Pastoral Resources

1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.

2. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile.

3. Call people by name. Music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his/her own name.

4. Be friendly and helpful.

5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure, and if it isn’t, learn to make it so.

6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost everybody if you try.

7. Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.

8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy: yours, the other fellow’s, and the right one.

9. Be alert to serve. What counts most in life is what we do for others.

10. Add to this a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience, and a dash of humility, and you will be rewarded manifold through life.

A group of motion-picture engineers classified the following as the ten most dramatic sounds in the movies: a baby’s first cry; the blast of a siren; the thunder of breakers on rocks; the roar of a forest fire; a foghorn; the slow drip of water; the galloping of horses; the sound of a distant train whistle; the howl of a dog; the wedding march.

And one of these sounds causes more emotional response and upheaval than any other, has the power to being forth almost every human emotion: sadness, envy, regret, sorrow, tears, as well as supreme joy. It is the wedding march.

1. I forgot.

2. No one told me to go ahead.

3. I didn’t think it was that important.

4. Wait until the boss comes back and ask him.

5. I didn’t know you were in a hurry for it.

6. That’s the way we’ve always done it.

7. That’s not in my department.

8. How was I to know this was different?

9. I’m waiting for an O.K.

10. That’s his job—not mine.

1. Give something away (no strings attached)

2. Do a kindness (and forget it)

3. Spend a few minutes with the aged (their experience is a priceless guidance)

4. Look intently into the face of a baby (and marvel)

5. Laugh often (it’s life’s lubricant)

6. Give thanks (a thousand times a day is not enough)

7. Pray (or you will lose the way)

8. Work (with vim and vigor)

9. Plan as though you’ll live forever (because you will)

10. Live as though you’ll die tomorrow (because you will on some tomorrow)

In his book Light for Anxious Souls, George Cutting told about a farmer who lacked the assurance of salvation. He foolishly prayed that as an evidence of his acceptance, the Lord would cause 10 sheep of his flock -- and only 10 -- to gather in a certain shed out in the pasture.

Later that day, when the farmer anxiously approached the shed, he was relieved to find exactly 10 sheep. That gave him a temporary sense of peace. Doubt returned with the shocking thought that it may have been just a coincidence. So he asked the Lord that 10 different sheep might gather in an opposite corner of the pasture. And they did!

When the farmer was asked, “Did this give you assurance?” he said, “No, nothing gave me certainty until I got the sure Word of God for it.”

Cutting concluded, “He was all in a fog of uncertainty until he planted his foot firmly on the ‘Thus saith the Lord.’“

1. Showing kindness to an aged person.

2. Destroying a letter written in anger.

3. Offering an apology that will save a friendship.

4. Stopping a scandal that was ruining a reputation.

5. Helping a boy or girl find themselves.

6. Taking time to show consideration to parents, friends, brothers and sisters.

7. Refraining from gossip when others around you delight in it.

8. Refusing to do a thing which is wrong, although others do it.

9. Living according to your convictions.

10. Accepting the judgment of God on any question.

A survey asked mothers to keep track of how many times they made negative, compared with positive, comments to their children. They admitted that they criticized ten times for every time they said something favorable. A three-year survey in one city’s schools found that the teachers were 75% negative. The study indicated that it takes four positive statements from a teacher to offset the effects of one negative statement to a child.

Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper’s principle: “The next mile is the only one a person really has to make.”

“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed me out a tiny spot,

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered 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!”

And the word He spoke, it was not stern,

HE answered me tenderly,

“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;

Art thou working for them or me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”

Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.”

Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”

Speak to Him then, for He hears,

And spirit with spirit can meet;

Closer is He than breathing,

And nearer than hands or feet.

- Tennyson

From an Army Manual:

“Tent pegs, aluminum, 9-inch, NSN 8340-00-261-9749, must be painted orange. The bright color provides an easy means of locating the pegs under various light and climatic conditions during field use. When bright orange pegs are used, they must be driven into the ground completely out of sight.”

A man went to his psychiatrist and he said, “Sometimes I think I’m a tepee and sometimes I think I’m a wigwam.”

The psychiatrist said, “Your problem is you’re too tents.”

When it comes to term papers, you’re the creative type who likes to ponder your brilliant ideas before committing them to a typed page. Trouble is, your parents are clock watchers who are ever-mindful of your approaching deadline and expect the sound of constant production from your room.

Despair no more. You can all be satisfied, thanks to “Genius at Work,” a long-needed cassette tape now on the market. After dinner, retreat to your room, shut the door and turn on your tape recorder. Your walls will instantly echo with the industrious sounds of paper being rolled into a typewriter, followed by the click-clickity-click clatter of somebody hard at work. A full 60 minutes of stereo-typing, while you recline in peaceful procrastination.

The “Genius at Work” tapes, produced by Dying Need Industries, can be purchased by writing: P. O. Box 124, Hubbard Woods, IL 60093. They cost $6.95 each...which shows who the real genius is.

Howard Hendricks was speaking at a conference in Dallas, and asked the question of the audience of 2000, “Do you know someone who is perfect?” He was about to go on, when he noticed a lone hand raised in the back of the auditorium. Hendricks asked, “Are you perfect, or do you know someone who is?” The man replied, “Oh, no, I’m not perfect. But as far as I can tell, my wife’s first husband was.”

It is easier in these United States to walk away from a marriage than from a commitment to purchase a used car. Most contracts cannot be unilaterally abrogated; marriages in contemporary America can be terminated by practically anyone at any time, and without cause.

In Other Words, a publication of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, recently told a story about Sadie Sieker, who served for many years as a house-parent for missionaries’ children in the Philippines. Sadie loved books. Though she gladly loaned out some, others she treasured in a footlocker under her bed. Once, in the quiet of the night, Sadie heard a faint gnawing sound. After searching all around her room, she discovered that the noise was coming from her footlocker. When she opened it, she found nothing but an enormous pile of dust. All the books she had kept to herself had been lost to termites. What we give away, we keep. What we hoard, we lose. - Larry Pennings

Score:

-1 = Not like me

0 = Undecided

+1 = Like Me

Score: 1 - Not Like Me; 0 - Undecided; +1 - Like Me

1. ____ If I do not hope for the highest standards of achievement in my performance I will be a second-rate or a no-rate person.

2. ____ If I do not fulfill my hopes of success I will be rejected by others, shunned and shamed by those I value.

3. ____ If I punish myself when I have failed my hopes by reviewing them, scolding myself with the, grieving for them, I can hope to do better in the future.

4. ____ When I fall short of my hopes I know deep inside that I am worthless, I am less of a person.

5. ____ I hope always to perform well above average since just doing well is no satisfaction at all.

6. ____ I hope to always be equal to or slightly better than those I admire or I am of no value at all.

7. ____ I hope I will never need admit any fault or error openly before others because people will think less of me.

8. ____ I hope I can immediately correct or completely change any tendency to error or failure. No one should make the same mistake twice.

9. ____ I hope that the constant low level of anxiety I maintain to see myself toward perfection will insure me against falling short.

10. ____ I hope by constant review of my past actions to discover any hidden flaws to keep myself from repeating them.

One of the best ways to test the genuineness of our salvation is to find out whether the old nature within us responds when it is called by an outside voice. A French woman was being sought by the police. As soon as she descended from the train, a policeman approached her and asked her who she was and from where she was coming. She gave him false information and started walking away. Then the voice of the policeman was heard behind her: "Rosine." That was her real name. She immediately turned. Are you responding to the hypocritical name of a Christian in church and in the world by your real name?

Responsibility for others is one of the chief causes of tension in executives. To prove this idea, an experiment was conducted some time ago with two monkeys. Scientists devised a method of giving one of the monkeys “executive” training under carefully controlled laboratory conditions.

The monkey chosen for executive training was strapped in a chair with his feet on a plate capable of giving him a minor electric shock. Then they put a light over the desk and turned the light on 20 seconds before each shock. A lever was placed by the monkey’s chair. If he pulled the lever after the light came on, the light would go out and there would be no shock. The executive monkey learned to avoid the shock very quickly. The scientists then placed another monkey across the room with the same setup, except that the second monkey’s lever didn’t work. However, the monkeys soon learned that the first monkey’s lever would work for both, turning off the second monkey’s light and protecting him from shock as well. This made the first monkey an executive, since he was now responsible for preventing shock for the second one.

The first monkey was intelligent. He quickly took over, protecting both himself and his colleague from shock, responding to both lights or either light without difficulty. There was no outward change in either monkey as the experiment continued, but after awhile the executive monkey, responding to the stress of responsibility for another, developed stomach ulcers. The second monkey’s health remained unchanged.

If steel is to be used in a reliable manner, it must be tested and proven. So must the servant of Christ. Someone describes his visit to a steel mill as follows: "All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point, and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point and also marked. The supervisor of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under the strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in a ship, building, or bridge. He knew because the testing room revealed it." It is often so with us as God's children. God doesn't want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He doesn't want us to be hothouse plants, but stormbeaten oaks; not sand dunes, driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us strong He must bring us into His testing room of suffering. Better the storm waters with Christ than the smooth waters without Him.

The WEATHER Test-Are you a sailboat Christian, making progress in the Lord only if the winds are favorable and things go your way? Or are you a tugboat Christian, plowing right ahead according to God's Word even though the gales are against you? (Rev 2:10).

The WORRY Test-If you trust, you do not worry; if you worry, you do not trust as you should. Haven't you found that "He keeps him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him" because he trusts in God? (Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27).

The WORLDLINESS Test-Do you think as the world thinks, go where the world goes, act as the world acts? Does your life give evidence of having your affections set on things above, not on things of the world? (Rom 12:1).

The WALLET Test-What proportion of your income last year was turned over for the work of the Lord? Was it at least as much as the tithe which the Jews paid before the grace of God was revealed in Christ? (Lev 27:30; Neh 12:44).

The WORK Test-How much of your energy is being given to the work of the Lord, and is it a reasonable portion of what you are expending in the day-to-day task of making a living? (Joh 9:4).

The SOUL-WINNING Test-Are you by life and lip presenting Christ so that He is attractive to those who do not know Him as their Savior and Lord? (Mat 12:30; Rom 15:5-6).

A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”

Around 125 A.D., a Greek by the name of Aristeides wrote to one of his friends, trying to explain the extraordinary success of the new religion, Christianity. In his letter he said, “If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.”

A mean, worldly army sergeant was saved, and this was his testimony to his fellow soldiers: "There is a private in our company who was converted. We gave that fellow an awful time. One night he came in from sentry duty, very tired and wet, and before going to bed he got down to pray. I struck him on the side of the head with my boots, and he just went on with his prayers. Next morning I found my boots beautifully polished by the side of my bed. That was his reply to me. It just broke my heart, and I was saved that day." That is really a testimony of Christian long-suffering.

A blacksmith known for his strong faith, had a great deal of illness. He was challenged by an unbeliever to explain why his God would let him suffer.

He explained, "I take a piece of iron, put it into the fire to bring it to a white heat, then I strike it once or twice to see if it will take temper. I plunge it into water to change the temperature, put it into the fire again, then I put it on the anvil and make a useful article out of it.

"If it will not take temper when I first strike it on the anvil, I throw it into the scrap heap and sell it for a half-penny per pound. I believe God has been testing me to see if I will take temper. I have tried to bear it as patiently as I could, and my daily prayer has been, 'Lord, put me into the fire if you will; put me into the water if you think I need it; do anything you please, O Lord, only do not throw me on the scrap heap.'"

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, “Are you trying to break this bridge?” “No,” the builder replied, “I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break.”

In the same way, the temptations Jesus faced weren’t designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that He couldn’t.

In Russia, Christians are tested by hardship, but in America you are tested by freedom. And testing by freedom is much harder.

“Nobody pressures you about your religion. So you relax and are not so concentrated on Christ, on His teaching, how He wants you to live.”

What are the tests for prophecy, or for any other spiritual gift that purports to bring the Word of God? These questions should be asked:

1. Does it glorify Christ? The prophecy may not mention Christ by name, but does the whole message honor and glorify him? This is always the Spirit’s primary work (John 16:14; 1 Cor. 12:1-4).

2. Does it edify the body of Christ? Seven times in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul emphasizes this point when discussing spiritual gifts, especially tongues and prophecy.

3. Is it in accordance with the Scriptures? If we twist the Scriptures, we do so to our own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16).

4. Is the prophecy given in the spirit of love? This is the hallmark of the Spirit’s presence, even in correction or rebuke.

5. Is Jesus lord of the speaker’s life? A false prophet will be known by the fruits of his or her life, said Jesus (Matt. 7:15:15-20).

6. Does the speaker submit to the church leaders? Strong personalities with independent spirits caused splits and divisions in the New Testament church, and do so today. Paul warned the Ephesian elders about those “from among your own selves” who would draw away disciples after them, and so divide the church of God (Acts 20:29-30).

7. Does the speaker allow others to judge the prophecy? Such weighing should be the rule, not the exception (1 Cor. 14:29).

8. Is the speaker in control of himself when speaking? The speaker may be “taken over” by an evil spirit, but that is never the mark of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12:2ff, contrast the passive “moved” and the active “speaking”; see also 14:32).

9. Is the prophecy fulfilled, if it speaks about some future event? Most prophecy is forth-telling, not foretelling. A Christian prophesying will normally “tell forth” God’s word as an encouragement or exhortation for the whole congregation. Only on rare occasions will prophecy predict some future event When it does, the biblical test is in the prophecy: fulfillment, or lack of it (Deut. 18:22).

According to Luscher, since 1850 biblical criticism has proposed more than 700 theories, all supposed to be the last word in science. By now more that 600 of these have become outmoded and discarded in the light of a more enlightened and extended scholarship.

Tony Award-winning director Jerry Zaks remembers one of his first acting roles, on tour with Zero Mostel in Fiddler on the Roof. “I had one critical line, ‘Even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness.’ I was supposed to shout it at Zero, right in his face, and I was sure I was giving my all. But every night, just before the line, he’d whisper, ‘Give it to me. Come on, give it to me.’

“Finally I got so angry I just lost it. I stood up on my toes. I went white; I screamed; I was actually spitting in that face I detested so much, ‘Even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness!’ And this time, the audience roared. And Zero said to me under his breath, ‘Thaaaat’s it! Thaaaat’s it!”

After World War 1, 900 German soldiers who had violated international law were summoned to appear before the World Court. Their condemnation was certain. In a dramatic move, however, the former crown prince of Germany volunteered to be their substitute. His offer included taking upon himself both the accusation against them and their penalty. This act, though most noble, was impractical. Although he was royalty, he did not have in his own person the value of the 900.

There is another Prince who took upon Himself the judgment due the entire human race. Unlike that German leader, He is not implicated in any evil. Because of His sinless humanity, He could be “delivered for our offenses.” Because of His deity, He could be “raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). He was able to pay in full the ransom demanded by God’s holy law, because in Him was the intrinsic worth needed to provide salvation. Yes, the Father laid upon His sinless Son the iniquity of us all.

Our redemption has been purchased by Heaven’s Crown Prince. So don’t depreciate the cross. Don’t underrate Christ’s great sacrifice. It will cost you your soul. It will shut you out from God. It will darken your eternity.

Critics of advertising maintain that advertising has created a national avarice which, in turn, has produced a “materialist society.” They proceed from there to insist that this impulse toward affluence has resulted in a kind of general unhappiness.

This proposition concludes that the more “things” we have, the unhappier we become.

It represents a return to the “happy savage” thesis.

The critics are right about the essential role advertising has played in contributing to America’s high standard of living, but they are wrong in concluding that it produces unhappiness.

It might be helpful to start with some notion of what does, in fact, make people happy.

The Gallup International Research Institute recently conducted a survey of 60 countries representing two-thirds of the world’s population, the purpose of which was to measure human satisfactions, need and concerns. They wanted to find out what makes people happy.

The inescapable conclusion of the study is that the more people have, the happier they are.

When we express our gratitude to God, it’s easy to emphasize material prosperity and the qualities of life that are wonderful to have but easy to lose. Good health is a great blessing, but it could be gone tomorrow. Into the most loving families and friendships, death intrudes when we least expect it. Our tables may be loaded with food today, but we could be out of work tomorrow and wondering about our next meal.

How about taking a new approach to giving thanks today? Instead of focusing on the traditional areas of food, family, and friends, let’s thank God for what we cannot lose.

Romans 8:35-39 is a great place to begin. After considering the difficulties and calamities that can strip away the externals from our lives, Paul concluded that none of them “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39). God’s love is unfailing, unceasing, unchanging, and unconquerable.

Heavenly Father, if we have to be away from home and family today, if we are frail in body or spirit, if there is an empty place in our heart, if we have nothing to eat, we still give thanks for Your love in Christ, because no person or problem can take Your love away. - DCM

What believers can not lose:

Eternal life (Jn. 10:28)

Forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:9)

God’s presence (Heb. 13:5)

Access to the Lord through prayer (Heb. 4:15-16).

We don’t often thank God for our trials, heartaches, and difficulties. Although we are willing to praise Him for His goodness, we sometimes fail to realize that even adverse circumstances are blessings in disguise.

Scottish preacher George Matheson had that problem. He realized that he was not as ready to praise God when things went wrong as he was when they went right. However, after he began to lose his eyesight, he changed his thinking. He struggled for some months with this weary burden until he reached the point where he could pray, “My God, I have never thanked You for my thorn. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensated for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the value of my thorn.”

When we count our blessings, we should include the weaknesses, the hardships, the burdens, and the trials we face. If we do, we might find that God has used our difficulties more than the “good” things to help us grow spiritually. Why is that? Because it is in those difficult places that we discover the sufficiency of His grace. In our trials, we turn to God. As we depend on Him, we find that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Take a moment and think about the way God has led you. When you praise God for your blessings, do you remember to thank Him for the thorns? P.R.V.,

David, a 2-year old with leukemia, was taken by him mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman’s prognosis was devastating: “He has a 50-50 chance.” The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain—the mother’s ordeal can be almost as bad as the child’s because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of him mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap—a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. “If it hurts, remember it’s because he loves you,” Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”

David, a 2-year old with leukemia, was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman’s prognosis was devastating: “He has a 50-50 chance.” The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain—the mother’s ordeal can be almost as bad as the child’s because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself.

David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of his mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap—a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. “If it hurts, remember it’s because he loves you,” Deborah said.

The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”

When John Broadus was sixteen he accepted Christ as his Savior and at once began to introduce others to his new-found Friend. His first convert was a school friend. These two lived most of their lives in the same city, Broadus a professor in the university, the other a truck-driver. Broadus said that whenever they met during all those years his friend touched his cap as they passed and said, "Thank you, John, thank you." "I know just what he will say when I meet him coming down the golden street of heaven," said Broadus. "It will be just what he said this morning, 'Thank you, John, thank you.' "

After William Carey was well established in his pioneer missionary work in India, his supporters in England sent a printer to assist him. Soon the two men were turning out portions of the Bible for distribution. Carey had spent many years learning the language so that he could produce the scriptures in the local dialect. He had also prepared dictionaries and grammars for the use of his successors.

One day while Carey was away, a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building, the presses, many Bibles, and the precious manuscripts, dictionaries, and grammars. When he returned and was told of the tragic loss, he showed no sign of despair or impatience. Instead, he knelt and thanked God that he still had the strength to do the work over again. He started immediately, not wasting a moment in self-pity. Before his death, he had duplicated and even improved on his earlier achievements.

In her book, Discipline, the Glad Surrender, Elisabeth Elliot reveals four meaningful lessons to be learned from the discipline of our possessions: “The first lesson is that all things are given by God...Because God gives us things indirectly by enabling us to make them with our own hands (out of things He has made, of course) or to earn the money to buy them...we are prone to forget that He gave them to us. We should be thankful. Thanksgiving requires the recognition of the Source. It implies contentment with what is given, not complaint...it excludes covetousness. The third lesson is that things can be material for sacrifice. The Father pours out His blessings on us; we, His creatures, receive them with open hands, give thanks, and lift them up as an offering back to Him...This lesson leads naturally to the fourth which is that things are given to us to enjoy for awhile...What is not at all fitting or proper is that we should set our hearts on them. Temporal things must be treated as temporal things—received, given thanks for, offered back but enjoyed.

When Matthew Henry was robbed, that very night he prayed:

"I thank Thee, first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed."

A young girl sat at the counter of an ice cream store. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" she asked. "Fifty cents," the waitress said with hardly a glance at the child. The girl opened her fist and looked at her coins. She asked, "How much is a dish of just plain ice cream?" Annoyed, the waitress snapped, "Thirty-five cents!" The girl counted out 35 cents and handed it to the waitress. "I'll take the plain ice cream."

The waitress took the money without a word and brought the ice cream. After the small customer had eaten and left, the waitress, cleaning up, suddenly flushed with shame. There, placed neatly beside the dish were two nickels and five pennies-her tip.

Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. Warren Wiersbe illustrated this problem in his commentary on Colossians. He told about a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.

A preacher was suddenly called out of town and he asked the new youth minister to conduct services on Sunday. When he returned, he asked his wife how the young man had done. "Not so well," she reported. "It was the poorest sermon I had ever heard-nothing to it at all." Meeting the youth minister later, the preacher asked him how he had managed. "Pretty good, I guess," replied the young man. "As I did not have time to prepare anything myself, I just used one of your sermons."

There is a story of a young man who proposed marriage to a young woman. He gave her an expensive, beautiful diamond ring enclosed in an attractive blue velvet box. The following day after their engagement, the young woman said, "How can I ever thank you enough for the beautiful blue velvet box? I love it and will always cherish it!" How do you think her beloved felt?

A ludicrous story? Yes, except that it aptly illustrates the care and attention we humans give in this life to our body and physical well beings-which is like the blue velvet box. We spend about 99 percent of our resources and time on something that will return to dust. And we neglect the gift of the diamond, which is our living, eternal soul. We fail to thank God for such a priceless gift, purchased for us by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

To All Ye Pilgrims: Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now, I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor, and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Colony

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and my 5-year-old son, Stephen, and I are sprawled across the couch. I’m reading aloud from C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, and my boy is lapping up every word.

With each page, he studies my every inflection. Ah, quality time.

“Daddy,” my blond son interrupts. “You’re getting old.”

“What did you say, Stephen?”

“You kinda look like Grandpa,” he replies.

My son’s blue eyes are scrutinizing me, searching for signs of age.

“What do you mean, I look like Grandpa?” I try to remain calm, but inside I’m losing it.

“You have lines on your head.”

“No, I don’t…Do I?”

“Yep.”

“Where?”

“Here, Here and here. You’re getting old.”

Oh, boy. I didn’t need to hear this.

“Do you think I’m going to die soon, Stephen?”

“I don’t know. How many are you?”

“I’m 30 years old. Remember? I just blew out 30 candles on my cake—or at least, most of them?

“How many is 30?”

“Well, it’s this many three times,” I say, showing him my hands with all the fingers outstretched.

His blue eyes are really big now.

“Yep, you’re old.”

Now, I realize it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that the crown of my head bears a striking resemblance to a mosquito landing zone. But until now, I thought I was doing all right. After all, 40 years is old, not 30. No way.

As I straighten up on the couch, the sad truth begins to sink in: I am 30. Three-oh, no longer a kid. No longer do the neighborhood children call me “Phil.” To them,

I’m “Mr. Callaway.” The college and up-and-coming pro athletes aren’t my contemporaries. They’re kids.

What do I have to show for three decades on plant earth?

It’s not incredible wealth. We have a car that’s paid for, but the house is a rental. Like most folks, we’re just plugging along.

Now that I’m “old,” I realize wealth is not measured in things you can touch. Fame never got anyone to heaven. What is worth leaving is my faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, Stephen, that is what I want to leave you.

We are rich, my son. Rich in relationships. Rich in memories.

Rich in fun. I may not look that good in the will, but for someone approaching retirement age at light speed, it’s worth smiling about.

- Phil Callaway

Dwight Moody was preaching when someone passed a note to him through the usher. It had only one word: "Fool." Moody looked at it and said, "I've often received notes that weren't signed. This is the first time I've received a note that someone forgot to write, but signed."

That certain something that makes us great—that pulls us out of the mediocre and commonplace—that builds into us power. It glows and shines—it lights up our faces—ENTHUSIASM, the keynote that makes us sing and makes men sing with us. ENTHUSIASM—the maker of friends—the maker of smiles—the producer of confidence. It cries to the world, “I’ve got what it takes.” It tells all men that our job is a swell job—that the house which we work for just suits us—the goods we have are the best. ENTHUSIASM—the inspiration that makes us “wake up and live.” It puts spring in our step—spring in our hearts—a twinkle in our eyes and gives us confidence in ourselves and our fellow men. ENTHUSIASM—it changes a dead pan salesman to a producer—a pessimist to an optimist—a loafer to a go-getter. ENTHUSIASM—If we have it, we should thank God for it. If we don’t have it, then we should get down on our knees and pray for it.

The magazine article summarized the life of a former winning NCAA basketball coach and network sports announcer. Throughout his colorful coaching career he had been obsessed with the game and with winning. But years later, stricken with cancer, he came to realize the triviality of the goods and values to which he had been passionately devoted. “You get sick and you say to yourself, ‘Sports means nothing,’ and that feels terrible.”

Because he had spent little time with his wife and children, he confessed, “I figured I’d have 20 years in the big time, who knows, maybe win three national titles, then pack it in at 53 or 54....I was going to make it all up to them, all the time I’d been away....It sounds so silly now....But it went on and on, that insatiable desire to conquer the world.”

A skeptical physician said to his Christian patient, "I could never understand saving faith. I believe in God and I suppose I believe in Jesus Christ-I am not conscious of any doubts. I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and I believe in the Bible, yet I am not saved, I do not feel God near me. What is the matter with me?" "Well," said the patient, "a week ago I believed in you as a very skillful physician. I believed that if I put myself in your hands I would recover from my illness. In other words, I trusted you. For a week now I have been taking some mysterious stuff out of a bottle. I don't know what it is; I don't understand it, but I am trusting in you. Now, whenever a person turns to the Lord Jesus Christ and says, 'Lord Jesus, Christianity seems to me to be full of mysteries. I do not understand them, but I believe Thou art trustworthy and I trust Thee; I commit myself to Thee,' that is faith. A very simple thing, isn't it?" The faith of the patient did not heal him; it was the remedy that healed him; but in faith he took the remedy.

As D. L. Moody walked down a Chicago street one day, he saw a man leaning against a lamppost. The evangelist gently put his hand on the man’s shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The fellow raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, “Mind your own business!” “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” said Moody, “but to be very frank, that IS my business!”

I remember a mother coming to me and saying, "It is easy enough for you to speak in that way; if you had the burden that I've got, you couldn't cast it on the Lord." "Why, is your burden so great that Christ can't carry it?" I asked. "No; it isn't too great for Him to carry; but I can't put it on Him." "That is your fault," I replied; and I find a great many people with burdens who, rather than just come to Him with them, strap them tighter on their backs and go away struggling under their load. I asked her the nature of her trouble, and she told me. "I have an only boy who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. I don't know where he is. If I only knew where he was I would go around the world to find him. You don't know how I love that boy. This sorrow is killing me." "Why can't you take him to Christ? You can reach Him at the throne, even though he be at the uttermost part of the world. Go tell God all about your trouble, and he will take away his sin, and not only that, but if you never see him on earth, God can give you faith that you will see your boy in heaven." And then I told her of a mother who lived down in the southern part of Indiana. Some years ago her boy came up to this city. He was a moralist. My friends, a man has to have more than morality to lean upon in this great city. He hadn't been here long before he was led astray. A neighbor happened to come up here and found him one night in the streets drunk.

When that neighbor went home, at first he thought he wouldn't say anything about it to the boy's father, but afterward he thought it was his duty to tell him. So in a crowd in the street of their little town he just took the father aside, and told him what he had seen in Chicago. It was a terrible blow. When the children had been put to bed that night he said to his wife, "Wife, I have bad news. I have heard from Chicago today." The mother dropped her work in an instant and said: "Tell me what it is." "Well, our son has been seen on the streets of Chicago, drunk." Neither of them slept that night, but they took their burden to Christ, and about daylight the mother said: "I don't know how, I don't know when or where, but God has given me faith to believe that our son will be saved and will never come to a drunkard's grave."

One week after, that boy left Chicago. He couldn't tell why--an unseen power seemed to lead him to his mother's home, and the first thing he said on coming over the threshold was, "Mother, I have come home to ask you to pray for me;" and soon after he came back to Chicago a bright and shining light. If you have a burden like this, fathers, mothers, bring it to Him and cast it on Him, and He, the Great Physician, will heal your broken hearts.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that he who adds to the Scriptures is likely to be a proud and arrogant person, one who looks down upon others because they lack his abilities. He is in the same class as the young girl who went to her priest and confessed her sin of vanity. "What makes you think that?" asked the priest. "Because every morning, when I look into the mirror," she replied, "I think how beautiful I am." "Don't worry" said the priest, "that isn't sin; that's just a mistake." How true it is that those who are the proudest in their assumption of the right to think and act above what is written are the most mistaken. They need to humbly accept what God says of them in His Word.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that he who adds to the Scriptures is likely to be a proud and arrogant person, one who looks down upon others because they lack his abilities. He is in the same class as the young girl who went to her priest and confessed her sin of vanity. "What makes you think that?" asked the priest. "Because every morning, when I look into the mirror," she replied, "I think how beautiful I am." "Don't worry" said the priest, "that isn't sin; that's just a mistake." How true it is that those who are the proudest in their assumption of the right to think and act above what is written are the most mistaken. They need to humbly accept what God says of them in His Word.

At 14 years of age, the "bad boy" of a little Massachusetts town, was so powerful in his influence for evil that no one was found able to teach the district school which he attended; it seemed "pretty poor soil." Everyone said the student in question was "bad clear through," "hopeless," and "bound to go to ruin."

One day a new teacher came who said he was not afraid to try. The school friends were quick to tell him all the stories of "the Marcy boy." All advised that he be forbidden to enter the school. However, he was allowed to enter. The teacher analyzed the "hopeless soil," and began at once to enrich it with kindness, justice, goodwill and confidence, and at the right time, dropped in seeds of ambition, hope and self-respect. The seed took root, developed, grew and began to bear fruit.

The promising young student dropped his bad habits, studied day and night, went to college, and graduated with honors. He studied law, answered the call for men in 1812, became associate justice of the Supreme Court, United States senator, governor of New York, and finally Secretary of State. His name was William L. Marcy. He served faithfully in every situation. All of this happened because a good teacher saw in a child the image of God!

Knute Rockne called George Gipp the greatest football player Notre Dame ever produced. At the height of his college career, however, Gipp was struck with a serious infection that took his life. On his deathbed he told his coach, “Rock, someday when things look real tough for Notre Dame, ask the boys to go out there and win one for the Gipper.”

Eight years later, Knute recounted the deathbed story for a lackluster team about to face the powerful Army football team of 1928. The Fighting Irish played beyond themselves that day. In the second half, Notre Dame halfback Jack Chevigny took the ball near the goal line and, having nowhere to go, catapulted over the Army line into the end zone. Jack then leaped to his feet shouting, “That one was for the Gipper!” Notre Dame went on to beat Army 12-6.

It is Christians only who are in view here. All that we have hidden shall be revealed. The things we have done in the body will come back to us, whether good or bad. Every pious thought, and every thought of sin; every secret prayer, and every secret curse; every unknown deed of charity, and every hidden deed of selfishness; we will see them all again, and though we have not remembered them for years, and perhaps have forgotten them altogether, we shall have to acknowledge that they are our own.

Is not that a solemn thing to stand at the end of life?

A minister once visited a notable rich man. He was shown all the gardens, the beautiful estate, the statutes, pictures, etc. The rich man was very anxious to see what ideas all these things would arouse in the mind of the minister. He confidently expected a faltering compliment. Instead the preacher said, "Ah, David, David, these are the things which make a deathbed terrible."

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentleman put a piece of the stone into the youth’s hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun, and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for weeks. The boy became frustrated—when would he be told about jade?—but he was too polite to interrupt his venerable teacher.

Then one day when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instantly, “That’s not jade!”

Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, “That’s right, that’s right.”

On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, “Wait a second, judge, you haven’t even heard my side of the case yet.” So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, “That’s right, that’s right.”

When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, “Judge, they both can’t be right.” The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, “That’s right, that’s right!”

A young man, under the influence of drink, stood on the outside of a crowd and boasted that he would make the open-air preacher stop preaching. He shouted: "Hi, Mister, you can go home; you don't need to preach any more-the devil's dead!" The preacher looked at the young man sternly and replied, "The devil's dead? Then you are an orphan!"

A woman came up to an evangelist after hearing him preach and said that she could not understand salvation. The evangelist asked, "Mrs. Franklin, how long have you been Mrs. Franklin?" "Why, ever since I was married," she replied. "And how did you become Mrs. Franklin?" he asked. "When the minister said, 'Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband?' I just said, 'Yes.' " "Didn't you say, 'I hope so,' or 'I'll try to?' " asked the evangelist. "No," she replied, "I said, 'I will.' " Then pointing her to God's word, he said, "God is asking you if you will receive His Son. What will you say to that?" Her face lighted up and she said, "Why, how simple that is! Isn't it queer that I didn't say 'Yes' long ago?" That is the simple belief the Bible calls for-for you to say "Yes" and God will receive you as long as you come in the name of Christ.

A woman came up to an evangelist after hearing him preach and said that she could not understand salvation. The evangelist asked, "Mrs. Franklin, how long have you been Mrs. Franklin?" "Why, ever since I was married," she replied. "And how did you become Mrs. Franklin?" he asked. "When the minister said, 'Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband?' I just said, 'Yes.' " "Didn't you say, 'I hope so,' or 'I'll try to?' " asked the evangelist. "No," she replied, "I said, 'I will.' " Then pointing her to God's word, he said, "God is asking you if you will receive His Son. What will you say to that?" Her face lighted up and she said, "Why, how simple that is! Isn't it queer that I didn't say 'Yes' long ago?" That is the simple belief the Bible calls for-for you to say "Yes" and God will receive you as long as you come in the name of Christ.

During his years at Oxford John became associated with the “Holy Club,” a group of serious churchmen committed to a methodically rigorous regimen of religious observance with the brothers John and Charles Wesley as the leading spirits. Their remarkable earnestness manifested itself in ascetic living, regular devotions, charitable works, and solemn discussion, but it was unenlightened by the Gospel.

“I began to fast twice a week for thirty-six hours together,” Whitefield wrote in later years, “prayed many times a day and received the sacrament every Lord’s Day. I fasted myself almost to death all the forty days of Lent, during which I made it a point of duty never to go less than three times a day to public worship, besides seven times a day to my private prayers. Yet I knew no more that I was to be born a new creature in Christ Jesus than if I had never been born at all.”

Deeply dissatisfied at heart, the reading of a book with the title The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal made plain to him the necessity of personal commitment to and union with Christ as Saviour and Lord. Desperately seeking this relationship, he increased his self-affliction to such an extent that his weakness brought him near to death. At last, however, the grace of God enabled him to trust solely in Christ instead of in his own religious exercises: “God was pleased to remove the heavy load,” he testified, “to enable me to lay hold of His dear Son by a living faith, and by giving me the Spirit of adoption, to seal me even to the day of everlasting redemption.”

His life continued to be one of zeal and self-discipline and was carefully planned from day to day; but from now on his overruling desire was to proclaim Christ and his grace to the world.

The abode of Satan and his angels (Matt. 25:41), described in the Bible with the imagery of eternal fire, outer darkness, being lost, perishing, and the like. It is impossible to envisage a state that can be described in so many different ways. Clearly it is horrible and is to be avoided at all costs (Mark 9:43).

A severe trial is sometimes called an “acid test.” this term originated during times when gold was widely circulated. Nitric acid was applied to an object of gold to see if it was genuine or not. If it was fake, the acid decomposed it; if it was genuine, the gold was unaffected.

In God’s view, our faith is “much more precious than gold,” and it too must be tested (1 Pet. 1:7). But these “acid tests” are positive ones. The Lord is working to reveal genuine faith, not to expose false faith.

During hard times, though, we may feel overwhelmed with the fear that our faith is decomposing. Ronald Dunn, a Bible teacher who has experienced much personal tragedy, knows what we are going through. He writes, “I’m often mystified....I don’t understand why it is that as I endeavor to live for God and pray and believe, everything seems to be falling apart. Sometimes I struggle, and I say, ‘Dear Lord, why are You allowing this to happen?’” Dunn concludes, “It’s good for us to remember that God is not an arsonist; He’s a refiner.”

There is a tale told of that great English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: “I wish you would explain to me something.” “Well, what is it? I don’t know that I can explain anything to a preacher.” “What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all.”

Macready’s answer was this: “This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”

A great minister who was noted for his Christlike spirit as well as for his consecrated ability, dreamed that he had died and stood at the gate of heaven knocking for admission. He gave his name, only to be told that his name did not appear upon the books. Finally, at his earnest entreaty, he was bidden to enter and was told he would have the privilege of appearing before the Judge of all the earth, and if he could stand His test he might abide in heaven forever. Standing before the throne, he gave his name, and the following questions were put to him: "Have you led a righteous life?" He said, "No." "Have you always been kind and gentle?" Again he replied in the negative. "Have you always been forgiving to those who have been around you?" "No, I have miserably failed there." "Have you always been honest and just?" He answered, "I fear not."

As question after question was put to him by the Judge, his case seemed more and more hopeless. The last question was asked him, and to that, too, he was obliged to give the same negative reply. Just when he seemed to be in despair, the brightness about the throne became brighter, and suddenly he heard a beautiful voice-the most beautiful to which his ears had ever listened. It was sweeter than a mother's voice; it was more beautiful than all the music of heaven; it filled all the arches of the skies and thrilled the soul of this man as he stood before the Judge trembling and about to fall. The speaker said, "My Father, I know this man. It is true that he was weak in many ways, but he stood for Me in the world, and I take his place before Thee." Just as the last words of this sentence were spoken, the dream was over and the man awoke; he had his lesson, and it is a lesson for us all.

To the uninformed eye, a caterpillar turns into a completely different creature when it becomes a butterfly. If a child had never been instructed that one emerged from the other, he would not recognize them as being related. But the scientist knows that when a caterpillar changes into a chrysalis, the whole of its body material undergoes a complete transformation except for a central and essential nerve that controls its entire system. This is retained. Then why shouldn't our spirits have greater powers in the next life? Why should they not be able to repeat our likeness in a celestial and sanctified form, so that we shall be as easily recognized by other spirits in the next world as we are by other bodies in this world?

In this Age of Self, the language is filled with phrases that glorify personal choice above all other values: self-determination, self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-help even do-it-yourself. In this climate, no doctrine is safe, no dictate accepted without scrutiny....The touchstone of belief today is the individual, not the institution. Priests, like precinct captains, have lost authority. The same voters who talk back to their political leaders on call-in shows and town meetings are talking back to their religious leaders at parish council meetings and Communion breakfasts. While 85 percent of American Catholics look up to the pope as a moral leader, 4 out of 5 say they follow their own conscience, rather than papal authority, on moral questions...The phrase “cafeteria Catholics” describes those who pick and choose among church teachings. But in religion, as in politics, the more appropriate analogy for modern mores is to fast food rather than to cafeterias; as the slogan for one hamburger chain puts it: “Have it your way.”...How do leaders lead when followers don’t want to be led?

Remember Vinko Bogatej? He was a ski-jumper from Yugoslavia who, while competing in the 1970 World Ski-Flying Championship in Obertsdorf, West Germany, fell off the takeoff ramp and landed on his head. Ever since, the accident has been used to highlight “the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” Bogatej was hospitalized after the spill, but he has recovered and now works in a foundry in Yugoslavia.

Doug Wilson, a producer for ABC, interviewed him last year for a special anniversary edition of the show. “When we told him he’s been on the program ever since 1970,” says Wilson, “he couldn’t believe it. He appears on Television 130 times a year.”