Pastoral Resources

Psychological studies establish that by age five a child has formed a fairly definite impression of himself. The same studies reveal that self-esteem is not closely related to social position, family work background, education or any combination of such factors. A young child sees himself from the reflections of those close to him, mainly his parents. How they react to his activities largely determines the self image he builds.

Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,

Which of itself complains,

And mourns, with much and frequent smart,

The evil it contains.

There fiery seeds of anger lurk,

Which often hurt my frame;

And wait but for the tempter’s work,

To fan them to a flame.

Legality holds out a bribe

To purchase life from Thee;

And Discontent would fain prescribe

How Thou shalt deal with me.

While Unbelief withstands Thy grace,

And puts the mercy by;

Presumption, with a brow of brass,

Says, “Give me, or I die!”

How eager are my thoughts to roam,

In quest of what they love!

But ah! when duty calls them home,

How heavily they move!

Oh, cleanse me in a Saviour’s blood,

Transform my by Thy power,

And make me Thy beloved abode,

And let me roam no more.

A little girl baked a cake without benefit of a cookbook or her mother's advice. She knew nothing about proportions of flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk, and never thought of eggs or shortening. When the cake came out of the oven, it was well rounded and nicely browned. She exhibited it to her family with pride as "a cake I made my very own self," but when she took her first bite of it she found it bitter with too much baking powder, and hard as a rock. That's how our own concoctions turn out in the spiritual realm, when we blithely assume we "know that recipe" without reference to the cook or the cookbook. You must first know God in Christ through receiving Him as Savior and Lord, before you can have the spiritual discernment that will enable you to understand the doctrine revealed in His Word.

It is said that Billie Burke, the Hollywood actress, was enjoying a transatlantic ocean voyage when she noticed a man at the next table was suffering from a bad cold. "Uncomfortable?" she asked sympathetically. The man nodded. "I'll tell you what to do for it," she offered. "Go back to your stateroom and drink a lot of orange juice. Take five aspirin tablets. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know what I'm talking about. I'm Billie Burke of Hollywood." The man smiled warmly and said, "Thanks. I'm Dr. Mayo of the Mayo Clinic!"

A bent bow springs back, not merely to the perpendicular line, but bends to the opposite direction. A pendulum that is set swinging not only returns to the place from which it started but also swings as far in the other direction, and this is true of every great effort in life, whether intellectual or moral. After great intellectual strain, the mind returns, not to the condition of repose in which it was before, but to a condition of weariness. After great moral effort, there is danger of reaction, and this is especially true of penitence. After a great act of penitence there is a sense of joyous freedom from sin. The soul has been swept and garnished, swept by confession, garnished by the relief of knowing that it is not burdened any more. Yet this is only the negative side of spiritual life and is in itself a condition of peculiar danger. The old tenant has been driven out of the house. The house has been cleansed and prepared for a new tenant. But, alas, it is still empty. A great victory has been won, but there is often a tendency to exaggerate the results of the victory, let down the defenses and think the war is ended when only one battle has been fought. The enemy may have been routed, but if we give ourselves up to mere rejoicing, the enemy may return with recruited forces and fall upon us while we are feasting upon the memories of our first victory, and so we may become an easy prey.

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.”

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

"I have prayed long for the conversion of my husband," said a woman, "but he's as far off from conversion as ever." "Why do you want your husband converted?" she was asked. "Oh," she replied, "it would be so nice. How different the house would be." "You are forgetting," was the rebuke, "the good of your husband and the glory of God. You appear to be thinking mainly of yourself. Pray for his conversion simply for the glory of God and your husband's need of a Savior."

American church members may be getting more selfish as their incomes rise according to a recent survey of 31 denominations. Funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., Empty Tomb, Inc., a non-profit research and service organization in Champaign, Illinois, contrasted changes in per-member giving patterns with changes in U. S. per-capita disposable income. The report points out that although income after taxes and inflation increased 31 percent from 1968 to 1985, per-member giving as a percentage of disposable income was 8.5 percent less during that same period.

“People are objectively richer, but the wealth is not expanding the ministry of the church,” said Sylvia Ronsvalle, who founded Empty Tomb with her husband, John, in 1970. Their study further reports that most of the money donated by members to their churches stays within the local congregation. “We may be seeing an accommodation to lifestyle expectations among evangelicals that will rob them of their commitment to the church,” said Ronsvalle. According to the survey, 24 of the 31 denominations showed a decrease in giving as a percentage of disposable income.

Once upon a time, the typical American found a job, made a living. That was “success.” today the typical American may change jobs six times or more, wants a life not just a living, and is looking for “satisfaction.”

A recent Newsweek article reported, “Half of all Americans would choose a different line of work if they had it to do all over again.” It also referred to a growing trend, “selling-in”—giving up a successful career for a career that brings more satisfaction.

Lord Jesus, thou who art the way, the truth, and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make all free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right.

During a runoff Senate primary fight with former Texas Governor Stevenson, early indications were that Congressman Johnson had lost. Six days later, however, Precinct 13 in the border town of Alice, Texas, showed a very interesting result. Exactly 203 people had voted at the last minute—in the order they were listed on the tax rolls—and 202 of them had voted for Johnson.

While Stevenson protested, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black upheld the result, and Johnson squeaked by with an 87-vote victory. For this feat, columnist Drew Pearson gave Johnson the sobriquet Landslide Lyndon. It was not until July 30, 1977, that Luis Salas, the election judge in Alice, admitted that he and southern Texas political boss George Parr (who had killed himself in 1975) had rigged the election.

It had been a long day on Capitol Hill for Senator John Stennis. He was looking forward to a bit of relaxation when he got home. After parking the car, he began to walk toward his front door. Then it happened. Two people came out of the darkness, robbed him, and shot him twice. News of the shooting of Senator Stennis, the chairman of the powerful Armed Forces Committee, shocked Washington and the nation.

For nearly seven hours, Senator Stennis was on the operating table at Walter Reed Hospital. Less than two hours later, another politician was driving home when he heard about the shooting. He turned his car around and drove directly to the hospital. In the hospital, he noticed that the staff was swamped and could not keep up with the incoming calls about the Senator’s condition. He spotted an unattended switchboard, sat down, and voluntarily went to work. He continued taking calls until daylight.

Sometime during that next day, he stood up, stretched, put on his overcoat, and just before leaving, he introduced himself quietly to the other operator, “I’m Mark Hatfield. Happy to help out.” Then Senator Mark Hatfield unobtrusively walked out. The press could hardly handle that story. There seemed to be no way for a conservative Republican to give a liberal Democrat a tip of the hat, let alone spend hours doing a menial task and be “happy to help out.”

There’s an old story about two young children who were standing on the corner, bragging about who had moved from state to state the most. One little boy said, “My family has moved three times in the last three years.” “Hey!” said the other little boy. “That’s nothing. My parents have moved five times this year—and I found them every time!” It’s safe to say that this second boy came from a home without a strong sense of belonging.

The doctrine of separation from “the unclean thing” is neglected today by professing Christians, but it is still here in God’s Word. The context indicates that Paul is warning against Christians being “unequally yoked together with unbelievers” and urging us to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 6:14, 7:1).Such separation does not mean having no contact at all with unbelievers, “for then must ye needs go out of the world” (I Cor. 5:10), whereas Jesus commanded: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). He also prayed to the Father “not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15).

He does demand, however, that we not compromise with unbelief or with the unclean thing. We are “born again” into the family of God through simple faith in the person and saving work of Christ, but the full manifestation and fellowship of our relation with the heavenly Father as His spiritual sons and daughters is evidently, in this passage, conditioned on the vital principle of separation from all unbelief and filthiness of the flesh, with Jesus as our example (Heb. 7:16).

We are specially warned to “turn away” from those who, “having a form of godliness,” yet attempt to accommodate the naturalistic viewpoint of modern scientism within the Scriptures, thus “denying the power thereof” (II Tim. 3.5). “Be ye separate, saith the Lord.”

Cornell University’s Urie Bronfenbrenner cites nine specific changes that have taken place during the past generation which have increasingly separated children and youth from the world of adults, especially the adults in their own families:

1. fathers’ vocational choices which remove them from the home for lengthy periods of time

2. an increase in the number of working mothers

3. a critical escalation in the divorce rate

4. a rapid increase in single-parent families

5. a steady decline in the extended family

6. the evolution of the physical environment of the home (family rooms, playrooms and master bedrooms)

7. the replacement of adults by the peer group

8. the isolation of children from the work world

9. the insulation of schools from the rest of society

This last factor has caused Bronfenbrenner to describe the current U.S. educational system as “one of the most potent breeding grounds for alienation in American society.” When he wrote these words in 1974, this trend toward isolation was in full swing, and it has not been significantly checked since that time.

By combining these three passages [1 Cor. 15, John 14:1-3, 1 Thess. 4:12-18] and studying them carefully, we can outline the sequence of events in the Rapture. They are totally different from the coming of Christ to this earth in Power and Great Glory, which we will examine in chapter seven. (Note: In the rapture chart on the next page, each event has a corresponding number to help you locate exactly where it occurs.)

1. The Lord Himself will descend from His Father’s house, where He is preparing a place for us (John 14:1-3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

2. He will come again to receive us to Himself (John 14:1-3).

3. He resurrects those who have fallen asleep in Him (deceased believers whom we will not precede, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-15).

4. The Lord shouts as He descends (“loud command,” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, NIV). All this takes place in the “twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

5. We will hear the voice of the archangel (perhaps to lead Israel during the seven years of Tribulation as he did in the Old Testament, 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

6. We will also hear the trumpet call of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16), His last trumpet for the church. (Don’t confuse this with the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15).

7. The dead in Christ will rise first. (The corruptible ashes of their dead bodies are made incorruptible and joined together with their spirit, which Jesus brings with Him, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

8. Then we which are alive and remain shall be changed (made incorruptible by having our bodies made “immortal,” 1 Corinthians 15:51,53).

9. Then we shall be caught up [raptured] together (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

10. With them in the clouds (where we assume the dead and living believers will have a monumental reunion; 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

11. To meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

12. To “receive you to Myself.” Jesus takes us to the Father’s house “that where I am, you may be also” (John 14:3).

13. “And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Additional Events

1. The judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). This verse teaches that at the call of Christ for believers, He will judge all things. Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10), which is described in detail in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, and will evidently be in the “Father’s House.” This judgment prepares Christians for.

2. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Just prior to His coming to earth in Power and Great Glory, which we call the Glorious Appearing, Christ will meet with His Bride, the church, and the wedding and Marriage Supper will take place. In the meantime, after the church is raptured, the world will suffer the unprecedented time of the wrath of God which our Lord called the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14).

A lovely story is told of the saintly Frances Ridley Havergal who wrote the lines we so often sing without due seriousness and commitment:

Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold.

It is a matter of record that this hymn was autobiographical. Frances Ridley Havergal did what she sang. In her writings is this personal testimony: "'Take my silver and my gold'now means shipping off all my ornaments-including a jewel cabinet which is really fit for a countess-to the Church Missionary Society. I don't think I need to tell you I never packed a box with such pleasure." This was giving with hilarity!

A group of educators and scholars, alarmed at soaring rates of teenage homicides, suicides and out-of-wedlock births, attacked what it called the “timidity” of schools in instilling good character traits in the young. The 27 academics warned that “schools in general are not doing enough to counter the symptoms of serious decline in youth character.”

The report, “Developing Character: Transmitting Knowledge,” cited government statistics showing that out-of-wedlock births to white females ages 15-19 have increased 800 percent since 1940, and the rate of death by homicide for white males, 15-24 climbed 315 percent.

“During the Civil War,” writes author Tim Riter, “President Lincoln attended Wednesday evening services at a church close to the White House. Accompanied by Secret Service agents, Lincoln would sit in the pastor’s study during the message; then they would walk back together. One evening, after the service, an agent asked Lincoln, ‘What did you think of tonight’s sermon?’

Lincoln replied, ‘It was brilliantly conceived, biblical, relevant, and well presented.’

“‘So, it was a great sermon?’

“‘No, it failed. It failed because Dr. Gurley did not ask us to do something great.’”

There was an article in a church paper entitled, "32,850 Sermons Later." It started off with a letter printed in the British Weekly from one of their English readers. The British letter went like this:

"Dear Sir,

'It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending a church quite regularly for the past 30 years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered that I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister's time might be more profitably spent on something else?

"Sincerely...."

For weeks a real storm of editorial responses ensued. The uproar finally was ended by this letter:

"Dear Sir:

"I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals-mostly of my wife's cooking. Suddenly, I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I have received nourishment from every single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.

"Sincerely...."

“Servant” in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master’s purchased property. Bought to serve his master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave’s sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one’s Savior (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the slave’s part and washed the disciples’ feet.

When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, trouble, and substance to giving them all the practical help possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants (Matt. 25: 31-46).

Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to go to college or a training class to learn the know-how or particular branches of Christian work. Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing.

Throughout the ages, God has referred to His faithful people as His servants. The Bible even calls Jesus "His holy servant."

Unlike the religious leaders who exercised unquestioned authority over the people, Jesus came not as a ruler, but as a servant. From the example of His own life He teaches, "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mar 10:43-45).

Christ ransomed us that we, too, might serve God and man. In our zeal to serve, we often overlook a critical truth: The servant does not choose his tasks. Our concept of serving God may be doing what we would like to do-for God. We tell God what we will do for Him, and what we will not do; where we will go for Him, and where we will not. We even tell Him what must not interfere with our plans. In doing this we forget He is the Master, and that the Master assigns the task. Our part is to give ourselves to Him, accepting the assignment He bestows.

A servant is not free to serve on his own terms. Jesus said, "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you to go and bring forth fruit" (Joh 15:16). So, we have been chosen to "run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1). The race set before us may not be on the track we would choose. Perhaps we would not choose the people God has placed around us, or the location or circumstances we find ourselves in, but a servant is not above his Master. "A disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord" (Mat 10:24-25).

Christ's life was one of sacrifice and doing the Father's will. Though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor (2Co 8:9). He counted equality with God a thing not to be grasped but emptied Himself and became a servant (Phi 2:6-7). He came to do God's will (Heb 10:5-7).

As servants following in the footsteps of Christ, we must present our bodies as "living sacrifices" and say, "Here I am-I have come to do Your will," regardless of what the task may be.

A young man had just become pastor of a large church. At a reception given him by his people, one of the gossips, a woman with a dangerous tongue, came up and said, "I do not understand how you dared attempt the task of pleasing seven hundred people." Quick as a flash the Lord gave him the answer. He replied, "I did not come to this city to please seven hundred people. I have to please only One; and if I please Him, all will be well."

A. T. wrote,

“Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto man. Hence, even the humblest act of humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him. “The supreme test of service is this: ‘For whom am I doing this?’ Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: Is it work from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him.”

There is a story told about Sam Rayburn who was Speaker for the House of Representatives longer than any other man. One of his friends lost a teenage daughter and early the next morning Rayburn knocked on his door. "I just came by to see what I could do to help." The father replied that there was nothing to do. "Well," Rayburn said, "have you had your coffee this morning?" The man replied that they had not taken time for breakfast. While Rayburn was working in the kitchen, the man came in and said, "Mr. Speaker, I thought you were supposed to be having breakfast at the White House this morning." "Well, I was, but I called the President and told him I had a friend who was in trouble and I could not come."

What a different world this would be if we would learn to become more and more unselfish.

John Milton was a failure. In writing Paradise Lost, his aim was to “justify the ways of God to men.” Inevitably, he fell short and wrote only a monumental poem. Beethoven, whose music was conceived to transcend fate, was a failure, as was Socrates, whose ambition was to make people happy by making them reasonable and just. The surest, noblest way to fail is to set one’s standards titanically high. The flip side of that proposition also seems true. The surest way to succeed is to keep one’s striving low.

Many people, by external standards, will be “successes.” They will own homes, eat in better restaurants, dress well and, in some instances, perform socially useful work. Yet fewer people are putting themselves on the line, making as much of their minds and talents as they might. Frequently, success is what people settle for when they can’t think of something noble enough to be worth failing at.

A mother said to her child, "Johnny, you take those marbles back to Willie Jones. You know I have told you about playing marbles for keeps; you think you won them, but that is wrong; you go right back and give them to the boy from whom you took them." "Yes, Mama," said Johnny dutifully, "and shall I take back the painted vase you won at Mrs. Jones' bridge party?"

After 14 years of studying the Bible, William Miller became convinced that Christ would return in 1843. When Miller announced April 3 as the day, some disciples went to mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in reunion with their departed loved ones. Philadelphia society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God’s kingdom amid the common herd. When April 4 dawned as usual the Millerites were disillusioned, but they took heart. Their leader had predicted a range of dates for Christ’s return. They still had until March 21, 1844. The devout continued to make ready, but again they were disappointed. A third date—October 22, 1844—was set, but it also passed.

6 weeks--all systems go

6 years--all systems “No!”

16 years--all systems know

26 years--all systems glow

36 years--all systems owe

56 years--all systems status quo

76 years--all systems slow

A person who is “born again” starts a new life similar to that of a newborn infant. Seven rules that promote good health in babiescan be adapted and applied to a Christian’s spiritual growth.

1. Daily Food. Take in the “pure milk of the word” through study and meditation.

2. Fresh Air. Pray often or you will faint. Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.

3. Regular Exercise. Put into practice what you learn in God’s Word.

4. Adequate Rest. Rely on God at all times in simple faith.

5. Clean Surroundings. Avoid evil company and whatever will weaken you spiritually.

6. Loving Care. Be part of a church where you will benefit from a pastor’s teaching and Christian fellowship.

7. Periodic Checkups. Regularly examine your spiritual health.

We may be known by the following:

1. What we want most.

2. What we think about most.

3. How we use our money.

4. What we do with our leisure time.

5. The company we enjoy.

6. Whom and what we admire.

7. What we laugh at.

Effective Fathers are:

Committed to their children.

Know their children.

Are consistent in their attitudes and behavior.

Protect and Provide for their children.

Love their children’s mother.

Are active listeners to their children.

Spiritually equip their children.

1. [Abimelech] called hastily unto the young man his armour-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died (Judges 9:54).

2. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed with all his might; and the house fell...upon all the people that were therein (Judges 16:30).

3. Saul took a sword and fell on it (1 Sam. 31:4).

4. When [Saul’s] armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died (1 Sam 32:5).

5. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he...got him home to his house, to his city, and put his house in order, and hanged himself, and died (2 Sam. 17:23).

6. It came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house over him with fire, and died (1 Kings 16:18).

7. [Judas] cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself (Matt. 27:5).

A group of geography students studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list on a sheet of paper what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the class decided that the Great Pyramids of Egypt should head the list, followed by the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Great Wall of China. While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet girl in the class hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are to touch, to taste, to see, to hear, to run, to laugh, and to love.”

It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." Do you need to start over with God? Rediscover astonishment. Cast off the cynicism and hardness which characterizes too many of us. Decide you will find something which amazes you, sit down and drink it all in. Be seized with amazement! Start over! Worship!

--Rocky Henriques

An employee asked for a raise, telling his boss that several companies were after him.

When asked which ones, he told his employer, “There’s the electric company, the phone company and the gas company.”

A recent novel by Madeleine L’Engle is entitled A Severed Wasp. If you’re addressing young people or some other audience with strong stomachs, the title, which comes from one of George Orwell’s essays, offers a graphic image of human lostness. Orwell describes a wasp that “was sucking jam on my plate and I cut him in half. He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him.”

The wasp and people without Christ have much in common. Severed from their souls, but greedy and unaware, people continue to consume life’s sweetness. Only when it’s time to fly away will they gasp their dreadful condition.

A major problem in the development of the first sewing machine was the location of the eye of the needle. Inventor Elias Howe was rapidly running out of money and ideas when one night he had a peculiar dream. He was being led to his execution for failing to design a sewing machine for the king of a strange country. He was surrounded by guards, all of whom carried spears that were pierced near the head. Realizing instantly that this was the solution to his problem, Howe woke up and rushed straight to his workshop. By nine o’clock that morning the design of the first sewing machine was well on the way to completion.

Sex is not the most important part of a love relationship. A Syracuse University survey asked married couples to rank the 10 most important things in a marriage relationship. Caring, a sense of humor and communication came in first, second and third. Sex came in ninth, just ahead of sharing household duties.

The sexual revolution notwithstanding, nearly all married couples are monogamous, two new sex surveys say. A University of Washington, Seattle, study in October’s American Journal of Public Health found 94 percent of married couples had one partner in the previous year.

Likewise, a survey by the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago determined that only about 4 percent of married people had sexual partners other than their spouse during a one-year span. Overall, infidelity has been practiced by only 21 percent of men and 13 percent of women, according to the survey.

The studies dispute data by such investigators as the Kinsey Institute of Sex Research and author Shere Hite, who have suggested anywhere from one-third to three-fourths of married couples cheat on their mates.

“There probably are more scientifically worthless ‘facts’ on extramarital relations than any other facet of human behavior,” says Tom W. Smith of the National Opinion Research Center. Smith says adultery is more prevalent among younger people, urban dwellers, the unchurched, and the previously divorced.

I once lived in a messy apartment, and I realize it’s sexist to assume that just because a woman wasn’t there it was messy. So I went downstairs to borrow an iron, and I realize it’s sexist to assume that just because there wasn’t a woman there, there wasn’t an iron there. And I came back up and didn’t have an ironing board. I realize it’s sexist to have anybody assume that of course I wouldn’t have an ironing board, but I didn’t. So I was ironing my shirt on the floor, and there was this little crunch, and I picked up the shirt and I had ironed a roach right on it.

And the point of this is there are some things that just can’t be ironed out.

Sexual abuse of children is more widespread than previously assumed, according to a recent study. Who are the victims? Between 15% and 34% of all girls in this country; between 3% and 9% of all boys. More than 90% of the abusers were adult males.

(Andrew) Greeley bases most of his unconventional conclusions on the results of the Love and Marriage Gallup study of 657 married couples, which was conducted in 1989-90 for Psychology Today. According to Greeley, this was the first “full-scale” national probability study of sexuality and fidelity in marriage. Many of the findings defy conventional wisdom and indicate that marriage in America is far healthier than we have been led to believe:

Ninety percent of American couples have had only one sexual partner since they were married (and it is not because they are afraid of AIDS).

Four-fifths say they would marry the same person if they had to do it over again.

Over 80 percent of all married men, regardless of age, say their wife is good-looking.

Three-quarters of married people say their spouse is their best friend.

Three-quarters of those questioned say divorce is “not at all likely.”

Over 60 percent of American couples describe their marriage as “very happy.”

The best predictor of whether or not a couple is happy together is joint prayer. The study found, for example, that couples from two-income families that pray together are less likely to consider divorce than single-income families that do not pray together.

People who live together before marriage are less likely than those who did not cohabit to say their marriage is very happy. Those who have had premarital sex are also less prone to say their marriage is very happy.

Research at San Francisco General Hospital has revealed that victims of heart attack, heart failure and other cardiac problems who were remembered in prayers fared better than those who were not. Cardiologist Randy Byrd assigned 192 patients to the “prayed-for” group and 201 patients to the “not-prayed-for” group. All patients were in the coronary intensive care unit. Patients, doctors and nurses did not know which group patients were in. Prayer group members were scattered around the nation and given only the first names, diagnoses and prognoses of patients. The researcher said that the results were dramatic. The prayed-for group had significantly fewer complications than the unremembered group. And fewer members of the former died. The latter group was five times more likely to develop infections requiring antibiotics, and three times more likely to develop a lung condition, leading to heart failure. These findings were published in the American Heart Association.

As frightening and foreboding as death may seem, it can neither hurt nor destroy the child of God. In his book Facing Death, Billy Barnhouse, relates an experience of Donald Grey Barnhouse, one of America’s leading Bible teachers in the first half of the 20th century. Cancer took his first wife, leaving him with three children all under 12. The day of the funeral, Barnhouse and his family were driving to the service when a large truck passed them, casting a noticeable shadow across their car. Turning to his oldest daughter, who was staring sadly out the window, Barnhouse asked, “Tell me, sweetheart, would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?”

Looking curiously at her father, she replied, “By the shadow, I guess. It can’t hurt you.” Speaking to all his children, he said, “Your mother has not been overridden by death, but by the shadow of death. That is nothing to fear.”

Donald Grey Barnhouse,

I saw a young mother, with eyes full of laughter,

and two little shadows come following after.

Wherever she moved, they were always right there—

holding onto her skirts, hanging onto her chair,

before her, behind her—an adhesive pair.

“Don’t you ever get weary as, day after day,

your two little tagalongs get in your way?”

She smiled as she shook her pretty young head,

and I’ll always remember the words that she said:

“It’s good to have shadows that run when you run,

that laugh when you’re happy and hum when you hum —

for you only have shadows when your life’s filled with sun!”

Just a line to say I’m living

That I’m not among the dead.

Though I’m getting more forgetful

And more mixed up in the head.

For sometimes I can’t remember

When I stand at foot of stair,

If I must go up for something

Or I’ve just come down from there.

And before the frig’, so often

My poor mind is filled with doubt,

Have I just put food away, or

Have I come to take some out?

And there’s times when it is dark out

With my nightcap on my head,

I don’t know if I’m retiring

Or just getting out of bed.

So if it’s my turn to write you

There’s no need of getting sore,

I may think I have written

And don’t want to be a bore.

So, remember...I do love you,

And I wish that you were here;

But now, it is nearly mail time

So I must say: “Goodbye Dear.”

Here I stand beside the mailbox,

With my face so very red,

Instead of mailing you this letter...

I have opened it instead....

I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.

Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step and it trod air. She was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry that I heard.

Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly, and fell without a sound.

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simple agony, why no one stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could not call; though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.

Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the intervals were far too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell.

Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees, with their backs turned towards the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them it disturbed them and they thought it a rather vulgar noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. “Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call to go! You haven’t finished your daisy chains yet. It would be really selfish,” they said, “to leave us to finish the work alone.”

There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge.

Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called, and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest for awhile, but no one was sent to guard her gap and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.

Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; it clung convulsively, and it called—but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way and with a cry, the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they sang a hymn.

Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was—the Cry of the Blood.

Then thundered a Voice, the Voice of the Lord. “And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brothers’ blood crieth unto Me from the ground.”

The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and shivered about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and the weird wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate. What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it? God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin!

During the Great Depression, a good man lost his job, exhausted his savings and forfeited his home. His grief was multiplied by the sudden death of his precious wife. The only thing he had left was his faith-and it was weakening.

One day he was combing the neighborhood looking for work. He stopped to watch some men who were doing the stonework on a church building. One of these men was skillfully chiseling a triangular piece of rock. Not seeing a spot where it would fit, he asked, "Where are you going to put that?" The man pointed toward the top of the building and said, "See that little opening up near the spire? That is where it goes. I am shaping it down here so it will fit in up there."

Some of you are going through terrible troublesome times. You may be experiencing some heartbreaking sorrow. Or perhaps you are enduring some painful physical illness. Or it may be something else-maybe even too excruciating to talk to anyone about. The blows of the hammer and chisel hurt.

But hold on to your faith. These difficulties will not get you down. They are only temporary. Glory is coming. It is the harsh blows to the outward man that often bring the greatest strength to the inner man.

Keep praying. Keep believing. The Master has to do some shaping of us down here so we will fit in up there.

A famous evangelist told the following incident: “I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith—the only thing he had left. One day when he was out walking in search of employment, he stopped to watch some men who were doing stonework on a large church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock. ‘Where are you going to put that?’ he asked. The workman said, ‘Do you see that little opening up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.’

Tears filled my friend’s eyes as he walked away, for the Lord had spoken to him through that laborer whose words gave new meaning to his troubled situation.”

In her travels, a lady experienced some cold weather. As she was shivering she turned to her servant to remind her to send some warm blankets to the poor people when they got home. She arrived at her luxurious warm home, took off her furs, and over a cup of tea made herself comfortable. Later, when her servant reminded her of the promised blankets, her reply was, "Ah, yes, I remember; but it's nice and warm now."

A socialist once came to see Andrew Carnegie and soon was railing against the injustice of Carnegie having so much money. In his view, wealth was meant to be divided equally. Carnegie asked his secretary for an assessment of everything he owned and at the same time looked up the figures on world population. He did a little arithmetic on a pad and then said to his secretary. "Give this gentleman l6 cents. That's his share of my wealth."

Perhaps you have heard the geese honking as they fly northward in a “V” formation. They head toward the grain fields of Canada and Alaska to spend the summer. Two engineers calibrated in a wind tunnel why geese fly in formation. Each goose, flapping its wings, creates an uplift for the goose that follows. The whole flock gains 71% greater flying range than if they journeyed alone. That’s why the leader of the “V” formation falls back periodically to let another leader take the point, and why the rest stay in line. It is rough to be a leader. Even in a flock of geese, leadership is a shared responsibility. Every disciple, at one time or another, is called to “take the point.”

Charlie Hainline is a layman at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a man who radiates the love of Christ, and is serious about sharing his faith with others. One year, his goal was to lead 1650 people to faith in Christ (5 a day)!! Once, he was out witnessing with a couple of other folks, and though he didn’t share the gospel, he sat there and smiled broadly as a teammate did. When the teammate was finished and asked if the person would like to trust Christ and receive the gift of eternal life, the person replied, “If being a Christian would make me like him (point to Charlie), I want it!”

Charlie’s life wasn’t a bed of roses by any means. His daughter was kidnapped, killed, and her head was found floating in a canal. When the murderer of his daughter was caught and convicted, Charlie went to jail in order to witness to the man.

In its January 25, l988 issue, TIME provided an insight on selfishness and its corollary, sharing. Speaking about the introduction of the videocassette recorder, the article said, “The company had made a crucial mistake. While at first Sony kept its Beta technology mostly to itself, JVC, the Japanese inventor of the VHS (format), shared its secret with a raft of other firms. As a result, the market was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the VHS machines being produced.” This drastically undercut Sony’s market share. The first year, Sony lost 40 percent of the market, and by 1987 it controlled only 10 percent. So now Sony has jumped on the VHS bandwagon. While it still continues to make Beta-format VCRs, Sony’s switch to VHS, according to TIME, will likely send Beta machines to “the consumer-electronics graveyard.” Even in a cut-throat business, sharing has its rewards.

Scripture

Setting

People Present

Key Thought

Related Details

Luke 22:40-50

Garden of

Gethsemane

Jesus and apostles.

Judas and soldiers.

Arrested

Jesus prayed,

Apostles slept,

Jesus agonized,

Jesus submitted,

Judas betrayed

Matthew 26:57-68

Before High Priest and Sanhedrin

Jesus,

High Priest,

Part of Sanhedrin, Apostles at a distance

Tried

Jesus struck with fists, spat upon and mocked

Luke 23:1-6

Before Pilate

Jesus,

Pilate,

Priests,

Sanhedrin,

Crowd

Examined

Accusted Jesus,

Examined Jesus,

Found no fault,

Sent Jesus to Herod

Luke 23:7-12

Before Herod

Jesus,

Herod,

Priests,

Soldiers,

Crowd

Mocked

Accused & mocked Jesus,

Dressed Jesus in royal robe,

Sent back to Pilate,

Herod and Pilate became friends.

Luke 23:13-23

Before Pilate a second time

Jesus,

Pilate,

Soldiers,

Priests,

Crowd,

Pilate’s wife

Sentenced

Barabbas released,

Crowd incited,

Crucifixion demanded,

Jesus scourged,

Pilate’s wife warned,

Pilate washed hands,

Pilate yielded to pressure,

Jesus sentenced to be crucified.

Matthew 27:38-60

Luke 23:32-56

Calvary

Jesus

Two thieves,

Soldiers,

Priests,

Crowd,

Disciples

Crucified

Nailed hands and feet,

Priests and crowd mocked,

Jesus’ 7 last words,

Darkness covered earth,

Jesus died,

Earth quaked,

Jesus was buried.

Luke 24:1-12

Garden Tomb

Angels,

Disciples

Raised

Jesus arose,

Jesus appeared,

Jesus ascended

I met a young man not long ago who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. He said one of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark. He explained that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium. Sharks can be six inches long yet fully matured. But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their normal length of eight feet.

That also happens to some Christians. I’ve seen some of the cutest little six-inch Christians who swim around in a little puddle. But if you put them into a larger arena—into the whole creation—only then can they become great.

- Charles Simpson

She threw a javelin into the air ... and where it fell she soon found out. Ann Goodland’s toss in Conisborough, England, happened to land on a power line. Two explosions, a fire, and a housing development blackout proved it. Repairmen were understanding, though, merely suggesting she try rubber-tipped spears from now on. Or perhaps a boomerang...

A little boy after reading Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," asked his mother which of the characters she liked best.

She replied, "Christian, of course; he is the hero of the story."

The child responded, "Mother, I like Christiana best, because when Christian set out on his pilgrimage he went alone, but when Christiana started she took the children with her."

We are told in the parable of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46) that those whom the judge rejects go away into Kolasis (punishment) aionios (a final state). The phrase is balanced by the reference to zoe aionios (eternal life) which is also a fixed and final state. Even if this word aionios is believed to mean only “belonging to the coming aion,” and not to imply endlessness in the sense of perpetual continuity, the thought of endlessness is certainly bound up in the phrase “eternal life,” and can hardly therefore be excluded from the corresponding and balancing phrase “eternal punishment.” The idea that in this text aionios as applied to kolasis must imply everlastingness seems to be unbreakable.

The New testament always conceives of this eternal punishment as consisting of an agonizing knowledge of one’s own ill desert, of God’s displeasure, of the good that one has lost, and of the irrevocable fixed state in which one now finds oneself. The doctrine of eternal punishment was taught in the synagogue even before our Lord took it up and enforced it in the Gospels. All the language that strikes terror into our hearts—weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, the worm, the fire, gehenna, the great gulf fixed—is all directly taken from our Lord’s teaching. It is from Jesus Christ that we learn the doctrine of eternal punishment.

Study the following Bible passages and any other relevant ones on this topic, and reach your own conclusions, prayerfully: Luke 16:26; John 3:18-19, 36; 5:29; 12:32; Acts 3:21,23; Rom. 1:16, 5:18-21; 1 Cor. 15:25-28; 2 Cor. 5:10, 19; 6:2; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:25; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 Tim. 2:4; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9; 9:27; 1 Pet. 3:19; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 John 1:5; 2:2; 4:8.

Children sometimes do not listen. They hear what they want to hear. We, as their parents, often strive to work in their lives and give them guidelines to follow for their own good and because we love them. We know and understand this, but many times our children do not. They become angry and resentful towards us because they believe we are robbing them of fully experiencing life, and we are taking away their opportunities for fun and happiness. We sometimes want to beat our heads against a wall in frustration.

I wonder if God feels that way also in regards to us, His children? Listen to this story:

There was once a lamb and its mother. It seems the lamb passed a pig pen each morning on the way to pasture with its mother. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like fun to the lamb, and on an especially hot day the lamb asked his mother if he could jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud. She replied, "No." Then the lamb asked the question, "Why?" The mother just said, "SHEEP DO NOT WALLOW."

This did not satisfy the lamb. He felt she had "put him down and exercised force she should not have," etc. So, as soon as the mother was out of sight, the lamb ran to the pig pen and jumped the fence. He was soon feeling the cool mud on his feet, his legs, and soon his stomach. After a few moments he decided he had better go back to his mother, but he could not. He was stuck! Mud and wool do not mix. His pleasure had become his prison. He cried out and was rescued by the kindly farmer. When cleaned and returned to the fold, the mother said, "Remember, sheep do not wallow."

Another poll sheds light on this paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. According to sociologist Robert Bellah, 81 percent of the American people also say they agree that “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief independent of any church or synagogue.” Thus the key to the paradox is the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their own terms—terms that make no demands on behavior. A woman named Sheila, interviewed for Bellah’s Habits of the Heart, embodies this attitude. “I believe in God,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It’s ‘Sheila-ism.’ Just my own little voice.”

During the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands between England and Argentina, the Royal Navy’s 3,500-ton destroyer HMS Sheffield was sunk by a single missile fired from an Argentine fighter jet. It caused some people to wonder if modern surface warships were obsolete, sitting ducks for today’s sophisticated missiles. But a later check revealed that the Sheffield’s defenses did pick up the incoming missile, and the ship’s computer correctly identified it as a French-made Exocet. But the computer was programmed to ignore Exocets as “friendly.” The Sheffield was sunk by a missile it saw coming and could have evaded.

Anyone here familiar with an Ed Kimball? Did he lead a significant life? Maybe not as we measure things on earth, but in heaven, incredibly significant. He was a Sunday School teacher, who in 1858 led a Boston shoe clerk to give his life to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became an evangelist. In England in 1879, he awakened evangelistic zeal in the heart of Frederick B. Meyer, pastor of a small church. F. B. Meyer, preaching to an American college campus, brought to Christ a student named J. Wilbur Chapman. Chapman, engaged in YMCA work, employed a former baseball player, Billy Sunday, to do evangelistic work. Billy Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, N.C. A group of local men were so enthusiastic afterward that they planned another evangelistic campaign, bringing Mordecai Hamm to town to preach. During Hamm’s revival, a young man named Billy Graham heard the Gospel and yielded his life to Christ.

Picture a large manufacturing plant in your town or city that produces shoes. The management has invested great sums of money and many man-hours into the plant to produce the finest shoes possible. Money has been spent on salaries for the employees, machinery for shoe making, and materials from which the shoes are to be made. The plant is now in operation with hundreds of workers scurrying to and fro. Machines are running full blast, and activity is at a maximum.

One day the president asks the production manager, “How many shoes have we produced so far?”

“None,” the manager answers.

“None?” the president exclaims. “How long have we been in operation?”

“Two years.”

“Two years? And still no shoes?”

“That’s right,” the manager says, “No shoes, but we are really busy. In fact, we have been so busy that we are all nearly tired out. We’ve been very active at our jobs.”

The management would probably be very concerned, fire somebody, try to find out what the problem was.

If we now put a cross on top of that building and transform it into the church on the corner—your church, we find much activity going on. Men and women are working hard. The budget is higher this year than ever before. The objective, however, is to produce disciples. Has all that money and man-hour in your church gone into the production of disciples for Jesus Christ?

It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”

It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”

Here is a spiritual insight from Charles A. Lindbergh: "Short term survival may depend on the knowledge of nuclear physicists and the performance of supersonic aircraft, but long term survival depends alone on the character of man. We must remember that it was not the outer grandeur of the Roman but the inner simplicity of the Christian that lived on through the ages."

Bob Harris, weatherman for NY TV station WPIX-TV and the nationally syndicated independent Network news, had to weather a public storm of his own making in 1979. Though he had studied math, physics and geology at three colleges, he left school without a degree but with a strong desire to be a media weatherman. He phoned WCBS-TV, introducing himself as a Ph.D. in geophysics from Columbia U. The phony degree got him in the door.

After a two-month tryout, he was hired as an off-camera forecaster for WCBS. For the next decade his career flourished. He became widely known as “Dr. Bob.” He was also hired by the New York Times as a consulting meteorologist. The same year both the Long Island Railroad and then Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn hired him.

Forty years of age and living his childhood ream, he found himself in public disgrace and national humiliation when an anonymous letter prompted WCBS management to investigate his academic credentials. Both the station and the New York Times fire him. His story got attention across the land. He was on the Today Show, the Tomorrow Show, and in People Weekly, among others. He thought he’d lose his home and never work in the media again.

Several days later the Long Island Railroad and Bowie Kuhn announced they would not fire him. Then WNEW-TV gave him a job. He admits it was a dreadful mistake on his part and doubtless played a role in his divorce. “I took a shortcut that turned out to be the long way around, and one day the bill came due. I will be sorry as long as I am alive.”

Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so is the future. They live for the present.

Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of those who labored in the past. They recognize those who labor during the present and provide for those who will be laboring in the future.

At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.”

A minister pleasantly surprised his congregation by delivering a 10-minute sermon instead of the usual 30-minute message. In concluding he explained, “I regret to inform you, brethren, that my dog, who appears to be inordinately fond of paper, this morning ate that portion of my sermon which I have not delivered. Let us pray.”

After the service a stranger from another church approached the pastor and said, “Preacher, please let me know if that dog of yours has any pups. If it does, I want to buy one for my minister.”

Usually, by the time a person says, “Well, to make a long story short,” it’s too late.

There is a growing shortage of trained clergy and ministers today. George Martin, in Today’s Parish, suggests a practical plan: “Perhaps pastors should imagine that they are going to have three more years in their parish as pastor—and that there will be no replacement for them when they leave. If they acted as if this were going to happen, they would put the highest priority on selecting, motivating, and training lay leaders that could carry on as much as possible of the mission of the parish after they left. The results of three sustained years of such an approach would be quite significant. Even revolutionary.”

The record for the shortest major league baseball career probably belongs to a member of the old Brooklyn Dodgers, a pitcher named Harry Hartman. He was a gifted young ballplayer whose day of glory arrived in 1918 when he was called up from the minors to pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This was the moment he’d dreamed about, the beginning of a great career, but his dreams began to fade when his first pitch was hit for a single. The next batter tripled. Rattled, he walked the hit for a single. The next batter tripled. Rattled, he walked the next batter on four straight pitches, and when he did throw a strike to the next hitter, it went for a single. At that point, Hartman had had enough. He headed for the showers, dressed, and walked out of the stadium to a naval recruiting office, where he enlisted. The next day, he was in a military uniform, never to be heard from in professional baseball again.

When Roy DeLamotte was chaplain at Paine College in Georgia, he preached the shortest sermon in the college’s history. However, he had a rather long topic—”What does Christ Answer When We Ask, “Lord, What’s in Religion for Me?” The complete content of his sermon was in one word: “Nothing.” He later explained that the one-word sermon was meant for people brought up on the ‘gimme-gimme’ gospel. When asked how long it took him to prepare the message, he said, “Twenty years.”