the <>Sixth Sunday after Easter
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A store manager heard his clerk tell a customer, “No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.”
Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, “Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.”
Then the manager drew the clerk aside. “Never,” he snarled, “Never, never, never say we’re out of anything—say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming.
Now, what was it she wanted?”
“Rain,” said the clerk.
While Lincoln was a poor young lawyer in Springfield, he was going to his office one morning when he saw a little girl crying at the door of one of the houses. Lincoln stopped to see what was the matter. She sobbed out her story. She was going to visit a little friend of hers in another town. It was to be her first ride on the train, and the expressman had not come for the trunk.
Mr. Lincoln lifted the trunk onto his shoulders and started off, calling to the little girl to "come along." They just caught the train. No wonder the little girl never forgot him! A great, brave, noble man he was-never too busy to be kind.
One of my superstitions has always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop until the thing intended was accomplished.
About half of the Americans who are familiar with the New Age movement don’t take its teachings seriously, and a third of them say New Age thought runs counter to Judeo-Christian teaching, says a new poll by the Princeton Religious Research Center.
The poll also shows that the general population’s awareness of the New Age is low, but the number of Americans who adhere to New Age practices is alarmingly high, even among professing Christians. “Many who consider themselves good Christians nonetheless have engaged in practices that seemingly are counter to the teaching of their church,” the pollsters said.
Roughly half of all Americans say they believe in extrasensory perception.
Thirty percent of Roman Catholics and 22 percent of Protestants say they believe in clairvoyance, while 48 percent of Roman Catholics and 44 percent of Protestants say they believe in psychic healing, the poll shows.
The poll indicates that 25 percent of both groups believe the movement of the stars may help govern the affairs of men and women.
When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school.
That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it.
“Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?” He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.”
1. About half of the Americans who are familiar with the New Age movement don’t take its teachings seriously, and a third of them say New Age thought runs counter to Judeo-Christian teaching, says a new poll by the Princeton Religious Research Center.
2. The poll also shows that the general population’s awareness of the New Age is low, but the number of Americans who adhere to New Age practices is alarmingly high, even among professing Christians. “Many who consider themselves good Christians nonetheless have engaged in practices that seemingly are counter to the teaching of their church,” the pollsters said.
3. Roughly half of all Americans say they believe in extrasensory perception. Thirty percent of Roman Catholics and 22 percent of Protestants say they believe in clairvoyance, while 48 percent of Roman Catholics and 44 percent of Protestants say they believe in psychic healing, the poll shows. The poll indicates that 25 percent of both groups believe the movement of the stars may help govern the affairs of men and women.
President Clinton named Kristine Gebbie, a lesbian, as the new AIDS czar. Four months later she spelled out her perceptions on traditional morality. She said,
[The United States] needs to view human sexuality as an essentially important and pleasurable thing. [Until it does so], we will continue to be a repressed, Victorian society that misrepresents information, denies homosexual sexuality particularly in teens, and leaves people abandoned with no place to go. I can help just a little bit in my job, standing on the White House lawn talking about sex with no lightning bolts falling on my head."
New Covenant: Nothing coming from me, everything from God.
Old Covenant: Everything coming from me, nothing from God.
The new birth or regeneration is an inner recreating of fallen human nature by the Holy Spirit. It changes the disposition from lawless, godless self-seeking into one of trust and love, of repentance for past rebelliousness and unbelief, and loving compliance with God’s law henceforth. It enlightens the blinded mind to discern spiritual realities and liberates and energizes the enslaved will for free obedience to God.
The use of the figure of new birth to describe this change emphasizes two facts about it. The first is its decisiveness. The regenerate man has forever ceased to be the man he was; his old life is over and a new life has begun; he is a new creature in Christ, buried with him out of reach of condemnation and raised with him into a new life of righteousness.
The second fact emphasized is that regeneration is due to the free, and to us, mysterious, exercise of divine power. Infants do not induce or cooperate in their own procreation and birth; no more can those who are dead in trespasses and sins prompt the quickening operation of God’s Spirit within them.
The Roman philosopher, Seneca, wrote to his friend Lucullus: "My wife has a moronic child, Harpasti, who suddenly became blind. What I am about to tell you will be difficult to believe, but it is true. We cannot make her understand that she has become blind and that no change in her environment will help her. She insists that her nurse take her to a house where it is not dark. It seems to me," continued the philosopher, "that what has happened to her is happening to all of us. Not one of us realizes that he is both miserable and vengeful."
A small town had experienced rapid growth, and the local church congregation had outgrown their building. The members formed a committee to plan and build a new church. The committee told the minister to take care of the flock and they would handle the details of church construction. The minister complied with the request and kept his distance.
As the new building was nearing completion, the committee chairman invited the minister to view their new house of worship. Entering through the main doors, the minister noted only the last row of pews had been installed.
“Since people always fill the last row of pews first, we had a special feature installed,” the chairman said. He pressed a button on the wall and the pew moved forward and another popped up. The minister was impressed.
The big day finally arrived for the first service in the new church. The minister peeked out as the pews filled from the back and then moved forward. He was ecstatic.
When the time came for the sermon, the mister was so filled with joy and goodwill, he delivered his prepared message and then some.
At 12 o’clock, he was still sharing the good word when the church bells began to ring...and the pulpit and the minister slowly descended from view.
Queen Victoria once paid a visit to a paper mill. The foreman showed her and her attendant over the works without knowing who his distinguished visitor was. She finally went into the rag-sorting shop where men were employed in picking out the rags from the refuse of the city. Upon inquiring what was done with this dirty mass of rags, she was told that, sorted out, it would make the finest white paper. After her departure, the foreman found out who it was that had paid the visit. Some time later, Her Majesty received a package of the most delicate white stationery having the Queen's likeness for a watermark, with the intimation that it was made from the dirty rags she had inspected. That illustrates Christ's work in us. He takes us, filthy as we are, and makes us into new creatures. Receiving Christ is becoming Christ's. After receiving Him, we are as different from what we were before as pure white paper is from the filthy rags from which it was made.
Christ has brought a new attitude toward death. He has invested it with a beauty, a peacefulness and a glory unknown before. This is what caused a Greek by the name of Aristeides to marvel, when trying to explain to one of his friends the reasons for the extraordinary success of Christianity. In a letter written about a.d. 125, he said: "If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby." Those believers who are gone before are not lost, not separated from us permanently; they are only waiting in another place nearby for us to join them again.
Yea, “new every morning,” though we may awake,
Our hearts with old sorrow beginning to ache;
With old work unfinished when night stayed our hand
With new duties waiting, unknown and unplanned;
With old care still pressing, to fret and to vex,
With new problems rising, our minds to perplex
In ways long familiar, in paths yet untrod,
Oh, new every morning the mercies of God!
His faithfulness fails not; it meets each new day
New guidance for every new step of the way;
New grace for new trials, new trust for old fears,
New patience for bearing the wrongs of the years,
New strength for new burdens, new courage for old,
New faith for whatever the day may unfold;
As fresh for each need as the dew on the sod;
Oh, new every morning the mercies of God!
- Annie Johnson Flint
If I had a car with the engine that was ready for the grave, I’d have a new engine put in. I’d take the car into a mechanic who would put it in for me. If when I got that car back, it ran just as poorly, I’d begin to wonder if the old really had been replaced or just cleaned up. It is not different with our new lives in Christ.
When George B. McClellan was commissioned Major General of the Army, he wrote his wife, “I don’t feel any different than I did yesterday. Indeed, I have not yet put on my new uniform. I am sure that I am in command of the Union Army, however, because President Lincoln’s order to that effect now lies before me.”
New Sick Leave Policy
1. SICKNESS: No excuse. We will no longer accept your doctor’s statement as proof, as we believe that if you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
2. LEAVE OF ABSENCE (for an operation): We are no longer allowing this practice. We wish to discourage any thought that you may have about needing an operation. We believe that as long as you are employed here, you will need all of whatever you have and should not consider having anything removed. We hired you as you are and to have anything removed would certainly make you less than we bargained for.
3. DEATH (other than your own): This is no excuse. There is nothing you can do for them, and we are sure that someone else in a lesser position can attend to the arrangements. However, if the funeral can be held in late afternoon, we will be glad to let you off one hour early, provided your share of work is ahead enough to keep the job going in your absence.
4. DEATH (your own): This will be accepted as an excuse, but we would like a two-week notice, as we feel it is your duty to teach someone else your job.
New Restroom Policy
Too much time is being spent in the Restroom. In the future, we will follow the practice of going to the Restroom in alphabetical order. For instance, those whose names begin with ‘A’ will go from 8 A.M., ‘B’ will go from 8:05 A.M. to 8:10 A.M., and so on. If you are unable to go at your time, it will be necessary to wait until the day when your turn comes around again.
Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.
The treasures of His grace are never exhausted. In the realm of the spirit there is something that stirs within man, a deep-rooted instinct for seeking. God has hidden His treasures in the difficult and arduous ways of experience. Experience contains precious treasures that men find only as they journey faithfully along life's hazardous road. When we conquer and overcome, we find a treasure of God in the conquest of a certain sin, in the overcoming of a great temptation; we find the hidden manna which may be fresh courage, new strength to overcome another temptation that has harassed us for a long time. New strength and new joy are ours through conquest. In the midst of this difficult way of discovering new things about life, men learn to tackle it with new equipment and new determination. The story told by a certain man can be echoed by most of us: "I wrestled," he said, "all night, in the grip of a fearful sin that was slowly dragging my soul to hell. All through the night the fearful battle raged, and I felt that my soul was lost; but with the coming of the dawn there shone a light brighter than the dawn. The Son of Man was at my side and the temptation was thrust from me in His strength. I arose from my knees, strengthened in body and soul, and prepared to meet anything that might come my way." You and I have wrestled like that man and have found new power and new joy when we have conquered a temptation in the power of God. The man of faith can find, if only he will seek, the promise of a glorious dawn even in the darkest night.
Former president Ronald Reagan once had an aunt who took him to a cobbler for a pair of new shoes. The cobbler asked young Reagan, “Do you want square toes or round toes?” Unable to decide, Reagan didn’t answer, so the cobbler gave him a few days.
Several days later the cobbler saw Reagan on the street and asked him again what kind of toes he wanted on his shoes. Reagan still couldn’t decide, so the shoemaker replied, “Well, come by in a couple of days. Your shoes will be ready.” When the future president did so, he found one square-toed and one round-toed shoe! “This will teach you to never let people make decisions for you,” the cobbler said to his indecisive customer.
“I learned right then and there,” Reagan said later, “if you don’t make your own decisions, someone else will.”
In New York City in 1943, 3% of all births were illegitimate. There were 44 homicides by gunshot. In 1992, 1499 died of gunshot. 45% of births in 1993 were illegitimate. Nationwide, nearly 30% of all babies today come home fatherless, 68% in Washington D.C. It is as if we have been pushed through a time warp, dropped down a black hole. One woman who confronted the change starkly is a Los Angeles school teacher who left the system many years ago to raise her own children. On her first day back this fall, she began class with the traditional, “Good morning, students!” only to be greeted by a shout of “Shut up, b——” and laughter.
The following 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.
One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this unexpected “delivery service,” I fed him some treats. The following morning I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers.
I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners.
Dr. Ralph Sockman writes about an experience he had while standing on the edge of Niagara Falls one clear, cold March day. Wrapped in white winter garments, the falls glistened in the bright sun. As some birds swooped down to snatch a drink from the clear water, Sockman’s companion told how he had seen birds carried over the edge of the precipice. As they dipped down for a drink, tiny droplets of ice would form on their wings. As they returned for additional drinks more ice would weigh down their bodies until they couldn’t rise above the cascading waters. Flapping their wings, the birds would suddenly drop over the falls.
Mike Yaconelli wrote in the Wittenburg Door:
“I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and, every once in a while, a cow wanders off and gets lost . . . Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, ‘Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of grass right next to a hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’
“Americans are in the process of nibbling their way to lostness. . . We keep moving from one tuft of activity to another, never noticing how far we have gone from home or how far away from the truth we have managed to end up.”
My husband’s uncle thought he had conquered the problem of trying to remember his wife’s birthday and their anniversary. He opened an account with a florist, provided him with the dates and instructions to send flowers along with an appropriate note signed, “Your loving husband.”
His wife was thrilled by this new display of attention and all went well until one day when he came home, kissed his wife and said offhandedly, “Nice flowers, honey. Where’d you get them?”
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
2. And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord.
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary;
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell;
5. The third day He rose again from the dead.
6. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
7. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. The holy catholic church, the communion of saints;
10. The forgiveness of sins;
11. The resurrection of the body;
12. And the life everlasting.
Amen.
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”
My idea of visitation: everybody come to see me.
My idea of sympathy: everybody suffering with me.
My idea of a sinner: the man for whom I have a great dislike.
My idea of a meek man: the man who yields to me.
My idea of a contentious man: the man who takes issue with me.
My idea of a wise man: the man who listens to me.
My idea of unity: everybody agreeing with me.
My idea of cooperation: everybody working with me.
My idea of a good sermon: one that fits and hits everybody but me.
Remorse over yesterday's failure.
Anxiety over today's problems.
Worry over tomorrow's uncertainty.
Procrastination with one's present duty.
Resentment of another's success.
Criticism of a neighbor's imperfections.
Impatience with youth's imperfection.
Skepticism of our nation's future.
Unbelief in God's providence.
A news documentary on TV claimed that 91 percent of the United States' students in colleges, universities and graduate schools cheat on exams and tests in order to graduate.
This is what happens when God is rejected and atheism is accepted. Atheism will bring down our civilization. Civilization is based on mutual trust.
Cheating is lying. It is stealing that which is not yours. What confidence do you have in your doctors when you realize that nine out of ten are not really qualified because they stole information they did not know in order to graduate? How honest do you expect the billing to be when nine out of ten of them lied to get through college? If he cheated the college, how do you know he will not cheat you? How does society survive when you lose trust in 91 percent of college graduates?
The same is true of lawyers, politicians, and store keepers. Stores will post one price at the shelf and charge a higher price at the cash register. Customers seldom catch it because the little bars flash across the computer too fast. When it is caught, there is a quick apology, the figure is changed and it is blamed on "computer error." But the "computer error" is not corrected.
We remember when a man was as good as his word. A handshake over a deal was as dependable as a legal document. A man would rather die than lie or cheat. Neighbors who did not go to church, prided themselves in their own integrity. Christian standards formed the basis of society even among those who did not profess to be Christians.
Never consider divorce an option. It is not a solution to your problem. Divorce is not an acceptable alternative because God says it is not.
Do not compare your mate or your marriage to others. There is not another person on earth like you. Your mate is also unique. This means that your marriage is unique. Let God make it what He wants it to be. He will make it perfect!
Forgive your mate. You are to forgive as Christ has forgiven you. You are a sinner. He or she is a sinner. You are not perfect-so be willing to forgive one another. And do it right away before any bitterness can build up.
Stop all criticism. Love does not criticize and find fault. Therefore, if you are critical of your mate, you do not have a heart of love. Stop all criticism. Instead, try a little praise. It works like magic!
Start communicating with your mate. Communication is completely broken down in many homes and marriages. Start listening to what your mate is saying as well as to what he or she is not saying. Break down the barriers by being vulnerable. Try saying, "Honey, what is the biggest fault I have?" Then say, "Would you please help me, by the grace of God, to gain victory over that fault?"
Refuse any relationship outside your marriage in which affection is sought or given. This substitute could even be a relative, a friend, or a neighbor. Do not seek to make someone else a substitute for what you are not getting in your marriage. You will never solve your problem doing this.
Trust your mate. Trust your spouse, even if he or she is wrong -you are right in trusting. A marriage must be based on trust. It cannot survive without it.
Do something every day to please your mate-something that you know will bring your partner joy and happiness. This is not asking much-to do one thing-but it pays big dividends.
Thank God every day for the 25 best qualities in your mate. Write them down. Concentrate on them and the positive will soon outshine the negative.
NMJ—not my job
NMM—Need more money
WCT—Wastes company time
PPP—Promises, promises, promises
NMH—Needs more help
ACD—Always complaining and disagreeable
CWS—Clock watcher’s syndrome
TTM—The trouble maker
SRM—Supports rumor mill
Sin is deceitful (Heb 3:13). Sin's progression is one of its characteristics it seeks to conceal.
The "blessed man" of Psalm 1 (1) walketh not, (2) standeth not, and (3) sitteth not. Observe the progression. That Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, and did not immediately move there, is illustrative of the progressiveness of sin.
Eve (1) heard the devil's lie, (2) believed the lie, and (3) obeyed it. Sin is progressive. The prodigal son gradually went to the far country, which illustrates sin's progression.
Peter (1) first deserted the Lord, (2) later fraternized with the enemy, (3) then, denied the Lord, (4) afterwards committed perjury, and (5) finally, he cursed and blasphemed. Sin was progressive in his case.
Be not deceived, for sin is still progressive. Social drinking can easily lead to alcoholism.
Dancing has been the first step in many cases leading to an ultimate destruction of one's virtue.
Missing the mid-week service can lead to missing the Sunday night service, then Sunday morning Bible school, then the Sunday morning worship service-yea, to complete apostasy.
Envy can grow into hatred, and hatred can grow into murder. Be not deceived. Sin is deceptive. It grows. It is progressive. Therefore, resist every temptation, choosing the way of escape always provided (1Co 10:13). Give none occasion to sin. Abstain from every appearance of evil (1Th 5:22).
Nip sin in the bud! Otherwise, it will grow! "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit that they may add sin to sin" (Isa 30:1).
Have you not heard of the madman who lit a lamp in the bright morning and went to the marketplace crying ceaselessly, “I seek God! I seek God!” There were many among those standing there who didn’t believe in God so he made them laugh. “Is God lost?” one of them said. “Has he gone astray like a child?” said another. “Or is he hiding? Has he gone on board ship and emigrated?” So they laughed and shouted to one another. The man sprang into their midst and looked daggers at them.
“Where is God?” he cried. “I will tell you. We have killed him—you and I We are all his killers! But how have we done this? How could we swallow up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the horizon? What will we do as the earth is set loose from its sun?” - Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889
Nietzsche’s point was not that God does not exist, but that God has become irrelevant. Men and women may assert that God exists or that He does not, but it makes little difference either way. God is dead not because He doesn’t exist, but because we live, play, procreate, govern, and die as though He doesn’t.
“There is no such thing as absolute truth.” In 1991 in a George Barna poll 66% of Americans agreed: 3/4’s of 18-25 year olds, 59% of 55+ year olds.
In a 1989 L.A. Times poll, 61% said that abortion is wrong, and 74% said abortion should be kept legal.
There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.
Hugh Lattimer once preached before King Henry VIII. Henry was greatly displeased by the boldness in the sermon and ordered Lattimer to preach again on the following Sunday and apologize for the offence he had given.
The next Sunday, after reading his text, he thus began his sermon: “Hugh Lattimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest—upon Whose message thou are sent? Even by the great and mighty God, Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully.”
He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceding Sunday—and with considerably more energy.
Never buy a portable TV set on the sidewalk from a man who’s out of breath.
At one time, Francis Schaeffer says, he shared a platform with former cabinet member and urban leader John Gardner, during which Gardner spoke on the need to restore values to our culture. After he finished, a Harvard student asked him: “On what do you build your values?” Gardner, usually articulate and erudite, paused, looked down, and said, “I do not know.”
I repeatedly encounter the same reaction. When I have contended before scholars and college audiences that in a secular, relativistic society there is no basis for ethics, no one has ever challenged me. In fact, in private they often agree.
According to the teaching of our Lord, what is wrong with the world is precisely that it does not believe in God. Yet it is clear that the unbelief which he so bitterly deplored was not an intellectual persuasion of God’s non-existence. Those whom he rebuked for their lack of faith were not men who denied God with the top of their minds, but men who, while apparently incapable of doubting him with the top of their minds, lived as though he did not exist.
An American missionary who was walking down the streets of a Chinese city was greatly interested in the children, many of whom were carrying smaller children upon their backs and managing at the same time to play their games. "It is too bad," the American sympathetically said to one little fellow, "that you have to carry such a heavy burden!" "He is no burden," came the quick reply; "He is my brother." "Well, you are chivalrous to say so!" said the man, and he gave the boy some money. When the missionary returned home he said to his family, "A little Chinese boy has taught me the fullest meaning of the words, 'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.' " He recounted his interview and added, "If a little Chinese boy can carry and care for his brother and refuse to consider him a burden, surely we ought not to think it a burden to carry our brother, the weak and the needy ones, who look to us for help. Let us rejoice as we carry one, and say, by our actions, 'He is no burden; he is my brother.' "
Voltaire, that strange combination of freethinker, deist, and rabid denouncer of Christianity, gives scant comfort to atheists and agnostics in some of his pronouncements. "The world embarrasses me," he said, "and I cannot think that this watch exists and has no watchmaker." And in the same vein he confesses, "To whatever side you turn, you are forced to acknowledge your own ignorance and the boundless power of the Creator."
A man was viciously attacked by another who sought to kill him. The face of the injured man was badly scarred for the rest of his life. He cherished no enmity, however, against the person who made the attack and later sought to have him pardoned. The announcement was made to the prisoner. As he read the pardon he said, "I want something more than pardon, sir; I want friendship." "What kind of friendship do you want?" asked the warden. "I can do without anyone else's friendship except that of the man I injured." The man with the scarred face came to see the prisoner, the tears in his eyes assuring the assailant of both his pardon and friendship.
There was a juvenile court judge who had a very unusual experience during the course of one of his trials. An elderly man who owned a watermelon patch had caught a boy stealing his melons and had him arrested. When the time came for the trial, the man made his complaint to the court, after which the judge turned to the boy and said, "Son, what do you have to say for yourself?" The boy looked up at the judge with questioning eyes and answered, "Judge, did you ever steal a watermelon when you were a kid?" The judge was somewhat startled at the turn of events, dropped his head into his hand for a few moments of thought, and finally responded, "No cross-examination of the court allowed. The case is dismissed."
A grapevine says, in the early spring, "How glad I am to get through the winter! I shall have no more trouble now! Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful!" But the gardener comes, and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine calls out, "Murder! What are you cutting me for?" "Ah," says the gardener, "I do not mean to kill you. If I did not do this, you would be the laughingstock of all the other vines before the season is over." Months go on and one day the gardener comes under the trellis, where the great clusters of grapes hang, and the grapevine says, "Thank you, sire, you could not have done anything so kind as to cut me with that knife." No pruning, no grapes; no grinding mill, no flour; no battle, no victory; no cross, no crown.
“You don’t go look at where it happened,” said Scott Goodyear, who starts 33rd [speaking of race-car drivers who have been killed in crashes at the Indianapolis 500]. “You don’t watch the films of it on television. You don’t deal with it. You pretend it never happened.” The Speedway operation itself encourages this approach. As soon as the track closes the day of an accident, a crew heads out to paint over the spot where the car hit the wall. Through the years, a driver has never been pronounced dead at the race track. A trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Museum, located inside the 2.5-mile oval, has no memorial to the 40 drivers who have lost their lives here. Nowhere is there even a mention.
The phrase “no difference” occurs twice in the book of Romans. It is used first with reference to our human sinfulness. “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:22-23 NIV). Second, it is used with reference to God’s grace extended to all who will call on Him. “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (10:12-13 NIV).
Alexander the Great, seeing Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human bones, asked the philosopher what he was looking for.
Diogenes’ reply: “That which I cannot find—the difference between your father’s bones and those of his slaves.” - Plutarch
A beggar sat at the gate of the rich man's home from whose bountiful hand he had received constant gifts.
One day the rich man wanted to send a message as quickly as possible. Since his servants were all busy, he found the beggar and asked him to make the delivery for him. Lifting himself up with pride, the beggar answered his benefactor with these astonishing words, "I solicit alms, sir, but I do not run errands."
How many people treat their heavenly Father in this manner! If it were not for Him we would not have the many blessings which come from His hands. Then, when He wants us to go on an errand, or to carry a message of Jesus' love to wayward men, we say, "No, Lord; I solicit your blessings, but I do not run errands."
Before his death in 1981, American writer William Saroyan telephoned in to the Associated Press this final, very Saroyan-like observation: “Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?”
Take a hyacinth bulb, for instance. Put it in a glass jar of water and watch it day by day. The leaves and the buds unfold above. The roots develop below. Then as the days get warmer it bursts into full and beautiful bloom. Why should the bulb break out this way into flower, leaf, and root before your eyes? "Why," you might say, "they always do." Yes, but why? You say it is the law of growth; but what do you mean by that? You don't explain anything by merely labeling it. You fail to explain either what it is in itself, or why it should be at work here under these conditions. You can't deny its existence, yet the moment you try to penetrate below the surface it eludes you altogether.
When Robert Owen, the notorious freethinker, visited Alexander Campbell to arrange the preliminaries for the great debate that was to follow, they walked about the farm till they came to the family burying ground. "There is one advantage I have over the Christian," boasted Mr. Owen. "I am not afraid to die. Most Christians have fear in death, but, if some few items of my business were settled, I should be perfectly willing to die at any moment." "Well," replied Mr. Campbell, "you say you have no fear in death; have you any hope in death?" "No," said Mr. Owen after a thoughtful pause. "Then," said Mr. Campbell, pointing to an ox standing nearby, "you are on a level with that animal. He has eaten till he is satisfied, stands in the shade whisking off the flies, and has neither hope nor fear in death." How true is the saying, "They that die without dying thoughts shall die without living comforts."
Sign in the middle of the Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado, the tallest suspension bridge in the world, rising 1053 feet above the water level: “No Fishing From This Bridge.”
The Flagship Hotel in Galveston, Texas, is built next to the water. Large plate-glass windows adorn the ground-level dining room. Occasionally, guests used to come up with the “brilliant” idea of fishing from their balconies, located directly above the dining room.
Using heavy sinkers, they would cast their hook and bait into the water. Unfortunately, the lines were sometimes too short and the leaded sinkers would swing down, shattering the $600 windows. After spending large sums without solving the problem, the hotel management finally stumbled on a simple solution. They removed the “No Fishing from Balcony” signs from the rooms!
The story is told of a little boy whose family was very poor. He never complained because he had no toys and received no gifts at Christmas time; but he wished for them. He spent his spare time looking in the store windows at the pretty things other little boys could have but that he could not.
One day he was run down by a car and taken to the hospital. When he started to feel better, one of the nurses bought him a toy. As he touched it he said, "There is not any glass between."
Some day we shall see Christ our Savior face to face, with no "glass" between.
There was a little boy who came from an extremely poor family. He received no gifts at Christmas time, but he often looked into the store windows at the exciting things other little boys could have but he could not. One day he was run over by a car and taken to a hospital. One of the nurses brought him some toys-a troop of soldiers. As he touched them, he said, "There isn't any glass between!" There is a glass separating us now from the things that many of our fellowmen enjoy in this life, even great honor and respect in the house of God, but the day will come when there will be no glass.
Two friends, meeting after a long time, were discussing the current breakdown in morals, especially among the younger generation. "What do you suppose really causes it?" asked one who in the past had openly declared she felt no need of God in her life. Her Christian friend hesitated, feeling it would be useless to give her own opinion as a believer since the other had so often rejected her attempts in the past to speak of religious matters. Before she could formulate a reply, however, her friend advanced her own theory. "Don't you think the breakdown in religious values has something to do with it?" "Yes, I do," agreed the other quickly. "If young people have turned their backs on religion and feel that God doesn't exist, they no longer have any absolute standards of right and wrong, no authority to turn to for direction, and the result is confusion. Everyone does that which is right in his own eyes." Surprisingly, her friend agreed with her. Even unbelievers are beginning to realize that if God doesn't exist, society has nothing on which to base its ethics.
At a three-day retreat for pastors and their wives, one session consisted of testimonies about how the Lord had blessed our lives and ministries.
One young preacher’s wife stood up and began nervously, “The Bible promises, ‘No good thing does the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly.’ Well,” she said sincerely, “my husband is one of those ‘no good things’!”
From the days before ready access to vaccines comes this story:
The doctor looked down at the little girl in the hospital bed. He knew that her only hope was to receive blood from someone who had recovered from the same disease.
Quickly the doctor found the anxious family, and knelt beside a small boy. "Johnny," he said, "your sister needs your kind of blood to make her well. Would you be willing to give your blood so that she can live?"
Johnny's eyes grew big. The doctor watched them well with fear, but the little boy hesitated only long enough to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Sure, Doctor, I will do it," he replied.
After the needed amount of blood was taken from Johnny's small arm, he remained quiet for a few minutes as he had been instructed. Then he stood up, and asked softly: "Well, Doctor, when do I die?"
Only then did the doctor realize the extent of the child's sacrifice. Johnny had offered his life to save his sister, Jesus declared that there is no greater love.
Greater love than this no man has, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Joh_15:13).
“I’ve had a few arguments with people,” comedian Buddy Hackett once confessed, “but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you’re carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing.”
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2Co_5:17). New status, new life, new creation-we must not separate these blessings. They belong together, and are given to all who are in Christ.
A simple illustration may help. If a vagrant comes to us in dire need, down and out, in rags and tatters, and sick, even starving, it will be good to give him a bath and a change of clothing, but not enough. For he is ill and undernourished. So, in addition, he needs food and hospital treatment. Similarly, we come to Christ down and out, in the rags and tatters of our sin, spiritually sick and starving. In Christ, we are at once made welcome and accepted, and given a bath and a change of clothes. God sees us as righteous in Christ. This is our new status. But it is only the beginning. The Good Physician knows we are sick. So he puts His Spirit within us to give us new life and health, and He feeds us with His Word until we grow strong and vigorous. There are no half-measures with Him.
Dr. John Geddie went to Aneityum in 1848 and worked there for God for 24 years. On the tablet erected to his memory these words are inscribed: When he landed, in 1848, there were no Christians. When he left, in 1872, there were no heathen.
King Antigonus, when he had not seen Cleanthes, the philosopher, for a long time, said to him, "Do you continue to grind (referring to the occupation by which he supported himself)?" "Yes, sir," replied the philosopher, "I still grind; that I do to gain my living, and not to depart from philosophy."
Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible although he had “gone through it several times.”
“Let it go through you once,” replied Smith, “then you will tell a different story!”
In The Last Days Newsletter, Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, “Were any great men born in this village?”
The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.”
A frothy question brought a profound answer. There are no instant heroes—whether in this world or in the kingdom of God. Growth takes time, and as 1 Timothy 3:6 and 5:22 point out, even spiritual leadership must be earned.
- William C. Shereos
A woman went to a lawyer and said she wanted a divorce. The lawyer got out his note pad, and proceeded to ask her some questions.
“Do you have any grounds?” he inquired.
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “About three-quarters of an acre.”
The lawyer paused for a moment, then queried, “Do you have a grudge?”
“No,” the woman answered quickly. “But we do have a lovely carport.”
Again the lawyer paused and then asked, “Does he beat you up?”
“No. I get up before he does every morning,” the woman reported.
Finally the lawyer blurted, “Lady, why do you want to divorce your husband?”
“It’s because,” she explained, “that man can’t carry on an intelligent conversation.”
One ingenious teenager, tired of reading bedtime stories to his little sister, decided to record several of her favorite stories on tape. He told her, “now you can hear your stories anytime you want. Isn’t that great?” She looked at the machine for a moment and then replied, “No. It hasn’t got a lap.”
“Father, where shall I work today?”
and my love flowed warm and free.
He pointed out a tiny spot and said,
“Tend that Place for me.”
I answered Him quickly, “Oh, no! Not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
not that little place for me!”
The word He spoke, then, wasn’t stern;
He answered me tenderly;
“Nazareth was little place,
and so was Galilee.”
We must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline practically has disappeared.
What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician’s instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not “disciplined”?
Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?” “Certainly,” replied Twain. “‘No man can serve two masters.’”
Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.
One day a man was hiking in the mountains when he came upon the hut of a hermit who had isolated himself from other human beings. He struck up a conversation with the hermit who told the visitor that he was completely self-sufficient to meet his own needs. He said, "I cut the trees and hewed the logs for my cabin, and I put it together with wooden pegs. I grow or hunt all my own food, and I get along just fine. I don't need anybody else."
The man looked at him for a moment, then said, "Tell me, how did you cut the trees you used for your cabin?"
The hermit replied, "With my axe."
Then the visitor said, "But wasn't someone else responsible for making that axe and your other tools, and for mining the iron that was used to make them? What about your clothes, do you make all of them?"
"No," replied the hermit, "I have to make a trip outside about once a year to get new clothes."
"Then," said the man again, "what about the shells that you use in your gun when you hunt your food, and what about the gun itself? Weren't you dependent on someone else for both?"
"Well," said the hermit reluctantly, "I guess so."
"The truth is," said the visitor, "that you are not as independent of others as you like to think. Even if you could sustain yourself completely without any of the things we've mentioned, you're still forgetting one vital thing which you could never supply or maintain by yourself."
"What's that?" asked the hermit.
Looking him full in the face, the man said, "Your own life." Whereupon the hermit fell silent and had little else to say.
No matter how thin you slice it, it’s still bologna. - Alfred E. Smith
The first mate on a certain vessel, yielding to temptation, became drunk for the first time in his life. The captain entered in the ship's log, "Mate drunk today." The mate implored the captain to remove it from the record, saying if the ship's owners saw it he would lose his post, and the captain well knew it was his first offense. But the obdurate captain refused, saying, "This is the fact, and into the log it goes." Some days afterward, the mate was keeping the log. After giving the latitude and longitude, the run for the day, the wind and the sea, he made this entry: "Captain sober today." The indignant captain protested, saying that it would leave an altogether false impression in the minds of the owners of the vessel, as if it were an unusual thing for him to be sober. But the mate answered as the captain had, "This is the fact, and into the log it goes."
