the Second Week after Easter
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Everything is farther away than it used to be. It’s twice as far to the corner and you know they’ve added a hill.
I’ve given up running for the bus cause it leaves so much faster than it used to.
It seems to me they are making stairs much steeper than they used to be.
Have you noticed the small print they are putting in newspapers and it’s no use asking anyone to read to you aloud because they all talk so low and mumble so bad you can’t hear them.
And the material in dresses is so skimpy—especially around the waist and the hips.
It’s all most impossible to reach my shoe laces now.
Even people are changing. They are so much younger than I was at their age. On the other hand people my age are so much older than I am.
I ran into an old classmate the other day and she had aged so much I didn’t even recognize her.
I was combing my hair and in doing so glanced in the mirror and you know something. They’re not even making mirrors like they used to.
(Honest and No Kidding)—an anonymous mother
1. There is no such thing as child-proofing your house.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 4-year-old’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing pound puppy underwear and a superman cape.
5. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 by 20 foot room.
6. Baseballs make marks on ceilings.
7. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on.
8. When using the ceiling fan as a bat you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit.
9. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
10. The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
11. When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh-oh,” it’s already too late.
12. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
13. A six-year-old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year-old man says they can only do it in the movies.
14. A magnifying glass can start a fire even on an overcast day.
15. If you use a waterbed as home plate while wearing baseball shoes, it does not leak—it explodes.
16. A king-size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000-square-foot house 4 inches deep.
17. Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a four-year-old.
18. Duplos will not.
19. Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.
20. Super glue is forever.
21. McGyver can teach us many things we don’t want to know. Ditto Tarzan.
22. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
23. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
24. VCR’s do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
25. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
26. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
27. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.
28. Always look in the oven before you turn it on.
29. Plastic toys do not like ovens.
30. The fire department in San Diego has at least a 5-minute response time.
31. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
32. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
I was relieved to find out that I’m not the only one who forgets things. Everyone does at one time or another, according to Karen Bolla, A Johns Hopkins researcher. These are the things people most often forget:
1. names
83%
1. where something is
60%
2. telephone numbers
57%
3. words
53%
4. what was said
49%
5. faces
42%
And if you can’t remember whether you’ve just done something, you join 38 percent of the population.
Becoming good at the things that build inner confidence and calm takes practice—and a dash of creativity! The following list might provide some cloudseeding for a brainstorm or two of your own. Have some fun with your family...and get ready for a good rest.
1. Pay off your credit cards.
2. Take off ten pounds or accept where you are without any more complaints.
3. Eat dinner together as a family for seven days in a row.
4. Take your wife on a dialogue date (no movie, guys).
5. Read your kids a classic book (Twain’s a good start).
6. Memorize the Twenty-third Psalm as a family.
7. Give each family member a hug for twenty-one days in a row (that’s how long the experts say it takes to develop a habit).
8. Pick a night of the week in which the television will remain unplugged.
9. Go out for a non-fast food dinner as a family.
10. Pray for your spouse and children every day.
11. Plan a vacation together.
12. Take a vacation together.
13. Read a chapter from the Bible every day until it becomes a habit.
14. Sit together as a family in church.
15. Surprise your teenage. Wash his car and fill up his gas tank.
16. Take an afternoon off from work; surprise your child by excusing him from school and taking him to a ball game.
17. Take a few hours one afternoon and go to the library as a family.
18. Take a walk as a family.
19. Write each member of your family a letter sharing why you value them.
20. Give your spouse a weekend getaway with a friend (same gender!) to a place of their choice.
21. Go camping as a family.
22. Go to bed early (one hour before your normal bedtime) every day for a week.
23. Take each of your children out to breakfast (individually) at least once a month for a year.
24. Turn down a promotion that would demand more time from your family than you can afford to give.
25. Religiously wear your seat belts.
26. Get a complete physical.
27. Exercise a little every day for a month.
28. Make sure you have adequate life insurance on both you and your spouse.
29. Write out information about finances, wills, and important business information that your spouse can use to keep things under control in the event of your death.
30. Make sure your family car is safe (tires, brakes, etc.) and get it tuned up.
31. Replace the batteries in your smoke alarm.
32. Put a security system in your house.
33. Attend the parent/teacher meetings of each child as a couple.
34. Help your kids with their homework.
35. Watch the kids on Saturday while your wife goes shopping (but if a friend calls, don’t say that you’re “babysitting”).
36. Explain to your spouse exactly what you do for a living.
37. Put together a picture puzzle. (One thousand pieces or more.)
38. Take time during the week to read a Bible story to your children and then discuss it with them.
39. Encourage each child to submit to you his most perplexing question, and promise him that you’ll either answer it or discuss it with him.
40. Finish fixing something around the house.
41. Tell your kids how you and your spouse met.
42. Tell your kids about your first date.
43. Sit down and write your parents a letter thanking them for a specific thing they did for you. (Don’t forget to send it!)
44. Go on a shopping spree where you are absolutely committed to buying nothing.
45. Keep a prayer journal for a month. Keep track of the specific ways that God answers your needs.
46. Do some stargazing away from the city with your family.
47. Help your children identify constellations and conclude the evening with prayer to the majestic God who created the heavens.
48. Treat your wife to a beauty make-over (facial, manicure, haircut, etc.). I hear they really like this.
49. Give the kids an alternative to watching Saturday morning cartoons (breakfast at McDonald’s, garage sales, the park, chores, etc.).
50. Ask your children each day what they did at school (what they learned, who they ate lunch with, etc.).
51. After you make your next major family decision, take your child back through the process and teach him how you arrived at your decision.
52. Start saying to yourself “My car doesn’t look so bad.”
53. Call you wife or husband from work just to see how they’re doing.
54. Compile a family tree and teach your children the history of their ancestors.
55. Walk through an old graveyard with your children.
56. Say no to at least one thing a day—even if it’s only a second piece of pie.
57. Write that letter to the network that broadcast the show you felt was inappropriate for prime-time viewing.
58. Turn off the lights and listen to a “praise” tape as you focus your thoughts on the Lord.
59. Write a note to your pastor praising him for something.
60. Take back all the books in your library that actually belong in someone else’s library.
61. Give irritating drivers the right to pull in front of you without signaling and yelling at them.
62. Make every effort to not let the sun go down on your anger.
63. Accept legitimate criticism from your wife or a friend without reacting or defending yourself.
64. If your car has a Christian bumper sticker on in—drive like it.
65. Do a Bible study on the “wise man” and the “fool” in Proverbs...and then apply what it takes to be wise to your life.
66. Make a list of people who have hurt your feelings over the past year...then check your list to see if you’ve forgiven them.
67. Make a decision to honor your parents, even if they made a career out of dishonoring you.
68. Take your children to the dentist and doctor for your wife.
69. Play charades with your family, but limit subjects to memories of the past.
70. Do the dishes for your wife.
71. Schedule yourself a free day to stay home with your family.
72. Get involved in a family project that serves or helps someone less fortunate.
73. As a family, get involved in a recreational activity.
74. Send your wife flowers.
75. Spend an evening going through old pictures from family vacations.
76. Take a weekend once a year for you and your spouse to get away and renew your friendship.
77. Praise your spouse and children—in their presence—to someone else.
78. Discuss a world or national problem, and ask your children for their opinion on it.
79. Wait up for your teenagers when they are out on dates.
80. Have a “quiet Saturday” (no television, no radio, no stereo...no kidding).
81. If your children are little, spend an hour playing with them—but let them determine the game.
82. Have your parents tell your children about life when they were young.
83. Give up soap operas.
84. De-clutter your house.
85. If you have a habit of watching late night television, but have to be to work early every morning, change your habit.
86. Don’t accept unnecessary breakfast appointments.
87. Write missionaries regularly.
88. Go through your closets and give everything that you haven’t worn in a year to a clothing relief organization.
89. Become a faithful and frequent visitor of your church’s library.
90. Become a monthly supporter of a Third World child.
91. Keep mementos, school projects, awards, etc. of each child in separate files. You’ll appreciate these when they’ve left the nest.
92. Read the biography of a missionary.
93. Give regularly and faithfully to conscientious church endeavors.
94. Place with your will a letter to each family member telling why you were glad you got to share life with him or her.
95. Go through your old records and tapes and discard any of them that might be a bad testimony to your children.
96. Furnish a room (or a corner of a room) with comfortable chairs and declare it the “disagreement corner.” When conflicts arise, go to this corner and don’t leave until it’s resolved.
97. Give each child the freedom to pick his favorite dinner menu at least once a week.
98. Go over to a shut-in’s house as a family and completely clean it and get the lawn work done.
99. Call an old friend from your past, just to see how he or she is getting along.
100. Get a good friend to hold you accountable for a specific important need (Bible reading, prayer, spending time with your family, losing a few pounds, etc.).
101. Establish a budget.
102. Go to a Christian marriage enrichment seminar.
I once lived in a messy apartment, and I realize it’s sexist to assume that just because a woman wasn’t there it was messy. So I went downstairs to borrow an iron, and I realize it’s sexist to assume that just because there wasn’t a woman there, there wasn’t an iron there. And I came back up and didn’t have an ironing board. I realize it’s sexist to have anybody assume that of course I wouldn’t have an ironing board, but I didn’t. So I was ironing my shirt on the floor, and there was this little crunch, and I picked up the shirt and I had ironed a roach right on it. And the point of this is there are some things that just can’t be ironed out.
Norman Cousins, after his experiences at UCLA Medical School, notes a common misunderstanding about what is “real” and “unreal.” In Bob Benson’s He Speaks Softly, Cousins is quoted: “The words ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ are generally used by medical students to describe the contrasting nature of courses. Courses like biochemistry, physics, pharmacology, anatomy, and pathology are anointed with the benediction of ‘hard’ whereas subjects like medical ethics, philosophy, history, and patient-physician relationships tend to labor under the far less auspicious label ‘soft.’ . . (but) a decade or two after graduation there tends to be an inversion. That which was supposed to be hard turns out to be soft, and vice versa. The knowledge base of medicine is constantly changing . . . But the soft subjects—especially those that have to do with intangibles—turn out in the end to be of enduring value.”
Politics without principle,
pleasure without conscience,
wealth without work,
knowledge without character,
business without morality,
science without humanity,
worship without sacrifice.
Mohandas K. Gandhi,
1. Cut your lofty goals in half.
2. Be specific about your goals.
3. Write down how you will do it.
4. Don’t make too many resolutions.
5. Keep your goals realistic.
6. Consider finding a partner.
7. Keep track of your progress.
8. Think of each new day as a new beginning.
There are at least four things you can do with your hands.
You can wring them in despair;
You can fold them in idleness;
You can clench them in anger;
Or you can use them to help someone.
We should ask God to make the gospel message clear (Col. 4:4).
Pray for boldness in the one doing the evangelism (Acts 4:29; Eph. 6:19).
Pray that the individual believes the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; 1 Thess. 2:13).
Pray that Satan is bound from blinding them from the truth (2 Thess. 2:13).
Pray for the safety of the messengers (2 Thess. 3:2).
Pray for the success of the gospel and that they will believe in Christ as their Savior (John 1:12, 5:24, 6:27-29; 2 Thess. 3:1).
Pray that the one who receives Christ as Savior may grow spiritually and bear fruit (Matt. 13:23; John 15:16; Col. 1:6, 2:6,7).
I’m proud of you,
Way to go,
Bingo ... you did it,
Magnificent,
I knew you could do it,
What a good helper,
You’re very special to me,
I trust you,
What a treasure,
Hurray for you,
Beautiful work,
You’re a real trooper,
Well done,
That’s so creative,
You make my day,
You’re a joy,
Give me a big hug,
You’re such a good listener,
You figured it out,
I love you,
You’re so responsible,
You remembered,
You’re the best,
You sure tried hard,
I’ve got to hand it to you,
I couldn’t be prouder of you,
You light up my day,
I’m praying for you,
You’re wonderful,
I’m behind you,
You’re so kind to your (brother/sister),
You’re God’s special gift,
I’m here for you.
You can be anything you want to be when you grow up.
Nobody can pedal the bike for you.
If You wait until you’re really sure, you’ll never take off your training wheels.
Nobody notices when your zipper is up, but everyone notices when your zipper is down.
Sometimes you have to take the test before you’ve finished studying.
If you’re going to fight, use pillows.
Before you trade sandwiches, check between the bread.
You have to eat a lot of cereal before you find the free toy.
If you want a kitten, start out asking for a horse.
You don’t have to own a swing to enjoy it.
It doesn’t matter how fast you’re running with the ball if you’re going in the wrong direction.
Sometimes the biggest apple has the biggest worm.
Every castle has a dungeon.
A little kiss can make a big difference.
In the fifth century, a man named Arsenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the conforms of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its bazaars. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn’t need.
Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of that desert dweller. A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 articles; today it carries 30,000. How many of them are absolutely essential? How many superfluous?
Better save that. We’ll need it for the autopsy.
Someone call the janitor. We’re going to need a mop.
Accept this sacrifice, O Great Lord of Darkness.
Bo! Bo! Come back with that! Bad dog!
Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what’s that?
Oops! Hey, has anyone ever survived 500ml of this stuff before?
Sterile, shcmerile. The floor’s clean, right?
OK, now take a picture from this angle. This is truly a freak of nature.
And now we remove the subject’s brain and place it in the body of the ape.
For telling the truth;
For living a pure life;
For your faith in Christ;
For acknowledging your sins;
For doing your best;
For thinking before judging;
For forgiving your enemies;
For helping a fallen brother;
For being loyal to the church;
For standing by your principles;
For being courteous and kind;
For money given to he Lord's cause;
For being honest in business.
I once formed a mutual encouragement fellowship at a time of stress in one of my pastorates. The members subscribed to a simple formula applied before speaking of any person or subject that was perhaps controversial.
T—Is it true?
H—Is it helpful?
I—Is it inspiring?
N—Is it necessary?
K—Is it kind?
If what I am about to say does not pass those tests, I will keep my mouth shut! And it worked!
Do you know for sure what's going to happen to you after you die? The prospect of that should make you think. It made Peter Waldo anxious for the first time when, at a party, a friend of his suddenly keeled over and died. He went home and looked through his library of history books, scientific books, and philosophical books, trying to find something about death. But they told him nothing. Finally he turned to the Bible. There he found information that couldn't be found elsewhere-basic truths that were given by Christ Himself, who had experienced death and conquered it. He told what it is and what would happen to the righteous and the unrighteous after death occurs. This is a subject that vitally concerns everyone. Christ is the only one who ever rose from the dead of His own volition and by His own power. That's why His revelation about what happens after death appeared believable to Waldo. Peter Waldo became a noted Christian reformer, founder of the Waldensian Church of Europe.
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
“Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills.”
Navy Law: If you can keep your head when all about you others are losing theirs, maybe you just don’t understand the situation.
Test pilots have a litmus test for evaluating problems. When something goes wrong, they ask, “Is this thing still flying?” If the answer is yes, then there’s no immediate danger, no need to overreact. When Apollo 12 took off, the spacecraft was hit by lightning. The entire console began to glow with orange and red trouble lights. There was a temptation to “Do Something!” But the pilots asked themselves, “Is this thing still flying in the right direction?” The answer was yes—it was headed for the moon. They let the lights glow as they addressed the individual problems, and watched orange and red lights blink out, one by one. That’s something to think about in any pressure situation.
If your thing is still flying, think first, and then act.
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all" (Gal 6:10).
"Auntie, you are putting some of your choicest rose bushes away in the backyard!" "Yes," answered Auntie, "and I am going to put some geraniums and pinks and other lovely flowers which will bloom all summer out there, too. I know they seem to be out of sight, but there is a woman who sits and sews day after day, week in and week out, at the upstairs windows in the dingy house opposite, and I'm fixing that corner for her."
A mother and her two little children were destitute. In the depth of winter they were nearly frozen, and the mother took the cellar door off the hinges and set it up in front of the corner where they crouched down to sleep so that some of the draft and cold might be kept from them. One of the children whispered to her, "Mother, what do those poor children do who have no cellar door to put up in front of them?"
The following illustration from A Primer on Meditation points out what happens when the mind is directed and focused on one thing:
“M. A. Rosanoff, long associated with Thomas Edison, had worked futilely for over a year to soften the wax of phonograph cylinders by altering their chemical constitution. The results were negative. Rosanoff relates how he mused night after night trying to ‘mentally cough up’ every theoretical and practical solution. ‘Then is came like a flash of lightning. I could not shut waxes out of my mind, even in my sleep. Suddenly, through headache and daze, I saw the solution. The first thing the next morning, I was at my desk; and half an hour later I had a record in the softened wax cylinder...This was the solution! I learned to think waxes...waxes...waxes, and the answer came without effort, although months of thought had gone into the mental mill.’”
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.
- Anon
Dave Barry says: “Think how much happier women would be if, instead of endlessly fretting about what the males in their lives are thinking, they could relax, secure in the knowledge that the correct answer is: very little.”
Driving up from Beersheba, a combined force of British, Australians and New Zealanders were pressing on the rear of the Turkish retreat over arid desert. The attack outdistanced its water carrying camel train. Water bottles were empty. The sun blazed pitilessly out of a sky where the vultures wheeled expectantly. “Our heads ached,” writes Gilbert, “and our eyes became bloodshot and dim in the blinding glare...Our tongues began to swell...Our lips turned a purplish black and burst.”
Those who dropped out of the column were never seen again, but the desperate force battled on to Sheria. There were wells at Sheria, and had they been unable to take the place by nightfall, thousands were doomed to die of thirst. “We fought that day,” writes Gilbert, “as men fight for their lives... We entered Sheria station on the heels of the retreating Turks. The first objects which met our view were the great stone cisterns full of cold, clear, drinking water.
In the still night air the sound of water running into the tanks could be distinctly heard, maddening in its nearness; yet not a man murmured when orders were given for the battalions to fall in, two deep, facing the cisterns” He then describes the stern priorities: the wounded, those on guard duty, then company by company. It took four hours before the last man had his drink of water, and in all that time they had been standing twenty feet from a low stone wall on the other side of which were thousands of gallons of water.
During the Thirty Years’ War in Europe (1618-1648), the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, was slain while his troops were winning the Battle of Lutzen, in what is now Germany. Sweden was thrown into mourning, and government officials met to determine how to replace the king. Some suggested a republic; others thought the crown should go to Adolphus’ cousin, the king of Poland. The chancellor of Sweden arose and said, “Let there be no talk of a republic or of Polish kings, for we have in our midst the heir of the great Gustavus, his little daughter, who is 6 years of age.” Some protested that they had never seen her. The chancellor said, “Wait a minute, and I will show you.” He brought in Christina, daughter of the king, and placed her on the throne. One of the representatives who was especially suspicious of the move pressed forward and gazed intently into her face. Then turning to the assembly, he exclaimed, “Look at her nose, her eyes, her chin! I see in the countenance of this child the features of the great Gustavus. She is the child of our king!” From all quarters of the room rang the proclamation, “Christina, Queen of Sweden!”
1. Alienated from God (Eph. 4:18).
2. Blind (John 12:40; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 2:11).
3. Carnally or fleshly minded (Rom. 8:6, 13).
4. Corrupt (Matt. 7:17-18; 1 Tim. 6:5).
5. Darkened (Matt. 6:23; John 3:19; Rom. 1:21; Eph. 4:18; 1 John 1:6-7).
6. Dead in sin (John 5:24; Rom. 8:6; Col. 2:13; 1 Tim. 5:6; 1 John 3:14).
7. Deceived (Titus 3:3).
8. Defiled or filthy (Isa. 64:6; Titus 1:15; 2 Pet. 2:20; Rev. 22:11).
9. Destitute of truth (Rom 1:18, 25; 1 Tim. 6:5).
10. Disobedient (Matt. 7:23; Eph. 2:3; Titus 3:3).
11. An enemy of God (James 4:4).
12. Evil (Matt. 6:22; 12:33-34; John 3:20).
13. Foolish (Matt. 7:26; Eph. 5:15; Titus 3:3).
14. Going astray (1 Pet. 2:25).
15. Hateful (Titus 3:3).
16. Hypocritical (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16; 23:13, 28).
17. Impenitent (Rom. 2:5; Heb. 3:8).
18. Malicious and envious (Titus 3:3).
19. Pleasure or world-loving (2 Thess. 2:12; 1 Tim. 5:6; 2 Tim. 3:4; Titus 3:3; 1 John 2:15).
20. Proud (Rom. 1:30; 1 Tim. 6:4; 2 Tim. 3:4; James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5).
21. Refusing belief (John 3:35; Titus 1:15).
22. Rejecting truth (2 Tim. 4:4).
23. Resisting God (Acts 7:51).
24. Guided by Satan (John 8:44; Eph. 2:3).
25. Lovers of self (2 Tim. 3:2).
26. Self-satisfied (Rev. 3:17).
27. A slave of sin (John 3:34; Rom. 6:16-17, 20; Titus 3:3).
28. Subordinating God (Rom. 1:25).
29. Unconscious of bondage (John 8:33; Rom. 7:7).
30. Unrighteous (1 Cor. 6:9; Rev. 22:11).
31. Vain in their imaginations (Rom. 1:21).
My favorite Abraham Kuyper quotation comes from a speech that he once gave before a university audience in Amsterdam. He was arguing that scholarship is an important form of Christian discipleship. Since scholarship deals with God’s world, it has to be done in such a way that it honors Christ. Kuyper concluded with this ringing proclamation: “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!’”
As I waited in a supermarket line, I observed a number of young mothers carrying their babies in backpacks. One pack stood out especially, for it had a large sign fixed to it. “This child tends to shoplift,” it read. “Please inform mother.”
Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. “Captain, give me a gun!” he shouted. “This fight ain’t got any rear!”
A man at work decided to show his wife how much he loved her, and before going home, showered, shaved, put on some choice cologne, bought her a bouquet of flowers. He went to the front door and knocked.
His wife answered the door and exclaimed, “Oh no! This has been a terrible day! First I had to take Billy to the emergency room and get stitches in his leg, then your mother called and said she’s coming for two weeks, then the washing machine broke, and now this! You come home drunk!”
We chop down trees but chop up wood.
We draw down wrath, we draw up wills.
We run down foes, we run up bills.
We eat up food, we down a drink,
Which is a little strange, I think.
We turn down offers, turn up noses.
Just one last thought and then this closes:
We should remember, we poor clowns,
That life is full of ups and downs.
In Elmer Bendiner’s book, The Fall Of Fortresses, he describes one bombing run over the German city of Kassel:
Our B-17 (The Tondelayo) was barraged by flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. That was not unusual, but on this particular occasion our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a twenty-millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple.
On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck. The crew chief told Bohn that not just one shell but eleven had been found in the gas tanks—eleven unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had been parted for us. Even after thirty-five years, so awesome an event leaves me shaken, especially after I heard the rest of the story from Bohn.
He was told that the shells had been sent to the armorers to be defused. The armorers told him that Intelligence had picked them up. They could not say why at the time, but Bohn eventually sought out the answer. Apparently when the armorers opened each of those shells, they found no explosive charge. They were clean as a whistle and just as harmless. Empty? Not all of them.
One contained a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it was a scrawl in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually, they found one to decipher the note. It set us marveling. Translated, the note read: “This is all we can do for you now.”
It is composed of people just like me.
It will be friendly if I am.
It will do a great work if I work.
It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am generous.
It will bring others into its fellowship if I bring them.
Its seats will be filled if I fill them.
It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service.
If I who make it what it is, am filled with these,
Therefore, with God's help, I dedicate myself to the task of being
All these things I want my Church to be.
Dr. F. W. Boreham tells about his stay in a quaint old cottage in England occupied by a minister’s widow. She had given him her bedroom and in the morning when he pulled up the blind, he saw that into the glass of the windowpane had been cut the words: “This is the day.”
He asked the elderly lady about it at breakfast. She explained that she had had a lot of trouble in her time and was always afraid of what was going to happen tomorrow. One day she read the words of the above text. It occurred to her that it meant any day, this day. “Why should I be afraid of the days if He makes them?” So the widow scratched the words as well as she could in the windowpane, so that every time she drew her blind in the morning she was reminded that “This is the day.” Realizing the Lord made it, she was no longer afraid.
In February 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team slipped its foot into a glass slipper and walked away with a gold medal at Lake Placid, New York. Those collegians had shocked the world by upsetting the powerful Soviet team, and then they grabbed the championship from Finland while the crowd chanted, “U.S.A.!” Before his team’s victory over the Soviet Union which advanced them to the finals, the coach of the U.S. hockey team told his players, “You are born to be a player. You are meant to be here at this time. This is your moment.”
A preacher asked a hard-working servant girl what she was doing for the Lord. She explained that she had very little time to be involved in "church work." "But," she added, "I always take the newspaper to my bedroom each night."
Surprised, the preacher asked what possible good that could do. "Well," she explained, "I turn to the column of births. I pray that each of the newborns will be led to the Savior at an early age and become a great blessing to the world. Next, I check the column of weddings and pray that the couples will always remain true to each other and build their homes on Christ. Then I go over the death notices and mention the bereaved families by name to God, asking that, in their sorrow they will turn to the Lord."
A foursome of senior golfers hit the course with waning enthusiasm for the sport.
“These hills are getting steeper as the years go by,” one complained.
“These fairways seem to be getting longer too,” said one of the others.
“The sand traps seem to be bigger than I remember them too,” said the third senior.
After hearing enough from his buddies, the oldest and the wisest of the four of them at 87 years old, piped up and said, “My friends, just be thankful we're still on this side of the grass!”
"How can a God of love, who has everything in His control, let such a thing happen to me?" So asked a young woman who had received severe injuries through a fall from a horse. "Crippled for life," she overheard the doctor say.
The pastor was silent for a moment. "Did you suffer much pain when they put you in the cast?"
"The pain was terrible," she replied.
"Where was your father then?"
"He stood right by me," she replied.
"Did your father allow the doctor to hurt you that way?"
"Yes, but that was necessary."
"Did your father allow the doctor to hurt you even though he loved you, or because he loved you?"
"You mean to suggest that because God loves me, He also allowed me to be hurt?"
The pastor answered with a nod. "'This thing is from Me.'Let these five words comfort you. They will furnish a silver lining to the cloud. Yours is not a case of 'hard luck.'This trial was planned by God."
If you are His child, He is preparing you for better service. Shakespeare said: "In sickness, let me not so much say, 'Am I getting better of my pain; but am I getting better for it.'"
Let us not say, "When will I be getting out of this?" but, "What will I be getting out of this?" He will draw you closer to Him through this trial.
Don’t let your troubles get you down.
Genghis Khan, the 13th century Mongol conqueror, asked his philosophers to come up with a truth that would always be unchangeable. Thinking on it for a while, they came to their leaders with this quote: “It too shall pass.”
This reminds me of a dear black lady who was asked by her pastor what her favorite verse of Scripture was and she said: “And it came to pass.” God in His mercy never gives us more than we are able to bear.
Of course, the body compels a great deal of admiration as the farmer cannot help admiring the smooth shiny seeds from which a beautiful field of wheat will one day emerge. If you fully understand what is in your body, how intricate, how methodical all its functions are, you cannot help but admire and honor it. You could not possibly create such a masterpiece. Scientists may make a living virus, but that's far from constructing a whole living body. But this wonderfully made body has been corrupted by your sin and mine. We have caused corruptibility to enter the cosmos, which includes our bodies.
Thomas Edison’s manufacturing facilities in West Orange, N.J., were heavily damaged by fire one night in December, 1914. Edison lost almost $1 million worth of equipment and the record of much of his work. The next morning, walking about the charred embers of his hopes and dreams, the 67-year-old inventor said: “There is value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Now we can start anew.”
Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the phonograph, the incandescent light, the storage battery, talking movies, and more than 1000 other things. December 1914 he had worked for 10 years on a storage battery. This had greatly strained his finances. This particular evening spontaneous combustion had broken out in the film room. Within minutes all the packing compounds, celluloid for records and film, and other flammable goods were in flames. Fire companies from eight surrounding towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the attempt to douse the flames was futile. Everything was destroyed. Edison was 67.
With all his assets going up in a whoosh (although the damage exceeded two million dollars, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof), would his spirit be broken?
The inventor’s 24-year old son, Charles, searched frantically for his father. He finally found him, calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind. “My heart ached for him,” said Charles. “He was 67—no longer a young man—and everything was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, ‘Charles, where’s your mother?’ When I told him I didn’t know, he said, ‘Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.’”
The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph.
It is said that Thomas Edison performed 50,000 experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We might assume the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long without results, Edison replied, “Results? Why, I know 50,000 things that won’t work.”
It is said that Thomas Edison performed 50,000 experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We might assume the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long without results, Edison replied, “Results? Why, I know 50,000 things that won’t work.”
“Genius is 2% inspiration and 98 % perspiration” (Thomas Edison). Edison worked 18 hour days and practiced Herculean patience. Once he recognized the value of an idea, Edison stayed with the process until he discovered its secret. His alkaline storage battery became a reality after 10,000 failed experiments!
When the Western Union company asked the great inventor Thomas Edison to “name his price” for the ticker he had invented, Edison asked for a few days to think it over. His wife suggested $20,000, but Edison thought that was too much. When the time came for the meeting, the Western Union official asked Edison for his price. Edison wanted to say $20,000, but couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. So the official broke the silence. “Well, how about $100,000?”
Thomas Hooker in The Soul’s Preparation (1632) wrote: “I have sometimes admired (wondered) at this: why a company of gentlemen, yeomen, poor women, that are scarcely able to know their ABC’s yet have a minister to speak Latine, Greeke, and Hebrew and use the Fathers, when it is certain they know nothing at all. The reason is, because all this stings not; they may sit and sleepe in their sinnes, and goe to hell hoodwinckt, never awakened.”
During his days as president, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had left its banks because of a recent downpour. The swollen river had washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch.
After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The president agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side. As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, “Tell me, why did you select the president to ask this favor of?” The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him. “All I know,” he said, “Is that on some of your faces was written the answer ‘No,’ and on some of them was the answer ‘yes.’ His was a ‘Yes’ face.”
Those on the heights are not the souls
Who never erred nor went astray,
Who trod unswerving to their goals
Along a smooth, rose-bordered way.
Nay, those who stand where first comes dawn,
Are those who stumbled—but went on.
At a Monday evening prayer meeting, Charles Spurgeon suddenly interrupted his sermon, pointed in a certain direction, and said, “Young man, those gloves you are wearing have not been paid for; you have stolen them from your employer!” After the meeting a young man came to the vestry and begged to see Spurgeon. Pale and trembling, the young man confessed that he had stolen the gloves he was wearing! He promised never to steal again and begged Spurgeon not to expose him to his employer.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote: "In the sultry insect-breeding days of summer, how insects abound! Every tree is a harbor for stinging pests. Wherever you sit they swarm around and annoy you and destroy your peace and comfort. By and by there come those vast floods of clouds that bring tornadoes and are thunder-voiced; up through the valleys and over the hills and mountains sweep drenching and cleansing rains. When the storm has ceased, the clouds are gone, and you sit under the dripping tree, not a fly, not a gnat, not a pestilent insect is to be seen. The winds and rains have driven them all away. Has it never been so with those ten thousand little pests of pride, vanity, envying, jealousy, and unlawful desire. For days they have teased and fretted you and kept you in conflict with conscience, affection, and all the higher motivations, until God sent you some great searching sorrow, some overwhelming trouble? In those hours He graciously sustained you and lifted you up towards Himself, so that, although you suffered unutterable affliction, you felt that it had cleansed you from jealousies, pride, envies, vanity, the whole swarm of venomous and stinging insects that beset you."
There is no greater blessing on earth than a good marriage. A young couple was visiting with an older couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. "Fifty years!" the young husband exclaimed, "That is a long time to be married to one person." The old gentleman looked over at his wife with love in his eyes and said, "It would have been a lot longer without her."
In Christian marriage, two people grow more and more one with every passing year. They are "fellow heirs of the grace of life" and they are more than happy to share. Each is helping the other on the way to eternity.
Someone asked, "Is there anything more beautiful than a boy and girl clasping clean hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage?" The answer is "Yes, there is a more beautiful thing: it is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey on that path. Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are seamed but still radiant; their hearts are tired and bowed down but still strong. They have proved the happiness of marriage and vindicated it from the jeers of cynics."
A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of oxen. The axles groaned and creaked terribly, when the oxen turning around thus addressed the wheels, “Hey there, why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we—not you—ought to cry out!” Those complain first in our churches who have the least to do. The gift of grumbling is largely dispensed among those who have no other talents, or who keep what they have wrapped up in a napkin.
A godly farmer was asked to dine with a well-known gentleman. While there, he asked a blessing at the table as he was accustomed to do at home. His host said jeeringly, "That is old fashioned; it is not customary nowadays for well-educated people to pray before they eat." The farmer answered that with him it was customary, but that some of those on his farm never prayed over their food. "Ah, then," said the gentleman, "they are sensible and enlightened. Who are they?" "My pigs," the farmer answered.
If you’ve ever heard someone vow, “If I were rich, I’d give away most of my money,” don’t bank on it. The stats show that people with higher incomes give away a smaller percentage of their wealth.
INCOME
% GIVEN AWAY
Under $10,000
3.6%
$10-19,999
3.4%
$20-29,999.
2.5%
$30-39,999..
1.8%
$40-49,999....
2.3%
$50-74,999...
2.0%
$75-99,999..
1.9%
$100,000 and above.
2.5%
At a recent missions conference attended by thousands of evangelical students, only one third of the participants indicated their belief that “a person who does not hear the Gospel is eternally lost.”
My God, I love Thee; not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
Are lost eternally.
Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails, and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
Yea, death itself; and all for me
Who was thine enemy.
Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell;
Not from the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as Thyself hast loved me,
O ever-loving Lord.
So would I love Thee, dearest Lord,
And in Thy praise will sing;
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my most loving King.
Some years ago in Chicago, after a traffic accident, a policeman awakened parents to report the death of their only daughter. He indicated that an empty bottle of liquor was found in the wrecked car. When the father heard this, he went into a rage and said, "When I find the man who sold liquor to these kids, I'll kill him." Later, upon seeking a bracer from his own liquor stocks he found a note in his daughter's handwriting which read, "Dad, we are taking along some of your good liquor. I know you won't mind." Compare this father's reaction to David's in 2Sa 12:1-7.
In truth thou canst not read the scriptures too much;
And what thou readest, thou canst not read too well;
And what thou readest well, thou canst not too well understand;
And what thou understandest well, thou canst not too well teach;
And what thou teachest well, thou canst not too well live.
Martin Luther
A strong sense of God’s abiding presence is a great comfort to the trusting Christian. We may be deserted by friends and relatives and lose all our earthly possessions, but the Lord is always with us to sustain, strengthen, and provide. The following poem by James Danson Smith underscores this wonderful reality:
When from my life the old-time joys have vanished—
Treasures, once mine, I may no longer claim,
This truth may feed my hungry heart, and famished—Lord,
THOU REMAINEST! Thou art still the same!
When streams have dried, those streams of glad refreshing—
Friendships so blest, so pure, so rich, so free;
When sun-kissed skies give place to clouds depressing—
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Still my heart hath Thee.
When strength hath failed, and feet, newborn and weary,
On gladsome errands may no longer go,
Why should I sigh, or let the days be dreary?
Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Couldst Thou more bestow?
Thus through life’s days, whoe’er or what may fail me,
Friends, friendships, joys, in small or great degree,
Songs may be mine—no sadness need assail me,
Since THOU REMAINEST, and my heart hath Thee.
Life is filled with uncertainty. Human relationships often do disappoint us. And tragedy can destroy in a moment all the material securities of life. But if we know Christ as our Savior, we can still say, “Lord, THOU REMAINEST.” Yes, He is always there! R.W.D.
TIME magazine carried the following news item: “When the post office in Troy, Michigan, summoned Michael Achorn to pick up a 2-foot-long, 40 pound package, his wife, Margaret, cheerfully went to accept it. But as she drove it back to her office in Detroit, she began to worry. The box was from Montgomery Ward, but the sender, Edward Achorn, was unknown to Margaret and her husband, despite the identical last name. “What if the thing was a bomb? She telephoned postal authorities . . .
“The bomb squad soon arrived with eight squad cars and an armored truck. They took the suspected bomb in the armored truck to a remote tip of Belle Isle in the middle of the Detroit River. There they wrapped detonating cord around the package and, as they say in the bomb business, ‘opened it remotely.’ “When the debris settled, all that was left intact was the factory warranty for the contents: a $450 stereo AM-FM receiver and a tape deck console. Now the only mystery is who is Edward Achorn and why did he send Michael and Margaret such a nice Christmas present?”
We gasp with shock at the thought of a costly stereo in pieces, yet many reject the far more costly gift of God’s Son. Eventually they will regret what they discover they have scorned.
I read a story recently that made me smile and set me to thinking.
One dark rainy night a salesman had a flat tire on a lonely road. But to his dismay he had no lug wrench. Seeing nearby farmhouse, he set out on foot. Surely the farmer would have a lug wrench, he thought. But would he even come to the door? And if he did, he’d probably be furious at being bothered. He’d say, “What’s the big idea getting me out of bed in the middle of the night?” This thought made the salesman angry. Why, that farmer is a selfish old clod to refuse to help me.
Finally the man reached the house. Frustrated and drenched, he banged on the door. “Who’s there?” a voice called out from a window overhead.
“You know good and well who it is,” yelled the salesman, his face red with anger. “It’s me! And you can keep your old lug wrench! I wouldn’t borrow it is it was the last one in the county.”
William Arthur Ward wrote these moving words:
"I believe in America.
"I believe it became great because of its faith in God, its hope for independence, and its love for freedom.
"I am grateful for America's glorious past; I am awed by its unbelievable present; I am confident of its limitless future.
"I am not ashamed to take my hat off and to stand at attention when Old Glory passes by. I do not apologize for the lump in my throat when I repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. I am not embarrassed by the tears in my eyes when I hear 'The Star Spangled Banner.'
"Like millions of Americans, I want a free choice, not a free handout. I prefer an opportunity to prove my abilities on the job rather than a license to demonstrate my frustrations in the street.
"I am an old-fashioned American with a new-found determination to do my part to make democracy work."
He was the commissioner of a state highway department and his official okay could clear a voucher for payment.
A contractor sauntered in. “Lovely day,” he said. His hand drew from his pocket a one thousand-dollar bill, which he placed in front of the commissioner.
“Have a cigar?” asked the highway commissioner.
“Thanks.” The contractor sniffed the cigar and put it in a cocked angle into his mouth.
The commissioner took out a lighter, lit the one-thousand-dollar bill, and then extended it to light the contractor’s cigar.
Then he held the burning bill against his own cigar. The charred remains fell into an ashtray on his desk.
Neither man spoke. It was not necessary.
One of the earliest and most potent threats to early Christianity came from the heretical group known as the Gnostics. Blending elements of Christianity, Greek philosophy, and oriental mysticism, the Gnostics denied the orthodox view of God, man, and the world, and Christ. The apostle John included them in the camp of the Antichrist.
The Gnostics were so called because of their view of revelation. The word gnosis is the Greek word for “knowledge.” In many cases the Gnostic heretics did not make a frontal assault against the apostles or against the apostolic teaching of Scripture. In fact, many of them insisted that they were genuine, Bible-believing Christians. It wasn’t that they rejected the Bible; they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or at least beyond the knowledge of Scripture. The “Gnostikoi” were “those in the know.” Their knowledge was not derived from intellectual comprehension of the Scripture or by empirical research, but was mystical, direct, and immediate. God “revealed” private, intuitive insights to them that carried nothing less than divine authority.
Here is a typical Gnostic statement:
We cannot communicate with God mentally, for He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our Spirit, and it is through our Spirit that we come to know God . . . This is one reason God put teachers (those who are really called to teach) in the church—to renew our minds. Many times those who teach do so with only a natural knowledge that they have gained from the Bible and other sources. But I am referring here to one of the ministry gifts. Those who are called and anointed by the Spirit to teach.
God has given us His Word, and we can feed upon that Word. This will renew our minds. But He also puts teachers in the church to renew our minds and to bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God’s Word. (Kenneth E. Hagin, Man on Three Dimensions (Tulsa, Okla. Faith Library, 1985), 1:8,13.)
Notice that this quotation does not include a direct assault on the Bible. The Bible is recognized as God’s word. But in order to understand the Bible we need something beyond our natural mental ability. We need the Spirit-anointed teachers to “bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God’s Word.”
This is a typically Gnostic statement, but the quote is not from Valentinus or any of the other early Gnostics. It is from the pen of a modern missionary of Gnosticism, Kenneth E. Hagin. It is from Hagin’s Man on Three Dimensions. Hagin’s theology echoes the tripartite epistemology of early Gnosticism (man as having three separate entities: body, soul, and spirit).
Robert Tilton also claims a direct pipeline to divine revelation:
God showed me a vision that almost took my breath away. I was sucked into the Spirit…, caught away … and I found myself standing in the very presence of Almighty God. It just echoed into my being. And he said these words to me … exactly these words … “Many of my ministers pray for my people, but I want you to pray the Prayer of Agreement with them” … I have never seen the presence of God so powerful. This same anointing flooded my Spirit-man … It’s inside of me now, and I have supernatural faith to agree with you. From that day forth, as I have been faithful to that heavenly vision, I’ve seem every kind of miracle imaginable happen when I pray the Prayer of Agreement with God’s people. (Robert Tilton, newsletter from Robert Tilton Ministries, Word of Faith World Outreach Center, Box 819000, Dallas, TX 75381)
It seems that in Robert Tilton the church is blessed with a twentieth-century apostle whose visions of revelation exceed that of the apostle John and whose miracle powers surpass that of the apostle Paul. If we are to believe Tilton’s astonishing claims, there is no reason we should not include his writings in the next edition of the New Testament.
Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), has revelatory dreams and has warmly embraced the neo-Gnostic dogma. His network has become a prime distribution center for the growing movement. Kenneth Copeland also receives phrases from God in “his spirit.”
Goudzwaard’s three basic Biblical rules:
1. Every person is serving god(s) in his life.
2. Every person is transformed into an image of his god.
3. Mankind creates and forms a structure of society in its own image.
Two brothers were getting ready to boil some eggs to color for Easter.
“I’ll give you a dollar if you let me break three of these on your head,” said the older one.
“Promise?” asked the younger.
“Promise!” Gleefully, the older boy broke two eggs over his brother’s head.
Standing stiff for fear the gooey mess would get all over him, the little boy asked, “When is the third egg coming?” “It’s not,” replied the brother. “That would cost me a dollar.”
There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan. Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says, “The things that please are temporary.” Over the second gate, there is a cross with this inscription: “The things that disturb us are temporary.” However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying, “Eternal are the important ones.”
Regarding salvation and assurance, there are three groups of people:
1. those who are secure but not sure;
2. those who are “sure” but not secure; and
3. those who are secure and sure.
Category one are conscientious believers in Christ who are saved but lack assurance. In category two are professing Christians who say, “Even though I’m living in sin, I’ll make it. After all, ‘once saved, always saved!’“ The third group are born-again believers who enjoy a warm, secure relationship with Christ each day. The objective basis of our salvation is the finished work of God’s Son on the cross. The subjective basis for our assurance is our believing the truth about Christ (I John 2:2,4; 2:15; 5:1), loving the brethren (I John 3:14, 18, 19, 4:7-8), and obeying Christ’s commandments (I John 2:3-5).
As a woman placed her order in the takeout chicken shop, a look of consternation swept across the clerk’s face, and a shocked buzz rustled through the line of customers.
“What!” the clerk cried. “You want to know how much chicken you should order for three hundred people?”
The woman waved her arms and shouted, “No, no—three hungry people!”
Someone has cited these three keys to happiness:
1. Fret not—He loves you (John 13:1)
2. Faint not—He holds you (Psalm 139:10)
3. Fear not—He keeps you (Psalm 121:5)
