Pastoral Resources

Henry Drummond, that great Scottish professor, told how the Infidel Club was started in Glasgow. Some men were standing at the corner of a street when a very prosperous looking man went past. One of the men said, "That is the founder of the Infidel Club in Glasgow." "What do you mean by that?" said another of the men. "Why, that man is an elder of the church." "Elder or no elder," replied the man, "he is the founder of Glasgow's Infidel Club." Then he told how the man's inconsistent life had been bearing for years a false witness to Christ. So false, in fact, that it had undermined the faith of several young men who joined together to form the Infidel Club.

That great blind preacher, George Matheson, adequately grasped the idea of Paul when he wrote: "Christian love is the only kind of love in which there is no rivalry, no jealousy. There is jealousy among the lovers of art; there is jealousy among the lovers of song; there is jealousy among the lovers of beauty. The glory of natural love is its monopoly, its power to say, 'It is mine.' But the glory of Christian love is its refusal of monopoly. The spiritual artist-the man who paints Christ in his soul-wants no solitary niche in the temple of fame. He would not like to hear anyone say, 'He is the first of his profession; there is not one that can hold a candle to him.' He would be very sad to be thus distinguished in his profession of Christ, marked out as a solitary figure. The gladdest moment to him will always be the moment when the cry is heard, 'Thy brother is coming up the ladder also; thy brother will share the inheritance with thee.' "

The history of missions is full of examples of Christian manliness. We think of Dr. Paul Carlson who served as a medical missionary in the Congo. He compassionately sought to heal the most loathsome of tropical diseases as he preached Christ as the only cure for sin. For several years he worked in the midst of increasing political ferment, preaching and living the gospel in which he so wholeheartedly believed. Even when he was arrested, he continued to treat the wounds of the rebels who had captured him. Under sentence of death, he bore himself heroically and died boosting another missionary over the wall to safety. The prevailing attitude of missionaries everywhere seems to be summed up in the words of one mission board secretary who commented, "It shows merely that we must go back."

Once a professing Christian sold a bale of poor hay to a certain colonel who rebuked him, and the church member whined, "I am a soldier too." "You!" exclaimed the colonel in disgust. "What kind of soldier are you?" "I am a soldier of the cross," said the skinflint with a detestable flourish of the hand. "That may be," said the colonel, "but you've been on a furlough ever since I knew you."

To have a truly Christian view of our own sexuality, we must understand the four great acts in God’s drama, the epic poem of God’s saving work. We destroy our understanding of the script if we mix up the order of the acts.

Act 1 is Creation. If we do not understand ourselves first as divine handiwork, created in God’s image, everything else will be distorted.

Act 2 is the Fall, the reality of which much contemporary liberal scholarship denies. The Fall twists and ruins everything but does not destroy the imprint of Creation.

Act 3 is Redemption in and through Christ. Christ is at work in those who love him, redeeming them and the world.

The final act is Glorification, the expected final consummation, the blessed hope.

The Christian view of sexuality must be understood within this biblical drama. For instance, in 1 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul deals with the sexual views of a protognostic group whose teachings denied Creation, exaggerated the Fall, and distorted the proper view of Redemption. In particular, they despised marriage because they saw sex as evil.

To this, Paul said: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain food, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”

From this we can get Paul’s understanding of marriage and sex. Paul’s grounding is that God created marriage and sex. Everything God created is good (Act 1). But notice that what God created to be good has to be cleaned off; it has been dropped in the mud—that is, the Fall (Act 2). Through Christ, sex can be redeemed (that is what consecration means) by being received with thanksgiving through “the word of God and prayer” (Act 3). We must start with Creation, recognize the Fall, and participate in Redemption.

The heart of Christian sexual morality is this: God made sexual union for a purpose—the uniting of Husband and wife into one flesh in marriage. God uses sexual intercourse, full sexual intimacy, to weld two people together (1 Cor. 6:16). God has a big purpose in mind for sex because he has a big purpose for marriage—something bigger than simply a means for us to get our sexual needs met, have fun, have kids, and not have to be lonely.

In Ephesians 5 we learn more of what this bigger purpose is According to Paul, marriage is to model concretely here on earth what God wants in the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church. Jesus is one with the Father, and he tells us that we can be one with him. We are utterly different from God, but he wants to unite with us (1 Cor. 6:17). This reality can be uniquely modeled on earth through the union of two different kinds of human beings, male and female. Marriage is a living parable, a concrete symbol, that models for the world the mystical union of Christ and his people. According to God’s original design, marriages have grand, even cosmic, meaning. And this meaning remains regardless of how pathetically short we fall of that grand design.

Interestingly, the scientific evidence supports this. If it is God’s intent that sexual intercourse is to bond two people together for life in marriage, what would we expect the of premarital sex and cohabitation to be? Those actions should make marriage less likely to work. And that is what the facts show (especially in a recent study reported by Andrew Greeley in his book, Faithful Attraction). The more premarital sex people have, the more likely they are to have affairs in marriage; the less likely they are to have optimal sexual relationships in marriage; and the less likely they are to be satisfied with their marriages. Numerous studies over the decades have shown that people who cohabit before marriage are more likely to divorce. All of the ways we humans foul up God’s design have long-term negative consequences.

If marriage occupies this place in God’s plan, and if sex is so important to God’s plan for marriage, we can see the vital importance of obedience to God’s standards for sexuality. Sex is a gift, but it is a gift we can abuse. God’s intent is that sex be used rightly inside and outside of marriage. Inside of marriage, its proper use is for pleasure, procreation, and as something to be shared lovingly and with gratitude to build up the unity of the couple. Outside of the marriage of a man and woman, the proper use of sex is to honor God by costly obedience in living a chaste life. Through this difficult commitment, we learn to value obedience over gratification and to serve God instead of serving our own lusts. Heterosexual or homosexual, the call of Christ is the same: if you find yourself unmarried, God wants you to live a chaste life.

Dr. Clarence McCartney told the following story:

A young man met with the church board and was received into membership; however, on his way out, he was asked what his business was. When the board understood that he was in the liquor business, the decision of the board was revoked, causing the young man to fly into a rage. The liquor business was that of his father and his grandfather as well. He wished hereafter to have nothing to do with any pastor or church. He had been "insulted."

Two months elapsed. The young man reappeared again with this explanation: "I followed your suggestion to visit the clients of my business. I followed our wagon to saloons, the rich man's clubs, the poor man's hovels, to destitute homes, and I saw the destruction that the liquor business I was engaged in caused. As a result, I have severed connections with my destructive business. I have confessed my sin to God, and I now desire to be received into membership in the church."

The Reverend Charles H. Spurgeon once said, "Christianity rests on three great pillars, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Incarnation alone could not redeem sinful men. But apart from the Incarnation there could be no propitiatory sacrifice that would avail to put away sin. God became man in order to die. We cannot, therefore, make too much of the mystery of the union of the human and the divine in Him who was both Son of God and Son of Mary. In Him we have the Daysman for whom the patriarch Job longed, one who can lay His hand upon both God and man (Job_9:33) because He combines the natures of both in one glorious Person. Bethlehem, Calvary, and the empty tomb, all alike should stir our souls and draw our hearts out to God in wonder, love, and praise.

"What argument of mine led you to Christ?" asked a missionary in Egypt of an educated Mohammedan who was preaching Christ with great zeal and success. The missionary was surprised to receive this answer, "Every argument presented I could refute, at least to my satisfaction. It was your life that convinced me of salvation through Christ."

The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a religion of light. One of the most splendid descriptions of our Heavenly Father is in the words of John: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1Jo 1:5). James says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (Jam 1:17). Note James' descriptive name for God, "The Father of light." And the Lord Jesus declares that those who seek to do the will of God are the "children of light" (Joh 12:36). Our Savior never said a more splendid thing about Himself than when He uttered that sublime declaration, "I am the light of the world" (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5). Everywhere in the Scriptures, light is used as an emblem of the righteous character of those who are the true children of God. Yes, the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a religion of light.

As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them."

A lady accepted Christ as her Savior late in life and found in Him such joy that she could not keep still about it; she was praising God and talking about it all the time. One day a friend said, "You seem pretty confident about this salvation of yours. I would not be too sure if I were you; suppose the Lord should let you slip through His fingers?" "But," said the elderly lady, "I am one of the fingers."

During World War II a 15-year-old boy managed to enlist in the Navy and eventually joined the crew of a destroyer escort in the North Atlantic. After the ship left port, he gave himself away by being so frightened and homesick.

Even though the safety of the ship was at stake, the youth had to stand his watch. The bo's'n assigned to him the midnight to 4 a.m. watch on the bow. A lanky cowboy from Texas named Cogswell had the preceding duty at the dangerous and important post.

Fearing the worst, the captain stayed on the bridge during the "graveyard watch." About 1 a.m. he looked out through the starlit night to see how the novice sailor was faring. To his amazement, he recognized the tall frame of Cogswell.

The next morning, the skipper asked the bo's'n, "Did you know Cogswell took the kid's place last night and stood eight hours straight duty?"

"Yes sir, I did," he replied. "Well," replied the captain, "what do you think about it?" "Sir, I didn't think anything about it. Didn't you know? Cogswell's a Christian!"

What the Treasury Department requires in financial matters, the Word of God requires in spiritual matters. The apostle Paul tells us that Christians must regard themselves as "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1Co 4:1). We are not originators of these mysteries, we are simply the recipients of them, holding them in trust under God. Paul wants to remind us by this expression that we are accountable. He has just finished speaking of that day when the work of each one will be made manifest. Just imagine how careless a treasurer might be if he knew that he would never have to give an accounting of the funds entrusted to him. As Christians we are to live constantly in view of the day of accounting that is coming. We will have to give an accounting for everything God has given us.

People have wondered if it is possible to minister to mental-emotional-behavioral problems without resorting to psychological models and methods or to psychological gimmicks and devices. The evidence suggests that it is. Three researchers found in a national survey conducted for the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health that “of those persons who actively sought help for personal problems, the vast majority contacted persons other than mental health professionals, and that generally they were more satisfied with the help received than were those who chose psychiatrists and psychologists.”

Christians without goals are a little like Alice in the fairy tale ALICE IN WONDERLAND. In a conversation between her and the Cheshire Cat, Alice asked, “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat. “I don’t much care where,” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.

Sometimes we as Christians need to stop along life’s road and look back. Although it might have been winding and steep, we can see how God directed us by His faithfulness. Here’s how F. E. Marsh described what the Christian can see when he looks back:

The deliverances the Lord has wrought (Deut. 5:15).

The way He has led (Deut. 8:2)

The blessings He has bestowed (Deut. 32:7-12).

The victories He has won (Deut. ll:2-7).

The encouragements He has given (Josh. 23:14).

When we face difficulties, we sometimes forget God’s past faithfulness. We see only the detours and the dangerous path. But look back and you will also see the joy of victory, the challenge of the climb, and the presence of your traveling Companion who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you.

Americans used 28,497,464 rolls and sheets of wrapping paper, 16,826,362 packages of tags and bows, 372,430,684 greeting cards, and 35,200,000 Christmas trees during the 1989 Christmas season.

It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect the little Babe.

It cost mothers in and around Bethlehem the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod.

It cost the shepherds the complacency of their shepherds' life, with the call to the manger and to tell the good news.

It cost the wise men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives.

It cost the early apostles and the early church persecution and sometimes death.

It cost missionaries of Christ untold suffering and privation to spread the good news.

It cost Christian martyrs in all ages their lives for Christ's sake.

More than all this, it cost God the Father His own Son-He sent Him to the earth to save men.

It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history.

Amid the horrors of World War I, there occurred a unique truce when for a few hours, enemies behaved like brothers.

Christmas Eve in 1914 was all quiet on France's Western Front, from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. Trenches came within 50 miles of Paris. The war was only five months old, and approximately 800,000 men had been wounded or killed. Every soldier wondered whether or not Christmas Day would bring another round of fighting and killing. But something happened: British soldiers raised "Merry Christmas" signs above the trenches, and soon carols were heard from German and British trenches alike.

Christmas dawned with unarmed soldiers leaving their trenches, though officers of both sides tried unsuccessfully to stop their troops from meeting the enemy in the middle of no-man's land for songs and conversation. Exchanging small gifts, they passed Christmas Day peacefully along miles of the front. At one spot, the British played soccer with the Germans, who won 3-2.

In some places, the spontaneous truce continued the next day as neither side was willing to fire the first shot. Finally, the war resumed when fresh troops arrived, and the high command of both armies ordered that further "informal understanding" with the enemy would be punishable as treason.

After Christmas vacation, a teacher asked her small pupils to write an account of how they spent their holidays. One youngster wrote about a visit to his grandparents in a life-care community for retired folks:

“We always spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa,” he said. They used to live here in a big red house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida.

“They live in a place with a lot of retarded people. They live in tin huts. They ride big three wheel tricycles. They go to a big building they call a wrecked hall but it is fixed now. They play games there and do exercises, but they don’t do them very good. There is a swimming pool and they go to it and just stand there in the water with their hats on. I guess they don’t know how to swim.

“My grandma used to bake cookies and stuff. But I guess she forgot how. Nobody cooks—they all go out to fast food restaurants.

“As you come into the park, there is a doll house with a man sitting in it. He watches all day, so they can’t get out without him seeing them. They wear badges with their names on them. I guess they don’t know who they are.

“My Grandpa and Grandma worked hard all their lives and earned their retardment. I wish they would move back home but I guess the man in the doll house won’t let them out.”

To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.

On his first voyage west in 1492, Christopher Columbus knew that his crew felt uneasy about sailing into unknown waters for an unknown period of time. So he kept two logs for the journey. In the first, he recorded the distances traveled as he calculated them. In the second log, he deliberately entered shorter distances so his crew would think they were closer to home than they actually were.

This deception had an ironic twist, however. As it turns out, the phony mileage figures Columbus entered to soothe his nervous crew were more accurate than his “real” calculations. His “lies” had been closer to the mark than his “truth”!

In Valladolid, Spain, where Christopher Columbus died in 1506, stands a monument commemorating the great discoverer. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the memorial is a statue of a lion destroying one of the Latin words that had been part of Spain’s motto for centuries. Before Columbus made his voyages, the Spaniards thought they had reached the outer limits of earth. Thus their motto was “Ne Plus Ultra,” which means “No More Beyond.” The word being torn away by the lion is “ne” or “no,” making it read “Plus Ultra.” Columbus had proven that there was indeed “more beyond.”

Saturday

Supper at Bethany

Sunday

Disciples bring colt,

Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem,

Jesus in the city and temple,

Retirement to Bethany

Monday

The fig tree cursed,

Second cleansing of the temple

Tuesday

The last day in the temple,

Christ’s authority challenged,

Parable of the two sons,

Parable of the wicked husbandman,

Parable of the rejected stone,

Parable of the marriage feast,

The question of tribute to Caesar,

The question of the resurrection,

The greatest commandment,

David’s son and Lord,

Denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees,

Lament over Jerusalem,

The poor widow’s gift,

Greeks desire to see Jesus,

The Olivet Discourse,

Parables: The fig tree, The porter, The master of the house, The faithful and evil servants, The ten virgins, The talents, The sheep and the goats,

Judas bargains to betray Jesus

Wednesday

Day of quiet at Bethany

Thursday

Preparation for the Passover,

The Pascal meal and the Lord’s supper,

Jesus washed the disciples’ feet,

Judas signaled as the traitor,

Apostles warned against desertion,

The great upper room discourse (Jn. 13-17),

The agony in Gethsemane,

The betrayal and arrest,

Peter and the healing of Malchus’ ear

Friday

First Jewish trial - before Annas,

Second Jewish trial - before Caiaphas,

Third Jewish trial—before Sanhedrin,

Jesus declared His messiahship,

Jesus mocked; Peter’s denial and remorse,

First Roman trial - before Pilate,

Second Roman trial - before Herod,

Third Roman trial - before Pilate again,

Pilate handed over Jesus to the Jews,

Pilate again attempted to rescue Jesus,

Judas’ suicide,

The road to the cross,

On the cross:

First three hours: 9:00 to 12:00 a.m.

Three sayings: ‘Father forgive them...’

‘Today you will be with me in paradise’

‘Dear woman, here is your son’

Second three hours: 12:00-3:00 p.m.

Four sayings: ‘My God, my God...’

‘I am thirsty...’

‘It is finished’

‘Into your hands I commend my spirit’

Supernatural phenomena accompanying Jesus’ death:

Darkness, earthquake,

Rending of the temple veil,

Burial of the body in Joseph’s tomb

Saturday

Body in the tomb, spirit in Sheol

Sunday

The resurrection

Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it.

“I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day,” he recalled in his book Stress Fractures. “Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was become unbearable.

“I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, ‘Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin’ and I’ll tell you really fast.’

“Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, ‘Honey, you can tell me—and you don’t have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly.”

“I’ll never forget her answer: ‘Then listen slowly.’

Doctor George Crane, M.D., Ph. D., the clinical columnist in newspapers throughout North America, has calculated that when a married couple are active together in the same church they have about a 50 times greater chance of avoiding divorce; and that only one in 500 marriages breaks up where there is a family altar. . . Nine out of ten of both sexes attach maximum priority in life to a happy marriage.

A Christian once said to his minister, "I can worship God and enter into the Holy of Holies just as easily in my garden as I can in a church pew." Later on the two men were sitting before a fireplace in which the embers glowed cheerily. Silently the minister went to the fireplace, took the tongs, and lifted a single glowing coal from the fire and placed it alone on the hearth. Soon it became black ash. The church-neglecting Christian said, "Ah, you need not say a word. I understand what you mean. I cannot worship alone any more than I can live alone. I'll be in my place at the church next Sunday." The environment of the church is basic to Christian growth, providing it's the right kind of church. Ask yourself two questions before joining: Is Christ preeminent there? Is the Holy Spirit at work?

A young child in church was standing up on the pew, looking around and smiling. His mother grabbed him, shoved him back down into the pew, and walloped him on the legs. His mouth dropped open and he started to cry. She said, “That’s better; remember that you’re in church.”

There is a recent study that seems to affirm the effectiveness of this priority system by demonstrating that church dollars accomplish far more than television dollars.

Robert Polk, director of the Cooperative Program Promotion for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, came to this conclusion after analyzing the 1986 expenditures of leading TV ministries as compared to the Southern Baptist Convention. First, he studied how the $684 million given to six leading TV ministers was used. Beside paying for TV time, he discovered that the donations supported 4 schools, 1 hospital, 3 churches, 2 ministries to needy children, 1 ministry to others in need, and 1 home for unwed mothers.

He then studied how the $635 million given to the Southern Baptists was spent. The contrast is startling! For the Baptist donations supported 52 children’s homes, 48 hospitals (including 23 overseas), 67 colleges and universities (enrolling over 200,000 students), and 33 nursing homes; it also supported 3,756 foreign missionaries, 3,637 missionaries in the USA, and ministries to students on 1,100 campuses. These funds also supported six seminaries (enrolling a fifth of this country’s seminarians), and the ACTS television network carried on cable in many cities.

But what does he (Paul) wish them to learn? That no one be puffed up for his own teacher against another, that is, that they be not lifted up with pride on account of their teachers, and do not abuse their names for the purpose of forming parties, and rending the Church asunder. Observe, too, that pride or haughtiness is the cause and commencement of all contentions, when every one, assuming to himself more than he is entitled to do, is eager to have other in subjection to him.

An amusing news story from Wales told of a feud in a church looking for a new pastor. It read: “Yesterday the two opposition groups both sent ministers to the pulpit. Both spoke simultaneously, each trying to shout above the other. Both called for hymns, and the congregation sang two—each side trying to drown out the other. Then the groups began shouting at each other. Bibles were raised in anger. The Sunday morning service turned into a bedlam. Through it all, the two preachers continued trying to out shout each other with their sermons. “Eventually a deacon called a policeman. Two came in and shouting for the congregation to be quiet. They advised the forty persons in the church to return home. The rivals filed out, still arguing. Last night one of the group called a let’s-be-friends’ meeting. It broke up in argument.” The item was headlined, “Hallelujah! Two Jacks in One pulpit.” It could have been bannered, “Two Factions in One fellowship.”

A survey done by sociologists Glock and Stark found that among evangelicals, over half of their close friends are likely to belong to the same congregation, whereas among liberal churchgoers, such as Presbyterians and Congregationalists, few or none of their close friends are likely to be members of their local church.

A woman took her two small boys and a daughter to see Peter Pan at the matinee one Saturday afternoon. The tickets were two dollars and fifty cents each. The young daughter watched as the mother pushed ten one dollar bills under the window and received four tickets.

The next day the same mother and daughter were at church. When the collection was taken the child saw her mother open her purse, take out a quarter, and put it in the plate as it passed them.

The little girl looked up at her mother and in a clear stage whisper which everyone around could hear said, "Mother, church is a lot cheaper than a movie, isn't it?"

Football in the fall.

Basketball in the winter.

Baseball in the spring and summer.

This pastor has been an avid sports fan all his life.

But I’ve had it! I quit this sports business once and for all.

You can’t get me near one of those places again.

Want to know why...

Every time I went, they asked me for money.

The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly.

The seats were too hard and not at all comfortable.

I went to many games, but the coach never came to call on me.

The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.

I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites –

they came to see their friends and what others were wearing rather than to see the game.

Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.

The band played some numbers that I had never heard before.

It seems that the games are scheduled when I want to do other things.

I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up.

I don’t want to take my children to any games, because I want

them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.

Yet membership in a confessing body is fundamental to the faithful Christian life. Failure to do so defies the explicit warning not to forsake “our assembling together.” His understanding of this prompted Martin Luther to say, “Apart from the church, salvation is impossible.” Not that the church provides salvation; God does. But because the “saved” one can’t fulfill what it means to be a Christian apart from the church, membership becomes the indispensable mark of salvation.

“So highly does the Lord esteem the communion of His church,” Calvin wrote,” that He considers everyone a traitor and apostate from religion who perversely withdraws himself from any Christian society which preserves the true ministry of the word and sacraments.”

Name of a church seen in Michigan, “Original Church of God, Number Two.”

To avoid offending anybody, the school dropped religion altogether and started singing about the weather. At my son’s school, they now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly nonmemorable songs such as “Winter Wonderland,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and—this is a real song—”Suzy Snowflake,” all of which is pretty funny because we live in Miami.

A visitor from another planet would assume that the children belonged to the Church of Meteorology.

A young man left the church of his parents for another church. Someone asked, "What was the matter with the church you left?" "Nothing," he answered, "except they do a lot more for a fellow at the church where I'm going. They give you a splendid present at Christmas, a social with refreshments once a month, and a chance to get in with folk who can help you socially." That was his idea of the mission of the Church. It was not long, however, before he changed churches again. The same man asked him why. "Oh, they did not re-elect me president of the social league of the church, and I won't stand for being slighted." That is what Paul would call a carnal Christian.

There’s little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched. There’s as much pilferage and dishonesty among the churched as the unchurched. And I’m afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing. People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression—but it doesn’t have primacy in determining behavior.

“Pollster George H. Gallup, Jr. says 70 percent of Americans believe most churches and synagogues are not effective in helping people find meaning in life.”

He said the ongoing vitality of American religious congregations depends, in large measure, on their effectiveness in resounding to six spiritual needs of Americans as identified in his surveys.

Consider the six needs he discovered in his survey:

1. To believe life is meaningful and has a purpose.

2. To have sense of community and deeper relationships.

3. To be appreciated and respected.

4. To be listened to—and heard.

5. To feel that one is growing in the faith.

6. To have practical help in developing a mature faith.

This is a powerful indictment of the tepid, culture-

soaked style of church life in our generation. It is astonishing

to discover that 70 percent of Americans are now disillusioned

with the traditional church! I have been following this Gallup

survey for years, and the trend of American cynicism grows with

each passing year.

(Gallup’s report is in the 1992 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, Abingdon Press.)

During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.

During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly same many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.

It was F. B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.

A woman’s red station wagon was crushed by an elephant at a circus. The owners of the animal apologized, explaining that the animal, for some reason, simply liked to sit on red cars. In spite of the damage, the woman’s car was still drivable. But on the way to the garage she was stopped short by an accident involving two other cars just ahead of her. When the ambulance arrived a few minutes later the attendants took one look at her car, then ran over to assist her. “Oh, I wasn’t involved in this accident,” she explained. “An elephant sat on my car.” The ambulance attendants quickly bundled her off to the hospital for possible shock and head injuries, despite the lady’s vehement protests.

Let us not be like that archbishop who one day was overhead swearing. A peasant who stood by seemed to wonder greatly at his conduct. "I swear," said the archbishop, "not as an archbishop, but as a citizen." "But sir," said the peasant, "when the citizen goes to perdition, what will become of the archbishop?" How will God judge us when we appear before His throne? Will it be for what we said in church while praying or preaching, or what we said to our fellow human beings?

The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, was addressing the final breakfast meeting of NAE’s Federal Seminar for Christian collegians. Her comments were forceful and on target. Suddenly she shifted gears: “How many Polish people...” she began. For a split second my mind raced. She wouldn’t be about to tell an ethnic joke, would she? Of course not; she’s not that kind of person, and besides, she’s too intelligent to destroy her career with that kind of humor.

Then I heard her complete the question: “How many Polish people does it take to turn the world around?” Pause. “One, if his name is Lech Walesa.” Ahhh! What a beautiful twist. The frequently maligned Polish people got a magnificent compliment. One of their shipyard workers becomes an independent trade union leader whose courage and humble effectiveness results in his country’s first free election in forty years and the installation of the first eastern bloc non-communist prime minister in decades. That one man helped change the course of Eastern European history.

But let’s move back to American politics. In the summer of 1983, a teenager by the name of Lisa Bender of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, struck a giant blow for the cause of religious liberty in the United States. As a high school student in Williamsport, Lisa wanted to begin a prayer club. When officials refused her that right, she took them to court. With the help of Sam Ericsson and the Christian Legal Society, she won. Her victory in court then prompted legislators to design and sign into law the Equal Access Act.

The lesson is simple. One high school student, faithful to her convictions, moved Congress to act. In a similar situation, Bridget Mergens of Omaha, Nebraska, ultimately forced the Supreme Court to vindicate her religious free speech rights, ruling that public high schools must treat all non-curriculum related student groups alike. Lisa and Bridget. Two high school girls. Acting one at a time.

In the early years of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln became so angered at the inactivity of Union commander George McClellan that the president wrote his commanding general this one-sentence letter: “If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while. Respectfully, A. Lincoln.”

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was reminded one day of a vicious deed that someone had done to her years before. But she acted as if she had never even heard of the incident.

“Don’t you remember it?” her friend asked.

“No,” came Barton’s reply, “I distinctly remember forgetting it.”

One day in 1956, songwriter Johnny Mercer received a letter from Sadie Vimmerstedt, a widowed grandmother who worked behind a cosmetics counter in Youngstown, Ohio. Vimmerstedt suggested Mercer write a song called “I Want to Be Around to Pick Up the Pieces When Somebody Breaks Your Heart.” Five years later, Mercer got in touch to say he’d written the song and that Tony Bennett would record it.

Today, if you look at the label on any recording of “I Wanna Be Around,” you’ll notice that the credits for words and music are shared by Johnny Mercer and Sadie Vimmerstedt. The royalties were split 50-50, too, thanks to which Vimmerstedt and her heirs have earned more than $100,000. In my opinion, Mercer’s generosity was a class act. By “class act,” I mean any behavior so virtuous that it puts normal behavior to shame.

It was a class act, for instance, when Alexander Hamilton aimed high and fired over Aaron Burr’s head.

Benjamin Geggenhiem performed a class act on the Titanic when he gave his life jacket to a woman passenger and then put on white tie and tails so he could die “like a gentleman.”

That same year, 1912, Capt, Lawrence Oates became so frostbitten and lame on Robert Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Rather than delay the others in their desperate trek back from the Pole, he went to the opening of the tent one night and said, “I am just going outside and may be some time.” He thereupon walked to his death in a blizzard. Certainly a class act.

On the stage, the tradition that the show must go on has produced a number of class acts. Katharine Hepburn and Orson Welles have both appeared onstage in wheelchairs. During the run of The King and I, Gertrude Lawrence was dying of cancer but told no one. When she missed a series of performances, the producers wrote her lawyers, suggesting she was faking illness. They warned that if this continued, she would forfeit her share of the profits. The letter arrived on a Monday; Gertrude Lawrence had died over the weekend.

It was a class act of a different order, but a class act nonetheless, for writer Laurence Housman to take off his jacket at a proper English tea party so that a man who had just arrived in shirt sleeves would not feel embarrassed.

Even simple good sportsmanship can rise to the level of class act, as it did with tennis player Mats Wilander in the semifinals of the 1982 French Open. At match point, a shot by Wilander’s opponent was ruled out. Wilander walked over to the umpire and said, “I can’t win like this. The ball was good.” The point was played over, and Wilander won fair and square.

A preacher, one Sunday morning, noticed a man in the congregation in his Sunday best. In the evening that same man was there in working clothes. The preacher afterward spoke to him. "Are you going to work?" "No," was the reply, "but this morning something was said that stirred me to go and seek my brother. I knew he had no Sunday clothes, and I knew he would not come if I put on my Sunday clothes. So I put on my working clothes for him, and here he is."

A close friend of mine was asked back to his forty-year high school reunion. For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he’d left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him.

One night before he left he even pulled out his old yearbooks, read the silly statements and the good wishes for the future that students write to each other. He wondered what ol’ Number 86 from his football team had done. He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had. The day came to leave and I drove them to the airport. Their energy was almost contagious. “I’ll pick you up on Sunday evening, and you can tell me all about it,” I said. “Have a great time.”

Sunday evening arrived. As I watched them get off the plane, my friend seemed almost despondent. I almost didn’t want to ask, but finally I said, “Well, how was the reunion?” “Tim,” the man said, “it was one of the saddest experiences of my life.” “Good grief,” I said, more than a little surprised. “What happened?” “It wasn’t what happened but what didn’t happen. It has been forty years, forty years—and they haven’t changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs...but they hadn’t really changed. And what I experienced was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons I can’t fully understand, it seems as though some people choose not to change.

There was a long silence as we walked back to the car. On the drive home, he turned to me and said, “I never, never want that to be said of me, Tim. Life is too precious, too sacred, too important. If you ever see me go stagnant like that, I hope you give me a quick, swift kick where I need it—for Christ’s sake. I hope you’ll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing.”

A certain man's garage is attached to his house. It's a wonderful convenience in inclement weather, but it's also a terrible temptation because all winter whenever he doe not know what to do with something, he puts it in the garage. Usually by March he is so ashamed of his garage that he doesn't want to open it up to the neighborhood.

By contrast, his neighbor keeps his garage spotlessly clean. He is one of those people who has a place for everything and keeps everything in its place. He has hangers for his shovel, his hammers, his screwdrivers, and his rakes. He paints his garage floor, and he actually vacuums his driveway. About mid-March the contrast finally gets to the first man, and he finally says, "This Saturday I'm going to tackle the garage." He gets up early in the morning, opens the door, tears into it, and by 4:00 in the afternoon, he has thrown half of it away. Then he gets all the rest organized, and feels absolutely fulfilled. In fact, he leaves his garage door open for three weeks so that everybody in the neighborhood can see how good it looks! But by that time, it's starting to look a little tacky again.

Biblical happiness is a life without the junk and clutter that a self-oriented life deposits in our spirits. It is a sense of well-being, cleanliness, and organization. It is to live an organized life so that there is the inner sense of well-being that harmony provides.

The deity of the Holy Spirit ought to be clearly recognized in Scripture. Look at these facts:

Christ is born; the Spirit is His forerunner.

Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears witness.

Christ is tempted; the Spirit leads Him up.

Christ ascends; the Spirit takes His place.

What great things are there in the character of God which are not found in the Spirit? What titles which belong to God are not also applied to Him? He is called:

the Spirit of God

the Spirit of Christ

the mind of Christ

the Spirit of the Lord

the Spirit of adoption

the Spirit of truth

the Spirit of liberty

the Spirit of wisdom

the Spirit of understanding

the Spirit of counsel

the Spirit of might

the Spirit of knowledge

the Spirit of godliness

the Spirit of the fear of God

This only begins to show how unlimited He is.

- Gregory of Nazianzus

It is important for the pastor and congregation to have a clear understanding of their respective responsibilities and expectations. One of the best such covenants we’ve encountered was written by Dr. Hayes Wicker upon his call to the First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida. Note also the insightful way this defines the character of the church.

Covenant Understanding Between Pastor and People

1. We must discover the activity of God and adjust to it. It will be unique to First Baptist Naples.

2. Undergird everything with prayer.

3. We must walk by faith. Think big not small. (“With God nothing is impossible.”)

4. The bottom line is not “can we afford it?” but “is it God’s will?” (Where He guides He provides.)

5. Everything should be done in the light of this mission statement, “To know Christ and to make Him known.” (We glorify God by reaching people.)

6. All matters should be subjected to the Scriptures. (The issue is truth not tradition or convenience.)

7. The Church is a hospital for sinners not a country club for saints.

8. Problems will be dealt with, not ignored.

9. Hard work is necessary. (William Carey said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”)

10. Strive for week-long and year-long ministry (not just Sunday or the season).

11. There must be constant adjustment for growth. We cannot get overly comfortable. We must create new Bible study units, new ministries, and constantly improve the quality of education.

12. Recognizing that most people have limited time for church, then we must maximize time and do the most important.

13. Ministry is more important than meeting (committees, etc.).

14. Each Christian should discover his/her gift, passion and ministry.

15. We must seek to understand our cultural context and minister to it (baby-boomers, Florida leisure lifestyle, etc.).

16. We should strive for quality and excellence in every area (appearance, music, publication, etc.)

17. The Pastor and staff should be allowed to initiate and lead with trust, support and prayers of the church.

18. Criticism, murmuring and slander must not be allowed to disrupt the fellowship. The Deacons act as peacemakers.

19. We must recognize the need for additional staff to equip believers. (Rarely does a church have too many staff. They pay their way.) This involves more ministers and support personnel.

20. The family must be strengthened, not undermined.

21. Outreach must be the priority.

22. We must be vitally concerned with meeting needs and healing hurts through ministries and developing relationships.

23. Biblical doctrine is non-negotiable; methods are open to evaluation.

24. Since all sin and make mistakes, an attitude and atmosphere of grace must abound.

25. We must seek to develop a lighthouse ministry to all of Southwest Florida.

A story I heard personally from Malcolm Muggeridge (that stirred me then and still does even yet) was his account of a conversation he had with Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Josef Stalin. She spent some time with Muggeridge in his home in England while they were working together on their BBC production on the life of her father. According to Svetlana, as Stalin lay dying, plagued with terrifying hallucinations, he suddenly sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fist toward the heavens once more, fell back upon his pillow, and was dead.

The incredible irony of his whole life is that at one time Josef Stalin had been a seminary student, preparing for the ministry. Coming of Nietzschean age, he made a decisive break from his belief in God. This dramatic and complete reversal of conviction that resulted in his hatred for all religion is why Lenin had earlier chosen Stalin and positioned him in authority—a choice Lenin too late regretted. (The name Stalin, which means “steel,” was not his real name, but was given to him by his contemporaries who fell under the steel-like determination of his will.) And as Stalin lay dying, his one last gesture was a clenched fist toward God, his heart as cold and hard as steel.

A study of 301 clergy revealed: 66% feel lonely and isolated, 80% sometimes experience feelings of futility, and 90% suffer stress because of problems with parishioners. Many are tired after a 55-hour week, but most say they are 95% satisfied with their work.

Consider the following sobering survey results of the personal and professional lives of the clergy:

90% of pastors work more than 46 hours a week

80% believed that pastoral ministry affected their families negatively

33% said that being in ministry was an outright hazard to their family

75% reported a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry

50% felt unable to meet the needs of the job

90% felt they were inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands

70% say they have a lower self-esteem now than when they started out

40% reported a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month

37% confessed having been involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church

70% do not have someone they consider a close friend

Several years ago a professor at the University of Pennsylvania was know for giving boring, cliché-ridden lectures. At the beginning of one semester, an innovative class breathed new life into his course by assigning baseball plays to each hackneyed phrase. For example, “on the other hand” was a base hit; “by the same token” was a strikeout; “and so on” was a stolen base. Divided into two teams by the center aisle of the lecture hall, the students throughout the term played inning after inning of silent but vigorous baseball. On the last day of class, the impossible happened—the score was tied, the bases were loaded and the batter hit a home run! The winning team stood and cheered wildly. Though deeply appreciative, the professor was quoted later as having wondered why only one-half of the students had been enthusiastic about his lectures.

Is your significance tied too closely to achievements—building buildings, reaching business goals, acquiring material possessions, climbing career ladders? There’s nothing inherently wrong with these. But if you lost them, would your confidence completely crumble? If your sense of worth depends on them, what happens when you reach the top of the ladder, only to discover that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall?

The problem is that our world has a system of values that is upside down from the way God determines value. It lacks any sense of what Scripture describes as “calling,” or what Christians later termed “vocation”—a perspective that God has called and equipped people to serve Him through their work in the world. Instead, our culture encourages us to climb a work/identity ladder that is ultimately self-serving, and often self-destructive.

Climbing that ladder can be very misleading. The higher one goes, the more one’s identity, value, and security tend to depend on the nature of one’s work. But what happens if we lose our position, titles, or high-level compensation? Perhaps this explains why severe emotional problems—drug and alcohol abuse, abuse of spouse and children, divorce, even suicide—often accompany job loss. If our significance relies on our job, then it dies with our job.

God calls us to a far more stable basis for significance. He wants us to establish our identity in the fact that we are His children, created by Him to carry out good works as responsible people in His kingdom (Eph. 2:10). This is our calling or vocation from God. According to Scripture, our calling:

is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).

is from God; He wants to let us share in Christ’s glory (2 Thess. 2:14).

is a function of how God has designed us (Eph. 2:10).

is an assurance that God will give us everything we need to serve Him, including the strength to remain faithful to Him (1 Cor. 1:7-9).

is what we should be proclaiming as our true identity (1 Pet. 2:5, 9).

carries us through suffering (1 Pet. 2:19-21).

is rooted in peace, no matter what the circumstances in which we find ourselves (1 Cor. 7:15-24).

is focused on eternal achievements, not merely temporal ones (Phil. 3:13—4:1).

Above all else, believers are called to character development, service to others, and loyalty to God. These can be accomplished wherever we live or work, whatever our occupational status or position in society. If we pursue these, we can enjoy great satisfaction and significance. No matter what happens on the job, we can join Paul in saying, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

During his days as guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary, R. B. Kuiper once used the following illustration of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility:

“I liken them to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If I wish to support myself by them, I must cling to them both. If I cling only to one and not the other, I go down.

“I read the many teachings of the Bible regarding God’s election, predestination, his chosen, and so on, I read also the many teachings regarding, ‘whosoever will may come’ and urging people to exercise their responsibility as human beings. These seeming contradictions cannot be reconciled by the puny human mind. With childlike faith, I cling to both ropes, fully confident that in eternity I will see that both strands of truth are, after all, of one piece.”

A Universal executive dismissed both Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds at a meeting in 1959. To Burt Reynolds: “You have no talent.” To Clint Eastwood: “You have a chip on your tooth, your Adam’s apple sticks out too far, and you talk too slow.”

There was the man who heard that three-fourths of all accidents happen within ten miles of home, so he moved.

John McKay, of the NFL, tells a story illustrating the supreme confidence of University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant:

“We were out shooting ducks, and finally, after about three hours, here comes one lonely duck. The Bear fires. And that duck is still flying today. But Bear watched the duck flap away, looked at me and said, ‘John, you are witnessing a genuine miracle. There flies a dead duck!’”

In 1988, I was playing for the Seahawks against my old team, the 49ers, when I learned first-hand that there are two competing value systems. Now, I wasn’t bitter that my old team had traded me, but I wanted to beat it, all the same. Dave Krieg had been injured, and I was to start. I had a great week of practice and felt totally prepared. I entered the Kingdome in Seattle brimming with excitement. I envisioned leading my team to victory and establishing myself as the Seahawks’ starter.

Coming out of the pregame meal, one of the offensive coaches put his arm around me and strongly affirmed his faith in me. “I want you to know how happy I am that you are the Seahawk quarterback. I’ve been waiting for this day.”

I felt honored, valued, esteemed. This was going to be a great day!

Well, we ran the ball in our first two possessions, and we didn’t gain much. On third down and eight, I threw to Hall of Famer Steve Largent. He split two defenders. There was tight coverage. I hit him right in the hands, and yet he dropped the ball. Next to Jerry Rice, Steve is, statistically speaking, the greatest receiver in history. He is also one of my best friends. But all I could do at that moment was chuckle and moan, “Steve, what’s the matter? You never drop the ball. Why are you doing this to me?”

After that Steve didn’t make any mistakes. I did. In fact, I played the worst game of my life. At the end of the first half, the 49ers were ahead 28-0. Every person in the Kingdome, with the exception of my wife (and there isn’t even a witness to vouch for her), was booing me. Have you ever heard nearly sixty thousand people booing you? It’s quite an experience.

As I came off the field at half-time, I knew that I might be benched. But I wasn’t defeated. Ever since I had been a small boy, my father had been drumming into my head Winston Churchill’s brave words to the students at Harrow School in the dark days of 1941: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

I waded through the players to find the coach who had been so supportive before the game. I wanted to discuss some offensive strategies that might turn things around in the second half. As I approached him and began, “Coach—” he turned his back on me without a word. Then he called to another quarterback, put his arm around him, and began to discuss plays he would run in the second half.

Now, I understood that I was being taken out of the game. That made sense. I was hoping it wouldn’t happen, but I understood. But that coach didn’t say one word to me for the rest of the game, even though we stood next to each other on the sidelines. Nor did he say anything on Monday when we watched the game films. For about a month, there was complete rejection. He simply couldn’t deal with the fact that I hadn’t lived up to his hopes, that I hadn’t helped the team succeed. He rejected me relationally because my performance fell short.

Years ago, my father coached a team of eight-year-olds. He had a few excellent players, and some who just couldn’t get the hang of the game. Dad’s team didn’t win once all season. But in the last inning of the last game, his team was only down by a run. There was one boy who had never been able to hit the ball—or catch it. With two outs, it was his turn to bat. He surprised the world and got a single!

The next batter was the team slugger. Finally, Dad’s players might win a game. The slugger connected, and as the boy who hit the single ran to second, he saw the ball coming toward him. Not so certain of baseball’s rules, he caught it. Final out! Dad’s team lost!

Quickly, my father told his team to cheer. The boy beamed. It never occurred to him that he lost the game. All he knew was he had hit the ball and caught it—both for the first time.His parents later thanked my dad. Their child had never even gotten in a game before that season. We never told the boy exactly what happened. We didn’t want to ruin it for him. And till this day, I’m proud of what my father did that afternoon.

Josiah Wedgwood, English maker of the famous Wedgwood pottery, was showing a nobleman through his factory one day. One of Wedgwood’s employees, a young boy, was accompanying them. The nobleman was profane and vulgar. At first, the boy was shocked by his irreverence; then he became fascinated by the man’s coarse jokes and laughed at them.

Wedgwood was deeply distressed. At the conclusion of the tour, he showed the nobleman a vase of unique design. The man was charmed by its exquisite shape and rare beauty. As he reached for it, Mr. Wedgwood purposely let it fall to the floor. The nobleman uttered an angry oath and said, “I wanted that vase for my collection, and you have ruined it by your carelessness!” Wedgwood answered, “Sir, there are other ruined things more precious than a vase which can never be restored. You can never give back to that young man, who just left us, the reverence for sacred things which his parents have tried to teach him for years. You have undone their labor in less than half an hour!”

When John Belushi died in the spring of 1983 of an overdose of cocaine and heroin, a variety of articles appeared, including one in U.S. News And World Report, on the seductive dangers of cocaine:

“It can do you no harm and it can drive you insane; it can give you status in society and it can wreck your career; it can make you the life of the party and it can turn you into a loner; it can be an elixir for high living and a potion for death.”

Like all sin, there’s a difference between the appearance and the reality, between the momentary feeling and the lasting effect.

Unraveling the Big Questions About God, K. Boa, Zondervan, 1988, pp. 41ff

A church that loved good fellowship always served coffee after the sermon. The pastor asked a little boy if he knew why they served the coffee. "I think," said the boy, "it is to get the people wide awake before they drive home."

The Journal of Marriage and Family reported that couples who live together before marriage are less satisfied with their marriages and more likely to split up during rocky times.

Percentage of previously cohabiting married couples who divorce within 10 years: (38%).

Percentage of married couples previously living separately who divorce within 10 years: (27%).

Do marriages last longer if the couple lives together first? No.

A recent study suggests that couples who live together are over 33 percent more likely to divorce. Unmarried couples who cohabit seem not to feel as “bound” by their vows later on.

If we can preach Christ crucified and remain altogether unmoved, we must have a hard heart indeed. More to be feared than emotion is cold professionalism, the dry, detached utterance of a lecture which has neither heart nor soul in it. Do man’s peril and Christ’s salvation mean so little to us that we feel no warmth rise within us as we think about them”? Very different was Richard Baxter, who wrote in his Reformed Pastor (1656):

‘I marvel how I can preach…slightly and coldly, how I can let men alone in their sins and that I do not go to them and beseech them for the Lord’s sake to repent, however they take it and whatever pains or trouble it should cost me. I seldom come out of the pulpit but my conscience smiteth me that I have been no more serious and fervent. It accuseth me not so much for want of human ornaments or elegance, nor for letting fall an uncomely word; but it asketh me: “How could’st thou speak of life and death with such a heart? Should’st thou not weep over such a people, and should not thy tears interrupt thy words? Should’st not thou cry aloud and shew them their transgressions and entreat and beseech them as for life and death?”

The man huddled on the cabin floor was slowly freezing to death. It was high in the Rockies in southwestern Alberta, and outside a blizzard raged. John Elliott had logged miles that day through the deep snows of the mountain passes. As he checked for avalanches and as dusk and exhaustion overcame him he had decided to “hole-up.” He made it wearily to his cabin but somewhat dazed with fatigue, he did not light a fire or remove his wet clothing.

As the blizzard blasted through the cracks in the old cabin walls, the sleeping forest ranger sank into oblivion, paralyzed by the pleasure of the storm’s icy caress. Suddenly, however, his dog sprang into action, and with unrelenting whines, finally managed to rouse his near-comatose friend. The dog was John’s constant companion, a St. Bernard, one of a long line of dogs famous for their heroics in times of crisis. “If that dog hadn’t been with me, I’d be dead today,” John Elliott says. “When you’re freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and don’t wake up because it feels too good.

This moving story illustrates the spiritual condition of many people today. They are cold spiritually, and sadly are oblivious of their true condition. Thank God for all the ways in which He arouses such sleepers. He sends His messengers to nudge them awake. Sometimes the methods used to awaken them are drastic, but always for their good. Let us not imagine that because He shakes us, He therefore hates us. He awakens us from lethargy because He loves us, and wants to save us from an eternal death. When we were “ready to perish” (Isaiah 27:13), He was “ready to save” (Isaiah 38:20). Trust your life in His hand.

From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart.

“Stay in school,” he admonished, “and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.” At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.” Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.