Pastoral Resources

While I was in New York, an Irishman stood up in a young converts' meeting and told how he had been saved. He said in his broken Irish brogue that I used an illustration, and that illustration saved him. And I declare that that is the only man I ever knew who was converted without being spoken to. He said I used an illustration of a wrecked vessel, and said that all would perish unless some assistance came. Presently a life-boat came alongside and the captain shouted, "Leap into the life-boat--leap for your lives, or you will perish," and when I came to the point I said, "Leap into the life-boat; Christ is your life-boat of salvation," and he leaped and was saved.

A famous atheist once said, "I can stand all the arguing of Christian apologists, but I have a little servant who is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and her good, pure, honest, truthful life staggers me sometimes." The one irresistible argument for the gospel's power is a regenerated, consecrated life which is a demonstration of the life of Christ. The world may miss seeing the life of God in nature, but they cannot miss seeing it in the lives of those men and women who have the life of Christ. What a wonderful thought to know that we as human beings can become the carriers of the life of God and our lives can become the reflectors of His life.

A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feel supreme love for One whom he has never seen. Talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see. He expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order that he might be full, admits he is wrong to he can be declared right, and goes down in order to get up. He is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and is happiest when he feels worst. He dies to he can live, forsakes in order to have, and gives away so he can keep. He sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge. - A.W. Tozer

She was blond and beautiful, with azure eyes and a tumble of tawny curls. At three years of age, she would climb into her daddy’s lap, snuggle up with a wide, satisfied smile, and purr, “This is my safe place!” And so it was.

Dads, husbands, YOU are the “safe place.” You are our protector and provider. And when you gather us for a time with God, we need a safe place. A safe place, not a lecture. A safe place, not a sermon. A very human dad/husband who simply cares about God and us. We don’t need or even want a “spiritual giant.” We just want you. And we need a gathering time (phone unplugged) where it’s safe to say to each other, “How are you and the Lord getting along?” “How can we pray today?” We need a safe place to cry laugh, sing, rejoice, challenge, share, and sometimes not to share and have it be okay. We need a time with you that’s relaxed—unstiff, when we can pray honestly, in simple sentences, from our hearts. Unfixed. Unrigid. Unroutine. Unshackled. We need a place where irregular opinions are respected, and where God has the last word. We need a gentleman leader, not a general. Gracious. Relaxed. Human. A family shepherd who exhibits not infallible authority, but a thirst for God. Every day? Not necessarily. Often? Yes. Long? No. Where? Anywhere. How? Sense where we’re at, and zero in. We may need heavy-duty confessing to each other and to God...silent prayer...exuberant praise (try sing-a-long tapes)...Bible study. But not every time. Thanks for listening, Dad (Husband). Remember, we need you. Your family.

An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or Practical reason is idiocy. If a man’s mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut.

Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid. - G.K. Chesterton

I had the opportunity of conversing with Mrs. May Moody Whittle, D. L. Moody's daughter-in-law. I asked her what was her outstanding memory in the life of Dwight L. Moody. Do you know what she said? "He could tell his children that he was wrong and ask them to forgive him." She went on to tell me that one day the children let the horses out of the stable and it took him a long time to get them back. He really told them off. Finally, at night when the children were in bed, Mr. Moody went up and apologized to them for having spoken as he did. This trait is what his children esteemed more than anything else in their father.

I've been on both ends of this experience-the receiving and the giving. I remember when I first came to the United States from a warm climate. It was cold and I had no overcoat. How grateful I was to that servant of Christ, Melvin Wampler, who took off his coat and placed it on my shoulders. He went without so that I could be warm. In a similar manner I have often endeavored to do this for others. Believe me, however, there is more joy in giving and going without, than receiving and possessing.

Toward the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third century B.C. there was a very famous architect by the name of Sostratos. The king of Egypt used him in order to build the famous beacon light of Alexandria. The king’s purpose in building this beacon light was that the ships might find their way into the safety of the port. When the building was completed, architect Sostratos chiseled his own name on a stone that was part of the building. He did not want it to be readily visible and so he covered it with mud and whitewash. On top of that he wrote with gold letters the king’s name so that when the waves hit the mud it would wash it away and his own name would appear.

An ancient Greek legend tells of the Sphinx that terrorized the city of Thebes. This ferocious creature—part lion and part human—positioned himself on the main road leading in and out of the city. To anyone wishing to gain entrance to the city of Thebes, the Sphinx would pose a riddle. If they gave the correct answer, they would be allowed to pass. If not, the Sphinx would devour them. The riddle was simply this: “What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon and on three legs in the evening?” For months, no traveler could successfully solve the riddle, and all those who attempted perished.

Enter the hero Oedipus. When he journeyed to Thebes and encountered the Sphinx, he boldly declared the answer. “Man,” he said. “in the early days of his life he crawls on all fours, at the apex of his youth and vigor he walks on two legs, and in the twilight of old age he must walk with the use of a stick.”

Man has always been a riddle, and the solution to the complexity of humanity has not been so easily solved as the Sphinx’s conundrum. Modern business experts observe, for example, that successful corporations must balance only three components: ideas, things, and people. But successfully dealing with people—whether employees or customers—will easily occupy 80 percent of your time, energy and resources.

“...ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

What were the ancient paths? Everyone appointed to public office must say:

“I do profess faith in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost...one God and blessed forevermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. Delaware Constitution, 1776 (consistent with the First Amendment)

And it came to pass,

Early in the morning toward the last day of the semester

There arose a great multitude smiting the books and wailing,

And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth

For the day of judgment was at hand.

And they were sore afraid for they had left undone

Those things which they ought to have done.

And they had done those things which they ought not to have done

And there was no help for it.

And there were many abiding in the dorm

Who had kept watch over their books by night,

But it availed them naught.

But some were who rose peacefully,

For they had prepared themselves the way

And made straight paths of knowledge.

And these were known as wise burners of the midnight oil.

And to others they were known as “curve-raisers.”

And the multitude arose and ate a hearty breakfast.

And they came unto the appointed place

And their hearts were heavy within them.

And they had come to pass, but some to pass out.

And some of them repented of their riotous living

And bemoaned their fate.

But they had not a prayer.

And at the last hour there came among them

One known as the instructor;

And they feared exceedingly.

He passed papers among them and went his way.

And many and varied were the answers that were given,

For some of his teachings had fallen among fertile minds,

While other had fallen flat.

And some they were who wrote for one hour,

Others for two;

But some turned away sorrowfully, and many of these

Offered up a little bull in hope of pacifying the instructor.

Early in the morning toward the last day of the semester

There arose a great multitude smiting the books and wailing

And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth

For the day of judgment was at hand.

And they were sore afraid for they had left undone

Those things which they ought to have done.

And they had done those things which

They ought not to have done and there was no help for it.

And there were many abiding in the dorm

Who had kept watch over their books by night,

But it availed them naught.

But some were who rose peacefully,

For they had prepared themselves the way

And made straight paths of knowledge.

And these were known as wise burners of the midnight oil.

And to others they were known as “curve-raisers.”

And the multitude arose and ate a hearty breakfast.

And they came unto the appointed place

And their hearts were heavy within them.

And they had come to pass, but some to pass out.

And some of them repented of their riotous living

And bemoaned their fate.

But they had not a prayer.

And at the last hour there came among them

One known as the instructor; And they feared exceedingly.

He passed papers among them and went his way.

And many and varied were the answers that were given,

For some of his teachings had fallen among fertile minds,

While other had fallen flat.

And some they were who wrote for one hour, others for two;

But some turned away sorrowfully, and many of these

Offered up a little bull in hope of pacifying the instructor.

Elena Bonner, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, says that as he wrote his memoirs she typed, edited, and nursed the work, doing everything she could to make sure it survived seizure by the government. Sakharov worked on his memoirs in Gorky, rewriting sections because they kept vanishing. Then one day he met Elena at the train station and with trembling lips told her, “They stole it.”

She says he looked like a man who had just learned of the death of a close friend. But after a few days, Sakharov returned to his work. According to his wife, each time he rewrote his memoirs there was something new—something better.

Andrew Bonar, a great man of prayer, had three rules:

1. Not to speak to any man before speaking to Jesus;

2. Not to do anything with his hands until he had been on his knees;

3. Not to read the papers until he had read his Bible.

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.”

In his youth, Andrew Carnegie, the famous steelmaker, worked for Thomas A. Scott, the local superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Carnegie was employed as a telegrapher, secretary, and general factotum at $35 a month.

One morning a serious railroad accident delayed the passenger trains and shunted freight trains onto the sidings, unable to move in either direction.

Scott could not be located, so Carnegie plunged into the breach—knowing what had to be done, but also aware that an error could cost him his job and perhaps criminal prosecution.

He signed Scott’s name to the orders and got the trains moving with no mishaps.

When Scott arrived at the office, Carnegie told him what had happened. Scott carefully looked over everything that the boy had done, and said nothing. “But I noticed,” Carnegie said, “that he came in very regularly and in good time for some mornings after that.”

The story is told that Andrew Jackson’s boyhood friends just couldn’t understand how he became a famous general and then the President of the United States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never succeeded. One of Jackson’s friends said, “Why, Jim Brown, who lived right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look where Andy is now.” Another friend responded, “How did there happen to be a fourth time? Didn’t they usually say three times and out?” “Sure, they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat—he would never stay ‘throwed.’ Jim Brown would get tired, and on the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner.”

Picking up on that idea, someone has said, “The thing that counts is not how many times you are ‘throwed,’ but whether you are willing to stay ‘throwed.’” We may face setbacks, but we must take courage and go forward in faith. Then, through the Holy Spirit’s power we can be the eventual victor over sin and the world. The battle is the Lord’s, so there is no excuse for us to stay “throwed”!

Who was United States Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas? I suppose you could call him a “Mr. Nobody.” No law bears his name. Not a single list of Senate “greats” mentions his service. Yet when Ross entered the Senate in 1866, he was considered the man to watch. He seemed destined to surpass his colleagues, but he tossed it all away by one courageous act of conscience.

Let’s set the stage. Conflict was dividing our government in the wake of the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson was determined to follow Lincoln’s policy of reconciliation toward the defeated South. Congress, however, wanted to rule the downtrodden Confederate states with an iron hand.

Congress decided to strike first. Shortly after Senator Ross was seated, the Senate introduced impeachment proceedings against the hated President. The radicals calculated that they needed thirty-six votes, and smiled as they concluded that the thirty-sixth was none other than Ross.’ The new senator listened to the vigilante talk. But to the surprise of many, he declared that the president “deserved as fair a trial as any accused man has ever had on earth.” The word immediately went out that his vote was “shaky.”

Ross received an avalanche of anti-Johnson telegrams from every section of the country. Radical senators badgered him to “come to his senses.” The fateful day of the vote arrived. The courtroom galleries were packed. Tickets for admission were at an enormous premium.

As a deathlike stillness fell over the Senate chamber, the vote began. By the time they reached Ross, twenty-four “guilties” had been announced. Eleven more were certain. Only Ross’ vote was needed to impeach the President. Unable to conceal his emotion, the Chief Justice asked in a trembling voice, “Mr. Senator Ross, how vote you? Is the respondent Andrew Johnson guilty as charged?”

Ross later explained, at that moment, “I looked into my open grave. Friendships, position, fortune, and everything that makes life desirable to an ambitions man were about to be swept away by the breath of my mouth, perhaps forever.”

Then, the answer came—unhesitating, unmistakable: “Not guilty!” With that, the trial was over. And the response was as predicted.

A high public official from Kansas wired Ross to say: “Kansas repudiates you as she does all perjurers and skunks.” The “open grave” vision had become a reality. Ross’ political career was in ruins. Extreme ostracism, and even physical attack awaited his family upon their return home.

One gloomy day Ross turned to his faithful wife and said, “Millions cursing me today will bless me tomorrow...though not but God can know the struggle it has cost me.” It was a prophetic declaration.

Twenty years later Congress and the Supreme Court verified the wisdom of his position, by changing the laws related to impeachment.

Ross was appointed Territorial Governor of New Mexico. Then, just prior to his death, he was awarded a special pension by Congress. The press and country took this opportunity to honor his courage which, they finally concluded, had saved our country from crisis and division.

The effective prayer of faith comes from a life given up to the will and the love of God. Not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but because of what I am when I’m not praying, is my prayer answered by God.

Although he wasn’t the first to use ether as an anesthetic, Boston dentist William Morton was credited with this discovery after using ether for a tooth extraction in the mid-1840s. But Morton had done so at the recommendation of Boston chemist Charles Jackson, who also claimed part of the credit. When the Massachusetts Historical Society decided to pay tribute to the discoverer of anesthesia, a monument was commissioned. But there was some dispute as to whether Morton’s or Jackson’s bust should adorn the statue. Realizing that the controversy would never be settled to everyone’s satisfaction, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., suggested that they use busts of both men with this inscription: “To Ether”!

An elderly man said to H.A. Ironside, “I will not go on unless I know I’m saved, or else know it’s hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can’t be mistaken about!”

Ironside replied, “Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?”

“Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right.”

Ironside continued, “But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, ‘I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.’ What would you say?”

The man was speechless. Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him all our sins are gone. Ironside read I John 5:13, “You may know that you have eternal life.” Then he said, “Is that not enough to rest on? It is a letter from heaven expressly to you.” God’s Spirit used that to bring assurance to the man’s heart.

John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave.

A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with you there?” Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.

The story is told of a little boy who asked his mother if he could take his baby sister out to play. She had just begun to walk alone and could not step over anything that lay in the way. His mother said "Yes, if you'll be careful not to let her fall." The man who tells the story says, "I found them at play, very happy, in the field. I said, 'You seem to be very happy, George. Is this your sister?' 'Yes sir,' he replied. 'Can she walk alone?' 'Yes sir, on smooth ground.' 'Then how did she walk over those big stones between here and the house?' 'Well, Mother told me to be careful she didn't fall, so I put my hands under her arms and lifted her up when she came to a stone so she wouldn't hit her foot against it.' " "He shall give his angels charge over thee.... They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." God charges His angels to lead and lift His people over difficulties in the same way.

A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,”

She said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.”

“So does a shotgun,” Sunday replied, “and look at the damage it leaves behind!”

Getting angry can sometimes be like leaping into a wonderfully responsive sports car, gunning the motor, taking off at high speed and then discovering the brakes are out of order.

A recent survey on marital violence reports that approximately one in every seven American couples has used some form of physical abuse during an argument in the past year.

Angry cynical people die young. Men who score high for hostility on standard tests are four times more likely to die prematurely than men whose scores are low.

The 18th-century British physician John Hunter, who was a pioneer in the field of surgery and served as surgeon to King George III, suffered from angina. Discovering that his attacks were often brought on by anger, Hunter lamented, “My life is at the mercy of any scoundrel who chooses to put me in a passion.” These words proved prophetic, for at a meeting of the board of St. George’s Hospital in London, Hunter got into a heated argument with other board members, walked out, and dropped dead in the next room.

In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine.

The Orioles’ John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.

Residents who have lived above a smoldering underground coal mine fire for up to 21 years should get federal help now that they have voted to leave their homes and let government crews try to snuff the flames. “I would like to stay in my home, but I do not want to live on top of fire and gases,” said Mary Tyson, a 70-year-old Centralia native. A recent federal report warned that the fire, if unchecked, could spread to 3,700 acres--20 times the current size--and burn under all of Centralia and the nearby villages of Byrnesville and Germantown.

A father wanted to illustrate to his son the difference between “anger” and “exasperation.” He looked up the phone number of a pompous fellow commuter whom he knew only by name and reputation, and he dialed the number. When the call was answered by the man, the father asked, “Is Adolph there?” “There’s no Adolph here. Why don’t you get the right number before bothering people this hour of the night?” roared the man on the other end.

“Now that,” said the father when he put down the phone, “was simply annoyance. We’ll wait a few minutes, and then you’ll hear something.” After a decent interval, the father dialed the same number and again asked, “Is Adolph there?” This time the other party literally screamed into the phone, “What’s the matter with you, are you crazy? I told you to look up the number and stop bothering me!” Whereupon the receiver at the other end was slammed down. “Now that fellow was angry,” said the father. “In a few minutes I will show you what I mean by exasperation compared to anger.”

After 15 minutes or so, the father dialed the same number for the third time, and when the same man answered at the other end, the father said almost cheerily, “Hello, this is Adolph. Have there been any messages for me during the past half hour or so?”

In Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed a gentlemen walking up and down before the door. I went forward, and said: "Are you a Christian?" He was very angry, and turned on his heel and left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about "receiving." and I put the question: "Who'll receive Him now?" That young man was present, and the question sank into his heart. The next day he called upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said: "Do you remember me?" "No, I don't." "Do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night?" "Yes, I do." "Well, I've come to tell you that I am saved." "How did it happen?" "Why, I was listening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, 'Who'll receive Him now?' God put it into my heart to say: 'I will;' and He has opened my eyes to see His Son now."

National park ranger in British Columbia who has a two sets of huge antlers, as wide as a man’s reach; ;locked together.

Evidently two bull moose began fighting, their antlers locked, and they could not get free. They died due to anger.

As a passenger boarded the Los Angeles-to-New York plane, he told the flight attendant to wake him and make sure he got off in Dallas. The passenger awoke just as the plane was landing in New York. Furious, he called the flight attendant and demanded an explanation. The fellow mumbled an apology and, in a rage, the passenger stomped off the plane.

“Boy, was he ever mad!” another crew member observed to her errant colleague.

“If you think he was mad,” replied the flight attendant, “you should have seen the guy I put off the plane in Dallas!” - H.B. McClung

The fastest horse cannot catch a word spoken in anger. - Chinese Proverb

In Ernest Gordon’s true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai, there is a story that never fails to move me. It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story.

The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their “mucker,” and these Argylls believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their “mucker” survived. Angus’s mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus.

He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had “just come across an extra one.”

Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get “extra food.” Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover.

But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had—even his very life. The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12).

As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents—one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the “Church Without Walls” that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived, all because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away.

The church cannot share the temporal power of the state without being the object of a portion of that animosity which the latter excites. - Alexis de Tocqueville

Consider the witness we give when we are faithful through suffering. My mind is drawn to Annie Johnson Flint, author of 6,000 hymns and gospel songs. She was an orphan. She lived with crippling arthritis. She was stricken with cancer. Yet her faith was especially evident in this hymn:

He giveth more grace as the burdens grow greater

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;

To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

The godly Scottish preacher Andrew Bonar penned a diary entry. He wrote, “This day 20 years ago I preached for the first time as an ordained minister. It is amazing that the Lord has spared me and used me at all. I have no reason to wonder that He used others far more than He does me. Yet envy is my hurt, and today I have been seeking grace to rejoice exceedingly over the usefulness of others, even where it cast me into the shade. Lord, take away this envy from me!”

The 200-year-old church was being readied for an anniversary celebration when calamity struck: the bell ringer was called out of town. The sexton immediately advertised for another.

When the replacement arrived, the sexton took him to the steps leading to the bell tower, some 150 feet above them. Round and round they went, huffing and puffing all the way. Just as they reached the landing, the bell ringer tripped and fell face-first into the biggest bell of all. Bo-o-o-o-ong!

Dazed by the blow, the bell ringer stumbled backward onto the landing. The railing broke loose and he fell to the ground. Miraculously, he was unhurt—only stunned—but the sexton thought it best to call an ambulance.

“Do you know this man’s name?” asked the doctor when he arrived.

“No,” the sexton replied, “but his face sure rings a bell.”

Announcement in the Rock Hill, S.C., Herald: “Low self-esteem support group, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Eastview Baptist Church (use back door).”

When you go to a doctor for your annual check-up, he or she will often begin to poke, prod, and press various places, all the while asking, “Does this hurt? How about this?” If you cry out in pain, one of two things has happened. Either the doctor has pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there’s something wrong, and the doctor will say, “We’d better do some more tests. It’s not supposed to hurt there!”

So it is when pastors preach on financial responsibility, and certain members cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Either the pastor has pushed too hard. Or perhaps there’s something wrong. In that case, I say, “My friend, we’re in need of the Great Physician because it’s not supposed to hurt there.”

- Ben Rogers

One of the most grueling of all bicycle races is the Tour De France. A contestant in that event, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, describes it in a National Geographic article titled, “An Annual Madness.” The race covers about 2000 miles, including some of France’s most difficult, mountainous terrain. Eating and drinking is done on the run. And there are extremes of heat and cold. To train for the event, Lassalle rides his bicycle 22,000 miles a year. What kind of prize makes people endure so much hardship and pain! $10,000? $100,000? No. It’s just a special winner’s jersey. What then motivates the contestants? Lassalle sums it up: “Why, to sweep through the Arc de Triomphe on the last day. To be able to say you finished the Tour de France.”

No, not cold beneath the grasses,

Not close-walled within the tomb;

Rather, in our Father’s mansion,

Living, in another room.

Living, like the man who loves me,

Like my child with cheeks abloom,

Out of sight, at desk or schoolbook,

Busy, in another room.

Nearer than my son whom fortune

Beckons where the strange lands loom;

Just behind the hanging curtain,

Serving, in another room.

Shall I doubt my Father’s mercy?

Shall I think of death as doom,

Or the stepping o’er the threshold

To a bigger, brighter room?

Shall I blame my Father’s wisdom?

Shall I sit enswathed in gloom,

When I know my loves are happy,

Waiting in another room?

Robert Freeman

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father let it be,

In working or in waiting,

Another year with thee.

Another year of progress,

Another year of praise,

Another year of proving

Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies,

Of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness,

The glory of thy face.

Another year of leaning

Upon thy loving breast,

Another year of trusting,

Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service,

Of witness for thy love,

Another year of training

For holier work above.

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father, let it be,

On earth, or else in heaven,

Another year for thee.

"Mother, who made God?" "That's a hard question, Jimmy. Why don't you go out and play for awhile?" answered the puzzled mother. When Jimmy insisted on an answer, the mother was inspired to take off her ring and hand it to her little boy, saying to him, "Here, Jimmy, show me the beginning and the end. God is the same way, Son. He has no beginning and no end."

Some people pride themselves on being agnostics. That is, they say that religious teachings are very well for those who care to be so stupid that they want to believe in God and heaven, something they cannot see. The agnostics, however, pride themselves on believing only those things which they can prove and understand. This reminds me of a story.

"I will not believe anything that I do not understand," said a man in a hotel one day. "Neither will I," said another. "Nor will I," said a third. "Gentlemen," said one who sat close by, "on my ride this morning I saw some geese in a field eating grass. Do you believe that?"

"Certainly," said one of the three listeners. "I saw the pigs eating grass. Do you believe that?" "Of course," said the three. "I also saw sheep and cows eating grass. Do you believe that?" "Of course," was again the reply.

"Well, the grass turned to feathers on the backs of the geese, to bristles on the backs of the swine, to white wool on the sheep, and to hair on the cow; do you believe that, gentlemen?" "Certainly," they replied.

"But do you understand it?"

A man prayed fervently every morning at family worship for the poor in the community, but he was never known to give anything to the poor. One morning at the conclusion of family worship, after the usual prayer had been offered for the poor and destitute, his little son said, "Father, I wish I had your corncrib." "Why, my son?" asked the father. "Why, because then I would answer your prayer myself."

A rather lazy student noticed that a fellow student always recited her lessons well, so he said to her, "How is it that you always say your lesson so perfectly?" She replied, "I always pray that I may say my lessons well." "Do you?" said the boy somewhat surprised. "Well, then, I will pray, too." However, the next morning he could not even repeat a word of his assigned lesson. Perplexed, he ran to his friend and reproached her as deceitful. "I prayed," said he, "but I could not say a single word of my lesson." "Perhaps," rejoined the other, "you didn't study hard enough!" "I didn't study at all," answered the boy. "I thought I didn't have to study after praying about it."

We know not what we should pray for as we ought—Romans 8:26.

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile

All sense of nearness, human and divine;

The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart;

The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;

But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,

The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,

The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,

The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,

But all my little candle flames burned out;

But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,

The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,

A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;

Above my head the skies were black with storm,

And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;

But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,

I heard His voice, and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed

My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,

Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed

Have brought me more than I had asked or thought.

Giver of good, so answer each request

With Thine own giving, better than my best.

- Annie Johnson Flint

On three separate occasions, God told parents in Israel how to answer the serious questions of their sons and daughters (see Exodus 13:14, Deuteronomy 6:20, and Joshua 4:6,21). This would indicate that God wants us to take the time to answer our children when they ask us about spiritual matters. How we respond can either greatly help or terribly discourage them.

Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy told of an aunt who hurt him deeply when she didn’t take time to answer some questions that were troubling him. She stirred his emotions by telling him of Jesus’ crucifixion, but when he cried out, “Auntie, why did they torture Him?” she said simply, “They were wicked.” “But wasn’t He God?” Tolstoy asked. Instead of explaining that Jesus was indeed God, that He had become a man so He could die for our sins, she said, “Be still—it is 9 o’clock!” When he persisted, she retorted, ““Be quiet, I say, I’m going to the dining room to have tea.” This left young Tolstoy greatly agitated. Commenting on this scene, Calvin Miller said, “Tolstoy found it incomprehensible that Christ had been brutalized and his aunt was not interested enough to stay a little past teatime and talk about it.”

Do we allow our own interests—a television program, a sporting event, a hobby—to keep us from taking time to listen, admonish, and instruct our children, or anyone who may ask us about God? If we pause long enough to explain His truth, He will use it to change lives. -H.V.L.

Lord, teach me how to love and live

That I may cheer each heart,

And to my fellowman in need

Some blessing rich impart.

- Anon.

Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, for all the people you can, while you can.

The antagonism between life and conscience may be removed in two ways: by a change of life or by a change of conscience. Leo Tolstoy

Definition of an antagonist: someone who on the basis of non- substantive evidence, goes out of their way to make insatiable demands, usually attacking the person or performance of others; these attacks are selfish in nature, tear down rather than build up, and are frequently directed against leadership. (p. 27)

Kinds of antagonists: hard core (usually irrational, unreasonable). Major antagonist (possible to reason with them, but they will not be reasoned with). (p. 28)

Ability to Work With

Level of Conflict

Objective

Impossible situation

Intractable

Destroy Opponent at any cost to them or me

Very difficult

Fight/Flight

Hurt opponents or get rid of them

Tough

Contests

Win, put others in their place

Easy

Disagreements

Self-protection

Easiest

Problem to solve

Work out a solution

Identifying Antagonists

1. Is his/her behavior disruptive?

2. Is the attack irrational?

3. Does he/she go out of h/h way to initiate trouble?

4. Does h/s make insatiable demands?

5. Are h/h concerns minimal or fabricated?

6. Does h/s avoid causes that involve personal risk/suffering/sacrifice?

7. Does h/h motivation appear selfish?

Red Flags To Watch For:

1. Previous track record

2. Parallel track record (antagonist at work, school, club, etc.)

3. Nameless others: “At least 24 others feel this same way.”

4. Criticism of predecessor

5. Instant buddy

6. Gushing praise

7. “I Gotcha!” Asks leading questions, tries to trap you.

8. Extraordinary likeability

9. Church hopper

10. Liar

11. Uses aggressive means: extreme, combative, unethical 12. Flashes $$$

13. Takes notes at inappropriate times

14. Sarcasm, cutting language

15. Different drummer, always doing things their own way

16. A pest—incessant phone calls, questions, etc.

17. The “cause”

Early Warning Signs:

1. Chill in the relationship

2. Honeyed “concerns”—“Dear pastor, I have a concern about ...” may mean “I’m angry!!”

3. Nettlesome questions

4. Mobilizing forces, pot stirring

5. Meddling in others’ responsibilities

6. Resistance

Later Warning Signs:

1. Sloganeering

2. Accusing

3. Spying

4. Distorting

5. Misquoting scripture

6. “Judas kissing”—“I’m your friend, but I have to say...”

7. Smirking

8. Letter writing (don’t respond with a lengthy, reasoned answer)

9. Pretense

10. Lobbying

Preventing Antagonism:

1. Follow established policies

2. Functional feedback channels

3. Job descriptions

4. Broad base of responsibility

5. Discipline that works

6. Anticipatory socialization—let people know plans

7. United front within leadership

Relating To Dormant Antagonists:

1. Act professionally

2. Keep your distance

3. Be accurate, don’t guess, estimate

4. Avoid excessive positive reinforcement

5. Tighten the reins

6. Don’t seek sympathy from others

7. Don’t form a committee to look into accusations, this only appears to give credibility to their charges

8. Don’t call for a vote of confidence

Public Communication:

Don’t use public channels to combat antagonists. This only gives them attention and credibility.

In the Antarctic summer of 1908-9, Sir Ernest Shackleton and three companions attempted to travel to the South Pole from their winter quarters. They set off with four ponies to help carry the load. Weeks later, their ponies dead, rations all but exhausted, they turned back toward their base, their goal not accomplished.

Altogether, they trekked 127 days. On the return journey, as Shackleton records in The Heart of the Antarctic, the time was spent talking about food—elaborate feasts, gourmet delights, sumptuous menus. As they staggered along, suffering from dysentery, not knowing whether they would survive, every waking hour was occupied with thoughts of eating.

Jesus, who also knew the ravages of food deprivation, said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS.” We can understand Shackleton’s obsession with food, which offers a glimpse of the passion Jesus intends for our quest for righteousness.

Dr. George Sweeting tells of an incident in the early 1920s when Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole structure of belief was in ruins. Then questions were invited.

An Orthodox church priest rose and asked to speak. He turned, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting, “He is risen!” Instantly the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came back loud and clear, “He is risen indeed!”

When Lymann Abott wrote the following he was 80 years old:

I enjoy my home, my friends, my life. I shall be sorry to part from them. But I have always stood in the bow looking forward with hopeful anticipation. When the time comes for me to put out to sea, I think I shall still be standing in the bow and looking forward with eager interest and glad hopefulness to the new world to which the unknown voyage will take me.

Joel C. Gregory recalls that when he was in junior high, "we did an experiment with iron filings on a piece of paper. When we poured the filings on the paper they fell into a disheveled pile. Then we put a magnet under the paper and, as if by magic, the iron filings lined up... and followed the magnet's shape and force of direction."

All our anxieties are like so many iron filings poured out on the surface of our lives. Jesus says, "Put My presence and My kingdom underneath your life, see Me as a habit, and you'll find that your worries will line up and take My shape." The greater gift is given, and the lesser ones will be taken care of."

That's His promise, and our choice.

The Irish Potato Famine (1846-1851) resulted in a 30 percent drop in the population of the west of Ireland. The prolonged suffering of the Irish peasantry had broken the survivors in body and spirit.

John Bloomfield, the owner of Castle Caldwell in County Fermanagh, was working on the recovery of his estate when he noticed that the exteriors of his tenant farmers’ small cottages had a vivid white finish. He was informed that there was a clay deposit on his property of unusually fine quality. To generate revenue and provide employment on his estate, he built a pottery at the village of Belleek in 1857. The unusually fine clay yielded a porcelain china that was translucent with a glass-like finish. It was worked into traditional Irish designs and was an immediate success.

Today, Belleek’s delicate strength and its iridescent pearlized glaze is enthusiastically purchased the world over. This multimillion-dollar industry arose from innovative thinking during some very anxious times.

On a crisp Minnesota fall afternoon, my four-year-old son was helping me rake leaves in the front yard of our farmhouse. I glanced up just in time to see a flock of geese flying over and pointed out how they flew in a formation shaped like a “V.”

He patiently watched them as they disappeared over the horizon and then turning to me asked, “Do they know any other letters?”

First, sin is a failure to do what we are obligated to do. God as Creator has given us responsibilities for which He holds us accountable. If we fail to carry out these responsibilities, we incur a debt.

Next, sin is an expression of enmity, a violation of the personal relationship human beings are supposed to have with their Creator. When we sin against God we break that relationship. We express not love and devotion to Him but rather a kind of hostility that is serious and must be addressed.

Finally, the Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism says that “sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.” In modern English that means any time we break the law of God, we sin. If a crime has been committed, then we have to deal with penal sanctions. If a debt has been incurred, then we have to come to grips with what we all pecuniary sanctions.

Enmity has to do with personal relationships, and these need to be healed. If I steal $1000 from a man, I may not feel that I owe him anything, but I do. I may not feel that I have committed a crime, but I have. I may not feel that I’ve acted in a hostile fashion toward him, but he feels it. Whether I realize it or not, a bad situation exists, one that must be corrected or else I will suffer for it.

Paul Rogers of Centerville, Tennessee, has done some calculating of just how far the Apostle Paul walked in his efforts to spread the gospel. According to Acts, he took three missionary journeys. The second of these alone amounted to three thousand miles, two thousand of which would have been on foot. The average daily distance of a traveler of that time was about twenty miles, with a Roman Inn being located every 20 to 25 miles along the road. These inns were unbelievably filthy, immoral, and bug-infested. Paul traveled through snowy mountain passes and spring floods. He walked through areas famous for harboring robbers and criminals. He braved wild beasts which imperiled every traveler. The travel recorded in Acts 16 alone would have covered 740 miles. That of chapter 15 would be 500 miles. And to think he was walking not for his own health, but for the spiritual well-being of others!

John L. Swigert, Jr., the Apollo 13 astronaut who went to the moon in 1970, recalls how his job almost interfered with filing his federal income-tax forms:

“On the second day of Apollo 13, April 12, I asked Mission Control to begin work to get me an extension of the filing date for my income tax. Since I had been a last-minute substitution on the Apollo 13 flight, things had moved so fast that I didn’t have a chance to file my return.”

The IRS didn’t have to make a special ruling to grant Swigert a two-month extension because of his I’m-on-my-way-to-the-moon excuse, though. There was already a regulation that provided an automatic extension for anyone out of the country.

In the washroom of his London club, British newspaper publisher and politician William Beverbrook happened to meet Edward Heath, then a young member of Parliament, about whom Beverbrook had printed an insulting editorial a few days earlier. “My dear chap,” said the publisher, embarrassed by the encounter. “I’ve been thinking it over, and I was wrong. Here and now, I wish to apologize.”

“Very well,” grunted Heath. “But the next time, I wish you’d insult me in the washroom and apologize in your newspaper.”

Paul saw himself as Christ’s herald. When he describes himself as an appointed preacher of the gospel (2 Tim. 1:11), the noun he uses means a herald, a person who makes public announcements on another’s behalf. When he declares “we preach Christ crucified,” the verb he uses denotes the herald’s appointed activity of blazoning abroad what he has been told to make known. When Paul speaks of “my preaching” and “our preaching” and lays it down that after the world’s wisdom had rendered the world ignorant of God “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe,” the noun he uses doesn’t mean the activity of announcing, but the thing announced, the proclamation itself, the message declared.

Paul, in his own estimation, was not a philosopher, not a moralist, not one of the world’s wise men, but simply Christ’s herald. His royal master had given him a message to proclaim; his whole business was to deliver that message with exact and studious faithfulness, adding nothing, altering nothing, and omitting nothing. And he was to deliver it not as another of people’s bright ideas, needing to be beautified with the cosmetics and high heels of fashionable learning in order to make people look at it, but as a word from God spoken in Christ’s name, carrying Christ’s authority and authenticated in the hearers by the convincing power of Christ’s Spirit (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

Recently my wife and I sat charmed at an outdoor performance by young Suzuki violin students. After the concert, an instructor spoke briefly on how children as young as two, three and four years old are taught to play violin. The first thing the children learn, he said, is a proper stance. And the second thing the children learn—even before they pick up the violin—is how to take a bow. “If the children just play the violin and stop, people may forget to show their appreciation,” the instructor said. “But when the children bow, the audience invariably applauds. And applause is the best motivator we’ve found to make children feel good about performing and want to do it well.”

Adults love applause too. Being affirmed makes us feel wonderful. If you want to rekindle or keep the flame of love glowing in your marriage through the years, try showing and expressing your appreciation for your mate. Put some applause in your marriage and watch love grow.

On a certain occasion Gladstone said: "One thing I have against the clergy ... I think they are not severe enough on congregations. They do not sufficiently lay upon the souls and consciences of their hearts and bring up their whole lives and actions to the bar of conscience. The class of sermons which I think are most needed are of the class which once offended Lord Melbourne. He was seen coming from church in the country in great anger. Finding a friend, he exclaimed, 'It is too bad; I have always been a supporter of the church, and I have always upheld the clergy, but it is really too bad to have to listen to a sermon like that we have heard this morning. Why, the preacher actually insisted upon applying religion to a man's private life!' But that is the kind of preaching which I like best, the kind of preaching which men need most, but it is also the kind of which they get the least."

Appreciation of heaven is frequently highest among those nearing death. Suffering both increases our desire for heaven and prepares us for it. John Bradford (1510-1555), less than five months before his fiery departure from life for preaching the gospel in violent times, wrote to a friend of the glories of heaven he anticipated:

I am assured that though I want here, I have riches there; though I hunger here, I shall have fullness there; though I faint here, I shall be refreshed there; and though I be accounted here as a dead man, I shall there live in perpetual glory.

That is the city promised to the captives whom Christ shall make free; that is the kingdom assured to them whom Christ shall crown; there is the light that shall never go out; there is the health that shall never be impaired; there is the glory that shall never be defaced; there is the life that shall taste no death; and there is the portion that passes all the world’s preferment. There is the world that shall never wax worse; there is every want supplied freely without money; there is not danger, but happiness, and honour, and singing, and praise and thanksgiving unto the heavenly Jehovah, “to him that sits on the throne,” “to the lamb” that here was led to the slaughter, that now “reigns” with whom I “shall reign” after I have run this comfortless race through this miserable earthly vale.

One father was such an undemonstrative man that the children used to worry, for he never seemed to show their mother proper appreciation for her gaiety and the many ways she made their shabby old house a real home. But one afternoon she stopped at a neighbor's house to help with a sick child and delayed getting back. The father arrived home from work as usual and walked into the living room, which the eight children were filling with lively commotion.

The father stood in the doorway frowning, as he was surveying the scene. "Where is everybody?" he demanded.

Those children never again worried that their mother was not appreciated.

One of the most elaborate hoaxes in broadcast history was an April Fool’s joke played on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s current affairs program Panorama, with its rather dignified host Richard Dimbleby earnestly relating a story about the annual spaghetti harvest filmed in a Swiss-Italian spaghetti orchard. Cameraman Charles de Jaeger thought up the spoof and related to Denis Norden how it was accomplished.

“Panorama’s first famous spaghetti harvest came from my school days in Austria,” de Jaeger said, “when a master was always saying to us, ‘You’re so stupid you’d think spaghetti grew on trees.’ So it had always been in my mind to do the story and I tried for several years. It was not until I was working on Panorama that I got the go-ahead.

“I went to the Swiss Tourist Office, who said they would help, and I flew to Lugano. It was in March when I thought the weather would be sunny with flowers out. There was a mist over the whole area.

The tourist office guy took me around all over the place; not one blossom out, no leaves out. It was now Tuesday and I could not find anything and said in desperation, ‘What can be done?’

“Then we found this hotel in Castiglione, which had laurel trees with leaves on, tall trees. So I said, ‘We’ll do it here. Let’s go down into Lugano and get some handmade spaghetti.’

“We did that, put the strands of spaghetti in a big wooden platter, took that in the car and we drove back. By the time we got there, the damn things wouldn’t hang up. They’d dried out. Se we cooked them, tried to put them on the trees, and this time they fell off because they were so slippery.

“Then this tourist guy had a brilliant idea—put the spaghetti between damp cloths. That worked and we got local girls to hang them up—about ten pounds’ worth. Then we got the girls into national costume and filmed them climbing on ladders with these baskets, filling them up, and laying them out in the sun. And we said in the script, with a guitar playing in the background, ‘We have this marvelous festival. The first harvest of the spaghetti.’

“At the end of the three-minute film Richard Dimbleby said, ‘Now we say goodnight to this first day of April.’ In spite of that hint, next morning it was surprising the number of people who didn’t recognize that the spaghetti harvest was a hoax.”

Arabian horses go through rigorous training in the deserts of the Middle East. The trainers require absolute obedience from the horses, and test them to see if they are completely trained. The final test is almost beyond the endurance of any living thing. The trainers force the horses to do without water for many days. Then he turns them loose and of course they start running toward the water, but just as they get to the edge, ready to plunge in and drink, the trainer blows his whistle. The horses who have been completely trained and who have learned perfect obedience, stop. They turn around and come pacing back to the trainer. They stand there quivering, wanting water, but they wait in perfect obedience. When the trainer is sure that he has their obedience he gives them a signal to go back to drink.

Now this may be severe but when you are on the trackless desert of Arabia and your life is entrusted to a horse, you had better have a trained obedient horse. We must accept God’s training and obey Him.

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 few years ago on the Dick Cavett Show, the Archbishop of Canterbury was speaking with actress Jane Fonda. The Archbishop said, “Jesus is the Son of God, you know.” Fonda replied, “Maybe he is for you, but he’s not for me.” To which the Archbishop profoundly answered, “Well either he is or he isn’t.”

Fonda’s response reflects the silly thinking of our postmodern world, that truth is simply a matter of subjective opinion. But the ultimate good news is this: “In these last days, he [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe….and he provided purification for [our] sins” (Hebrews 1:2-3).

Are most people happy? Dennis Wholey, author of Are You Happy? reports that according to expert opinion, perhaps only 20 percent of Americans are happy.

Those experts would probably agree with the wry definition of happiness offered by psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who said, “Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children and by children to adults.”

In 1991 a Gallup poll showed that 78 percent of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die. However, many of them hardly ever pray, read the Bible, or attend church. They admit that they live to please themselves instead of God. I wonder why these people would want to go to heaven.

In an article title, “Are We Ready for Heaven?” Maurice R. Irwin points out that only 34 percent of the American people who call themselves Christians attend church at least once a week. He says, “We sing, ‘When all my labors and trials are o’er, and I am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me.’

However, unless our attitudes toward the Lord and our appreciation of Him change greatly, heaven may be more of a shock than a glory.”

In an article title, “Are We Ready for Heaven?” Maurice R. Irwin points out that only 34 percent of the American people who call themselves Christians attend church at least once a week. He says, “We sing, ‘When all my labors and trials are o’er, and I am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me.’ However, unless our attitudes toward the Lord and our appreciation of Him change greatly, heaven may be more of a shock than a glory.”