Pastoral Resources

Novelist Pearl Buck told her 16-year old daughter that she wouldn’t allow her to attend a party of mixed teenagers where there would be no adult supervision. The girl wailed, “You don’t trust me!”

Mrs. Buck’s reply was, “Of course, I don’t trust you. I couldn’t trust myself at 16, 17, 18, or as much farther as you care to go! When you face the fact that you don’t trust yourself in a situation, the only wisdom is to be careful not to put yourself into that situation.”

At first, I saw God as my Observer, my Judge-keeping track of things I did to know whether I merited heaven or hell. He was out there-sort of like a President. I recognized His picture but I did not know Him.

Later on, when I met Christ, life became a bike ride. It was a tandem bike, and Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I do not know just when He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. Christ makes life exciting.

When I had the control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points. When He led, He knew delightful long cuts-up mountains and through rocky places-and at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said "Pedal!" I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and did not answer, and I started to trust.

I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I would say, "I am scared," He would lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people who gave me gifts of healing, acceptance, joy and peace for our journey. He said, "Give the gifts away." So I did to people we met. And I found that in giving I received, and our burden was light.

I did not trust Him at first to control my life. I thought He would wreck it. But He knows how to make bikes bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.

I am learning to be quiet and pedal in the strangest places. I am beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face. And when I am sure I just cannot do any more-He just smiles and says, "Pedal!"

The 39,000 member American Academy of Pediatrics says too much TV watching by your children can turn them violent, aggressive or overweight—and possibly all three. In their first statement in six years on kids and TV, the pediatricians last month advised the nation’s parents to reduce their children’s video-viewing by at least half. Data from the A. C. Nielsen Co. reveal that children aged 2 to 5 currently watch about 25 hours of TV a week; those 6 to 11 watch more than 22 hours a week; and those in the 12 to 17 age-bracket watch 23 hours a week. The pediatricians maintain that by the time today’s child reaches age 70, he or she will have spent approximately seven years in front of the tube.

There was a test conducted by a university where 10 students were placed in a room. Three lines of varying length were drawn on a card. The students were told to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the longest line. But 9 of the students had been instructed beforehand to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the second longest line. One student was the stooge. The usual reaction of the stooge was to put his hand up, look around, and realizing he was all alone, pull it back down. This happened 75% of the time, with students from grade school through high school. The researchers concluded that many would rather be president than be right.

When peers have dialogue primarily with peers, they fail to be exposed to those with more advanced insights and more highly developed faculties....Our children, who are constantly engrossed in peer-centered activities, interact minimally with those more mature than themselves.

For many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican’s paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they flung the offal to the pelicans. The birds grew fat, lazy, and contented.

Eventually, however the offal was utilized, and there were no longer snacks for the pelicans. When the change came the pelicans made no effort to fish for themselves. They waited around and grew gaunt and thin. Many starved to death. They had forgotten how to fish for themselves. The problem was solved by importing new pelicans from the south, birds accustomed to foraging for themselves. They were placed among their starving cousins, and the newcomers immediately started catching fish. Before long, the hungry pelicans followed suit, and the famine was ended.

Stan Mikita, a professional hockey star, used to get into a lot of fights during games. He stopped when his eight-year-old daughter asked a very grown-up question: “How can you score goals when you’re always in the penalty box, Daddy?”

When John Henry Jowett was pastor at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, he began a series of children’s meetings. At the very first meeting, four boys with penny whistles upset the meeting by playing tunes while Jowett was speaking. An usher rounded up the boys and took them to the vestry where they faced Jowett. “Can’t you fellows play tin whistles any better than that?” Jowett asked. “If you can’t, I shall have to get Mrs. Jowett to give you some lessons.”

A few weeks later, the four boys gave a concert with Mrs. Jowett accompanying them on the piano.

She owns a string of hotels. She owns the Empire State Building. She is a billionaire. Yet, in September 1989 Leona Mindy Rosenthal Helmsley was convicted of 33 counts of tax evasion, for which she faces the possibility of being sent to prison for 100 years. According to Time magazine, she emerged as a penny-pinching tyrant who tried to stiff just about everybody. No amount of money was too small to fight over. After the sudden death of her only son at age 40 in 1982, she sued and won the lion’s share of his estate, $149,000, leaving his four children with $432 each and his widow with $2,171.

Joseph M. Stowell gives this illustration:

"I thoroughly enjoy working in my yard. I've got my own system of fertilizing my lawn, cutting it, and caring for it. One year, when my son Joe was in his early teens, I spent all spring getting the yard to look just the way I wanted. We had a basketball hoop at the end of our driveway, and on several occasions Joe came along and said, 'Dad, let's play basketball.'My response was always, 'Joe, not right now. I'm busy working in the yard.'Or, 'I've got to trim this edge here.'Or, 'I've got to do the fertilizing now.'

Later that summer, I visited a hospital on several successive nights to comfort a family whose boy-about Joe's age-was dying. One evening as I drove home, it struck me that I had a boy just like that, that it was a great gift from God to have a healthy young son, and that I had permitted things-a lawn-to eclipse the value of time with him. I drove down our street and saw my beautiful, green, wonderfully manicured lawn. I drove into the driveway, saw the basketball hoop, and thought, I don't care what I have to do tonight; one thing I'm going to do right now is play basketball with my son.

So I threw open the door and yelled, 'Hey, Joe! Let's play basketball!'And he said, 'Not right now, Dad-I'm busy.'I was convicted, and I wondered, How could I ever have let things eclipse the importance of my son?

When you think about the truth about people, beware the treachery of the seduction of things."

Percentage of adults who mostly agree or completely agree with the statement, “Even today, miracles are performed by the power of God”: 82.

How deeply has the tendency to deny hell penetrated evangelicalism? One survey of evangelical seminary students revealed that nearly half—46 percent— felt preaching about hell to unbelievers is in “poor taste.” Worse, three out of every ten self-professed “born again” people surveyed believe “good” people will go to heaven when they die—even if they’ve never trusted Christ. One in every ten evangelicals say they believe the concept of sin is outmoded.

I’m reminded of E. B. White’s comment: “People have recut their clothes to follow the fashion...People have remodeled their ideas too—taken in their convictions a little at the waist, shortened the sleeves of their resolve, and fitted themselves out in a new intellectual ensemble copied from a smart design out of the very latest page of history.” When slavery to fashion invades the church, our latest ideas are yesterday’s fads. We adopt the world’s agenda—just a few years too late. Many churchmen sport theological bell-bottoms.

Laurie was about three when one night she requested my aid in getting undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. “You know how to undress yourself,” I reminded. “Yes,” she explained, ‘but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.”

90% of new members will stay in the church if:

(1) They can articulate their faith (implies need for membership and evangelism classes).

(2) They belong to subgroups (i.e. choir, Bible Studies, Sunday School classes, etc.).

(3) They have 4-8 close friendships within the church.

Percentage in a 1985 survey who said that, aside from earning a living, the reason they work is to keep from getting bored: 54.

Percentage in a 1989 survey who said they are sometimes or often bored at work: 41.

Percentage in a 1990 survey who said they are generally bored by what goes on in Washington: 48.

Percentage in a 1991 survey of 7th through 12th graders who said they are tired or bored at school: 70.

Percentage in a 1991 survey of teenagers who said they drink alcohol because they are bored: 25.

Perfect and Once for all, the work of the cross the result of the sacrifice of Christ 1 Cor. 6:11; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Heb. 2:11

Progressive and continuous, the work of the Spirit through the Word in the believer 1 Thess. 5:23; John 17:17

It is said that as the great Michelangelo painted the magnificent frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel—lying on his back for endless hours to finish every detail with great care—a friend asked him why he took such pains with figures that would be viewed from a considerable distance. “After all,” the friend said, “Who will notice whether it is perfect or not?” “I will,” replied the artist.

Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.

If the world were controlled by perfectionists, there would be no place for those who can never quite measure up to their standards. On the other hand, if the world were under the domination of people who wake up in a new world every day, we would probably suffocate in the accumulation of our own garbage within a week.

Fortunately "practically perfect" people like Mary Poppins manage to get mixed up with the Dick Van Dykes of the world. A husband who is so organized that he can predict with a fair degree of accuracy when his next shoestring is going to break, inevitably gets paired with a wife who hasn't the foggiest notion what she's going to prepare for dinner at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. A wife, with such an obsession for cleanliness that she jumps out of bed at 1 o'clock in the morning because she suddenly remembers that she forgot to mop up a blob of spilled orange juice from the kitchen floor, marries a clod who comes in from a hunting trip and tracks mud all over the floor she just cleaned. So goes the struggle between perfection and the spirit of tolerance.

There is a certain amount of tension in every serious thinking Christian's mind concerning the biblical call to perfection. In one compartment of the brain, there's a tug to live up to all the standards of Christ, but then on the other hand, our attempts to measure up to those standards are always flawed.

The New Testament clearly articulates the need to "perfect holiness out of reverence for God" (2Co 7:1). Perfection does not usually mean sinlessness in the Scripture. It usually means something like maturity or completeness. Even that can be illusive. Paul admitted that he had not "been made perfect" (Phi 3:12). Yet he did not attempt to excuse himself from pursuing the goal of perfection. He said, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." The person who excuses himself from serious effort because nobody's perfect, is just playing a game and he is not even playing according to the rules. While it is self-righteous and hypocritical to claim that one has already conquered the flesh at any point in this life, we play a deadly game of self-vindication when we ignore the pursuit of perfection.

It is essential that we should exercise conscience, but let us not forget that in this matter, as in all others, privilege is linked with responsibility. Of course, we may attribute unworthy motives to authoritarian churches that proclaim the right to dictate to the individual what is right and what is wrong. We may say, as many have said, that they adopt this standpoint for their own ends to acquire power and control. But that is not a satisfactory explanation, and it is an unworthy charge. Their action is generally based on the danger of individual judgment and the peril of the individual conscience, because this privilege that we all claim does have it perils. It is so perilous, indeed, that while we pay lip service to its sanctity and sacredness, we are compelled to curtail its freedom. There is no community that can or dare base its life upon the freedom of each individual's conscience. It would result in chaos. Jesus Christ allows us a certain freedom. Freedom is the basis of joy, but if it oversteps the bounds of moral responsibility it is too perilous.

A sickly widow had two sons on whom she relied for financial support. One son sold umbrellas. The first thing the mother did every morning was to look out to see if the sun was shining or if it looked like it was going to rain. If it was cloudy, her spirits were good because there was a chance that it might rain and her son would sell some umbrellas. But if the sun was shining, she was miserable all day because no umbrellas would be sold.

The widow’s other son sold fans. Every morning that it looked like rain, she would get depressed because without the sun’s heat, no one was likely to buy fans.

No matter what the weather was, the widow had something to fret about.

While commiserating with a friend one day, the friend remarked, “Perk up. You’ve got it made. If the sun is shining, people will buy fans; if it rains, they’ll buy umbrellas. All you have to do is change your attitude. You can’t lose.”

When that simple thought sank in, the widow lived happily ever after.

Don't be like that bishop of whom I heard. It seems a Baptist family had a death in the family while their minister was out of town. They asked a minister of another denomination to conduct the funeral service. He said he would have to check with the bishop, so he wired him, "Can I bury a Baptist?" The bishop wired back, "Sure, bury all the Baptists you can!"

In one of the world’s most famous poems, the Latin poet Catullus wrote, “Let us live and let us love, and let us value the tales of austere old men at a single halfpenny. Suns can set and then return again, but for us, when once our brief light sets, there is but one perpetual night through which we must sleep.”

John Wesley traveled 250,000 miles on horseback, averaging twenty miles a day for forty years; preached 4,000 sermons; produced 400 books; knew ten languages. At eighty-three he was annoyed that he could not write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes, and at eighty-six he was ashamed he could not preach more than twice a day. He complained in his diary that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 in the morning.

Persistence paid off for American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the planet Pluto. After astronomers calculated a probable orbit for this “suspected” heavenly body, Tombaugh took up the search in March 1929. Time magazine recorded the investigation: “He examined scores of telescopic photographs each showing tens of thousands of star images in pairs under the dual microscope. It often took three days to scan a single pair. It was exhausting, eye-cracking work—in his own words, ‘brutal, tediousness.’ And it went on for months. Star by star, he examined 20 million images. Then on February 18, 1930, as he was blinking at a pair of photographs in the constellation Gemini, ‘I suddenly came upon the image of Pluto!” It was the most dramatic astronomic discovery in nearly 100 years.

In 1789 an uncertain George Washington is urged to seek the presidency by Governor Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Morris writes Washington: “No constitution is the same on paper and in life. The exercise of authority depends upon personal character. Your cool steady temper is indispensably necessary to give a firm and manly tone to the new government.”

When I am conscious of the fear of failure holding me back, I go through a kind of personal checklist:

1. Does this fear come basically from pride, a fear that I will not live up to my own expectations or to those of others?

2. Do I remember that God has called me first to faithfulness, then to efficiency?

3. Do I trust that the Holy Spirit is working before me, with me, and through me?

4. Do I remember that I am called to be neither more nor less successful than Jesus Christ was?

5. Do I remember that God does his greatest work when I seem to be weakest? Isn’t that, after all, the mystery of the cross?

Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait on line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. “I know,” said Mamie, ‘but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.”

Wife surveys her husband’s personality analysis from a coin machine: “You are a leader with a magnetic personality, witty, and attractive to the opposite sex,” and exclaims, “Darling, it has your weight wrong, too!”

My brother adopted a snake named Slinky, whose most disagreeable trait was eating live mice. Once I was pressed into going to the pet store to buy Slinky’s dinner. The worst part of this wasn’t choosing the juiciest-looking creatures or turning down the clerk who wanted to sell me vitamins to ensure their longevity. The hardest part was carrying the poor things out in a box bearing the words “Thank you for giving me a home.”

I thought of how important the strength of a marriage is to children when I saw a quote by Pete Rose, Jr., recently. The betting scandal his father was in meant little to Petey. He still dwelt on his parents’ years-old divorce. His father was remarried with a new child and another on the way. His mother was tending bar in Cincinnati. Petey is a better-than-average big league prospect himself, and athletes at that stage in their careers are usually single-minded and driven. Yet Petey said something like this: “I would trade whatever future I have in big league baseball to see my parents get back together.” It was as if he hadn’t read the papers, didn’t know the truth about his parents’ marriage. Pete, Sr. had such an incredible reputation for chasing women, and such nasty, impossible-to-take-back things had been said by each about the other, that no one would give two cents for the possibility of any civility, let alone a reconciliation. And with Pete, Sr., remarried, there’s no chance. Yet that comment from little Pete, if he were my son, would haunt me to my grave.

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

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

1. Doubts Matt 14:28 & 16:23

2. Boasts Mark 14:27-31 & 1 Cor 10:12

3. Sleeps Mark 14:37 with Rom 13:11

4. Smites John 18:10 & Luke 22:60

5. Follows afar off Luke 22:54

6. Sits with the ungodly Luke 22:55

7. Denies the Lord Luke 22:57-62

At one time Peter had wayward feet, but Andrew brought him to Jesus.

And then one night Peter had some wet feet because he was walking on the water.

Then he had washed feet when Jesus knelt before him and washed his feet (John 13).

He had wandering feet when he denied the Lord.

He had willing feet. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace” (Rom. 10:15).

What kind of feet do you have?

1. The Lord’s prayer and look Luke 22:32, 61

2. Peter’s conviction, tears, repentance Luke 22:61-2

3. Hears and hastens to the tomb John 20:1-4

4. Receives a message from the Lord Mark 16:7

5. Private meeting with the Lord Luke 24:34

6. Public restoration to service John 21:15-17

7. Boldly testifies for Christ Acts 3:14

One day He said, "Whom do men say that I am?" He wanted them to confess Him. But one said, "They say thou art Elias," and another "that thou art Jeremiah;" and another "Thou art St. John the Baptist." But He asked, "Whom do you say that I am?"--turning to His disciples. And Peter answers, "Thou art the Son of the living God." Then our Lord exclaimed, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas." Yes, He blessed him right there because he confessed Him to be the Son of God. He was hungry to get some one to confess him. Let everyone take his stand on the side of the Lord.

In contrast to the two commands of Christ, the Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws... By the time Christ came it had produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness. As such, it contained at least ten tragic flaws.

(1) New laws continually need to be invented for new situations.

(2) Accountability to God is replaced by accountability to men.

(3) It reduces a person’s ability to personally discern.

(4) It creates a judgmental spirit.

(5) The Pharisees confused personal preferences with divine law.

(6) It produces inconsistencies.

(7) It created a false standard of righteousness.

(8) It became a burden to the Jews.

(9) It was strictly external.

(10) It was rejected by Christ.

Maria Fedorovna, the empress of Russia and wife of Czar Alexander III, was known for her philanthropy. She once saved a prisoner from exile in Siberia by transposing a single comma in a warrant signed by Alexander. The czar had written: “Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia.” After Maria’s intervention, the note read: “Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia.” The prisoner was eventually released.

A philosophical position, empirical in method, that regards everything that exists or occurs to be conditioned in its existence or occurrence by causal factors within one all-encompassing system of nature, however “spiritual” or purposeful or rational some of these things and events may in their functions and values prove to be.

Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people.

Aerophobia: fear of drafts.

Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple.

Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people.

Levophobia: fear of objects on the left side of the body.

Dextrophobia: fear of objects on the right side of the body.

Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights.

Calyprophobia: fear of obscure meanings.

Thalassophobia: fear of being seated.

Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking.

Odontophobia: fear of teeth.

Graphophobia: fear of writing in public.

Phobophobia: fear of being afraid.

According to the “Almanac for Farmers & City Folk,” The largest number of collect calls are made on Father’s Day.

Out of parental concern and a desire to teach our young son responsibility, we require him to phone home when he arrives at his friend’s house a few blocks away. He began to forget, however, as he grew more confident in his ability to get there without disaster befalling him. The first time he forgot, I called to be sure he had arrived. We told him the next time it happened, he would have to come home. A few days later, however, the telephone again lay silent, and I knew if he was going to learn, he would have to be punished. BUT I DID NOT WANT TO PUNISH HIM! I went to the telephone, regretting that his great time would be spoiled by his lack of contact with his father. As I dialed, I prayed for wisdom. “Treat him like I treat you,” the Lord seemed to say. With that, as the telephone rang one time, I hung up. A few seconds later the phone rang, and it was my son.

“I’m here, Dad!”

“What took you so long to call?” I asked.

“We started playing and I forgot. But Dad, I heard the phone ring once and I remembered.”

How often do we think of God as One who waits to punish us when we step out of line? I wonder how often he rings just once, hoping we will phone home.

Dennis Miller

During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up.

“Ah, gentlemen,” he said, “come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work.”

At the barn, Roosevelt picked up a pitchfork and looked around for the hay. Then he called out, “John, where’s all the hay?”

“Sorry, sir,” John called down from the hayloft. “I ain’t had time to toss it back down again after you pitched it up while the Iowa folks were here.”

Thomas Edison was concerned about the way visitors to his office helped themselves to his expensive Havana cigars. Since he wouldn’t lock them up, his secretary suggested he have cigars made from cabbage leaves and substitute them for the Havanas. Edison agreed, then forgot about it, and only remembered later when the Havanas started vanishing again. When he asked his secretary why the bogus cigars hadn’t arrived, she told him they had arrived and had been given to his manager—who, not knowing they were fakes, had packed them for Edison to take on a trip. “And do you know,” Edison laughed, “I smoked every one of those cigars myself!”

Bob Harris, weatherman for NY TV station WPIX-TV and the nationally syndicated independent Network news, had to weather a public storm of his own making in 1979. Though he had studied math, physics and geology at three colleges, he left school without a degree but with a strong desire to be a media weatherman.

He phoned WCBS-TV, introducing himself as a Ph.D. in geophysics from Columbia U. The phony degree got him in the door. After a two-month tryout, he was hired as an off-camera forecaster for WCBS. For the next decade his career flourished. He became widely known as “Dr. Bob.” He was also hired by the New York Times as a consulting meteorologist. The same year both the Long Island Railroad and then Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn hired him. Forty years of age and living his childhood dream, he found himself in public disgrace and national humiliation when an anonymous letter prompted WCBS management to investigate his academic credentials. Both the station and the New York Times fire him.

His story got attention across the land. He was on the Today Show, the Tomorrow Show, and in People Weekly, among others. He thought he’d lose his home and never work in the media again. Several days later the Long Island Railroad and Bowie Kuhn announced they would not fire him. Then WNEW-TV gave him a job. He admits it was a dreadful mistake on his part and doubtless played a role in his divorce. “I took a shortcut that turned out to be the long way around, and one day the bill came due. I will be sorry as long as I am alive.”

An estimated 10,000 physicians have phony foreign medical degrees that brought one broker of fraudulent diplomas $1.5 million over three years, a congressional panel was told Friday. Claude Pepper, Democrat-Florida, said many American citizens may be receiving medical treatment from doctors who lied on their medical school loan applications, and used the money not to go to school but to pay a broker for fake documents claiming they completed school and training. Pedro DeMesones, now serving a three-year prison sentence for mail fraud and conspiracy, told the panel that in three years of “expediting” medical degrees, he provided about 100 clients with false transcripts showing they had fulfilled medical requirements of schools they didn’t attend. “Clients paid me from $5225 to $27,000 for my services, “ DeMesones said. “In all I earned about $1.5 million in those three years. I only got to keep about $500,000 of this total. The rest went for bribes and expenses.”

Edward Steichen, who eventually became one of the world’s most renowned photographers, almost gave up on the day he shot his first pictures.

At 16, young Steichen bought a camera and took 50 photos. Only one turned out—a portrait of his sister at the piano. Edward’s father thought that was a poor showing. But his mother insisted that the photograph of his sister was so beautiful that it more than compensated for 49 failures. Her encouragement convinced the youngster to stick with his new hobby. He stayed with it for the rest of his life, but it had been a close call.

What tipped the scales? The vision to spot excellence in the midst of a lot of failure.

On occasion I do free-lance photography for local newspapers and magazines, and I take great pride in my work. At a party one evening, I was introduced to an extremely pompous gentleman who writes a weekly piece for a publication that had just used one of my pictures.

After telling me how he liked the “rather interesting” composition and tones I had used in my latest work, he said, “You must have a good camera.” I then mentioned that I had enjoyed his most recent article, and added, “You must have a good typewriter.”

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

The farmer who turns up the ground and sows the seed seldom pauses to reflect on the mystery of its growth. Even the philosopher who understands the wonderful process of vegetation is conscious of difficulties he cannot solve in its several stages toward maturity. The farmer doesn't refuse to sow the seed because he can't see the actual plant in it. A sperm cell is almost invisible, yet it contains the full potential for a perfect human organism. Think of the mystery in such natural phenomena. We accept them because we can't live without them. God hasn't given us the freedom to reject natural laws and mysterious phenomena in connection with our physical lives. But He has chosen to give us the ability to reject His spiritual laws and not immediately feel the consequences. If we refuse to eat we'll die. There are no two ways about it. But in the spiritual realm we feel no immediate physical impact of disobedience to God's laws. There is a spiritual consequence, but those who have no spiritual sensibility or life don't feel it. It would be just like inflicting punishment on a corpse; it couldn't feel it. Just so the spiritually dead can't feel the spiritual consequences of their disobedience.

Children who see physical violence between their parents are six times more likely to abuse their own spouses after they marry. If those children were also hit by their parents as teenagers, they are 12 times more likely to abuse their spouses.

In a recent survey of 269 doctors, a remarkable 99% said they were convinced that religious belief can heal. In fact, that’s 20% higher than the figure for the general public.

Why do doctors feel this way? “Because we’ve seen the power of belief, said Dr. Herbert Benson, author of “Timeless Healing,” which offers scientific evidence that faith has helped to cure medical conditions. “We’ve seen that belief is powerful in conditions including angina pectoris, asthma, duodenal ulcers, congestive heart failure, diabetes, all forms of pain. We see it all the time, and we can’t deny it.”

What’s more, 75% of the doctors believe the prayers of others can help a patient’s recovery, and 38% said they think faith-healers can make people well. The survey was conducted by Yankelovich Partners at a meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians in October.

Physicians recognize the limitations of drugs and surgery, noted Dr. Benson, who added: “The real breakthrough is the acceptance of these approaches by modern medicine.” On Dec. 15 , he will head a Harvard Medical School conference on spirituality and healing, to be held in Boston, with another scheduled for Los Angeles in March.

“We have scientific data showing that people who use self-help—relaxation, nutrition, exercise and belief—reduce their visits to doctors by 30% to 60%, said Benson. “In a prepaid system, that’s money in the bank.”

Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff was once honored at a dinner hosted by fellow pianist Arthur Rubinstein. During the course of the evening, Rachmaninoff said he thought the Grieg piano concerto the greatest ever written. When Rubinstein said he had just recorded it, Rachmaninoff insisted on hearing it then and there. During coffee, Rubinstein put on the proofs of the record and Rachmaninoff, closing his eyes, settled down to listen. He listened right through without saying a word. At the end of the concerto he opened his eyes and said, “Piano out of tune.”

Iron Eyes Cody is a native American actor who once did a TV spot for the Keep America Beautiful campaign. He was an Indian drifting alone in a canoe. As he saw how our waters are being polluted, a single tear rolled down his cheek, telling the whole story. This powerful public service commercial still shows up on TV screens after 17 years. In 1988 Cody repeated an old Indian legend in Guideposts magazine. Here it is:

Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees, bright with flowers. There he fasted. But on the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall rugged peak, capped with dazzling snow. I will test myself against that mountain, he thought. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders and set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever, and his heart swelled with pride. Then he heard a rustle at his feet, and looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke. “I am about to die,” said the snake. “It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.” “No,” said the youth. “I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me.” “Not so,” said the snake. “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.” The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. “But you promised...” cried the youth. “You knew what I was when you picked me up.” said the snake as it slithered away.”

Walking through a state park near Miami, my wife and I saw a Cuban family enjoying a picnic as half a dozen raccoons begged for handouts. The family responded by tossing them bits of food and saying repeatedly, “Oye, chico, ven aca.” (C’mere, boy.”) I later confessed to my wife that my first reaction was: That’s silly. Raccoons don’t speak Spanish.

Kevin Carter could never escape his continent’s turmoil. for a decade, the photographer captured vivid pictures of repression and strife in his native South Africa. Last year, he went to famine-racked Sudan and came upon a starving toddler stalked by a vulture. He photographed the scene—an image that won this year’s Pulitzer Prize—then chased the vulture away. As the child resumed her walk to a feeding station, he lit a cigarette and wept. Last week, at 33, he killed himself with carbon monoxide pumped into his pickup truck.

Explained his father: “Kevin always carried around the horror of the work he did.”

We are very shy nowadays of even mentioning Heaven. We are afraid of the jeer about “pie in the sky,” and of being told that we are trying to “escape from the duty of making a happy world here and now into dreams of a happy world elsewhere.” But either there is “pie in the sky” or there is not. If there is not, then Christianity is false, for this doctrine is woven into its whole fabric. If there is, then this truth, like any other, must be faced, whether it is useful at political meetings or no.

Once the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. “What did he find?” asked the cohort. “A piece of the truth,” the Devil replied. “Doesn’t it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?” asked the cohort. “No,” said the Devil, “I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it.”

Bible expositor Bonar Law once said that love to man is truly love “only when it is rooted and governed by love to God. Piety without philanthropy is unreal; philanthropy without piety is either immoral or impotent.”

That’s a sobering statement. There are lots of humanitarians who are doing good things, but if they are doing them without any relationship to God, the ultimate result is failure.

Bible expositor Bonar Law once said that love to man is truly love “only when it is rooted and governed by love to God. Piety without philanthropy is unreal; philanthropy without piety is either immoral or impotent.” That’s a sobering statement. There are lots of humanitarians who are doing good things, but if they are doing them without any relationship to God, the ultimate result is failure.

I was an air-traffic controller stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. One morning we picked up a Montana National Guard passenger aircraft. Instead of identifying the plane by its five-digit tail number, its pilot radioed, “Selfridge Approach, this is Pig Sty One.” As we were taught to refer to aircraft by whatever call sign the pilot used, the controller thereafter called the craft “Pig Sty One.” Just after touching down, the pilot contacted the tower.

“Selfridge,” he said, “our call sign is not ‘Pig Sty one.” It is ‘Big Sky One,’ and we have the governor of Montana on board!”

One time Spain controlled both sides of the narrowest part of the strait of Gibraltar. At that narrowing of the two land masses (Africa and Europe), there was a huge marker called the “Pillar of Hercules,” and prior to Columbus’ voyage in 1492, it carried a three word Latin saying chiseled into stone: NE PLUS ULTRA, which, translated, said, “No More Beyond.”

Coins, like stamps, can tell us about a country. They celebrate victories, praise founders, sloganize ethnic styles, and advertise scientific breakthroughs. “No More Beyond” was the standard belief of that time. No one would dare question the prevailing conviction that the western horizon contained nothing new.

After Columbus’s discovery of a new world beyond Spain, recognition of the revised outlook was pressed into its coins. Coins were struck with a simple Latin slogan, two words: PLUS ULTRA: which meant “More Beyond.” Coins in circulation in Florida in 1796, still had that slogan!

The voice that could be heard on the recording carried a message of terror. “Daddy, can I turn this?”

The cockpit tapes record a chilling scene: The pilot’s children getting a flying lesson just before an Aeroflot jet crashed in Siberia, killing all 75 people aboard. The transcript of the desperate final minutes before the March 1994 crash reveal the captain shouting, “Get out! Get out!” More than a dozen times the pilot yelled at his son, who was in the captain’s seat when the plane began to plunge. The deciding act occurred when the boy’s foot “accidentally pushed the right pedal, sending the aircraft into an irreversible spin.”

In the year A. D. 303, the roman Emperor Diocletian issued a decree which he hoped would extinguish the spreading flames of Christianity. One of his primary objectives was the seizure and destruction of the Christian Scriptures. Later that year, officials enforced the decree in North Africa. One of the targets was Felix, Bishop of Tibjuca, a village near Carthage. The mayor of the town ordered Felix to hand over his Scriptures. Though some judges were willing to accept scraps of parchment, Felix refused to surrender the Word of God at the insistence of mere men. Resolutely, he resisted compromise. Roman authorities finally shipped Felix to Italy where he paid for his stubbornness with his life. On August 30, as the record puts it, “with pious obstinacy,” he laid down his life rather than surrender his Gospels.

In a speech before regional community leaders in Kingsport, Tennessee, Ernie Deavenport, chairman and CEO of Eastman Chemical Company, made a pitch for cooperation and teamwork between his company and the community leaders. To highlight his message, he told this story about a Little League coach:

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?

The little boy nodded in the affirmative.

“Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?”

The little boy nodded yes.

“So,” the coach continued, “when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?”

Again, the little boy nodded.

“Good,” said the coach. “Now go over there and explain it to your mother.”

Walter Cronkite recalls the following incident: Sailing back down the Mystic River in Conneciticut and following the channel’s tricky turns through an expanse of shallow water, I am reminded of the time a boatlaod of young people sped past us here, its occupants shouting and waving their arms. I waved back a cheery greeting and my wife said, “Do you know what they were shouting?” “Why, it was ‘Hello, Walter,’“ I replied. “No,” she said. “They were shouting, “Low water, Low water.’“ Such are the pitfalls of fame’s egotism.

Sent into the world John 17:18; 20:21

Preaching to the world Mark 16:15

The light of the world Phil. 2:15; Matt. 5:14

Live godly in the world Titus 2:12

Not conformed to the world Rom. 12:2; John 17:15

Love not the world 1 John 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:10

Passing through the world 1 Peter 2:11

No friendship with the world James 1:27; 4:4

As a saint, in separation from it John 17:16

As a subject, in subjection to it Rom. 13:1

As a servant, in service toward it John 20:21

Studies show that sugar pills, or placebos, can alleviate many symptoms if a sick person believes he is getting treatment. Current research reveals that 1 in 3 people find such medication to be helpful—even when they are told they are getting a placebo. This illustrates the power of mind over body. It also shows that a belief may be temporarily effective, even when it isn’t true.

Some years ago, a party of Americans were leaving Cairo, Egypt, on a journey across the desert and bought vessels in which to carry water. Each one chose the kind of vessel that pleased him. One found jars of brass whose fine designs attracted him. Another purchased porcelain vessels of rare beauty. A third, however, took some plain earthenware bottles. The way across the desert was long and wearisome. The heat was intense. Every drop of water was of value. The brass vessels heated; the water became impure, unfit to drink. The costly porcelain jars cracked in the heat and the water was lost. But the plain earthenware bottles kept the water pure and fresh to the journey's end.

Back in 1839 James Espy claimed that rain could easily be produced by heating the air. But his plan to saturate parched farmland by building great log fires across vast stretches of the American West never materialized— for which Espy’s contemporaries were probably grateful! Later in the 19th century a new theory emerged: loud noises would bring rain. This theory was put to the test in Texas, where Robert Dyrenforth piled up enough munitions for a small war. He blasted away at the skies, but as one observer wrote, “[Dyrenforth] attacked from the front and rear, by the right and left flank. But the sky remained clear as the complexion of a Saxon maid.”

Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! Deuteronomy 32:29

All of us need to make specific plans for our departure from this life. If we don’t, we can be left in a predicament similar to that of a young man who became stranded in an Alaskan wilderness. His adventure began in the spring of 1981, when he was flown into the desolate north country to photograph the natural beauty and mysteries of the tundra. He had photo equipment, 500 rolls of film, several firearms, and 1400 pounds of provisions. As the months passed, the entries in his diary, which at first detailed his wonder and fascination with the wildlife around him, turned into a pathetic record of a nightmare. In August he wrote, “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure. I’ll soon find out.” He waited and waited, but no one came to his rescue. In November he died in a nameless valley, by a nameless lake, 225 miles northeast of Fairbanks. An investigation revealed that he had carefully mapped out his venture, but had made no provision to be flown out of the area.

In the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy we read that the Israelites made a similar mistake. For a while they had all they needed, but it soon became obvious that they had given no thought to the outcome of worshiping false gods and living for their own enjoyment. They failed to consider “their latter end.”

Have you thought about your exit from life? Trusting Christ as Savior and living for Him each day is the only way to be sure we have prepared for our departure. - M.R.D.II

O Lord, You’d have us ponder this,

One truth You’d have us see—

It’s in this life we chart our course

For all eternity.

-D.J.D.

THOT: You can’t repent too soon, for you know not how soon it may be too late.

On paper, Michael Hillis was a sound enough pilot. When things went wrong, though, the 29-year-old captain tensed up. For that reason, Hillis had been asked to leave Cincinnati-based Comair, but he caught on quickly with American Eagle, and was at the controls of Flight 3379 as it descended toward the airport in Raleigh, N.C. At exactly 30 seconds after 6:33 p.m., two minutes and 4 miles from the airport, a panel light in the cockpit lit up. Hillis and his copilot, Matthew Sailor, had been trained to recognize the light as a signal that an engine had quit. Quickly, they set about determining which one. In doing so, however, they forgot about flying the plane. At 1,400 feet, the Jetstream 32 began to drop fast. Hillis and Sailor reacted immediately. It was too late. The plane smashed into the woods, and 15 of the 20 people aboard died, including Hillis and Sailor. Investigators pawing through the rubble came to a surprising conclusion: Neither of the plane’s engines had failed at all. Most likely, the light was faulty.

In her book A Practical Guide to Prayer, Dorothy Haskins tells about a noted concert violinist who was asked the secret of her mastery of the instrument. The woman answered the question with two words: “Planned neglect.” Then she explained. “There were many things that used to demand my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, straightened the room, dusted, and did whatever seemed necessary. When I finished my work, I turned to my violin practice. That system prevented me from accomplishing what I should on the violin. So I reversed things. I deliberately planned to neglect everything else until my practice period was complete. And that program of planned neglect is the secret of my success.”