Pastoral Resources

That is a pretty unusual title for an article that is designed to uphold the Christian faith. Why would we ever want to know the devil? Because we will never overcome him unless we know something of his sinister purposes, his devious tactics and his universal influence.

George C. Scott portrayed George Patton in the film biography of the World War II general's career. There is a scene in which Scott as Patton reflects on the defeat of the German field Marshall, Erwin Rommel. He said something like, "Rommel, I read your book."

We have to read the book on our enemy, the devil. Among the things we need to know about him are the following:

1. He controls people. He has even been able to control people who walked in the physical presence of Jesus. Near the end of our Lord's earthly ministry, he predicted His own death. Peter resisted the thought that such a thing could happen. Even with the passing of nearly 20 centuries, Jesus' reaction to Peter is a shock. "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Mat_16:23).

2. He lies. He is the father of lies (Joh_8:44) and he "masquerades as an angel of light" (2Co_11:14). He can start with a premise or a practice that is clearly the opposite of what God wants and put a spin on it that makes it sound like you have God's backing for the most evil deeds imaginable.

3. He has universal influence. In Job 1, God asked Satan where he had been. In arrogance Satan shot back, "Ranging over the earth from end to end" (NEB). You cannot go anywhere on this planet where Satan does not go.

This is not said to make you paranoid about Satan, but so that you might be better prepared to resist the devil and force him to flee from you.

Two wealthy Christians, a lawyer and a merchant, joined a party that was going around the world. Before they started, their minister earnestly asked them to observe and remember any unusual and interesting things that they might see in the missionary countries through which the party was to travel. The men promised-carelessly, perhaps-to do so.

One day in Korea, they saw in a field by the side of the road a boy pulling a crude plow, while an old man held the handles and directed it. The lawyer was amused, and took a snapshot of the scene.

"That's a curious picture! I suppose they are very poor," he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party.

"Yes," was the quiet reply. "That is the family of Chi Noui. When the church was being built they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money so they sold their only ox and gave the money to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves."

The lawyer and the businessman by his side were silent for some moments. Then the businessman said, "That must have been a real sacrifice."

"They did not call it that," said the missionary. "They thought it was fortunate they had an ox to sell."

Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community.

In Chicago a few years ago a little boy attended a Sunday school I know of. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Sunday school, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of others just as good nearer his home.

“They may be as good for others, but not for me,” was his reply.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because they love a fellow over there,” he replied.

If only we could make the world believe that we loved them, there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.

- OC International

Not long ago, a professor of psychology in one of our great universities gave a word suggestion test to his class of 40 students. He instructed them to write the word "Christmas," and all the class did so. "Now," said the professor, "right after the word 'Christmas'write the first thought that flashes through your mind regarding that day." When the papers were turned in, such answers were given as "tree," "holly," "mistletoe," "presents," "turkey," "holiday," "carols," and "Santa Claus," but not one had written, "the birthday of Jesus."

As there was no room for the baby Jesus in the inn, there is no room for Him today in the celebration of Christmas.

In prayer Col. 4:12

In ministry Col. 1:29

In conflict 2 Tim. 4:7

In running 1 Cor. 9:25

Returning home one afternoon with my two daughters, Kimberley, age two, and Kristi, six months, I pulled into my driveway and stopped to check the mailbox. But when I returned to the car, I found Kimberley had pushed the locks down on both doors—and I had left the key in the ignition. For an hour I tried to explain to Kimberley how to pull up the door handle. I was on the verge of tears. My husband wasn’t home, and since we live in the country, there were no neighbors to help. Finally Kimberley stood up and softly tapped on the window. As I looked down at her, she said, “Mommy, do you want me to roll down the window?”

James Whistler, the Victorian artist, showed scant respect for the hierarchy of any profession. When his poodle fell ill with a throat infection, he sent immediately for the country’s leading ear, nose, and throat specialist, Sir Morell Mackenzie. The great man was not amused when he was shown his patient, but he conducted a thorough examination, wrote out a prescription, and left with his fee. The next day Whistler received a message asking him to call on Mackenzie without delay. Fearing some development in the poodle’s condition, Whistler hurried to the doctor’s house. “So good of you to come, Mr. Whistler,” said Mackenzie as his visitor was shown in. “I wanted to see you about having my front door painted.”

Doctor to patient: “I have bad news and worse news.”

Patient: “So let’s have it.”

Doctor: “The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live.”

Patient: “I can’t imagine what could be worse than that!”

Doctor: “I forgot to tell you yesterday.”

“You,” said the doctor to the patient, “are in terrible shape. You’ve got to do something about it. First, tell your wife to cook more nutritious meals. Stop working like a dog. Also, inform your wife you’re going to make a budget, and she has to stick to it. And have her keep the kids off your back so you can relax. Unless there are some changes like that in your life, you’ll probably be dead in a month.”

“Doc,” the patient said, “this would sound more official coming from you. Could you please call my wife and give her those instructions?”

When the fellow got home, his wife rushed to him. “I talked to your doctor,” she wailed. “Poor man, you’ve only got thirty days to live.”

A survey conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians shows that ninety-nine percent of doctors believe a relationship exists between faith and physical healing. Recently, more than one thousand health-care professionals met at Harvard Medical School to examine the connection between spirituality and healing.

Doctors’ faith in faith was bolstered by a California study of the effect of prayer on recovery from heart problems. About two hundred heart patients were assigned to Christians who prayed for them, while an equal number, a control group, received no known prayers. Neither group knew about the prayers, yet those who received prayer developed half the complications that were experienced by those in the control group.

A similar study by the Dartmouth Medical School examined the effect of prayer on healing when the patients prayed for themselves. The death rate six months after bypass surgery was 9 percent for the general population but 5 percent for those who prayed for their own healing. And none of the deeply religious patients died during the period of the study.

A New York enthusiast had a good collection of paintings, one of them being the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which hung over his writing desk.

For a long time he noticed that it persisted in hanging crooked despite the fact that he straightened it every morning. At last he asked the housekeeper if she was responsible for its lopsided position each morning that he came to his office.

"Why, yes," she said, "I have to hang it crooked to make the tower hang straight."

Does that sound strange? That is exactly how a lot of people read the Bible. Many people twist the Word of God in order to justify their own opinions or actions, or doctrine to make them all appear right. Let us not twist the Scriptures to suit our own fancy. Let us be sure to hang the picture right!

The doctrine that fallen man is completely touched by sin and that he is completely a sinner. He is not as bad as he could be, but in all areas of his being, body, soul, spirit, mind, emotions, etc., he is touched by sin. In that sense he is totally depraved. Because man is depraved, nothing good can come out of him (Rom. 3:10-12) and God must account the righteousness of Christ to him. This righteousness is obtainable only through faith in Christ and what He did on the cross.

Total depravity is generally believed by the Calvinist groups and rejected by the Arminian groups.

Mamie made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerks. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked, “Why don’t you use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won’t have to stand in line.” Mamie said, “I know, but the machine can’t ask me about my arthritis.” People still need human contact.

Mamie made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerks. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked, "Why don't you use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won't have to wait in line." Mamie said, "I know, but the machine can't ask me about my arthritis."

We live in a world that has become extremely impersonal. You can take care of numerous business transactions without dealing directly with people. When you do talk with people, most of them aren't going to ask you about your arthritis. They want you to state your business and get out of the way for the next customer.

We can get our lunch from a machine if we choose to. We can take our own blood pressure at the drug store. It's been a long time since many of us have had a conversation with a real, live telephone operator. When you live in that kind of context, it's hard to find anybody who is the least bit curious about your arthritis, your gout, your bad cough or anything else that ails you.

People still need human contact. Solitary confinement is still the most severe punishment that a prisoner can receive. As Christians we need to be sensitive to the need that people have to be touched and cared for. "For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone" (Rom 14:7).

Picture with me, if you will, a man running through the wilderness being chased by a lion. He knows that if he is fast enough and dodges through enough thickets, that he could possibly elude the lion. Luckily, he does manage to elude the lion, only to be confronted by a bear. Again, he runs with all his speed and strength, realizing now that his only hope is to reach the safety of his house. Once again, he is successful and manages to elude the beast by reaching his house. He runs inside, slamming the door behind him and feeling pretty good about having overcome the obstacles of life. But, as he leans against the wall with his hand to catch his breath, he is bitten by a snake.

This was an actual illustration that God used in Amo 5:19 to show Israel the hopelessness of their situation.

We all have days and weeks like that, do we not? But are we like the woman who said that she had quit praying for patience because God might give her more? But God, being the wise and all-knowing Father that He is, will often give us what we need to grow healthy and spiritually strong, even though we do not ask for it-though He would like to hear us ask now and then. Children almost never ask for a bath, but we give it to them anyway, because we know that it will help them.

Do not pray for easy lives: pray to be stronger people! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your task. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.

1A The possibilities (five viewpoints)

1B. Denial: “There is no such place. Christians just made it up.”

2B. Earthly suffering: “Hell is what you go through on earth.”

3B. Annihilation: “It refers to the final destruction of all evil persons.”

— II Thessalonians 2:8: “Destroy (“katargeo”) with the brightness of His coming” (cf. Romans 6:6; I Corinthians 13:8).

— Matthew 10:28 (Hell—”Gehenna,” “apolesai”— cf. Romans 14:15).

— II Thessalonians 1:9 (“olethros”— cf. I Corinthians 5:5).

4B. Restoration: “All persons will ultimately be saved.”

— Primarily centers the attention on the usage of words translated “eternal” or “forever” (age).

— “Aidios” used two times: Jude 6 and Romans 1:20. Stresses permanence and unchangeableness.

— “Aionios” used 68 times— unmeasured time. Contrasted with the word “temporary” (“proskaira”) in II Corinthians 4:18.

— Used of God in Romans 16:26; I Peter 5:10; I John 5:20; (and of God’s power: I Timothy 6:16).

— Used of blood of Jesus: Hebrews 13:20.

— Used many times of the eternal life of the believer: Romans 6:23.

— Used of the Holy Spirit: Hebrews 9:14.

— “Aion” used 102 times— refers to the moral and spiritual characteristics of a particular period of time. Greeks used this word to contrast with that which comes to an end.

5B. Unending torment: “Hell is a place of eternal suffering.”

2A. The proof that he does punish people forever in a place called hell.

1B. The biblical description of hell.

1C. Hades used 11 times (“unseen”); refers to dwelling place of the wicked dead.

2C. “Tartaros”: II Peter 2:4—abode of certain wicked angels (cf. Jude 6-7).

3C. Lake of fire used five times in Revelation. Revelation 20:15; 21:8 (second death).

4C. Bottomless pit: pit of the abyss. —Used nine times; refers to lower regions as the abode of demons, out of which they can be let loose at times.

5C. “Gehenna” used 12 times: Aramaic form of Hebrew Gehinnom of Valley of Hinnom—dump.

— Valley of Hinnom, where children were burned with fire as sacrifices to Molech Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31 (cf. Matthew 23:33).

6C. Outer Darkness: Matthew 8:12: 22:13; 25:30 (weeping and gnashing of teeth).

7C. Place of torment: Luke 16:28 (also called “Hades”—verse 23).

2B. The specified duration of hell.

1C. Everlasting punishment: Matthew 25:46.

2C. Eternal condemnation: Mark 3:29 (sin).

3C. Eternal judgment: Hebrews 6:2.

4C. Everlasting destruction: II Thessalonians 1:9.

5C. Eternal fire: Matthew 18:8-9. (“Gehenna”); Matthew 25:41; Jude 7.

6C. Unquenchable fire: Mark 9:43-38 (cf. Isaiah 66:24).

7C. Eternal torment: Revelation 19:20; 20:10.

The officer in charge of the royal pew in the chapel at Windsor, England, noted that King George frequently commented on the sermon as he left the church. If he had been blessed by it, he would say in a cheerful voice, “That will do very well. That will feed souls!” When the preacher’s delivery was cold and his words were lifeless and barren of Gospel teaching, he would shake his head sorrowfully as he left the pew and mutter under his breath, “That won’t do. That just won’t feed souls!” The king’s criterion for determining the value of a sermon is scripturally sound. Ministry of all kinds, whether oral or written, may well be judged by the same standard—does it feed souls?

Christians

Non-Christians

The main purpose in life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment.

66%

53%

No matter how you feel about money, it is still the main symbol of success in life.

54%

51%

There is no such thing as absolute truth; two people could define truth in totally conflicting ways, but both could still be correct.

76%

67%

When it comes right down to it, your first responsibility is to yourself.

59%

41%

In Barna’s report (see sidebar), which compares the nonreligious values of Christians and non-Christians, Christian faith seems to have very little impact on the values and attitudes of its followers.

Criticism is always difficult to accept, but if we receive it with humility, and a desire to improve our character, it can be very helpful. Only a fool does not profit when he is rebuked for his mistakes.

Several years ago I read a helpful article on this subject. It stated that when we are criticized we ought to ask ourselves whether the criticism contains any truth. If it does, we should learn from it, even when it is not given with the right motivation and in the right spirit.

The article then offered these four suggestions:

1. Commit the matter instantly to God, asking Him to remove all resentment or counter-criticism on your part and teach you the needed lessons.

2. Remember that we are all great sinners and that the one who has criticized us does not begin to know the worst about us.

3. If you have made a mistake or committed a sin, humbly and frankly confess it to God and to anyone you may have injured.

4. Be willing to learn afresh that you are not infallible and that you need God’s grace and wisdom every moment of the day to keep on the straight path.

When we are criticized, let’s accept what is true and act upon it, thereby becoming a stronger person. He who profits from rebuke is wise. H.G.B.

In a cemetery, a little white stone marked the grave of a dear little girl. On the stone were chiseled these words: A child of whom her playmates said, "It was easier to be good when she was with us." It was one of the most beautiful epitaphs ever heard of.

Dr. J. M. Buckley, a Methodist preacher, was once asked to conduct what they used to call in those days an "experience meeting" at a church in the South. That was a meeting similar to a testimony meeting such as we sometimes have today. A woman arose and bore witness to the preciousness of her religion as light bringer and comfort giver. "That's good, sister!" commented Dr. Buckley. "But now about the practical side, the positive side. Does your religion make you strive to prepare your husband a good dinner? Does it make you look after him in every way?" Just then Dr. Buckley felt a yank at this coat tails by the host preacher, who whispered ardently, "Press those questions, doctor; press those questions. That's my wife!" Does our faith show by what we do for others?

Every year the youngest children in the Trinity Lutheran preschool in Crown Point, Indiana, steal the show at their end-of-the-year program. This year they did the usual waves to parents, mugging and tugging at their clothes. The highlight came when 11 children—none of whom could yet read—proudly held up brightly colored 3-foot-high letters that spelled: DOG LOVES YOU.

On NBC’s Tonight Show, Johnny Carson read an item from the lost-and-found column of a midwestern newspaper: “Lost dog—brown fur, some missing due to mange, blind in one eye, deaf, lame leg due to recent traffic accident, slightly arthritic. Goes by the name of ‘Lucky.’”

“Nothing clouds your mind like dogma,” says Roger van Oech, creative consultant, in his book A Kick In the Seat of the Pants (Harper and Row).

Dogma can come from an outside authority or it can be self-generated from one’s past successes. Here are some examples: None other than Plato himself dictated that the circle was the perfect form for celestial movement, and for the next two thousand years, astronomers said that planetary orbits were circular—even though their observations didn’t quite jibe with that. Even Copernicus used circles in his heliocentric model of the universe. Only after much soul-searching did Kepler use the ellipse to describe the heavenly paths. Joseph Semmelweiss, the 19th century Hungarian physician, felt that doctors could reduce disease by washing their hands in chlorinated lime water before inspecting their patients. His colleagues—because they thought that doctors were close to God—strongly resented his suggestion that they were ‘carrying death around on their hands,’ and denounced him. The later discovery of bacteria proved Semmelweiss correct. Having a big success with one set of assumptions can easily create a dogmatic outlook. Edison founded the electricity supply industry using direct current (DC). This prevented him from seeing both the benefits of alternating current (AC) and that the future of the industry lay with that type of current. Henry Ford had been successful making cars available in only one color (‘Any color you want as long as it’s black’). He believed that he had a formula that worked, and he didn’t want to change it. This prevented him from seeing the rise of a post World War I consumer class that wanted a variety of styles and colors from which to choose. As a result, Ford lost market share to General Motors. In order to make good decisions, your judge should avoid falling in love with ideas—especially those that have brought him success in the past.

President Ulysses Grant loved horses, but suffered misfortune with a series of dogs. While in the White House, each died of unknown causes. When Jesse Grant, his son, voiced fears that his treasured Newfoundland was fated to go the same way, the president summoned the White House steward. “Father asked no questions, made no accusations,” Jesse wrote, and Grant ended the matter with a simple political promise:

“Jesse has a new dog. You may have noticed that his former pets have been particularly unfortunate. When this dog dies, every employee in the White House will be at once discharged.”

The Newfoundland, named Faithful, enjoyed superb health throughout Grant’s tenure in the White House, according to Margaret Truman, author of a 1979 book titled “White House Pets.”

Every year in Alaska, a 1000-mile dogsled race, run for prize money and prestige, commemorates an original “race” run to save lives. Back in January of 1926, six-year-old Richard Stanley showed symptoms of diphtheria, signaling the possibility of an outbreak in the small town of Nome. When the boy passed away a day later, Dr. Curtis Welch began immunizing children and adults with an experimental but effective antidiphtheria serum. But it wasn’t long before Dr. Welch’s supply ran out, and the nearest serum was in Nenana, Alaska—1000 miles of frozen wilderness away.

Amazingly, a group of trappers and prospectors volunteered to cover the distance with their dog teams! Operating in relays from trading post to trapping station and beyond, one sled started out from Nome while another, carrying the serum, started from Nenana. Oblivious to frostbite, fatigue, and exhaustion, the teamsters mushed relentlessly until, after 144 hours in minus 50-degree winds, the serum was delivered to Nome. As a result, only one other life was lost to the potential epidemic. Their sacrifice had given an entire town the gift of life.

There is nothing boring in life except ourselves. The most humble work does not have to be boring. I remember Madame Duval, the old woman who cleaned the floor in my place in Gargenville. I think of her with profound respect and reverence. She was 80 years old. One day she knocked at my door and said, “Mademoiselle, I know you don’t like to be disturbed, but the floor, come and see it; it shines!”

In my mind, Stravinsky and Madame Duval will appear before the Lord for the same reason. Each had done what he does with all his consciousness. When I said this to Stravinsky, who knew Madame Duval, he said, “How you flatter me, for when I do something, I have something to gain. But she, she has only the work to be well done.”

A converted cowboy put it very well when he said, "Lots of folks that would really like to do right think that serving the Lord only means shouting themselves hoarse praising His name. Now I'll tell you how I look at that. I am working for Jim here. Now if I would do nothing but sit around the house telling what a good fellow Jim is and singing songs to him, I would not suit Jim. But when I buckle on my straps and hustle among the hills and see that Jim's herd is all right, not suffering for water and feed, or being driven off the range and branded by cow thieves, then I am serving Jim as he wants to be served." Let that be our philosophy, too, when the temptation is to talk instead of serving the Lord.

Cathy Rigby was a member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team in the 1972 Olympics at Munich, and she had only one goal in mind—to win a gold medal. She had trained hard over a long period.

On the day she was scheduled to perform, she prayed for the strength and the control to get through her routine without making mistakes. She was tense with determination not to let herself or her country down. She performed well, but when it was all over and the winners were announced, her name was not among them. Cathy was crushed.

Afterward, she joined her parents in the stands all set for a good cry. As she sat down, she could barely manage to say, “I’m sorry. I did my best.”

“You know that, and I know that,” her mother said, “and I’m sure God knows that too.”

Then, Cathy recalls, her mother said 10 words that she has never forgotten: “Doing your best is more important than being the best.”

Rejections, defeats, and failures that all of us have experienced can create enough negative feelings to destroy us. Be careful! Often the most painful wounds are not the scars that are outwardly seen, but the hidden wounds deep in the heart. Being hidden, they are often the most dangerous.

Setbacks in our lives can take the joy out of living. Our faith is weakened, and if we collect enough hurts it will stop us from wanting to press forward. Even success can make one the target of criticism. Do not let the hurts hurt you!

Look at Job. A man of the land of Uz, blameless, upright, one who feared God, and one who turned away from evil. Job had seven sons and three daughters, a beautiful family. He was considered "the greatest of all the men of the east." He lost it all in the twinkling of an eye. He lost his health, wealth, and family. He hurt. His wife hurt. His friends hurt. He was knocked down but not out. He had lost some of the passionate power to grow and some of his enthusiasm had diminished, but he checked his negative thinking and that of his wife and friends and stated, "I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful." How could he after undergoing so much hurt?

Along the shoreline in California it is a common sight to see whales stopping alongside rocks as they migrate from Alaska to Mexico to scrape off barnacles. In our lifetime we also will pick up a collection of personal barnacles that will attach themselves like parasites sapping the life out of us. They must be scraped off.

How did Job do it? The same way we can do it-through faith. Faith is the only thing that can heal the hurts. Job scraped the barnacles off. It was painful! The scars would remain but his life was put back together. Strong belief in God was the medicine. His wife and his friends could not do it-only God could!

Job said, "I know that you [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job_42:2). Paul told the Corinthians, "...God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1Co_10:13).

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job (Job_42:12) with great material blessings, and it was said of his new daughters that "in all the land no women were found so fair...." Job lived 140 years after the hurts and saw sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons. You can also forget your hurts, leave off your sad countenance, and be cheerful if you turn to God for your strength to do so.

If the President of the United States invited us to visit him, and we tried to assume the prerogatives of the Presidency ourselves, he'd soon put us out. Yet, this is how some of us act toward God. He has told us to ask, but our asking often demonstrates an attitude of irresponsibility on our part. We ask Him to overrule His natural laws, to act as our servant who must accede to our command. We must never play God when we pray.

We Americans do not adequately appreciate the political process in our nation. During the campaign, I often recounted a nightmarish 1938 incident from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, by way of contrast:

A district party conference was under way in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference with every mention of his name). The hall echoed with “stormy applause, rising to an ovation.” For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the “stormy applause, rising to an ovation,” continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? The secretary of the District Party could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who’d been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who would quit first! And in the obscure, small hall, unknown to the leader, the applause went on—six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly—but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them?

The director of the local paper factor, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter… Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone?

To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel. That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”

We Americans do not adequately appreciate the political process in our nation. During the campaign, I often recounted a nightmarish 1938 incident from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, by way of contrast:

A district party conference was under way in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference with every mention of his name). The hall echoed with “stormy applause, raising to an ovation.” For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the “stormy applause, rising to an ovation,” continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? The secretary of the District Party could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who’d been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who would quit first! And in the obscure, small hall, unknown to the leader, the applause went on—six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly—but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them?

The director of the local paper factor, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter… Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved!

The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel. That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”

A man named La Piere sent out letters to the managers of 256 hotels and restaurants across the southern half of the U.S. He told them that he was planning to tour the south with two Chinese companions and he wanted to know ahead of time whether they would be served. Ninety-two percent of the businesses replied that they did not serve Chinese and that La Piere could save himself considerable embarrassment by not showing up with such undesirables. He wasn’t surprised. Racial prejudice was a part of southern life in the 1930s, and this was long before a ban was placed on discrimination in interstate commerce.

La Piere ignored the managers’ advice, however. Accompanied by a Chinese man and his wife, he visited every one of the establishments that said they’d refuse service. Surprise! Ninety-nine percent of the places admitted the oriental couple, and almost all did so without a hassle…La Piere’s study points up something that’s a consistent finding in the field of persuasion—that a person may say he feels one thing, and then turn right around and do something completely different.

There is a time, we know not when,

A place, we know not where;

Which marks the destiny of men

To glory or despair.

There is a line, by us unseen,

Which crosses every path,

Which marks the boundary between

God’s mercy and his wrath.

To pass that limit is to die,

To die as if by stealth;

It does not dim the beaming eye,

Nor pale the glow of health.

The conscience may be still at ease,

The spirit light and gay;

And that which pleases still may please,

And care be thrust away.

But on that forehead God hath set

Indelibly a mark;

Unseen by man, for man as yet,

Is blind and in the dark.

He feels perchance that all is well

And every fear is calmed;

He lives, he dies, he walks in hell,

Not only doomed, but damned!

O, where is that mysterious line

That may by men be crossed,

Beyond which God himself hath sworn,

That he who goes is lost?

An answer from the skies repeats,

“Ye who from God depart,”

Today, O hear His voice,

Today repent and harden not your heart.

- Joseph Addison Alexander

There is an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged the little fellow to jump into his arms. “I’ll catch you,” the father said confidently. After a lot of coaxing, the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears. “Let that be a lesson,” he said sternly. “Don’t ever trust anyone.”

Christians must not fear or ignore the devil. Both positions are dangerous. The hog-nosed snake is an evil looking reptile which responds to the threat of danger with two ruses. First, it impersonates a pit viper, coiling and striking and hissing viciously. If this fails to intimidate the attacker the snake turns belly up, opens its mouth and lolls its tongue out, playing dead. If it is picked up and placed right side up it simply turns over and resumes the death ruse again. It seems to realize that if it cannot bluff, it has to mimic death.

A man entered a bar, bought a glass of beer and then immediately threw it into the bartender’s face. Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the bartender dry his face while he apologized with great remorse. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I have this compulsion to do this. I fight it, but I don’t know what to do about it.” “You had better do something about your problem,” the bartender replied. “You can be sure I’ll remember you and will never serve you another drink until you get help.”

It was months before the man faced the bartender again. When he asked for a beer, the bartender refused. Then the man explained that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that his problem was solved. Convinced it was now okay to serve him, the bartender poured him a drink. The man took the glass and splashed the beer into the barkeeper’s astonished face. “I thought you were cured,” the shocked bartender screamed. “I am,” said the man. “I still do it, but I don’t feel guilty about it anymore.”

Don’t find fault with the man who limps

Or stumbles along life’s road,

Unless you have worn the shoes he wears,

Or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,

Though hidden away from our view,

The burden he bears, if placed on your back

Might cause you to stumble, too.

Don’t be too hard on the man who errs,

Or pelt him with wood or stone,

Unless you are sure—yea, double sure,

That you have no fault of your own.

Said a precious little laddie to his Father one bright day

“May I give myself to Jesus? Let Him wash my sins away?”

“Oh my son, but you’re too little wait until you older grow,

For bigger folk ‘tis true do need Him but little ones are safe, you know.”

Said the Father to the laddie as a storm was coming on,

“Are the sheep all safely sheltered safe within the fold, my son?”

“Ah—the big ones are, my Father but the lambs, I let them go

For I didn’t think it mattered, little ones are safe, you know.”

Oh my brother, oh, my sister; have you too made that mistake?

Little hearts that now are yielded may be hardened then too late.

Ere the evil days come nigh them “Let the children come to Me

And forbid them not,” said Jesus “Of such shall my Kingdom be.”

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first man in history to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Within 2 months, John Landy eclipsed the record by 1.4 seconds. On August 7, 1954, the two met together for a historic race. As they moved into the last lap, Landy held the lead. It looked as if he would win, but as he neared the finish he was haunted by the question, “Where is Bannister?” As he turned to look, Bannister took the lead. Landy later told a Time magazine reporter, “If I hadn’t looked back, I would have won!”

One of the most descriptive pictures of the Christian life in the Bible is of an athlete competing in a race. First Corinthians 9:24-27 tells us that discipline is the key to winning. In Hebrews 12:1-2, we are encouraged to lay aside anything that might hinder our spiritual advancement and to stay focused on Christ. And in Philippians 3:12-13, the apostle Paul said, “I press on,…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”

Lord, give us endurance as we run this race of life. Help us not to wallow in past failures, but to be disciplined and to shun sinful ways. May we fix our eyes on the eternal goal set before us and keep looking unto Jesus. - HGB

Jesus taught that we should always pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1). Let’s follow the example of others who prayed until revival came. In the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened to pray from 1:00 to 5:00 a.m. By November a powerful spiritual awakening was spreading through Wales.

In prayer, Luke 18:1

In perseverance, confidence, 2 Cor. 4:1

In hope, 2 Cor. 4:16

In work, Gal 6:9

In trusting, Eph. 3:13

In well doing, 2 Thess. 3:13

In patience under chastening, Heb. 12:5

You approach the buffet table and see a golden-brown turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes, lumpless gravy, buttery vegetables, and freshly baked pies. Your friends await your arrival so the feast can begin. “No thanks,” you say, “I couldn’t wait, so I ate a bologna sandwich and bag of chips on the way.”

Ridiculous? Who would choose a bologna sandwich over a turkey dinner?

Christ calls us to look beyond our immediate satisfaction to what He is preparing for us in eternity. He has made wonderful provisions for our future with Him.

So don’t settle for a bag lunch when you can have the whole feast. It’s worth the wait. The glories that await us in heaven far outweigh any trials or tribulations we might have to deal with here.

Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage.

Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing “chopsticks.” The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, “Get that boy away from there!” When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to “Chopsticks.” As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy’s ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son...don’t stop...don’t stop.”

Come, Lord, and tarry not;

Bring the long-looked-for day;

O why these years of waiting here,

These ages of delay?

Come, for Thy saints still wait;

Daily ascends their sigh;

The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’:

Dost Thou not hear the cry?

Come, for creation groans,

Impatient of Thy stay,

Worn out with these long years of ill,

These ages of delay.

Come, and make all things new;

Build up this ruined earth;

Restore our faded Paradise,

Creation’s second birth.

Come, and begin Thy reign

Of everlasting peace;

Come, take Thy Kingdom to Thyself,

Great King of Righteousness.

- Horatius Bonar

There was a king whose officers, in the midst of battle, decided to go and take food that was desperately needed from some homes in the area. When they came back with it, the king asked, "Did you pay them for what you took?" They said, "No, the king doesn't have to pay." He said, "Go back and pay them for everything that you took." A king who arbitrarily takes things from people is hated, but a ruler who pays for everything he needs and that people are willing to give up, is the one who is loved. Anyone who uses his power to take away, is abusing his power.

Thomas A. Edison recorded 1,093 patents. Most of these inventions were impractical or unmarketable. They were failures. But a man who invented the phonograph, the mimeograph, and the electric light bulb could afford a lot of failures. He was so inept in business matters that he lost control of the profitable companies that he founded, and yet in the depths of the depression, he died with an estate of ,000,000. Edison was a successful failure.

It is obvious that you learn as you fail. You also grow as you fail, but you must dare to fail. If you can fail enough, you will learn a lot; but if you are too proud to fail, then you will not enjoy success.

Pray don't find fault with the man who limps

Or stumbles along the road,

Unless you have worn the shoes he wears

Or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,

Though hidden way from view,

Or the burden he bears, placed on your back,

Might cause you to stumble, too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today,

Unless you have felt the blow

That caused his fall, or felt the same

That only the fallen can know.

You may be strong, but still the blows

That were his, if dealt to you

In the self-same way the self-same time,

Might cause you to stagger, too.

Don't be too harsh with the man who sins

Or pelt him with words or stones,

Unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,

That you have no sins of your own.

For you know perhaps, if the tempter's voice

Could whisper as soft to you

As it did to him when he went astray,

T'would cause you to falter, too.

An elderly lady was once asked by a young man who had grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the struggle. "I am beaten every time," he said dolefully. "I feel I must give up." "Did you ever notice," she replied, smiling into the troubled face before her, "that when the Lord told the discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing?"

Dag Hammarskjold once wrote: "When the morning's freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles quiver under the strain, the climb seems endless, and suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish-it is then that you must not hesitate." He was unwilling to give up; he refused to quit!

The successful life prescribed by Christ requires faithfulness until death: a hand on the plow with no looking back, steadfast perseverance; racing hard for the tape, fighting the good fight of faith. The devil loves it when we simply relax our efforts. He has a good day if we become discouraged.

There are temptations to overcome, disappointments to handle, personal sins that beset us, burdens that depress us. And Satan is standing by urging that we quit trying. But wait; Christ is present. "Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart" (Heb 12:3).

Someone once asked James J. Corbett, at that time heavyweight champion of the world, what was the most important thing a man must do to become a champion. He replied, "Fight one more round." The Duke of Wellington said that the British soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo were not any braver than Napoleon's soldiers-but they were brave for five minutes longer.

That is about it for the Christian. A secret for success is: "fight just one more round. Be brave for five more minutes." It is the difference between defeat and victory.

Ruskin told of visiting a famous cathedral in which there are a number of colossal figures high up among the heavy timbers that support the roof. From the pavement these statues have the appearance of great beauty. Curious to exam them, Ruskin climbed to the roof and stood close beside them. He was disappointed to find that only the parts of the figures that could be seen from the pavement were finished. The backs were rough and unsightly.

America's Supreme Court has an interesting custom. The newest member of the court speaks his or her mind on a decision first. Then the next newest speaks. This continues until all of the members have spoken, and then the Chief Justice speaks last. In that way, no one is held back by fear of differing with the opinion of a more experienced judge. This wouldn't be a bad idea for most of our churches or business committees to follow.

Rejections, defeats, and failures that all of us have experienced can create enough negative feelings to destroy us. Be careful! Often the most painful wounds are not the scars that are outwardly seen, but the hidden wounds deep in the heart. Being hidden, they are often the most dangerous.

Setbacks in our lives can take the joy out of living. Our faith is weakened, and if we collect enough hurts it will stop us from wanting to press forward. Even success can make one the target of criticism. Do not let the hurts hurt you!

Look at Job. A man of the land of Uz, blameless, upright, one who feared God, and one who turned away from evil. Job had seven sons and three daughters, a beautiful family. He was considered "the greatest of all the men of the east." He lost it all in the twinkling of an eye. He lost his health, wealth, and family. He hurt. His wife hurt. His friends hurt. He was knocked down but not out. He had lost some of the passionate power to grow and some of his enthusiasm had diminished, but he checked his negative thinking and that of his wife and friends and stated, "I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful." How could he after undergoing so much hurt?

Along the shoreline in California it is a common sight to see whales stopping alongside rocks as they migrate from Alaska to Mexico to scrape off barnacles. In our lifetime we also will pick up a collection of personal barnacles that will attach themselves like parasites sapping the life out of us. They must be scraped off.

How did Job do it? The same way we can do it-through faith. Faith is the only thing that can heal the hurts. Job scraped the barnacles off. It was painful! The scars would remain but his life was put back together. Strong belief in God was the medicine. His wife and his friends could not do it-only God could!

Job said, "I know that you [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). Paul told the Corinthians, "...God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1Co 10:13).

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job (Job 42:12) with great material blessings, and it was said of his new daughters that "in all the land no women were found so fair...." Job lived 140 years after the hurts and saw sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons. You can also forget your hurts, leave off your sad countenance, and be cheerful if you turn to God for your strength to do so.

There is a danger that there may be a dimming of the light within us. It is worth our while to note some of the things that bring this sad eclipse of the soul. Anything that corrupts, degrades, or debauches the soul; anything that mars its innocence, or robs it of its purity, will at the same time dull the keenness of its perception as to what is right and what is wrong. Innocence is often compared to cleanness or whiteness, while guilt is described by the words dark, black, mire, and dirt. Conscience is like a glass through which the light streams. But if we rub coal dust or smut of any sort over the glass, the light will shine through it but dimly. And if we cover the glass with a sufficient coat of filth, it will not shine through at all. So sin makes foul the glass of the soul. Where the light shines clearly and the man has no doubt at all about what is right, if he yields to temptation and sinful thoughts make conquest of him, it will be as though tar stained the glass in his window. If he continues to sin and impure thoughts come to get possession of his soul, the light from heaven will finally be shut out entirely.

Emperor Theodosius, in the 4th century, denied the deity of Christ as do many in this 20th century. When his son Arcadius was about sixteen, he decided to make him his partner in the government of the empire. Among the great men who assembled to congratulate the new wearer of the imperial purple was Bishop Amphilocus. He made a handsome address to the Emperor and was about to leave when Theodosius exclaimed, "What! Do you take no notice of my son?" Then the bishop went up to Arcadius and putting his hands upon his head said, "The Lord bless thee, my son." The Emperor, roused to fury by this slight, exclaimed, "What! Is this all the respect you pay to a prince that I have made of equal dignity with myself?" Amphilocus replied, "Sir, you do so highly resent my apparent neglect of your son, because I do not give him equal honors with yourself. Then what must the Eternal God think of you when you degrade His coequal and coeternal Son to the level of one of His creatures?"

A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft soothing voice, "Isn't it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let's negotiate the matter." Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, "I want a fur coat." "Good," said the bear, "that is a negotiable question. I only want a full stomach, so let us negotiate a compromise."

They sat down to negotiate and after a time the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat!

Satan says to you, "Let us negotiate." But there are some things that cannot be negotiable. We cannot compromise the church with the world. Christ and His church deserve our very best and utmost loyalty.

If the President of the United States invited us to visit him, and we tried to assume the prerogatives of the Presidency ourselves, he'd soon put us out. Yet, this is how some of us act toward God. He has told us to ask, but our asking often demonstrates an attitude of irresponsibility on our part. We ask Him to overrule His natural laws, to act as our servant who must accede to our command. We must never play God when we pray.

Sin is nothing to play with. It has the strength to defeat you if you get too close to it with excessive confidence in your own strength. A well-to-do man advertised for a chauffeur. Three applicants came. His first question was, "How close to the edge of a cliff can you drive without going over?" One man said, "A yard." Another said, "A foot." The third said, "I always try to keep as far away as possible." The third man got the job. He who underestimates the strength of an enemy is in danger of defeat.

When the great Polish pianist, Ignace Paderewski, first chose to study the piano, his music teacher told him his hands were much too small to master the keyboard.

When the great Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso, first applied for instruction, the teacher told him his voice sounded like the wind whistling through the window.

When the great statesman of Victorian England, Benjamin Disraeli, attempted to speak in Parliament for the first time, members hissed him into silence and laughed when he said, "Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear of me."

Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car.

Albert Einstein failed his university entrance exams at his first attempt.

Thomas Edison spent ,000,000 on an invention which proved to be of little value.

Very little comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are fingerprints on the road to achievement. Abraham Lincoln's life could demonstrate that the only time you do not fail is the last time you try something and it works. We can "fail forward" toward success.

The mysteries of God are like a bottle that contains medicine. It is the medicine that cures you, not the bottle. Without even questioning it, you accept the fact that the medicine could not be presented to you without its container. You do not reject the medicine simply because you do not understand the composition of the bottle.

A missionary was preaching on the resurrection when the native chief cried out, "What are these words about the dead? The dead arise? Will my father arise?" "Yes," answered the missionary. "Will all that have been killed and eaten by lions, tigers, and crocodiles arise?" "Yes, and come to judgment." "Hark!" shouted the chief, turning to his warriors. "You wise men, did you ever hear such strange talk?" The chief then turned to the missionary and said, "Sir, I love you much; but the words of resurrection are too great for me. I do not wish to hear about the dead rising again. The dead cannot rise; the dead shall not rise!" "Tell me, my friend, why not?" asked the missionary. "Because I have slain my thousands. Do you think I want them to rise again?" The gospel was all right as long as he did not have to face his sins.

It is easy for us to accumulate trash and then get so accustomed to it that we think it is treasure! Mother cleans out the basement while father is at work; but as soon as he arrives home, he moves "selected junk" back into the basement. In spite of flea markets and garage sales, we end up with more stuff than we started with.

Wise is the leader who knows rubbish when he sees it and who has the courage to cart it away. Like Israel at Passover, every ministry needs a regular housecleaning that will leave it purer and better. Perhaps we have collected organizational rubbish that is getting in the way of progress. Or it may be doctrinal rubbish that is grieving the Holy Spirit and hindering His power. Maybe the whole ministry needs trimming because we have too many people, too many committees, too many activities, and we cannot find the foundation. Carting away the rubbish is not a popular job or an easy one, but it is an important one.

Television talk show pioneer Phil Donahue has been dropped by stations in New York and San Francisco, fueling industry speculation that he will be off the air everywhere within a year. The 59-year old Donahue whose syndicated show has been on for 28 years, was always near the top of the ratings until 1992 when Fort Worth dentist Richard B. Neill began a one-man crusade against the content, which ranged from mother-daughter stripper teams to homosexual marriages. Eventually, 221 sponsors contacted by Neill quit advertising on Donahue’s show, causing revenues to decline. Neill told CT that Donahue began cleaning up his act last year—which, ironically, caused ratings to fall further in the suddenly flush trash-talk show market. Neill’s book, Taking on Donahue and TV Morality (Multnomah, 1994), explains how to pressure sponsors into dropping offensive programs.

I recall the comment of the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, who said, “If I had only three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying and preparing.”

Dallas Seminary will not be insensitive to the economic struggles and time demands of our students. But this does not mean we will lose the reputation of being a place where the diligent study of the Scriptures occurs.

As C. S. Lewis declared:

If all the world were Christian it might not matter if all the world were uneducated. But a cultural life will exist outside the Church whether it exists inside or not. To be ignorant and simple now—not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground—would be to throw down our weapons, and betray our uneducated brethren who have no defense but us against intellectual attacks of the heathen.

Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered. The cool intellect must work not only against cool intellect on the other side, but against muddy heathen mysticisms which deny intellect altogether. Most of all, perhaps, we need intimate knowledge of the past. The learned life is then, for some, a duty.

Early in 1989, when (Donald) Trump’s bank account was still bulging, a writer asked Trump the inevitable question about what horizons were left to conquer.

“Right now, I’m genuinely enjoying myself,” Trump replied. “I work and I don’t worry.”

“What about death?” the writer asked. “Don’t you worry about dying?”

Trump dealt his stock answer, one that appears in a lot of his interviews. “No,” he said. “I’m fatalistic and I protect myself as well as anybody can. I prepare for things.” This time, however, as Trump started walking up the stairs to have dinner with his family, he hesitated for a moment. “No,” he said finally, “I don’t believe in reincarnation, heaven or hell—but we go someplace.” Again a pause. “Do you know,” he added, “I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where.”

Jermaine Washington, 26, did something that amazes many people. He became a kidney donor, giving a vital organ to a woman he describes as “just a friend.”

Washington met Michelle Stevens, 23, when they began working together at the Washington, D.C., Department of Employment Services. They used to have lunch with one another and chitchat during breaks. “He was somebody I could talk to,” says Stevens. “One day, I cried on his shoulder. I had been on the kidney donor waiting list for 11 months, and I had lost all hope.”

She told Washington how depressing it was to spend three days a week, three hours a day, on a kidney dialysis machine. She suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain. He could already see that she had lost her smile.

“I saw my friend dying before my eyes,” Washington recalls. “What was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch her die?”

Steven’s mother, suffering from hypertension, was ineligible to donate a kidney. Her two brothers were reluctant.

“I understood,” says Stevens. “They said they loved me very much, but they were just too afraid.”

The operation at Washington Hospital Center in April 1991 began with a painful procedure in which doctors inserted a catheter into an artery in Washington’s groin. They then injected dye through the catheter into his kidney before taking X-rays to determine if it was fit for transplant.

A week later, an incision nearly 15 inches long was made from his navel to the middle of his back. After surgery he remained hospitalized for five days.

Today, both Stevens and Washington are fully recovered. “I jog at least twice a week,” Washington says. Three times a month, they get together for what they call a “gratitude lunch.”

Despite occasional pressure by friends, a romantic relationship is not what they want. “We are thankful for the beautiful friendship that we have,” Stevens says. “We don’t want to mess up a good thing.”

To this day, people wonder why Washington did it—and even question his sanity. But when one admirer asked him where he had found the courage to give away a kidney, his answer quelled the skeptics. “I prayed for it,” Washington replied. “I asked God for guidance and that’s what I got.”

According to Bill Farmer’s newspaper column, J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled Cower Power. He also founded a group of submissive people. It was called DOORMATS. That stands for “Dependent Organization of Really Meek And Timid Souls—if there are no objections.” Their motto was: “The meek shall inherit the earth—if that’s okay with everybody.” They symbol was the yellow traffic light.

Mr. Dickson sounds like he’d be a lot of fun, doesn’t he? What is disturbing about all of this, though, is that many people assume that the ridiculous ideas behind DOORMATS and Cower Power represent the quality of meekness set forth in Matthew 5:5. Many, even in the church, think that to be meek is to be weak. But the opposite is true. What the Bible is talking about is a powerful virtue. The slogan “strong enough to be gentle” comes close to defining it. True meekness is best seen in Christ. He was submissive, never resisting or disputing the will of God. His absolute trust in the Father enabled Him to show compassion, courage, and self-sacrifice even in the most hostile situation. Now let’s apply this to ourselves. When we are meek, we will bear insults without lashing out in proud resentment or retaliation. We’ll thank God in every circumstance, while using every circumstance, good or bad, as an occasion to submit to Him. Meekness would be weakness if it meant yielding to sin. But because it stems from goodness and godliness, it is a great strength.

At age 92, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe can tell you baseball stories you love to hear. He says he wore “Thou Shalt Not Steal” on his catcher’s chest-protector the time he threw out Ty Cobb trying to steal second. He recalls catching Satchel Paige when the legendary pitcher sent all his outfielders into the dugout for an inning and then proceeded to strike out the side.

Although Lot is referred to by Peter as “righteous Lot,” he chose to live among the wicked in Sodom because he loved money and prominence. He was a double-minded man who wanted to serve God but who also wanted to enjoy the pleasures of this world. I believe this is evident from the fact that Lot chose to live in the plain bordering the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 13:1-13). Once there, he moved into the city itself and became a part of its culture (19:1). It’s true that he didn’t give up his belief in the high moral standards he had learned from his uncle Abraham, and he didn’t approve of the wicked things he saw and heard. But as an official at the city gate, he apparently had little impact on the wicked society of which he was a part. Lot’s double-mindedness brought him much inner torment and rendered him spiritually powerless. He couldn’t even convince his sons-in-law (and their wives) to leave Sodom before God’s judgment fell. Only he, his wife, and the two daughters still living at home escaped. And his wife died instantly when she looked back, disobeying God’s command. In the end, Lot lost the very things he wanted—possessions and position.

Those things that one cannot improve in himself or in others, he ought to endure patiently, until God arranges things otherwise. Nevertheless when you have such impediments, you ought to pray that God would help you, and that you may bear them kindly. Endeavor to be patient in bearing with the defects of others, whatever they are; for you also have many failings which must be borne by others. If you cannot make yourself be as you would like to be, how can you expect to have another person be to your liking in every way? We desire to have others perfect, and yet we do not correct our own faults. We would allow others to be severely corrected, and will not be corrected ourselves. We will have others kept under by strict laws, but in no case do we want to be restrained. And so it appears that we seldom weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves.

Once a porter in Asia, taking his carrying pole, went to meet a missionary at the train depot. At the station he found that the luggage consisted of one large, heavy bag instead of several smaller ones which the missionary usually carried. He couldn't divide that bag into two portions, and plainly he couldn't carry that heavy bag hanging from one end of his pole. He looked about until he found a stone about the same weight as the bag, hung that from one end of the pole, the bag from the other, and walked proudly home with his double burden! The easier way for him was to carry twice as much. By carrying the two when he needed only to have carried one, he balanced his burden. It's easier to carry two bags than one, for they balance. A one-sided load is a greater strain than a balanced burden that is twice as heavy. A milkmaid with the old-fashioned yoke always walked more easily and straightly carrying two full milk pails than under the awkward burden of one. By doubling a burden you actually make it easier to bear because you have balanced it. We all have our own burdens, and it often seems as if they are enough to carry. But the Bible says, "Bear ye one another's burdens." Take on another's as well, and balance your own. That is the yoke of Christ. The way to carry our own burdens more easily is to help carry somebody else's burden. Perhaps that's one reason God gave us two hands-one for our own burdens and one for our neighbor's. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Phi 2:4).

The worst pronouncements Christ ever made were not against the out-and-out sinner and unbeliever but against the hypocrite. We can see this for ourselves in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew. Both God and your fellowmen can tell the difference between the real and the counterfeit, the real and the imitation. These people are like an old apple tree which stood at the fence line by the roadside. Its branches spread both into the field and out over the highway. There was always a contention as to whether the fruit of this tree belonged to the farmer or to the public. An unwritten law said it belonged to the first one to club it down. Every boy, big and little, watched to see when the apples were beginning to turn red, and then the battle was on. The owner never got a ripe apple from that old tree. The tree on the side of the highway always had lodged in its branches a lot of broom handles, sticks, and old wagon spokes. That tree got more clubbing than a whole orchard. It presents a true picture of the professing "Christian" who hangs on both sides of the fence and thus receives clubs from every direction.

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word” (I Kings 18:21).

The children of Israel had followed King Ahab into whole-hearted idolatrous worship of Baal. They had stood by while a death warrant had been issued and carried out on the prophets of God. Now, Elijah’s piercing question destroys the numbing effect of the people’s apathy and forces them to face their own sin. Up to that point they had been double minded—not willing to choose between God and Baal.

“Double mindedness” speaks of the man or woman who tries to split his or her energies between the world’s system and the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus says in Luke 11:23: “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” James urges us to not vacillate between two allegiances. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).

On the other hand, we are called to have a single eye (Matthew 6:22) and to serve with singleness of heart (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22). “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light” (Luke 11:34). If our eye is single, fixed on the Savior, our body will be full of the light that “shineth in a dark place” (II Peter 1:19), pointing the way to the Cross. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you….multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness [singleness of heart], which causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (II Corinthians 9:8, 10,11). In God’s economy, the single-hearted life yields much fruit; the double mind yields nothing of value for eternity. CJH