the fine-tuned precision of the Reformers, Augustine’s response on this point was similar to Luther’s. He said that the doctrine of justification led to themaxim, “Love God and do as you please.” Because we have misunderstood one of the gospel’s most basic themes, Augustine’ statement looks to many like a license to indulge one’s sinful nature, but in reality it touches upon the motivation the Christian has for his actions. The person who has been justified by God’s grace has a new, higher, and nobler motivation for holiness than the shallow, hypocritical self-righteousness or fear that seems to motivate so may religious people today.

Ever notice that when a fellow says he agrees with you in principle, he’s invariably getting ready to argue with you?

The average age of a homosexual man dying with AIDS is 39. The average age of gays dying of all other causes is 41. (The average heterosexual married man lives 75 years.) Only one percent of men who practice homosexual sex lives to be 65 or older. Gay men are three times more likely to have alcohol or drug abuse problems. Homosexuals are 14 times more likely to have had syphilis, and 23 times more likely to contract venereal diseases.

Laughter improves any meal—experts even say it aids digestion. sk everyone in your family to contribute five jokes or riddles on slips of paper. Keep them in a jar on the table and during dinner take turns drawing them out and reading them. - Paul Lewis

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow’s flight, and then young Frank’s tracks meandering all over the field.

“Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again,” his uncle said. “And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that.”

Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly contributed to his philosophy in life. “I determined right then,” he’d say with a twinkle in his eye, “not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had.”

The aim of prayer is not to force God’s hand or make him do our will against his own, but to deepen our knowledge of him and our fellowship with him through contemplating his glory, confessing our dependence and need, and consciously embracing his goals. Our asking therefore must be according to God’s will and in Jesus’ name.

The context of such asking is assured faith. In that day when Jesus teaches them, by the Spirit, plainly of the Father, there will be no question of enlisting Jesus’ support in prayer, as if he were more merciful than the Father or could influence him in a way that they could not; in that day they will know inwardly that as believers they are the Father’s beloved.

To asked in Jesus’ name is not to use a verbal spell but to base our asking on Christ’s saving relationship to us through the cross; this will involve making petitions which Christ can endorse and put his name to. When God answers in Jesus’ name, he gives through Jesus as our mediator and to Jesus as the one who will be glorified through what is given.

An officer on the battlefield aimed his cannon toward what he thought was the distant enemy. Just before he fired, the commander, looking through his field glasses, shouted, "Your aim seems perfect, but stop! They are not the enemy; they are our own people." Did you ever think that when you aim criticism at God's people so thoughtlessly, you are actually aiming your cannon at the Lord of your brethren?

A Salvation Army captain was preaching in Hyde Park in London when a man in the crowd interrupted him. "We haven't anything against Jesus of Nazareth," he said, "but we have something against you Christians because you ain't up to sample." Living examples of Christ is what the world wants to see in Christians.

I was an air-traffic controller stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. One morning we picked up a Montana National Guard passenger aircraft. Instead of identifying the plane by its five-digit tail number, its pilot radioed, “Selfridge Approach, this is Pig Sty One.” As we were taught to refer to aircraft by whatever call sign the pilot used, the controller thereafter called the craft “Pig Sty One.” Just after touching down, the pilot contacted the tower.

“Selfridge,” he said, “our call sign is not ‘Pig Sty one.” It is ‘Big Sky One,’ and we have the governor of Montana on board!”

A number of years ago the Douglas Aircraft company was competing with Boeing to sell Eastern Airlines its first big jets. War hero Eddie Rickenbacker, the head of Eastern Airlines, reportedly told Donald Douglas that the specifications and claims made by Douglas’s company for the DC-8 were close to Boeing’s on everything except noise suppression. Rickenbacker then gave Douglas one last chance to out-promise Boeing on this feature.

After consulting with his engineers, Douglas reported that he didn’t feel he could make that promise. Rickenbacker replied, “I know you can’t, I just wanted to see if you were still honest.”

Some things that appear dangerous are actually much less hazardous than their safer-looking alternative. Commercial airline travel, for instance, is 30 times safer than transportation by car. It may not seem that way to the person who would rather fight rush hour traffic on the ground than ride a solitary Boeing 747 at 35,000 feet. But out of 5 million scheduled commercial flights in 1982, only 5 resulted in fatal accidents. Being carried by tons of metal thrust through the air by huge jet engines is actually safer than being pulled along in an 8-cylinder machine that never leaves the ground.

When I was a small boy, I attended church every Sunday at a big Gothic Presbyterian bastion in Chicago. The preaching was powerful and the music was great. But for me, the most awesome moment in the morning service was the offertory, when twelve solemn, frock-coated ushers marched in lock-step down the main aisle to receive the brass plates for collecting the offering. These men, so serious about their business of serving the Lord in this magnificent house of worship, were the business and professional leaders of Chicago.

One of the twelve ushers was a man named Frank Loesch. He was not a very imposing looking man, but in Chicago he was a living legend, for he was the man who had stood up to Al Capone. In the prohibition years, Capone’s rule was absolute. The local and state police and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation were afraid to oppose him. But singlehandedly, Frank Loesch, as a Christina layman and without any government support, organized the Chicago Crime Commission, a group of citizens who were determined to take Mr. Capone to court and put him away.

During the months that the Crime Commission met, Frank Loesch’s life was in constant danger. There were threats on the lives of his family and friends. But he never wavered. Ultimately he won the case against Capone and was the instrument for removing this blight from the city of Chicago.

Frank Loesch had risked his life to live out his faith. Each Sunday at this point of the service, my father, a Chicago businessman himself, never failed to poke me and silently point to Frank Loesch with pride. Sometime I’d catch a tear in my father’s eye. For my dad and for all of us this was and is what authentic living is all about.

A Christian who passes through the dark tunnel of depression tends to focus on his sinful weaknesses and failures. God can use this time in a positive way, however, to enlarge his appreciation for His all-encompassing and all-sufficient grace.

In 1964, Alan Redpath, former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, suffered a near-fatal stroke and sank into the depths of despondency. He wrote later of having terribly wicked thoughts. At one point, he prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this attack of the devil. Take me right home!”

It was then that he sensed the Lord saying, “It is I, your Savior, who has brought this experience into your life to show you [that] this is the kind of person—with all your sinful thoughts and temptations, which you thought were things of the past—that you always will be, but for My grace.”

A young couple decided to start their own business. He was an engineer and she was an advertising copywriter. They wound up buying a small salmon cannery in Alaska. They soon discovered they had a problem. Customers opening a can of their salmon discovered that the fish was gray. Sales sagged. Investigation revealed that the problem was a result of the way they processed the fish. “This is a technical problem,” said the wife, “and you’re an engineer. You have to find a way to fix this.”

A month later, the husband announced that they would have to replace some machinery and make other changes. It was going to take at least 10 months to do the job and it was going to cost a lot of money. “We have to do something sooner than that,” said the wife, “or we’re going to go under.”

For the next two days she pondered the problem and came up with this solution: There was nothing wrong with the salmon—it tasted fine. The problem lay in its looks. So she changed the label on the can. In bold letters, right under the brand name, the labels thereafter announced, “The only salmon guaranteed not to turn pink in the can.”

One day in 1909 a group of Alaskan miners, popularly called Sourdoughs, were sitting in a saloon in Fairbanks talking about outsiders such as Dr. Frederick Cook climbing “their” Mount McKinley. Convinced that Cook’s ascent had never been made, some of the miners decided to prove it the only way they knew how—by doing it themselves.

After a long climb, three miners left their base camp and raced for the North Peak, carrying some doughnuts, thermoses of hot chocolate, and a 14-foot wooden flagpole. As simply as they went up, the Sourdoughs returned to camp. But when they returned to Fairbanks, nobody believed them—and nobody could see the flagpole. But in June 1913, when some professional climbers reached the summit, to their surprise they found the flagpole planted by the Sourdoughs.

It seems that famed scientist Albert Einstein had more trouble finding his way home from work than he did finding the key to atomic power. One evening as Einstein sat deep in thought aboard the train that brought him home each night, the porter approached to collect his ticket. Einstein rummaged around in his coat, through his pockets, in his shirt, and everywhere else he could think of, growing alarmed at his inability to find the ticket.

“That’s okay, Dr. Einstein,” said the porter. “I know you ride this train every day. I can collect tomorrow.”

“That’s fine for you, young man,” Einstein replied, “but how am I supposed to know where to get off the train without my ticket?”

Einstein gave grudging acceptance to “the necessity for a beginning” and eventually, to “the presence of a superior reasoning power,” but never did he accept the doctrine of a personal God. Two specific obstacles blocked his way. According to his journal writings, Einstein wrestled with a deeply felt bitterness toward the clergy, toward priests in particular, and with his inability to resolve the paradox of God’s omnipotence and man’s responsibility for his choices. “If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him?”

Seeing no solution to this paradox, Einstein, like many other powerful intellects through the centuries, ruled out the existence of a personal God.

The list of papers to be read on alcohol and related diseases at a medical conference in England read as follows:

9:15 Alcohol in the blood

10:15 Alcohol in the liver

11:15 Alcohol in the pancreas

12:15 Alcoholism

12:45 Bar opens

Even when people just think they are consuming alcohol, their behavior changes.

Alcohol is involved in fifteen thousand homicides and suicides annually, twenty thousand accidental deaths, plus one-half of all auto accidents and the additional twenty-five thousand deaths they cause. Even 40 percent of the pedestrians who are killed have been drinking.

In his 1983 acceptance speech for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn] recalled the words he heard as a child, when his elders sought to explain the ruinous upheavals in Russia: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” He added, “If I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the entire twentieth century, here too I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again: ‘men have forgotten God.’“

The Handbook of Magazine Article Writing contains this illustration by Philip Barry Osborne;

“Alex Haley, the author of ROOTS, has a picture in his office, showing a turtle sitting atop a fence. The picture is there to remind him of a lesson he learned long ago: ‘If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had some help.’

“Says Alex, ‘Any time I start thinking, WOW, isn’t this marvelous what I’ve done! I look at that picture and remember how this turtle—me—got up on that post.’“

Archaeologists digging in the remains of a school for imperial pages in Rome found a picture dating from the third century. It shows a boy standing, his hand raised, worshiping a figure on a cross, a figure that looks like a man with the head of an ass. Scrawled in the writing of a young person are the words, “Alexamenos worships his God.”

Nearby in a second inscription: “Alexamenos is faithful.” Apparently, a young man who was a Christian was being mocked by his schoolmates for his faithful witness. But he was not ashamed; he was faithful.

The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his generosity and commented, “Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar’s need. Why give him gold?”

Alexander responded in royal fashion, “Copper coins would suit the beggar’s need, but gold coins suit Alexander’s giving.”

The great preacher Alexander White, when he was too old to mount the pulpit, would rise every morning to prepare a sermon, even though he never preached them. He did so until the day he died. He was convinced that study of the Word was essential to saving himself (1 Tim. 4:16).

Alexander Whyte apparently once said: ‘Though you had the whole Bodleian Library and did not know yourself, you would not preach a sermon worth hearing.’ This is true, but more important even than to know oneself is to know God.

In matters of speech, it’s not elegance that interest me but exactness. Precision. Surgical precision. Let me give an illustration—in the pattern of the old story about Noah Webster, the man who wrote the dictionary. Of him it used to be told that his wife once caught him in the pantry in the act of kissing the cook. “

Why, Mr. Webster,” she said, “I’m surprised.”

“No, my dear,” he replied. “I’m surprised’ you’re amazed.”

French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said,

“I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning—and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

Years ago, Russell Conwell told of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who “owned a very large farm that had orchards, grain fields, and gardens... and was a wealthy contented man.” One day a wise man from the East told the farmer all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine. Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man—poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide. One day the man who purchased Ali Hafed’s farm led his camel into the garden to drink. As his camel put its nose into the brook, the man saw a flash of light from the sands of the stream. He pulled out a stone that reflected all the hues of the rainbow. The man had discovered the diamond mine of Golcanda, the most magnificent mine in all history. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own garden, then instead of death in a strange land, he would have had acres of diamonds.

In Alice in Wonderland, when Alice comes to a junction in the road that leads in different directions, she asks the Cheshire Cat, “Cheshire-Puss...would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to go to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where,” replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Item No. 583B in our Love and War man’s files is a report on the bequests to his former wives of the socialite yachtsman Fuller E. Callaway, Jr. It stands as a commentary of the chances for happiness in multiple marriages. He left $100,000 to his first wife, $10,000 to his second, and $1 to his third.

The famed evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, once remarked in a sermon: "Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all-out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the spirit will live forever."

It is related that once when the Duke of Wellington remained to take communion at his parish church, a very poor old man went up the opposite aisle, and reaching the communion table, knelt down close by the side of the Duke. Someone came and touched the poor man on the shoulder, and whispered to him to move farther away, or to rise and wait until the Duke had received the bread and wine. But the eagle eye and the quick ear of the great commander caught the meaning of that touch and that whisper. He clasped the old man's hand and held it to prevent his rising; and in a reverential undertone but most distinctly, said, "Do not move; we are all equal here."

The steed bit his master

How came this to pass?

He heard the good pastor

Cry, “All flesh is grass.”

Dale Carnegie once noted that the only animal the grizzly would allow to eat with him was the skunk. Grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park often come to eat at the place where garbage is dumped. This huge bear can fight and beat almost any animal in the West, but it lets the skunk share its meal. Carnegie said that the grizzly surely resented the skunk and could have easily killed the little creature in any fight. No doubt the bear would have liked to have gotten even with him for his intrusion. But he didn’t. Why? Because he knew the high cost of getting even.

Most animals are not dumb. They are much smarter than many humans who allow their stomachs to churn all day, their minds to storm all night and their souls to turn black with hatred as they plot revenge.

Bitterness is the most dangerous of all plagues to healthy Christian living. It will eat away at the vitality of your spiritual life until your once-vibrant testimony is in shambles. It is the “cancer of the soul”, and it claims millions of victims each year. It spreads faster than the common cold and threatens the survival of many churches.

Yet there is a cure for this plague. One of the most beautiful words in any language is the word “forgive.” The word is a common one, but the essence of the word is in the last part, “give”. To for GIVE means to give someone a release from the wrong that he has done to you. It means to give up any right of retaliation.

God’s forgiveness, which must coordinate with His justice, is based upon the payment of the penalty by a substitute. Jesus Christ, His Son, paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross...Looking at Calvary, God is now free to forgive those who come to Him through the blood of Christ.

When God forgives He forgives completely. This kind of forgiveness is “Judicial Forgiveness”. It is one of five kinds of forgiveness in the Bible. A failure to distinguish these kinds of forgiveness causes great confusion, unnecessary guilt and needless fear.

1. Judicial Forgiveness (The eternal forgiveness of all sins of the one who has trusted Christ. This goes with the doctrine of justification and has to do with the believer’s relationship with God. It is once for all, eternal, and conditioned only on faith in Christ.) The Psalmist says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” (Ps. 32:1-2). He also says, “As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

You can say right now, “As I have trusted Christ, all my sins past, present, and future are forgiven. God remembers my sin no more.” (Ps. 130:4; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14. See also Rom. 3:21-26; Heb. 9:12; 10:17; Jer. 3:34; Eph. 2:8,9.)

2. Paternal Forgiveness (Restoration of fellowship with God the Father after the believer has broken fellowship by continued, unconfessed sin. This has to do with the believer’s fellowship with God.)

The conditions to this kind of forgiveness are twofold: (a) Confession (1 John 1:9; John 13:4-10; Matt. 6:12); (b) Forgiveness of others (Personal forgiveness - see the next kind of forgiveness.)

3. Personal Forgiveness (Restoration of fellowship with another human being).

(a) This facet of forgiveness is so important that Jesus conditions our forgiveness and restoration to fellowship with our Heavenly Father on our willingness to forgive others. Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-35; Luke 6:37; Col. 3:13); Matt. 18:21-35; Eph. 4:31-32)

(b) Personal forgiveness has a vertical dimension—we must release the person to God. This can happen anywhere at anytime. Jesus taught, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven my forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)

(c) Personal forgiveness has a horizontal dimension—we must confront the offender and forgive if he repents. “So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3)

4. Social forgiveness (Restoration of fellowship with society (John 8:1-10). This may be a personal attitude in our own communities or involve us in ministries like Chuck Colson’s prison ministry.

There is little forgiveness by society today partly because there are very few things that society frowns on.

5. Ecclesiastical Forgiveness (Restoration of fellowship with the church) 2 Cor. 2:5-11; 2 Thess. 3:14-15. This forgiveness assumes a prior discipline by the church body and an evidence of a repentant heart on the part of the one disciplined. The purpose of discipline is restoration, and forgiveness assumes repentance and restoration.

Some Further Thoughts

You do not have to forget after you forgive; you may, but your forgiving can be sincere even if you remember.

You do not overlook people’s faults by forgiving them; you must forgive them because you do hold them to account and refuse to agree with or overlook their faults.

Forgiveness deals with our emotional response toward an offender. Pardon deals with the consequences of his offense. Unless we have the authority we may not be able to pardon an offense, but we can always forgive.

Forgiveness is a miracle of the will that moves away the heavy hindrance to fellowship, a miracle that will be fulfilled when the two estranged people come together in as fair and harmonious a new relationship as is possible at that time and under those circumstances.

Forgiveness offers a chance at reconciliation; it is an opportunity for a life together instead of death together. Forgiveness has creative power to move us away from a past moment of pain, to unshackle us from our endless chain of reactions, and to create a new situation in which both the wrongdoer and the wronged can begin a new way.

The alternative to forgiveness is, in the end, a ceaseless process of hurt, bitterness, anger, resentment and self-destruction.

Salvation belongs to the Lord, its origin Ps. 3:8

Salvation is of the Lord, its worker Jonah 2:9

Salvation is by the Lord, its giver 1 Thess. 5:9

Salvation is in the Lord, its security 2 Tim. 2:10