Pastoral Resources

Before you send out your next resume’, weed out the goofs, cautions recruiting executive Robert Half, who has been collecting examples of “resumania” for years. Some of his favorites:

1. “Please call after 5:30 p.m. because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job.”

2. “I am very conscientions and accurite.”

3. “I am also a notary republic.”

4. “The firm currently employs 20 odd people.”

5. “My consideration will be given to relocation anywhere in the English-speaking world and/or Washington, D.C.”

6. Under physical disablilties: “Minor allergies to house cats and Mongolian sheep.”

7. And reasons given for leaving the last job: “The company made me a scapegoat—just like my previous three employers did.”

Goose racing. It only happened once that we know of, when on Lake Michigan some oddball Chicagoans harnessed teams of six geese to washtubs. A driver in each tub yelled and coaxed his geese with every known gesture to spur his team toward victory. The wacky event, alas, ended in a tie.

Shortly after World War II the so-called gospel horse appeared on the scene, trained to answer theological questions. At youth rallies the horse was led on stage to be asked various questions, and would respond by stomping his hoof once for yes and twice for no. The climax occurred when the horse was asked, “How many persons are there in the Trinity?” and responded with three resounding stomps. Once, he took up so much time there was none left for the speaker! The preliminary overshadowed the main attraction.

The radical gospel of grace as it is found throughout Scripture, has always had its critics. Jimmy Swaggart told me a few years ago that by trusting in God’s justifying and preserving grace, I would end up living a life of sin before long—and hus, lose my salvation and be consigned to Hell. Paul anticipated that reaction from the religious community of his own day after he said, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”(Romans 5:20, NKJV). So he asked the question he expected us to ask: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (6:1) Should we sin so that we can receive more grace? In other words,“ If people believed what you just said in Romans 5, Paul, wouldn’t they take advantage of the situation and live like the dickens, knowing they were ‘safe and secure from all alarm’?” That’s a fair question. But it reveals a basic misunderstanding of the nature of God’s saving grace. Paul’s response is unmistakable: “Certainly not? How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:2, NKJV).

Someone confronted Martin Luther, upon the Reformer’s rediscovery of the biblical doctrine of justification, with the remark, “If this is true, a person could simply live as he pleased!” “Indeed!” answered Luther. “Now, what pleases you?”

We can never talk about God behind his back. We cannot speak of God in His absence. … The God who is being discussed is also there. The attitude people take to Him can never be merely theoretical. To deny Him is to spite Him to His face.

Yiddish forklore offers a telling tale about gossip-makers. One such man had told so many malicious untruths about the local rabbi that, overcome by remorse, he begged the rabbi to forgive him. “And, Rebbe, tell me how I can make amends.”

The rabbi sighed, “Take two pillows, go to the public square and there cut the pillows open. Wave them in the air. Then come back.”

The rumormonger quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hastened to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air and hastened back to the rabbi’s chambers. “I did just what you said, Rebbe!”

“Good.” The rabbi smiled. “Now, to realize how much harm is done by gossip, go back to the square...”

“And?”

“And collect all your feathers.”

Baseball’s memorabilia market, symbol of a sport mired in money, snared two of its all-time heroes Thursday when Hall of Famers Duke Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

“I got caught. I’m very sorry about it. I hope to get a second chance from a lot of my fans,” Snider said outside the federal courthouse. “We have choices to make in our lives and I chose to make the wrong choice.”

The convictions were the government’s latest blow in a crackdown on unreported income from baseball card shows, publicity events, autograph signings and memorabilia shows that became million-dollar businesses in the 1980s. Snider, 68, of Fallbrook, Calif, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit tax fraud. He admitted not reporting $100,000 in cash from card shows and memorabilia appearances from 1984-93. He faces up to six months in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss to the government.

Govern my heart, that I may be willing and even eager to profit, lest the opportunity which thou now givest me be lost through my sluggishness. Be pleased at the same time to root out all vicious desires of seeking thee. Finally, let the only end at which I aim be so to qualify myself in early life, that when I grow up I may serve thee in whatever station thou mayest assign me.

John Calvin

When I was East a few years ago, Mr. Geo. H. Stewart told me of a scene that occurred in a Pennsylvania prison, when Governor Pollock, a Christian man, was Governor of the State. A man was tried for murder, and the judge had pronounced sentence upon him. His friends had tried every means in their power to procure his pardon. They had sent deputation after deputation to the Governor, but he had told them all that the law must take its course. When they began to give up hope, the Governor went down to the prison and asked the sheriff to take him to the cell of the condemned man. The Governor was conducted into the presence of the criminal, and he sat down by the side of his bed and began to talk to him kindly--spoke to him of Christ and heaven, and showed him that although he was condemned to die on the morrow by earthly judges, he would receive eternal life from the Divine Judge if he would accept salvation. He explained the plan of salvation, and when he left him he committed him to God. When he was gone the sheriff was called to the cell by the condemned man. "Who was that man?" asked the criminal, "who was in here and talked so kind to me?" "Why," said the sheriff, "that was Governor Pollock." "Was that Governor Pollock? O Sheriff, why didn't you tell me who it was? If I had known that was him, I wouldn't have let him go out till he had given me pardon. The Governor has been here--in my cell--and I didn't know it," and the man wrung his hands and wept bitterly. My friends, there is one greater than a Governor here to-night. He sent His Son to redeem you--to bring you out of the prison home of sin. I come to-night to tell you He is here.

Celeste Sibley, one-time columnist for the Atlanta (GA) Constitution, took her three children to a diner for breakfast one morning. It was crowded and they had to take separate seats at the counter. Eight-year-old Mary was seated at the far end of the counter and when her food was served she called down to her mother in a loud voice, “Mother, don’t people say grace in this place?” A hush came over the entire diner and before Mrs. Sibley could figure out what to say, the counterman said, “Yes, we do, sister. You say it.” All the people at the counter bowed their heads. Mary bowed her head and in a clear voice said, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.”

There is one “catch” to grace that I must now mention. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “St. Augustine says ‘God gives where He finds empty hands.’ A man whose hands are full of parcels can’t receive a gift.” Grace, in other words, must be received. Lewis explains that what I have termed “grace abuse” stems from a confusion of condoning and forgiving: “To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good. But forgiveness needs to be accepted as well as offered if it is to be complete: and a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.”…God took a great risk by announcing forgiveness in advance, and the scandal of grace involves a transfer of that risk to us.

Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior,

Turned away God’s wrath forever;

By His better grief and woe

He saved us from the evil foe.

Christ says: ‘Come, all ye that labor,

And receive My grace and favor’;

They who feel no want nor ill

Need no physician’s help nor skill.

As His pledge of love undying,

He this precious food supplying,

Gives His body with the bread

And with the wine the blood He shed.

Praise the Father, who from heaven

Unto us such food hath given

And, to mend what we have done,

Gave unto death His only Son.

If thy heart this truth professes

And thy mouth thy sin confesses,

His dear guest thou here shalt be,

And Christ Himself shall banquet thee.

Almighty King! whose wondrous hand

Supports the weight of sea and land;

Whose grace is such a boundless store,

No heart shall break that sighs for more;

Thy providence supplies my food,

And ‘tis Thy blessing makes it good;

My soul is by Thy Word,

Let soul and body praise the Lord!

My streams of outward comfort came

From Him who built this earthly frame;

Whate’er I want His bounty gives,

By whom my soul for ever lives.

Either His hand preserves from pain,

Or, if I feel it, heals again;

From Satan’s malice shields my breast,

Or overrules it for the best.

Forgive the song that falls so low

Beneath the gratitude I owe!

It means Thy praise, however poor,

An angel’s song can do no more.

A talented, young black girl made her debut at New York's Town Hall, but she was not ready for it. Consequently, the critics flailed her. She returned to Philadelphia in disgrace. Part of her early support had come from a special fund provided by members of her church. This "Fund for Marian Anderson's Future" had launched her career. Now she returned in failure.

Marian's embarrassment and depression lasted for more than a year. Through that time, her mother continued to encourage her. Finally, one of the motherly pep talks sank in. She told her daughter, "Marian, grace must come before greatness." Motivated by those words, Marian Anderson went on to a distinguished career during which she also helped many others discouraged by their first failures.

A Korean Christian showed that he had grasped the meaning of the injury caused by anger when he got up in prayer meeting and said, "I heard the missionary say that every burst of anger pierced the heart of Jesus. So I hung a picture of the Lord Jesus on my wall, and every time I lost my temper, I put a thorn on that picture. The picture was soon covered with thorns. A great love welled up in me that He should suffer because of my temper; now He gives me grace in temptation. I say, 'Not I, but Christ within me,' and His sweetness comes instead of my bad temper."

In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor.

“No, Peter,” General Washington said. “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.”

“My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher. “He’s the bitterest enemy I have.”

“What?” cried Washington. “You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I’ll grant your pardon.” And he did.

Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata—no longer an enemy but a friend.

- Lynn Jost

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You who are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

—Julia H. Johnston

Grace is a difficult , perhaps impossible, concept to understand.

In seminary days I had a job working with underprivileged junior-high and high-school kids at the downtown YMCA. On what was then the outskirts of the city was a camp we used every Friday night when weather permitted. We would load a bus with forty to fifty kids, head for the camp, and enjoy an evening cookout and games. On special occasions we would sleep there overnight and return Saturday afternoon. Overnight camping trips were usually rewards given to those who had successfully passed certain requirements in our weekly Bible clubs. So the kids who stayed overnight after the others went home were rather special.

One Friday night—or, more accurately, early one Saturday morning—I awoke, startled by some unexplained noise. Soon I discovered that a few of my leaders had sneaked out of the dorm, gone down to the lake, launched one of the boats, and were having a great time far out from the shore. Not only was this against every rule in the book, but it was dangerous. When the kids knew I knew where they were, they came immediately into shore. Like dogs with tails between their legs, they meekly went back to bed, wondering what punishment awaited them in the morning.

For me, sleep was now impossible. Then night before I had talked to these Christian young people about forgiving one another. So as I paced the grounds in those early-morning hours deliberating their fate, my own words from the night before kept coming back to me . . . and back to me . . .and back to me.

If I don’t give them some punishment, I argued with myself, they will never be impressed with the seriousness of what they did. I have a responsibility to the YMCA to enforce their rules and punish the violators.

But the more I debated with myself, talked to the Lord, thought about a number of relevant Bible verses (I discovered again that night that you can prove almost anything with a Bible verse), the more Ephesians 4:32 grew larger and larger in my thinking: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” But Lord, I can’t forgive them; they don’t deserve it. Neither did I. But Lord, I have to enforce the rules. I’m glad, Lord, You didn’t. But Lord, if I’m too kind, the kids will think I’m weak. I never thought You were weak, only loving. But Lord, first I’ll make them promise never to do something like this again, and then I’ll forgive them. It’s a good thing You didn’t require that of me, or I never would have been forgiven....just as God forgave me. How was that? No conditions or promises ahead of time. No works at the time. No remembrance afterward. But Lord, You’re God—You can do anything. “You’re My child,” He said. “Imitate Me.”

So with great reluctance and with very little faith, I told the Lord I would. And then, in the morning, I told the kids. “You did a terrible thing. It could have had disastrous consequences for yourselves, your families, for the YMCA, and for me. But I forgive you unconditionally and completely.” “You’re kidding,” they said. “There’s got to be a catch somewhere.” “No,” I insisted, “you are fully forgiven.” And then I told them what the Lord had been saying to me that night about His grace, and how I wanted them to have another taste of that grace.

I didn’t even make them do the cleaning up that day. I did it myself because I didn’t want them to think they could earn even a little bit of that forgiveness.The sequel? As long as those particular kids were in my clubs they were the epitome (as much as kids that age can be) of goodness, helpfulness, and usefulness. They never presumed on that grace.Grace is indeed a difficult, perhaps impossible, concept to understand.

If it was difficult for those kids to understand an act of grace that forgave one sin on one night, how much more difficult for us to comprehend God’s grace that forgives all our sins of every day and night, without preconditions, without works, and without remembrance? We can learn some important matters about grace from this experience.

First, grace is unmerited favor. As a concise definition of grace, this serves well. More elaborate definitions have their place; but simply stated, grace is unmerited favor. It is undeserved on the part of the recipient. It is unearned and unearnable. Those kids had no claim on my grace. They were in a state of total demerit. Anything I might do could not be in response to any merit they had (for they had none at that point) nor as a reward for anything they had done (they only deserved to be punished). My grace that night was pure unmerited favor.

Second, grace is not cheap. Grace is expensive. It is free to the recipient but costly to the donor. The only way one may say that grace is not very costly is if the particular benefit costs the donor very little. My forgiveness that night cost those kids nothing. It cost me a lot of agonizing and soul-searching, which is nothing in comparison with what grace cost our Lord. But to use the word cheap in the same breath with the grace of God in salvation seems almost blasphemous. It cost our Lord Jesus His life. Some may insult grace, reject it, trample on it, or disgrace it, but that does not lower its infinite value.

Third, it is not easy to believe someone who offers grace. Those kids were dumbfounded when I announced the verdict of grace. They could not believe what they were hearing. And why should they? From day one they were reared (and so are we all) in a merit system, in which acceptance is based on performance. “Do this and you will be rewarded. Fail to do this and you will be punished.” This kind of merit system permeates all of life and most religion. It is not easy to believe someone who says that he or she will do something good for us that we do not deserve.

Human works are like termites in God’s structure of grace. They start small, but if unchecked, they can bring down the entire structure. And what are such works? Anything I can do to gain any amount of merit, little or much. Water baptism could be one such work if I view it not as an important or even necessary result of being saved, but as a requisite to be saved. It is a work even if I insist that it is God who gives me the desire to want to be baptized that I might be saved.

The same is true for surrender. If surrender is something I must do as a part of believing, then it is a work, and grace has been diluted to the extent to which I actually do surrender.

Fourth, grace that is received changes one’s life and behavior. Those kids, though really not bad before that night, showed a number of changes in their lives. Their bond to me personally was much stronger. They followed me around like puppy dogs anxious to do whatever they could to please me. And they had new insight into the love of their Savior for them.

The Gospel is the good news of the grace of God to give forgiveness and eternal life. Let’s keep that Gospel so full of grace that there is no room for anything else to be added to dilute or pollute the true grace of God.

Long-time actress and comedienne Gracie Allen once received a small, live alligator as a gag. Not knowing what to do with it, Gracie placed it in the bathtub and then left for an appointment. When she returned home, she found this note from her maid: “Dear Miss Allen: Sorry, but I have quit. I don’t work in houses where there is an alligator. I’d a told you this when I took on, but I never thought it would come up.

Imagine a family-owned sausage factory. The head is a very scrupulous, clean, proper man. One day as he is walking in the plant, he notices that as a son is dumping in pork, a piece falls on the floor. Does he throw it away, or back into the machine? He throws it away. The sausage that is produced is labeled “Grade A” and sent to market. Across the street is a corporately- owned and operated sausage factory. The floors are dirty, the machines are seldom washed. A supervisor sees a worker spill a piece of pork on the floor. Does he throw it away? No. He puts it back into the machine. The supervisor is happy. It too is labeled “Grade A” and sent to market. Both products nourish you, but which would you want to eat?

“It doesn’t matter if the human authors put a little dirt in with the rest of God’s Word. We can still preach the Bible and people will get saved and grow.” When the son takes over the first factory, he will likely follow in the father’s tradition, but when the worker takes over for the supervisor, things can only get worse.

The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from fifth and sixth graders’ essays, exams and classroom discussions:

“You can listen to thunder after lightning and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don’t hear it you got hit, so never mind.”

“When planets go around and around in circles we say they are orbiting. When people do it we say they are crazy.”

“A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way to go.”

“Genetics explain why you look like your father and if you don’t why you should.”

“Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they’re here.”

“We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for many things people forget to put the top on.”

“I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it and that is the important thing.”

“Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound.”

“Question: In what ways are we dependent upon the sun?

Answer: We can always depend on the sun for sunburns and tidal waves.”

The plural of most nouns are formed by adding s.

The letter q is always followed by u.

Final e is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel,

but is kept before a suffix beginning with a consonant.

Final y, if preceded by a consonant, is changed to i.

When y is preceded by a vowel, the y is kept before any suffix.

The letter i comes before e except after c

or when sounded like a as in neighbor or weigh.

We’ll begin with a box and the plural is boxes.

But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.

Then one fowl is a goose but two are called geese.

Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a whole set of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and whole set are teeth,

Why should not the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,

Yet had in the plural wouldn’t be hose.

And the plural of cat is cats and not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren.

But though we say Mother, we never say Methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,

But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim.

So English, I fancy you all will agree,

Is the funniest language you ever did see.

Broadcaster Paul Harvey told a version of the following story on the radio many years ago.

There was an old man who was a great admirer of democracy and public education. So close to his heart did he hold both institutions that he tried to bring them together into one grand experiment, a public college where students would practice self-governance. There would be no regulations; the goodwill and judgment of the students would suffice. After years of planning, the school was finally opened. The old man was overjoyed.

But as the months went by, students proved time and time again that they were not the models of discipline and discernment the old man envisioned. They skipped classes, drank to excess, and wasted hours in frivolous pursuits. One night, 14 students, disguised by masks and “animated with wine,” went on a rampage that ended in a brawl. One struck a professor with a brick, and another used a cane on his victim.

In response, the college’s trustees convened a special meeting. The old man, now 82 years old and very frail, was asked to address the student body. In his remarks, he recalled the lofty principles upon which the college had been founded. He said he had expected more—much more—from the students. He even confessed that this was the most painful event of his life. Suddenly, he stopped speaking. Tears welled up in his failing eyes. He was so overcome with grief that he sat down, unable to go on.

His audience was so touched that at the conclusion of the meeting the 14 offenders stepped forward to admit their guilt. But they could not undo the damage already done. A strict code of conduct and numerous onerous regulations were instituted at the college. The old man’s experiment had failed. Why? Because he took for granted the one essential ingredient necessary for success: virtue. Only a virtuous people can secure and maintain their freedom.

A short time later, on the Fourth of July, the old man passed away. Engraved on his tombstone were the simple words that reflected the success and failure of his most important experiments: “Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and father of the University of Virginia.” Now, as Mr. Harvey says, you know the rest of the story.

We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven: a senile benevolence who, as they say, “liked to see young people enjoying themselves” and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, “a good time was had by all.”

Grandma, on a winter’s day, milked the cows and fed them hay, hitched the mule, drove kids to school...did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the windows and did some chores...Cooked a dish of home-dried fruit, pressed her husband’s Sunday suit...swept the parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread...split some firewood and lugged it in, enough to fill the kitchen bin...Cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples before they spoiled...churned the butter, baked a cake, then exclaimed, “For goodness sake!” when the calves ran from the pen, and chased them all back in again...Gathered eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the table...cooked a supper that was delicious, then washed and dried all dirty dishes...fed the cat and sprinkled clothes, mended a basketful of hose...then opened the organ and began to play: “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day...”

After Christmas vacation, a teacher asked her small pupils to write an account of how they spent their holidays. One youngster wrote about a visit to his grandparents in a life-care community for retired folks:

“We always spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa,” he said. They used to live here in a big red house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida.

“They live in a place with a lot of retarded people. They live in tin huts. They ride big three wheel tricycles. They go to a big building they call a wrecked hall but it is fixed now. They play games there and do exercises, but they don’t do them very good. There is a swimming pool and they go to it and just stand there in the water with their hats on. I guess they don’t know how to swim.

“My grandma used to bake cookies and stuff. But I guess she forgot how. Nobody cooks--they all go out to fast food restaurants.

“As you come into the park, there is a doll house with a man sitting in it. He watches all day, so they can’t get out without him seeing them. They wear badges with their names on them. I guess they don’t know who they are.

“My Grandpa and Grandma worked hard all their lives and earned their retardment. I wish they would move back home but I guess the man in the doll house won’t let them out.”

In his book Feminine Faces, Clovis Chappel wrote that when the Roman city of Pompeii was being excavated, the body of a woman was found mummified by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. Her position told a tragic story. Her feet pointed toward the city gate, but her outstretched arms and fingers were straining for something that lay behind her. The treasure for which she was grasping was a bag of pearls. Chappel said, “Though death was hard at her heels, and life was beckoning to her beyond the city gates, she could not shake off their spell…But it was not the eruption of Vesuvius that made her love pearls more than life. It only froze her in this attitude of greed.”

Men reckon up their goods-so much in bonds, so much in stocks, so much in notes, so much in personal property, so much in real estate. In taking account of their possessions, do men ever take into consideration the asset of a thankful heart? Probably not. And yet there is no greater wealth in itself, and no greater producing agent of wealth than the faculty of gratitude.

Contentment is a personal feast. The richest man in the world can use no more than enough for his desires. If you have the same, you are as rich as he.

Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens get together for what they call a “gratitude lunch.” With good reason! Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, whom he described as “just a friend.” They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain. Because Washington couldn’t stand the thought of watching his friend die, he gave her one of his kidneys.

When you’ve got something great to be thankful for, having a “gratitude lunch” is a great way to celebrate.

Men will endure almost anything as long as they have hope. Cyrus Field said he was nearly in despair on many occasions as he sought to make his vision of the transatlantic cable a reality. Some called it a "mad feat of stubborn ignorance," that a man should endure all that he and his co-workers went through to make this feat possible. "Many times," he confessed, "when wandering in the forests of Newfoundland in the pelting rains, on the decks of ships on dark, stormy nights, alone, far from home, I have almost accused myself of madness and folly to sacrifice the peace of family, and all the hope of life, for what might prove, after all, but a dream.... And yet one hope has led me on; and I have prayed that I might not taste death til this work was accomplished. That prayer is answered. And now, beyond all acknowledgments to men, is the feeling of gratitude to God."

Typical inscription on a grave in Paul’s day:

I was not

I became

I am not

I care not

In the December 1987 LIFE magazine, Brad Darrach wrote:

“Meryl Streep is gray with cold. In IRONWEED, her new movie, she plays a ragged derelict who dies in a cheap hotel room, and for more than half an hour before the scene she has been hugging a huge bag of ice cubes in an agonizing effort to experience how it feels to be a corpse. Now the camera begins to turn. Jack Nicholson, her derelict lover, sobs and screams and shakes her body. But through take after take—and between takes too—Meryl just lies like an iced mackerel. Frightened, a member of the crew whispers to the director, Hector Babenco, ‘What’s going on? She’s not breathing!’

“Babenco gives a start. In Meryl’s body there is absolutely no sign of life! He hesitates, then lets the scene proceed. Yet even after the shot is made and set struck, Meryl continues to lie there, gray and still. Only after 10 minutes have passed does she slowly, slowly emerge from the coma-like state into which she has deliberately sunk.

Babenco is amazed. ‘Now THAT,’ he mutters in amazement ‘is acting! THAT is an actress!’“

Total dedication amazes people. How wonderful to be so dedicated to Christ that people will say, “Now THAT is a Christian!”

Most people tend to think that great artists and musicians produce their works in relatively quick bursts of creative energy. But the facts suggest otherwise. It is said that Beethoven rewrote each bar of his music at least a dozen times.

For his work “Last Judgment,” considered one of the twelve master paintings of the ages, Michelangelo produced more than 2,000 sketches and renderings during the eight years it took him to complete his masterpiece.

It’s safe to say that anything of lasting value requires patient commitment even in the face of adversity.

1. The Gospel was first introduced to Japan through a portion of the Scriptures that floated ashore and was picked up by a Japanese gentleman. Afterwards he sent for a whole Bible and was instructed by the missionaries. When the Queen of Korea lost her little child by death, a slave girl in the palace told her of heaven where the child had gone, and the Savior who would take her there. Thus the Gospel was first introduced to Korea by a little captive maid.

2. The success of the mission in Telugu in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India depended on the fact that John Cloud had studied engineering when he was at college. Therefore he was able to take the contract for the building of the canal during the famine and provide the employment of thousands of laborers to whom he preached everyday on the text, John 3:16. The result of this work was the baptism of 10,000 converts in one year.

3. The battle of Bennington was gained, it is said, because a little lame boy in Vermont set a shoe on Col. Warren’s tender-footed horse, and thus enabled the Colonel to lead up his regiment just in time to save the day. The victory of Bennington decided the Battle of Saratoga, which decided the Revolutionary War.

4. The hunger of the son of Columbus led him to stop at the monastery in Andalusia and ask for bread. The Prior of the monastery, who had been the confessor of Queen Isabella, heard the story of the adventurous navigator, and brought about an interview with the Queen, which resulted in the sailing of Columbus for the discovery of America. It all hinged upon the hunger of the boy.

5. Robert Bruce took refuge in a cave from the pursuer who was seeking his life. A spider at once wove a web across the mouth of the cave, and when the pursuer came by, he saw the web and took it for granted that no one had entered. The destiny of millions of people hinged upon that little spider’s web.

Each one of us may be that little hinge upon which rests the destiny of a nation, or of an age, or of a church, or of someone’s life whom God may greatly use.

On his deathbed, British preacher Charles Simeon smiled brightly and asked the people gathered in his room, “What do you think especially gives me comfort at this time?”

When they all remained silent, he exclaimed, “The creation! I ask myself, ‘Did Jehovah create the world or did I?’ He did! Now if He made the world and all the rolling spheres of the universe, He certainly can take care of me. Into Jesus’ hands I can safely commit my spirit!”

Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, in the closing months of his life said to a friend, “I am so weak. I can’t read my Bible. I can’t even pray. I can only lie still in God’s arms like a little child and trust.”

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and put an end at Thy good pleasure to this my miserable life; for justice and truth are not to be found among the sons of men …Be merciful unto me, O Lord … Now after many battles, I find nothing in me but vanity and corruption. For in quietness I am negligent, in trouble impatient, tending to desperation;…pride and ambition assault me on the one part, covetousness and malice trouble me on the other; briefly, Oh Lord, the affections of the flesh do almost suppress the operation of Thy Spirit...In none of the aforesaid I do delight; but I am troubled, and that sore against the desire of my inward man which sobs for my corruption, and would repose in Thy mercy alone; to which I claim, and that in the promise that Thou hast made to all penitent sinners of whose number I profess myself to be one.

As with many innovations, the originator of 3M’s sticky yellow Post-its didn’t know what he had—at first. Researcher Spence Sliver saw curious about what would happen if he mixed an unusual amount of monomer into a polymer-based adhesive he was working on. The result was an adhesive that would “tack” one piece of paper to another and even restick, without leaving any residue on the second piece of paper. The company had no use for the new adhesive until 3M chemist Arthur Fry began having problems in the choir loft. The slips of paper he used to mark pages in his hymnal often fluttered to the floor, leaving him frantically searching for his place. Then he remembered Silver’s adhesive. Fry’s better bookmark soon metamorphosed into the handy Post-its that have become a fixture in offices throughout the country.

The class of noisy boys in a German primary school was being punished by their teacher. They were assigned the problem of adding together all the numbers from 1 to 100.

The boys settled down, scribbling busily on their slates—all but one. This boy looked off into space for a few moments, then wrote something on his slate and turned it in. His was the only right answer.

When the amazed teacher asked how he did it, the boy replied, “I thought there might be some short cut, and I found one: 100 plus 1 is 101; 99 plus 2 is 101; 98 plus 3 is 101, and, if I continued the series all the way to 51 plus 50, I have 101 50 times, which is 5,050.”

After this episode, the young scholar received special tutoring from his teacher. The boy was Karl Friedrich Gauss, the great mathematician of the 19th century.

Gordon Brownville’s SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen’s wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”

So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone, but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit’s message. - Thomas Lindberg

When A. J. Cronin retired as a London doctor because of ill health, he moved to a quiet farming community in Scotland. There Cronin hoped to start a new career as a novelist, a dream he had had since childhood.

For months he worked in a small attic room, filling tablet after tablet with handwritten text, and sending it off to a London secretarial bureau to be typed. Finally the first typed chapters were returned in the mail. He picked them up eagerly, anxious to get a fresh impression of what he had written.

As Cronin read the manuscript, his disgust mounted. How could he have written such terrible material? He was a failure already—with his first book only half written. He stomped out into the drizzling rain for a lonely walk, throwing the manuscript onto an ash pile beside the house.

Crossing the heath, he met a neighbor, an old farmer, digging a drainage ditch in a boggy field. The farmer inquired how Cronin’s writing was coming along. When Cronin reported what he had done with his manuscript, the old farmer was silent for several minutes. Then he spoke.

“No doubt you’re the one that’s right, and I’m the one that’s wrong. My father ditched this bog all his days and never made a pasture. But pasture or no pasture, I cannot help but dig. For my father knew, and I know, that if you only dig enough, a pasture can be made here.”

Ashamed of himself, Cronin walked back to the house, picked the manuscript out of the ashes, and dried it out in the oven. Then he went back to work, writing and rewriting until it satisfied him. The book was Hatter’s Castle, the first in a long string of successful novels.

The story has been told about several famous preachers, but it actually happened to Joseph Parker, minister of the City Temple in London. An old lady waited on Parker in his vestry after a service to thank him for the help she received from his sermons.

“You do throw such wonderful light on the Bible, Doctor,” she said. “Do you know that until this morning, I had always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were man and wife?”

1. “The United States has much to offer the third world war.” (Ronald Reagan in 1975, speaking on Third World countries; he repeated the error nine times).

2. “Thank you, Governor Evidence.” (President Richard M. Nixon, referring to Washington State Gov. Daniel Evans in a speech during the Watergate period).

3. “I hope that Spiro Agnew will be completely exonerated and found guilty of the charges against him.” (John Connally, in a 1973 speech).

Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University. One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped -- but he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college.

A short time after the tragedy, Bruce’s father wrote this letter to the administration, faculty, student body, and the corps of cadets: “I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of my family for the great outpouring of concern and sympathy from Texas A & M University and the college community over the loss of our son Bruce. We were deeply touched by the tribute paid to him in the battalion. We were particularly pleased to note that his Christian witness did not go unnoticed during his brief time on campus.”

Mr. Goodrich went on: “I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter. We know our God makes no mistakes. Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home. When the question is asked, ‘Why did this happen?’ perhaps one answer will be, ‘So that many will consider where they will spend eternity.’“

The Great Wall of China is a gigantic structure which cost an immense amount of money and labor. When it was finished, it appeared impregnable. But the enemy breached it. Not by breaking it down or going around it. They did it by bribing the gatekeepers. - Harry Emerson Fosdick

Old age is dreaded by almost everyone because it usually means loneliness, physical decline, and a retreat to inactivity. Some people tend to lose their enthusiasm for life and spend too much time in fruitless reminiscing and self-pity. They feel like “Old Jimmy,” an elderly gentleman George Mueller often told about. When this man was asked what he did all day since he had retired, he replied, “I just sit and think, and sit and think,...and sometimes I just sit!”

That’s getting old in the worst way -- ceasing to live before we die. History records that many people made some of their greatest contributions to society after the age of 65.

The Earl of Halsburg, for example, was 90 when he began preparing a 20-volume revision of English law.

Goethe wrote Faust at 82.

Galileo made his greatest discovery when he was 73. At 69.

Hudson Taylor was still vigorously working on the mission field, opening up new territories in Indochina.

And when Caleb was 85, he took the stronghold of the giants (Josh. 14:10-15).

God never intends for us to retire from spiritual activity. The Bible says we can “still bring forth fruit in old age.” Even as Jesus kept the “best wine” for the last at the wedding in Cana (John 2:10), so He seeks to gather the most luscious clusters of the fruit of the Spirit from the fully ripened harvest of our lives.

You may be sure God wouldn’t keep you on this earth if He didn’t have a worthwhile ministry for you to accomplish. So keep on serving the Lord!--H.G.B.

As C.S. Lewis wrote,

“The greatest evil is not done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to pain. It is conceived and moved, seconded, carried, and minuted in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.”

When Mahatma Gandhi was the spiritual leader of India, he was asked by some missionaries, “What is the greatest hindrance to Christianity in India?” His reply was, “Christians.”

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its taste, with what shall it be salted? It is thereafter good for nothing but to be thrown out and walked on by the people. (Matthew 5:13)

The concert impresario, Sol Hurok, liked to say that Marian Anderson hadn’t simply grown great, she’d grown great simply. He says: “A few years ago a reporter interviewed Marian and asked her to name the greatest moment in her life. I was in her dressing room at the time and was curious to hear the answer. I knew she had many big moments to choose from. There was the night Toscanini told her that hers was the finest voice of the century. There was the private concert she gave at the White House for the Roosevelts and the King and Queen of England. She had received the $10,000 Bok Award as the person who had done the most for her home town, Philadelphia. To top it all, there was that Easter Sunday in Washington when she stood beneath the Lincoln statue and sang for a crowd of 75,000, which included Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and most members of Congress. Which of those big moments did she choose?

“None of them,” said Hurok. “Miss Anderson told the reporter that the greatest moment of her life was the day she went home and told her mother she wouldn’t have to take in washing anymore.”

False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. - J. Gresham Machen

The Culture War is primarily over who influences the definition of reality. Defining the distinctiveness of our world-view is at stake, not just political power.

A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:

1. Materialism.

2. Pride.

3. Self-centeredness.

4. Laziness.

5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness.

6. (Tie) Sexual lust.

7. Envy.

8. Gluttony.

9. 9. Lying.

Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).

A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:

1. Materialism

2. Pride

3. Self-centeredness

4. Laziness

5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness

6. (Tie) Sexual lust

7. Envy

8. Gluttony

9. Lying

Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).

Parents rate their inability to spend enough time with their children as the greatest threat to the family. In a survey conducted for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Corp. , 35 percent pointed to time constraints as the most important reason for the decline in family values. Another 22 percent mentioned a lack of parental discipline. While 63 percent listed family as their greatest source of pleasure, only 44 percent described the quality of family life in America as good or excellent. And only 34 percent expected it to be good or excellent by 1999. Despite their expressed desire for more family time, two-thirds of those surveyed say they would probably accept a job that required more time away from home if it offered higher income or greater prestige.

Author Irving Stone has spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin. Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life…have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished…and they go to work.

“They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified and for years they get nowhere. But every time they’re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they’ve accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.”

What do you do when faced by a closed door in life? A young boy from Missouri named Harry had to answer that question. He gave evidence of brilliance on the piano even as a child. In addition to being gifted, Harry had such discipli ne that at the age of seven he was at the keyboard by five each morning. He practiced faithfully for hours each day. Under the tutelage of Mrs. E. C. White, he produced each day stronger hope that he would eventually reach greatness.

When Harry was 15, Mrs. White brought news to her star pupil. Paderewski, the greatest pianist of the day was coming to town. The young boy was thrilled as he listened to Paderewski play. Mrs. White took her pupil backstage after the concert to meet Paderewski. With trembling voice, the young boy told the world-renowned pianist that he played his minuet. "There is a part of it," young Harry explained, "that I do not know how to execute." Paderewski walked back with the boy to the empty stage and to the piano. The boy sat at the same piano where Paderewski had played only a few minutes before. As the student played, Paderewski gave a smile of approval to the boy's teacher. A bright future seemed to loom before him.

Then ensued the closed door. The next year Harry's father lost everything in the Kansas City grain market. Harry had to go to work, and his dreams of the concert stage were shattered.

Did the boy give up on life? Did he let this closed door stop him?

Not at all, for this young, gifted, promising pianist would become world famous before his life was over, as President of the United States. His name was Harry S. Truman.

In his fine book, Excellence, John Gardner says, “Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them .They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly by ‘doing what comes naturally’ and they don’t stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves.

All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.”

Andrew Carnegie, the multimillionaire, left $1 million for one of his relatives, who in return cursed Carnegie thoroughly because he had left $365 million to public charities and had cut him off with just one measly million.

Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ringtailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can’t get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.

In his lifetime Lord Ripon of England (1852-1923) killed 556,813 head of game. Even assuming he’d shot for six days a week during every season from the time he was 15, it would have meant killing an average of 67 creatures every day. Among his records: A stopwatch clocked him as he shot 28 pheasant in 60 seconds. He also brought down 575 grouse in one day, killed 52 partridge with 50 shots and nailed 115 pheasant in 10 minutes. During off-season he practiced on bumblebees and butterflies. He seemed obsessed with a compulsion to kill, even when the carcasses were wasted. Each season Ripon himself used 30,000 cases of bullets and a ton of shot. His manners on the field were notoriously despotic. He always insisted on the best positions, often fudged on boundary lines and was not above putting a few pellets in the legs of his sluggish hired help. Every year he printed a score card which totaled all the game he’d downed and mailed it to all his acquaintances. On the day of his death he downed 53 grouse.

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. It was during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.) That the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, were translated into Greek. Shortly afterwards the rest of the Old Testament was also translated. This translation was done by approximately 70 translators. Hence, the Septuagint is known by the letters LXX, the Roman numerals for seventy.

archai: rulers (1 Cor 15:24; Eph 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:10, 15)

exousiai: authorities (1 Cor 15:24; Eph 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:10, 15)

dunameis: powers (Rom 8:38; 1 Cor 15:24; Eph 1:21)

kuriotes: dominions (Eph 1:21; Col 1:16)

thronoi: thrones (Col 1:16)

archontes: leaders, princes (1 Cor 2:6)

kosmokratores: world rulers (Eph 6:12)

A young woman was applying for a Civil Service Job. Her maiden name, as well as her married name, was Green. To clarify this on the application, she penciled in: “Green before marriage.”

Noblem en were gathered together in London waiting for the King of Great Britain. They all knew him personally, yet they all honored him as their king. When he entered, they stood solemnly to their feet. "Take your seats, gentlemen," he said, "I count you as my personal friends." And then joking he added, "I am not the Lord, you know!" Immediately one of the noblemen, a Christian, said, "No, sir, if you were our Lord, we would not have stood to our feet; we would have fallen to our knees."

One man’s life provides a dramatic answer to the question, can God indeed bring positives out of troubled times? This young man’s name is David, and he is an awesome picture of God’s using difficulties for good. For years he viewed trials as something that affected only his external world, and any blow to what he owned or how he looked would discourage him and leave him feeling cheated. Today, David travels around the world, talking with people about how he discovered that no matter what happens to the outside, it’s the internal life that trials really touch.

Just like what happened in Jerry’s life (whose story we shared in the last chapter), the bigger the trial, the more potential to see God’s power and peace at work in the inner person. During the Vietnam War, David went through rigorous training to become part of the ultra-elite special forces team the Navy used on dangerous search-and-destroy missions. During a nighttime raid on an enemy stronghold, David experienced the greatest trial of his life. When he and his men were pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire, he pulled a phosphorus grenade from his belt and stood up to throw it. But as he pulled back his arm, a bullet hit the grenade, and it exploded next to his ear.

Lying on his side on the bank of a muddy river, he watched part of his face float by. His entire face and shoulder alternately smoldered and caught on fire as the phosphorus that had embedded itself in his body came into contact with the air. David knew that he was going to die, yet miraculously he didn’t. He was pulled from the water by his fellow soldiers, flown directly to Saigon, and then taken to a waiting plane bound for Hawaii.

But David’s problems were just beginning. When he first went into surgery—the first of what would become dozens of operations—the surgical team had a major problem during the operation. As they cut away tissue that had been burned or torn by the grenade, the phosphorus would hit the oxygen in the operating room and begin to ignite again! Several times the doctors and nurses ran out of the room, leaving him alone because they were afraid the oxygen used in surgery would explode!

Incredibly, David survived the operation and was taken to a ward that held the most severe burn and injury cases from the war. Lying on his bed, his head the size of a basketball, David knew he presented a grotesque picture. Although he had once been a handsome man, he knew he had nothing to offer his wife or anyone else because of his appearance. He felt more alone and more worthless than he had ever felt in his life. But David wasn’t alone in his room. There was another man who had been wounded in Vietnam and was also a nightmarish sight. He had lost an arm and a leg, and his face was badly torn and scarred.

As David was recovering from surgery, this man’s wife arrived from the States. When she walked into the room and took one look at her husband, she became nauseated. She took off her wedding ring, put it on the nightstand next to him, and said, “I’m so sorry, but there’s no way I could live with you looking like that.” And with that, she walked out the door. He could barely make any sounds through his torn throat and mouth, but the soldier wept and shook for hours. Two days later, he died.

That woman’s attitude represents in many respects the way the world views a victim of accident or injury. If a trial emotionally or physically scars someone or causes him to lose his attractiveness, the world says “Ugly is bad,” and consequently, any value that person feels he has to others is drained away. For this poor wounded soldier, knowing that his wife saw no value in him was more terrible than the wounds he suffered. It blew away his last hope that someone, somewhere, could find worth in him because he knew how the world would perceive him.

Three days later, David’s wife arrived. After watching what had happened with the other soldier, he had no idea what kind of reaction she would have toward him, and he dreaded her coming. His wife, a strong Christian, took one look at him, came over, and kissed him on the only place on his face that wasn’t bandaged. In a gentle voice she said, “Honey, I love you. I’ll always love you. And I want you to know that whatever it takes, whatever the odds, we can make it together.” She hugged him where she could to avoid disturbing his injuries and stayed with him for the next several days. Watching what had happened with the other man’s wife and seeing his own wife’s love for him gave David tremendous strength. More than that, her understanding and accepting him greatly reinforced his own relationship with the Lord. In the weeks and months that followed, David’s wounds slowly but steadily healed.

It took dozens of operations and months of agonizing recovery, but today, miraculously, David can see and hear. On national television, we heard David make an incredible statement. I am twice the person I was before I went to Vietnam. For one thing, God has used my suffering to help me feel other people’s pain and to have an incredible burden to reach people for Him. The Lord has let me have a worldwide, positive effect on people’s lives because of what I went through. I wouldn’t trade anything I’ve gone through for the benefits my trials have had in my life, on my family’s life and on countless teenagers and adults I’ve had the opportunity to influence over the years. David experienced a trial that no parents would wish on their children. Yet in spite of all the tragedy that surrounded him, God turned his troubled times into fruitful ones.

Some years ago in a little western town, a crowd of men gathered about a store window through which they saw a large American eagle. It was fastened by one of its feet to a chain which was secured at the other end by a ring in the floor. Held captive this way for some months, it had become seemingly indifferent to its condition. While the men were looking at the huge bird, a tall, young mountaineer pushed his way through the crowd and entered the store. He asked the proprietor what he would take for the eagle, and the owner said, "Two dollars."

When the young man took the money from his pocket and paid the price, the keeper of the store unfastened the chain and handed the eagle to his new owner. Followed by the crowd, he carried the great bird down the street until he came to a signboard, and on top of this, he placed the one-time child of the skies. But the great bird remained motionless and the crowd was disappointed. It had been bound so long to this earth that it did not seem to care to fly any longer.

Suddenly, high above the mountain, the sun struck its eyes, and the eagle seemed to remember that it was an eagle and that its home was up yonder among the crags and the cliffs. It lifted first one foot and then the other as if to make sure of its freedom and power; then it lifted first one wing and then the other. With a shriek and a bound, it flew away, and higher and higher it ascended until it was lost in the face of the sun. The crowd cheered.

A few years ago psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test.

Subsequently, each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line. Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. The experiment began with nine teen-agers voting for the wrong line. The stooge would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group. The instructions were repeated and the next card was raised.

Time after time, the self-conscious stooge would sit there saying a short line is longer than a long line, simply because he lacked the courage to challenge the group. This remarkable conformity occurred in about 75% of the cases, and was true of small children and high-school students as well. Berenda concluded that, “Some people had rather be president than right,” which is certainly an accurate assessment.

A survey conducted by Group, the Loveland Colorado-based youth-publishing ministry, suggests that ministry to youth is a greater contributing factor to church growth than in generally acknowledged among church-growth experts. Eighty percent of the families surveyed for the report “Youth Ministry: Its Impact on Church Growth,” according to Group, said their church’s youth ministry was an important consideration in their decision to join. A Group press release notes that, according to the American Institute for Church Growth, over 75 percent of lay people say they visit a church because of a friend or a relative. But the number-two reason families join a church, Group’s research concluded, is the church’s ministry to youth. The number-one consideration is preaching.

He (Janis) lists some of the symptoms of groupthink in his study of high-level governmental decision makers. Prime among these is the sharing of an illusion of invulnerability which leads to over optimism and causes planners to fail to respond to clear warnings of danger and be willing to take extraordinary risks.

Second, the participants in groupthink ignore warnings and construct rationalizations in order to discount them.

Third, victims of groupthink have an unquestioned belief in the inherent morality of their ingroup actions, inclining the members to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.

Fourth, victims of groupthink hold stereotyped views of the leaders of enemy groups. They are seen as so evil that there is no warrant for arbitration or negotiation or as too weak or too stupid to put up an effective defense.

Fifth, victims of groupthink, says Janis, apply direct pressure on any individual who momentarily expresses doubts about any of the group’s shared illusions, or questions the validity of the arguments.

Sixth, unanimity becomes an idol. Victims of groupthink avoid deviating from what appears to be the group consensus; they keep silent about their misgivings and even minimize to themselves the importance of their doubts. Victims of groupthink sometimes appoint themselves as “mindguards” to protect the leader and fellow members from adverse information.

Janis quotes Robert Kennedy as having taken one of the members of the group aside and told him, “You may be right or you may be wrong, but the President has made his mind up. Don’t push it any further. Now is the time for everyone to help him all they can.” Janis also lists some of the symptoms of the resulting inadequacy of problem-solving. Among these are the limitation of discussion to only a few alternative courses of action, the failure to reexamine some of the initially preferred and now discarded courses of action, and the failure to seek information from experts within the same organization who could supply more precise estimates of possible losses and gains from alternate courses of action.

In 1884 Grover Cleveland was running against James G. Blaine for the presidency of the U.S. Blaine supporters discovered that Cleveland, who was a bachelor at the time, had fathered a son by Mrs. Maria Crofts Halpin, an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with several politicians. Subsequently, Republicans tried to pin an immorality tag on Democrat Cleveland by distributing handbills showing an infant labeled “One more vote for Cleveland” and by having paraders chant, “Ma, Ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!”

The move, however, backfired badly. Rather than deny the story, Cleveland decided to tell the truth and admit the intimacy. This candor helped defuse the issue, and Cleveland was elected president.

The concert impresario, Sol Hurok, liked to say that Marian Anderson hadn’t simply grown great, she’d grown great simply. He says: “A few years ago a reporter interviewed Marian and asked her to name the greatest moment in her life. I was in her dressing room at the time and was curious to hear the answer. I knew she had many big moments to choose from. There was the night Toscanini told her that hers was the finest voice of the century. There was the private concert she gave at the White House for the Roosevelts and the King and Queen of England. She had received the $10,000 Bok Award as the person who had done the most for her home town, Philadelphia. To top it all, there was that Easter Sunday in Washington when she stood beneath the Lincoln statue and sang for a crowd of 75,000, which included Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and most members of Congress. Which of those big moments did she choose? “None of them,” said Hurok. “Miss Anderson told the reporter that the greatest moment of her life was the day she went home and told her mother she wouldn’t have to take in washing anymore.”

If the request is wrong, God says, “No.”

If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow.”

If you are wrong, God says, “Grow.”

But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, “Go!”

You got it from your father,

it was all he had to give

So it’s yours to use and cherish,

for as long as you may live.

If you lose the watch he gave you,

it can always be replaced.

But a black mark on your name, son,

can never be erased.

It was clean the day you took it,

and a worthy name to bear.

When he got it from his father,

there was no dishonor there.

So make sure you guard it wisely,

after all is said and done.

You’ll be glad the name is spotless,

when you give it to your son.

The Christian is guarded on all sides by the Lord. We have God before us (Isa. 48:17), God behind us (Isa. 30:21), God on our right (Ps. 16:8), God to our left (Job 23:9), God above us (Ps. 36:7), God’s arms underneath us (Dt. 33:27), and His Spirit within us (I Cor. 3:16). God is our true environment. What protection!

An Australian missionary told a thrilling story of the Lord’s special care for him as he made a lonely and dangerous journey on foot. He had no problem getting to his destination, but was uneasy on the return trip because he carried with him a large sum of money. A man was waiting at a lonely spot, planning to rob and kill anyone who passed by. The missionary, unaware of this but concerned about the risk of traveling alone, prayed aloud to God for protection as he walked along. Before the bandit saw him, he heard him talking, and immediately he thought there must be two men, so he decided not to attack.

Later, he told someone what he had intended to do that day, and the news got around. When the missionary heard it, he realized that God’s Spirit had prompted him to pray aloud as he journeyed. His heart rejoiced as he thought of the Lord’s wonderful protection from harm.

My neighbor’s son, Robert, seemed young to be an usher at a wedding, but he was quickly coached in wedding protocol. A veteran usher instructed Robert to ask the person he was escorting, “Are you a guest of the bride or groom?” to know where to seat them.

Imagine our surprise when we heard Robert ask, as he graciously offered his arm to the first arrival, “Madam, whose side are you on?”

I will seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them. George Mueller

If we want God to guide us, our attitude needs to be right. Here are some guidelines as to how we can play our part in arriving at right decisions.

First, we must be willing to think. It is false piety, super-supernaturalism of an unhealthy pernicious sort that demands inward impressions with no rational base, and declines to heed the constant biblical summons to consider. God made us thinking beings, and he guides our minds as we think things out in his presence.

Second, we must be willing to think ahead and weigh the long-term consequences of alternative courses of action. Often we can only see what is wise and right, and what is foolish and wrong, as we dwell on the long-term issues.

Third, we must be willing to take advice. It is a sign of conceit and immaturity to dispense with taking advice in major decisions. There are always people who know the Bible, human nature, and our own gifts and limitations better than we do, and even if we cannot finally accept their advice, nothing but good will come to us from carefully weighing what they say.

Fourth, we must be willing to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves. We must suspect ourselves: ask ourselves why we feel a particular course of action will be right and make ourselves give reasons.

Fifth, we must be willing to wait. “Wait on the Lord” is a constant refrain in the Psalms and it is a necessary word, for the Lord often keeps us waiting. When in doubt, do nothing, but continue to wait on God.