Pastoral Resources

An unknown author once said, “As a boy, I thought of heaven as a city with domes, spires, and beautiful streets, inhabited by angels. By and by my little brother died, and I thought of heaven much as before, but with one inhabitant that I knew. Then another died, and then some of my acquaintances, so in time I began to think of heaven as containing several people that I knew. But it was not until one of my own little children died that I began to think I had treasure in heaven myself. Afterward another went, and yet another. By that time I had so many acquaintances and children in heaven that I no more thought of it as a city merely with streets of gold but as a place full of inhabitants. Now there are so many loved ones there I sometimes think I know more people in heaven than I do on earth.

Henry Wingblade used to say that Christian personality is hidden deep inside us. It is unseen, like the soup carried in a tureen high over a waiter’s head. No one knows what’s inside—unless the waiter is bumped and he trips! Just so, people don’t know what’s inside us until we’ve been bumped. But if Christ is living inside, what spills out is the fruit of the Spirit. - Carl Lundquist

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation:

“Any news down ‘t the village, Ezry?” “Well, Squire McLain’s gone t’ Washington t’ see Madison swore in, and ol’ Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured most o’ Spain.

What’s new out here, neighbor?” “Nuthin’ nuthin’ a’tall, ‘cept fer a new baby born t’ Tom Lincoln’s. Nothin’ ever happens out here.”

Some events, whether birthdays in Hodgenville (or Bethlehem) or spiritual rebirth in a person’s life, may not create much earthly splash, but those of lasting importance will eventually get the notice they deserve.

Precious—”Of great price, costly, valuable, very dear, highly esteemed, expensive.” People and things are said to be precious to us; yet, how much more precious to us should things of a spiritual nature be. Peter loved to use the word, “precious” in his epistles. Note Peter’s precious treasures.

1. Precious Trials—”That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (I Peter 1:7).

2. Precious Blood—”Redeemed…with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:18,19).

3. Precious Corner Stone—”To whom coming, as unto a living stone…chosen of God, and precious…a chief corner stone, elect, precious” (I Peter 2:4, 6).

4. Precious Lord—”Unto you therefore which believe He is precious” (I Peter 2:7).

5. Precious Faith—”To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:1).

6. Precious Promises—”Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:4).

7. Precious Death—”Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). This last verse is not from Peter, but should be included in the list of God’s precious things, serving, as it does, as the final evaluation of the things of this life. It is a precious, comforting thought to know that “to be absent from the body (is) to be present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:8).

- NPS

A Church That Prays

A Church Devoted to Prayer

1. Prays about what it does.

1. Does things by prayer.

2. Prays at its convenience.

2. Prays at God’s command.

3. Prays when there are problems.

3. Prays when there are opportunities.

4. Has guilt—knowing it should pray more.

4. Has joy—desiring to pray more.

5. Announces a prayer meeting—some in the church show up.

5. Announces a prayer meeting—the church shows up.

6. Asks God to bless what it’s doing.

6. Asks God to enable it to do what He is blessing.

7. Thinks it is too busy to pray.

7. Knows it is too busy not to pray.

8. Is frustrated by financial shortfall—cuts back on ministry.

8. Prays through financial shortfall—receives money miraculously.

9. Fits prayer in somewhere.

9. Gives priority to prayer.

10. Uses God.

10. Is used by God.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2, NIV

For more than 20 years Professor Edwin R. Keedy of the of Pennsylvania Law School used to start his first class by putting two figures on the blackboard 4 2.Then would ask, “What’s the solution?”

One student would call out, “Six.” Another would say “Two.” Then several would shout out “Eight!” But the teacher would shake his head in the negative. Then Keedy would point out their collective error. “All of you failed to ask the key question: What is the problem? Gentlemen, unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer.”

This teacher knew that in law as in everyday life, too much time is spent trying to solve the wrong problem—like polishing brass on a sinking ship.

The problem is SIN—

The solution is JESUS!

The late Paul Hunsicker of the University of Michigan attempted to discover the answer to the question “What’s the toughest sport?” by taking 41 physical activities and gauging their demands in each of the following areas: coordination, endurance, flexibility, agility, balance, intelligence and creativity. His answer? Ballet.

How Iowans Rank Sinfulness

Major Sin

Minor Sin

Not Sin

1. Coveting neighbor’s spouse

83%

8%

2%

2. Extramarital sex

83%

11%

3%

3. Homosexual acts

70%

14%

11%

4. Lying

61%

31%

6%

5. Smoking marijuana

54%

24%

20%

6. Premarital sex

47%

33%

17%

7. Going to X-rated movie

33%

41%

23%

8. Swearing

23%

57%

19%

9. Drinking hard liquor

23%

32%

43%

10. Skipping church on Sunday

21%

44%

33%

11. Looking at ‘Playboy’ magazine

16%

43%

38%

12. Betting on a horse race

8%

28%

62%

13. Buying a lottery ticket

7%

29%

62%

14. Shopping on Sunday

3%

33%

63%

In January 1992, at 1 a.m., one very tired mom heard a cough. I bolted from my sleep to a standing/running position and in one leap made it to the bathroom and flipped on the light to find my 6-year-old daughter sitting on the edge of the tub. The stuff from her tummy was all over the floor, the lid of the toilet, and herself. I proceeded to clean the floor and surrounding areas, then placed Sarah into the tub to wash down. As I turned on the shower, Sarah said, “Mom,” with a wrinkled nose and a hesitant voice, “I threw up on Collett too.” Collett is her 9-year-old sister, who happens to share the bed. I closed the curtain and ran to see. I met Collett in the hallway, and she said Sarah had thrown up on her. I turned on the bedroom light and much to my amazement, there was the dreaded sight of Sarah’s dinner on five blankets, two pillows, two sheets, a baby blanket, and Collett’s pajamas. I bundled it all up into the bottom sheet and placed it at the back door. I put fresh bedding on the bed and placed a bucket beside Sarah, then I crawled back in my own bed. At which time, my well-covered, half-asleep husband inquired, “What’s wrong?”

Some time ago the United Technologies Corporation published in the Wall Street Journal a full-page message entitled, "It's What You Do, Not When You Do It." The message contained a listing of many eaglelike people who soared at various ages in their lives.

Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat.

Mickey Mantle, age 20, hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues.

Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel.

William Pitt II was 24 when he became Prime Minister of Great Britain.

George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was first produced.

Mozart was just seven when his first composition was published.

Now, how about this? Benjamin Franklin was a newspaper columnist at 16 and a framer of the United States Constitution when he was 81.

You are never too young or too old if you have talent. Let us recognize that age has little to do with ability-and, age has NOTHING to do with dreams and determination and vision.

The following are some of the cults listed by John Ankerberg and John Weldon in Facts on Life after Death. Listed also is each group’s divisive opinion about both heaven and hell along with its founder’s quotations.

1. Christian Science, founded by spiritist Mary Baker Eddy, teaches that “there is no death.” They believe that “heaven and hell are states of thought, not places. People experience their own heaven or hell right here on earth.”

2. Edgar Cayce, a spiritist and New Age prophet, said that “the destiny of the soul, as of all creation, is to become One with the Creator” and that no soul is ever lost.

3. New Age cult leader Sun Myung Moon of The Unification Church believes that “God will not desert any person eternally. By some means...they will be restored.”

4. Mormonism, founded by occultist Joseph Smith, argues, “The false doctrine that the punishment to be visited upon erring souls is endless...is but a dogma of unauthorized and erring sectaries, at once unscriptural, unreasonable, and revolting.”

5. Jehovah’s Witnesses, founded by Charles Taze Russell maintains that the wicked are forever annihilated because “the teaching about a fiery hell can rightly be designated as a ‘teaching of demons.’”

6. The Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgianism), founded by spiritist Emanuel Swedenborgh, emphasizes that God “does not condemn anyone to hell.”

7. Eckankar, a New Age religion founded by Paul Twitchell and Darwin Gross, insists that “there is no death”...and that there is no eternal hell.

8. Lucis Trust and the Arcane School/Full Moon Meditation Groups, established by New Age spiritist Alice Bailey, argue that “the fear of death is based upon...old erroneous teaching as to heaven and hell.”

9. The Love Family (The Children of God), founded by spiritist David Berg, views hell as a temporal purgatory: “The lake of fire is where the wicked go to get purged from their sins...to let them eventually come...out.”

10. Rosicrucianism, an occult philosophy, declares that “the ‘eternal damnation’ of those who are not ‘saved’ does not mean destruction nor endless torture,” and that “the Christian religion did not originally contain any dogmas about Hell.”

11. Unitarian Universalism confesses the following: “It seems safe to say that no Unitarian Universalist believes in a resurrection of the body, a literal heaven or hell, or any kind of eternal punishment.”

12. The Theosophical Society, founded by medium Helena P. Blavatsky, declares, “we positively refuse to accept the...belief in eternal reward or eternal punishment.” Hence, “Death...is not...a cause for fear.”

13. The spirits everywhere proclaim their allegiance to cultic teachings, declare Ankerberg and Weldon. “Ramtha,” the spirit speaking through medium J. S. Knight, claims “God has never judged you or anyone” and “No, there is no hell and there is no devil.” “Lilly” and other spirits channeled through medium Ruth Montgomery argue that there is no such thing as death” and that “God punishes no man.”

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev used to tell of a time when there was a wave of petty theft in the Soviet Union. To curtail this the authorities put up guards around the factories. At one timber works in Leningrad, the guard knew the workers in the factory very well. The first evening, out came Pyotr Petrovich with a wheelbarrow and, on the wheelbarrow, a great bulky sack with a suspicious-looking object inside.

“All right, Petrovich,” said the guard, “what have you got there?”

“Oh, just sawdust and shavings,” Petrovich replied.

“Come on,” the guard said, “I wasn’t born yesterday. Tip it out.” And out came nothing but sawdust and shavings. So he was allowed to put it all back again and go home. When the same thing happened every night of the week the guard became frustrated. Finally, his curiosity overcame his frustration.

“Petrovich,” he said, “I know you. Tell me what you’re smuggling out of here, and I’ll let you go.”

“Wheelbarrows, my friend, “ said Petrovich, “wheelbarrows.”

“So when man finds Jesus, it costs him everything. Jesus has happiness, joy, peace, healing, security, eternity. Man marvels at such a pearl and says, ‘I want this pearl. How much does it cost?”

“The seller says, ‘it’s too dear, too costly.’

“But how much?’

“Well, it’s very expensive.’

“Do you think I could buy it?’

“It costs everything you have—no more, no less—so anybody can buy it.’

“I’ll buy it.’

“What do you have? Let’s write it down.’

“I have $10,000 in the bank.’

“Good, $10,000. What else?’

“I have nothing more. That’s all I have.’

“Have you nothing more?’

“Well, I have some dollars here in my pocket.’

“How many?’

“I’ll see: Thirty, forty, fifty, eighty, one hundred, one hundred twenty—one hundred twenty dollars.’

“That’s fine. What else do you have?’

“I have nothing else. That’s all.’

“Where do you live?”

“I live in my house.’

“The house, too.’

“Then you mean I must live in the garage?’

“Have you a garage, too? That, too. What else?’

“Do you mean that I must live in my car, then?’

“Have you a car?’

“I have two.’

“Both become mine. Both cars. What else?’

“Well, you have my house, the garage, the cars, the money, everything.’

“What else?’

“Are you alone in the world?’

“No, I have a wife, two children...’

“Your wife and children, too.’

“Too?’

“Yes, everything you have. What else?’

“I have nothing else, I am left alone now.”

“Oh, you too! Everything becomes mine—wife, children, house, money, cars—everything. And you too. Now you can use all those things here but don’t forget they are mine, as you are. When I need any of the things you are using, you must give them to me because now I am the owner.”

We are so good at doing things our own way. Then, when they do not work out, we turn to God and say, "Help! Now what do I do?" We are so foolish, for if we had read His instructions in the first place, we wouldn't have had the problem in the second place. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." That's a powerful thought!

A recent issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC included a photograph of the fossil remains of two saber-tooth cats locked in combat. To quote the article: “One had bitten deep into the leg bone of the other, a thrust that trapped both in a common fate. The cause of the death of the two cats is a clear as the causes of the extinction of their species are obvious.

When Christians fight each other, everybody loses. As Paul put it, “if you keep biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15).

Peter A. Alwinson

Have you any old grudge you'd like to pay,

Any wrong laid up from a bygone day?

Gather them all now, and lay them away

When Christmas comes.

Hard thoughts are heavy to carry, my friend,

And life is short from beginning to end;

Be kind to yourself-leave nothing to mend-

When Christmas comes.

I was hungry,

and you formed a humanities club

and discussed my hunger.

Thank you.

I was imprisoned

and you crept off quietly

to your chapel in the cellar

and prayed for my release.

I was naked

and in your mind

you debated the morality of

my appearance.

I was sick

and you knelt

and thanked God

for your health.

I was homeless

and you preached to me

about the spiritual shelter

of the love of God.

I was lonely

and you left me alone

to pray for me.

Christian,

you seem so holy;

so close to God.

But I am still very hungry,

and lonely,

and cold...

So many are like the traveler who came tired and exhausted to the door of a Christian and asked to stay overnight. When the Christian showed some unwillingness, the traveler started quoting Scripture and telling the Christian not to forget that he might have the opportunity of entertaining an angel unawares. "Yes," said the Christian, "but I don't believe that an angel from heaven would smell of liquor."

Dr. G. Campbell Morgan tells of a man whose shop had been burned in the great Chicago fire. He arrived at the ruins the next morning carrying a table. He set it up amid the charred debris and above it placed this optimistic sign, "Everything lost except wife, children, and hope. Business will be resumed as usual tomorrow morning."

Faith came singing into my room, and other guests took flight: Fear and Anxiety, Grief and Gloom sped out into the night. I wondered that such peace could be, but Faith said gently, “Don’t you see? They really cannot live with me.”

A missionary was teaching a Hindu woman the Lord's Prayer. When he got to the end of the first clause, "Our Father which art in heaven," she stopped him. "If God is our Father," she said, "that is enough. There is nothing now to fear."

All questioning about God ceases when He becomes our Father.

When God wants to drill a man,

And thrill a man,

And skill a man,

When God wants to mold a man

To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart

To create so great and bold a man

That all the world shall be amazed,

Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects

Whom He royally elects!

How He hammers him and hurts him,

And with mighty blows converts him

Into trial shapes of clay which

Only God understands;

While his tortured heart is crying

And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks

When his good He undertakes;

How He uses whom He chooses,

And with every purpose fuses him;

By every act induces him

To try His splendor out—

God knows what He’s about.

When Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper on the wall in Milan, Italy convent dining room, the monks began to have many questions about his ability, and his integrity. The picture was merely a copy of the dining area in which it was being painted. The table, the linen, even the dishes used by the monks, were all identical to those in the picture.

Some of the monks thought da Vinci was taking advantage of his contract to paint this picture. They were resentful of his long periods of inactivity, when da Vinci would stand for hours without touching his brush to the wall in front of him.

When they asked da Vinci about this apparent inactivity, he replied, "When I pause the longest, I make my most telling strokes with my brush."

No other event in the life of our Lord has been painted more often, but none can match the one painted by da Vinci nearly 500 years ago.

In like manner, God paused, the world waited, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son...." (Gal 4:4).

When I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey, speak about Dr. Carey’s Savior.

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ

And He shows me His plan for me;

The plan of my life as it might have been

Had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there

And I would not yield my will,

Shall I see grief in my Savior's eyes;

Grief though He loves me still?

Oh, He'd have me rich, and I stand there poor,

Stripped of all but His grace,

While my memory runs like a hunted thing

Down the paths I can't retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break

With tears that I cannot shed.

I'll cover my face with my empty hands

And bow my uncrowned head.

No. Lord of the years that are left to me

I yield them to Thy hand.

Take me, make me, mold me

To the pattern Thou hast planned.

The Judgment seat "is meant for us professing Christians, real and imperfect Christians; and it tells us that there are degrees in that future blessedness proportioned to present faithfulness."

- Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910.

In Judith Viorst’s children’s book, I’ll Fix Anthony, the younger brother complains about the way his older brother Anthony treats him:

“My brother Anthony can read books now, but he won’t read any books to me. He plays checkers with Bruce from his school. But when I want to play he says, “Go away or I’ll clobber you.” I let him wear my Snoopy sweatshirt, but he never lets me borrow his sword. Mother says deep down in his heart Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep down in his heart he thinks stink. Mother says deep, deep down in his heart, where he doesn’t even know it, Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep, deep down in his heart he still thinks I stink. When I’m six I’ll fix Anthony…When I’m six I’ll float, but Anthony will sink to the bottom. I’ll dive off the board, but Anthony will change his mind. I’ll breathe in and out when I should, but Anthony will only go glug, glug…

When I’m six my teeth will fall out, and I’ll put them under the bed, and the tooth fairy will take them away and leave dimes. Anthony’s teeth won’t fall out. He’ll wiggle and wiggle them, but they won’t fall out. I might sell him one of my teeth, but I might not…Anthony is chasing me out of the playroom. He says I stink. He says he is going to clobber me. I have to run now, but I won’t have to run when I’m six.

When I’m six, I’ll fix Anthony.

When in charge, ponder

When in trouble, delegate

When in doubt, mumble

1. When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

2. When in charge, ponder.

3. When in trouble, delegate.

4. When in doubt, mumble.

- James H. Boren

Have you ever had anyone come to you and say, "Tell me...how do you know when it is time to pray?"

I mean our stomachs growl when it is time to eat.

Our eyes start closing when it is time to sleep.

When our feelings get hurt, it is time for tears,

With a new birth it is time to care.

People will often tell us, quite so,

When it is time to come, or stay, or go.

But how do you know when it is time to pray?

Does an alarm go off next to your bed?

Or is there a clanging inside your head?

Do your eyes start blinking, a horn start blowing?

Or do you listen for a rooster crowing?

Just what is your way of knowing when it is time to pray?

With me...

I find it is time to pray

At the beginning and ending of each day.

And when I am sick and feeling bad,

Or scared, or lonely, or lost, or sad.

When the bills blow in like sand

I seek a touch of the Master's hand.

When I need patience, hope and peace

And an abiding love that will not cease.

When I am thankful for all there is

That now is mine, and yet is His.

Gladness, sadness, joy and grief

We share in prayer. And it is my belief

That whenever my heart has something to say

That is how I know when it's time to pray.

That’s precisely what happens to a church when its leaders don’t pray—its ministry becomes powerless and ineffective. E. M. Bounds emphasized the need for a ministry of prayer within the church when he wrote, “It may be laid down as an axiom, that God needs, first of all, leaders in the church, who will be first in prayer, men with whom prayer is habitual and characteristic, men who know the primacy of prayer. But even more than a habit of prayer, and more than prayer being characteristic of them, church leaders are to be men whose lives are made and molded by prayer, whose heart and life are made up of prayer. These are the men—the only men—God can use in the furtherance of his kingdom and the implanting of His message in the hearts of men.

John Newton signed on with a slave ship leaving from Africa with its "cargo." He was an experienced sailor and navigator, but his cursing and blaspheming turned hardened sailors' ears red. Soon the ship was caught in a horrible storm and was taking in water. The crew had to pump 24 hours a day to stay afloat. But the constant wind rocked the boat so dangerously that the sailors had to tie themselves to the deck to keep from being swept overboard. At one point, several of the crew tried to throw Newton overboard. They figured that God was punishing him like Jonah of the Old Testament. The captain declared that the only way the ship would make it in to safe harbor was by God's power. He commanded everyone-including Newton-to pray.

"God, if You're true," Newton prayed earnestly, "make good your Word. Cleanse my vile heart."

After four weeks of storms and constant brushes with death, the ship limped into an Irish port. John Newton, former "free thinker," former slave trader and atheist, declared his faith in Jesus. He became a well-known preacher and writer. In fact, we chiefly know him as the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace."

Five girls took advantage of their graduation and went together on a vacation. It was a lovely break from the constant crowds with whom they had to mix.

"I dearly love my work," said one of them, "but sometimes it seems to me I would give anything to get away from people awhile. I never have a quiet moment to myself. There is always someone who wants to see me. Do the rest of you ever feel that way?"

"Oh, yes," said one; and, "Yes," sighed another, "I feel as though I would like to go off to a desert island where I would not see a soul."

Then a girl by the name of Mary spoke. "I know just how you feel. I have felt the same way. But when it seems to me I cannot stand it any longer I think of how the throngs followed Jesus, yet He never turned away. He must have been very weary at times, but He was never impatient with the crowd. That thought has helped me so often."

During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.

When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ’s commands. Then they came together.

Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, “What did you do then?” “We were just one,” he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.

When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ.

In his excellent little book When Loved Ones Are Taken in Death, Lehman Strauss made some interesting comments about the Greek word translated “departure.” He wrote, “It is used metaphorically in a nautical way as when a vessel pulls up anchor to loose from its moorings and set sail, or in a military way as when an army breaks encampment to move on. In the ancient Greek world this term was used also for freeing someone from chains and for the severing of a piece of goods from the loom. This is what death is as described in the Bible. Here, we are anchored to the hardships and heartaches of this life. In death, the gangway is raised, the anchor is weighed, and we set sail for the golden shore. In death, we break camp here to start for heaven.”

Thursday, December 21, 1899, after cutting short a Kansas City crusade and returning home in ill health, D. L. Moody told his family, “I’m not discouraged. I want to live as long as I am useful, but when my work is done I want to be up and off.” The next day Moody awakened after a restless night. In careful, measured words he said, “Earth recedes, Heaven opens before me!” His son, Will, concluded his father was dreaming. “No, this is no dream, Will. It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”

The successful man lengthens his stride when he discovers that the signpost has deceived him; the failure looks for a place to sit down. Thomas Edison did not sit down and give up when his first efforts to find an effective filament for the carbon incandescent lamp met with failure. He lengthened his stride! He sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia, Jamaica, Ceylon, and Burma in search of fibers and grasses to be tested in his laboratory.

Luther Burbank, the plant wizard, did not quit when obstacles blocked his way. At one time he personally conducted more than 6,000 experiments before he found the solution.

George Westinghouse was treated as a mild lunatic by most railroad executives. "Stopping a train by wind! The man's crazy!" Yet he persevered, and finally sold the air-brake idea.

James Watt built model after model of his steam engine before he got one that worked efficiently.

Every man gets on the wrong road at times. He comes down hills, rough roads, and dangerous detours. What he does when he meets these obstacles determines his destiny. The world never hears from those who look for a place to sit down and quit.

The story is told of a friend by the name of Webb Young. Webb Young grew beautiful apples, and he advertised them to a very select clientele as "perfect." One year just before time to harvest his apples, a heavy hail storm came. It did not harm the apples, but it left unsightly brown spots on them. He felt hopelessly defeated. He could not afford to send his apples out with those brown spots on them.

A lesser man would have given up, but he kept thinking until he came up with a saving idea. He harvested the apples and packed them in boxes, as he normally did. Then in each box he placed a card which stated that these apples were grown in high altitude and that the chill of the mountain made the apples firm. He also explained that in these high altitudes they often have hail storms. Then he said that if one will look closely at the apples, hail marks upon them can be observed. It is a matter of record that the next year the overwhelming majority of his orders were for "hail-marked" apples.

For Webb Young and his apples-the blemishes became assets.

"So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart" (Neh 4:6).

Few tragedies scar as does a raging fire. The devastation is complete. The desolation is mournful. Such was the disaster of the city of Jerusalem when God judged His holy hill with the torch of Nebuchadnezzar. On the day Jerusalem fell, the Edomites cried, "Tear it down...tear it down to its foundations!" (Psa 137:7).

In God's mercy, at last a remnant returned to rebuild their beloved city. And the city began to rise from its ashes. Yet, when some later visited Nehemiah, yet in Persia, they told of Jerusalem's continuing anguish: "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire" (Neh 1:3). Hearing this, Nehemiah "...sat down and wept" (Neh 1:4).

The Persian monarch, Artaxerxes, moved by Nehemiah's sorrow, commissioned him to return to rebuild the city. After a quiet tour "by night" with some of the local leaders to evaluate the ruins, Nehemiah urged: "'You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.'I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me. They replied, 'Let us start rebuilding.'So they began this good work" (Neh 2:17-18).

The task was formidable-after 70 years of abandonment. Enemies "mocked and ridiculed" them, demanding, "What is this you are doing ...Are you rebelling against the king?...What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall?...Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are" (Neh 2:19; Neh 4:2).

The story of the wall's restoration from rubble is a thrilling one. Each family had its own segment of the wall to rebuild. As enemies threatened, some would "serve as guards by night and workmen by day" (Neh 4:22). And finally, "the wall was completed on the 25th of Elul, in 52 days. When all the enemies heard about this...(they) lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God" (Neh 6:15).

When our people today, together "work with all their heart," amazing achievements will likewise be celebrated-to the glory of our God.

Said Dr. Joseph A. Parker: "Some have found fault with me. They say I am old-fashioned and out of date; I am always quoting the Bible; why not turn to science this morning?

"There is a poor widow here who has lost her only son. She wants to know if she will see him again. Science shall give the answer, and I will put the Book away." So he took the Book and put it on the seat behind. "Will this woman see her son again? Where is he? Does death end all? What has science to say?" Here a long pause. "We are waiting for an answer, the woman is anxious." Another long pause. "The woman's heart is breaking. Science must speak. Nothing to say? Then we must take the Book," and here he reverently replaced it, and with great deliberation opened it and read: "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me ...The dead shall arise ...for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. O death, where is thy sting? ...I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God."

Then, closing the Book, and patting it affectionately, he said, "We will stick to the Book!"

In a leper colony clothes arrived for distribution among these outcasts of life.

One little leper boy was asked what he needed most. He replied, "My hands are still good so I can mend my clothes when they need it, but there are some lepers who have no fingers, and some whose hands are so crippled or sore that they cannot use them. When their clothes get holes in them, they cannot mend them but must see the holes get bigger and bigger. I am thankful for my good hands, so please give the clothes to those who cannot mend their own. They are more needy than I."

How we need such unselfishness. We should never complain when we know that there are others who are needier than we are.

A beautiful lesson comes to us from Pro 30:26. "The conies are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks."

The cony is a weak, timid little animal like our rabbit or hare. He has no means of defense in himself, so when his foes, the vulture or the eagle, come in sight the cony does not turn at bay and do all he can to defend himself before he flees. If he did he would be torn to pieces in an instant by his fierce enemies of the air. Nay, the cony has learned a wiser course than this. He knows he is a "feeble folk," so he rushes straight to the rocks. He lets the rocks defend him without attempting any defense whatever in his own strength, which is but weakness.

Likewise it is with us. Our only course is to learn the cony lesson, to fly straight to our Rock, Christ Jesus, in prayer, and trust the Rock to keep us.

Columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

So don’t give up, though the pace seems slow—

For you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems

to a fain and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup.

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure, turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

When was Jesus born? No, not on December 25. Though Christians had adopted that date by A.D. 336, Christ was born “when shepherds watched their flocks by night.” In other words, most likely in the spring. And no, He wasn’t born in the year A.D.

The Bible tells us that Herod the Great ruled Palestine when Jesus was born, and Herod died in 4 B.C.—so Jesus had to have been born not long before that. (Blame Dionysiuys Exiguus for this one—he’s the sixth century monk who came up with the idea of splitting history into A.D. and B.C. He just chose the wrong date to do so, that’s all.)

When you are the neediest, He is the most sufficient.

When you are completely helpless, He is the most helpful.

When you feel totally dependent, He is absolutely dependable.

When you are the weakest, He is the most able.

When you are the most alone, He is intimately present.

When you feel you are the least, He is the greatest.

When you feel the most useless, He is preparing you.

When it is the darkest, He is the only Light you need.

When you feel the least secure, He is your Rock and Fortress.

When you are the most humble, He is most gracious.

When you can’t, He can.

“The leaders of the Clapham Sect of British social reformers such as William Wilberforce, daily gave themselves to three hours of prayer and organized Christians throughout the country to unite in special prayer before critical debates in Parliament. William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidence, “When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.”

Once again the example of Jesus is our perfect pattern. Although his whole life was one continual life of prayer, certain occasions are instructive for all true disciples.

1. Every morning. If we take the first chapter of Mark’s gospel as depicting a typical day in the ministry of Jesus, we see the force of verse 35: “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went into a lonely place, and there he prayed.” In a few people, metabolism makes this virtually impossible, but the most important time of prayer for most Christians is in the morning, before breakfast. Tuning in to God from the start enables us both to commit the entire day to God, and to turn to him more readily during the day. In any war, every day begins with a careful check on communications, so that throughout the day orders can be passed on immediately and calls for help can be instantly heard. Without this, any army would be in chaos. The same principle applies in the army of Jesus Christ.

I have personally never found it easy getting up in the morning to pray! Every day is a real battle, but because it is worth winning, I have taken practical steps to “pommel my body and subdue it”! I use two alarm clocks to wake me up, since one on its own may fail to wake me. In the early days after my conversion, I used to have one alarm by my bed, and another cheap but very noisy alarm outside my door, set to go off ten minutes after the first. Because the second alarm would wake the whole household (and make me thoroughly unpopular), I had some motivation to get out of bed as soon as the first alarm had sounded. This scheme never failed!

2. Before making important decisions. The future of the Christian church rested on Jesus’ choice of those first disciples. Although he probably knew in advance that one would betray him, another would deny him, and all would often fail him, making the right choices was crucial. Therefore “he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.” Humanly speaking, they were an unlikely bunch; uneducated fishermen, patriotic freedom-fighters, a traitor (tax-collector), a traitor-to-be, ambitious, impulsive, pessimistic, fallible men. Yet these were to be the leaders of the Christian church when instructed in the faith and equipped by the power of the Spirit.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,” wrote James. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…” Major decisions will nearly always call for special times of prayer.

3. When under pressure. When “great multitudes gathered to hear [Jesus] and to be healed of their infirmities,” we read that “he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.” Most Christian work is draining. Beyond the usual physical and mental demands there rages a spiritual battle. When ministering to others, Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. Because he needed a constant renewal of body, mind, and spirit, he would regularly escape from people, both to relax and pray.

God once rebuked his people through the prophet Jeremiah with these words: “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” The Christian worker or the Christian church could be described in the same terms; all the right words and actions may be there, but the vital life-giving water of the Holy Spirit has dried up. Only the Spirit gives life and we need his living presence continuously flowing through us if we are to meet the spiritual thirst in others. “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life,” warned Bishop Taylor Smith, about feverish activism of our Western society.

4. When concerned about others. “Simon, Simon,” said Jesus tenderly on one occasion, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” We so often criticize one another, and slander, attack, or judge. But if we turn our concern for other Christians into prayer we will be far more effective as a church against the forces of darkness. A friend of mine said that the army of Christ must be the only army in the world where its soldiers constantly fight with each other. This is really doing the Devil’s work for him. But when we turn criticism into prayer, we lift up the shield of faith on behalf of the one being attacked, and release the Holy Spirit’s power to encourage or convict (as the need may be), and we keep the love of God flowing between us when the Devil is out to divide us.

5. When tempted. “Pray,” said Jesus to his disciples when they faced severe testing, “that you may not enter into temptation.” Even though tired and sleepy, the three disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane could have mutually encouraged one another in prayer. Sadly, they were soon overtaken by fear. When Jesus was arrested, they struck out in panic, then fled for their lives. Out of fear, Peter denied Jesus, and later they all huddled behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews.”

In contrast, Jesus withstood the Tempter’s deceit in the wilderness, and later in the garden through fasting and prayer. We cannot resist temptation in our own strength. Many times I have had to say to God, “Lord, I cannot do this thing by myself. I’ve tried, and failed. Please be my strength and shield in the midst of temptation.” We might prefer some automatic security system to protect us from the Evil One, but God wants us to abide in his love, where we are safe from the ravages of sin.

6. When in pain. “Father, forgive them,” prayed Jesus as the fierce nails were driven through his hands and feet; “they know not what they do.” Consciously turning our thoughts towards God, and praying for other people, can wonderfully relieve our own pain. Even when seriously ill, I have spent much of the night in active prayer. It was the only thing that kept me sane, keeping me profoundly aware of God’s never-failing presence and love in the midst of what seemed like a nightmare. I have also seen incredible spiritual beauty in the lives of those who, racked with constant pain, deliberately gave themselves to sacrificial, unselfish prayer. No one in his right mind will ask for seasons of pain, but God can use them to transform us into the likeness of Jesus, if we accept prayerfully his sovereign will for our lives.

7. At the moment of death. Death has been described as the old family servant who opens the door to welcome the children home. Sometimes death takes people by complete surprise, but if we know that we are being welcomed home, how good it will be to greet the one whom we are meeting face to face.

Ideally, of course, our whole life should become a life of prayer. Whether we wake, eat, walk, play, work, rest, chat or retire for the night, we should enjoy the Father’s presence: rejoicing in him, praising him, thanking him, talking to him, listening to him, saying we’re sorry, keeping silent. As we share our life with him, we allow him to share his life with us.

Intercessory prayer cards or calendars may be helpful for systematic prayer, but as servants, not masters. We must learn to be spontaneous in prayer as well. If I pray for people as I meet them in a street or in a home; or pray before answering the telephone or going to the front door, my attitude will be much more positive and sensitive. If all of us, as Christian disciples, could seriously pray—however briefly—for all whom we meet each day, think of the cumulative impact of the love of God on society!

Gypsy Smith was once asked how to start a revival. He answered, "Go home, lock yourself in your room and kneel down in the middle of your floor. Draw a chalk mark all around yourself and ask God to start the revival inside that chalk mark. When he has answered your prayer, the revival will be on." Why not covenant with God to draw that private circle?

Paper traffic ticket: 2-4 weeks

Cotton rag: 1-5 months

Degradable polyethylene bag: 2-3 months

Piece of rope: 3-14 months

Wool stockings: 1 year

Bamboo pole: 1-3 years

Unpainted wooden stake: 1-4 years

Painted wooden stake: 13 years

Wooden light pole: 15-36 years

Railroad cross tie: 30 years

Tin or steel can: 100 years

Aluminum can: 200-500 years

Plastic six pack cover: 450 years

Glass coke bottle: unknown

To keep your marriage brimming

With love in the loving cup

Whenever you’re wrong, admit it

Whenever you’re right, shut up!

- Ogden Nash

A man had bought a new gadget-unassembled, of course—and after reading and rereading the instructions he couldn’t figure out how it went together. Finally, he sought the help of an old handyman who was working in the backyard. The old fellow picked up the pieces, studied them, then began assembling the gadget. In a short time, he had it put together. “That’s amazing,” said the man. “And you did it without even looking at the instructions!” “Fact is,” said the old man, “I can’t read, and when a fellow can’t read, he’s got to think.”

Lord,

You said if I want to follow you, I will need to carry my cross every day. I want to follow, Lord.

But there are days when I'm dragging my cross, making a trail for everyone to see. There are days when I'm pushing my cross, making my own path miserable and dusty. There are days when I'm sitting on my cross, trying to get comfortable and going nowhere. There are days when I'm giving my cross to somebody else, who already has one of his own.

Help me, Lord, to carry my cross on my shoulder. When it's up there, it leaves no room for a chip!

Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed ... It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.”

Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”

1. The love of God that wants the best for us.

2. The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us.

3. The power of God that can accomplish it.

There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, “What do you want?” “Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile. Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. “What do you want?” he asked again. “Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.” Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. “What do you want, young man?” Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful...” Socrates jammed him under again Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?” “Air!” he screeched. “I need air!” “When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”

When you’re old as I am, there are all sorts of extremely pleasant things that happen to you...the pleasantest of all is that you wake up in the night and you find that you are half in and half out of your battered old carcass. It seems quite a tossup whether you go back and resume full occupancy of your mortal body, or make off toward the bright glow you see in the sky, the lights of the city of God.

The story is told of a monastery in Portugal, perched high on a 3,000 foot cliff and accessible only by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket. The basket is pulled with a single rope by several strong men, perspiring under the strain of the fully loaded basket. One American tourist who visited the site got nervous halfway up the cliff when he noticed that the rope was old and frayed. Hoping to relive his fear he asked, “How often do you change the rope?” The monk in charge replied, “Whenever it breaks!”

Earthly thrones are generally built with steps up to them; the remarkable thing about the thrones of the eternal kingdom is that the steps are all down to them. We must descend if we would reign, stoop if we would rise.

Some think that God put His best gifts on a high shelf for them to reach up to them. It does not take long, however, for a Christian to realize that the best gifts are in the lower shelves, that the babes may get them also.

William Bennett put is succinctly in a 1986 speech on the family in Chicago when he asked, “Where are the fathers? ... Generally, the mothers are there struggling. For nine out of ten children in single parent homes, the father is the one who isn’t there. One-fifth of all American children live in homes without fathers ... Where are the fathers? Where are the men? Wherever they are, this much is clear: too many are not with their children.

We are on our way somewhere-and not just out to lunch after church or to a party next Thursday.

A small boy, with his father, was in an elevator going up in the Empire State Building in New York. As they flashed by the 66nd floor, the lad, in considerable anxiety, seized his father's hand, and in an awestruck whisper, said, "Does God know we are coming?"

This is an amusing story; but, the serious answer is: Yes, God knows we are coming!

In speaking on the text, "Adam, where art thou?" (Gen 3:9) a preacher said, "I make three divisions to this text. First: Every man's got to be somewhere. Second: Some men are where they ought not to be. Third: They that are where they ought not to be are going to find themselves where they do not want to be." If we want to find out what sin is by experience, we shall find ourselves where we do not want to be; but if we seek to discern it by a sanctified, God-honoring reflection, then we shall never taste to find out, because we shall know the results beforehand. Remember Adam? He found himself where he did not want to be after he had tasted of the forbidden fruit. Oh, for wisdom to know the forbidden trees!

Question? Where do your children get their sense of Value? When you give your child a dime for the offering plate and a dollar for cokes, candy, ice cream, etc., you are showing your sense of values to your child. When you insist that your child do his public school homework, but complain if the church sends home some Bible reading and memory work, you are showing your sense of values to your child. When you stay at home to putter around the house instead of going to Sunday School and Church, you are showing your sense of values to your child. When you put sports and pleasure events ahead of your duties and responsibilities to the Church, you are showing your sense of values to your child. When you allow your child to stay up late and watch TV, or stay out late for a sports or pleasure event, and then have no concern in their attending youth meetings at the church, you are showing your sense of values to your child. When you insist that your child go to public school, but not to Sunday School and Church, you are showing your sense of values to your child.

He was just a little lad,

And on the week's first day,

Was wandering home from Sunday School,

And dawdling along the way.

He scuffed his shoes into the grass;

He found a caterpillar;

He found a fluffy milkweed pod,

And flew out all the filler.

A bird's nest in a tree o'head

So wisely placed and high,

Was just another wonder

That caught his eager eye.

A neighbor watched his zigzag course,

And hailed him from the lawn;

Asked him where he'd been that day,

And what was going on.

"Oh, I've been to Sunday School.

(He carefully turned a sod

And found a snail beneath it);

I've learned a lot about God."

"M'm'm, a very fine way," the neighbor said,

"For a boy to spend his time;

If you'll tell me where God is,

I'll give you a brand new dime."

Quick as a flash his answer came!

Nor were his accents faint-

"I'll give you a dollar, Mister,

If you tell me where God ain't."

Coming to the close of many years of faithful ministry, an aged pastor tied his sermon notes in a bundle and wrote on it: "Where has the influence of all the sermons I have preached gone?" One who had been under his ministry for years and who had grown in Christlikeness and in the knowledge of God's Word, gave the following heartfelt appraisal of his sermons: "Where are last year's sunrays? They have gone into fruits and grains and vegetables to feed mankind. Where are last year's raindrops? Forgotten, of course, but they did their gracious and refreshing work. Your sermons, preached over the years, have gone into my life and into the lives of others, to make me and them better, nobler, and more Christlike. They have deepened our love for God's Word, given us a vision of and love for unsaved ones, and have challenged us to go on in the Christian life!"

“Where is God?” inquired the mind:

“To His presence I am blind. . . .

I have scanned each star and sun,

Traced the certain course they run;

I have weighed them in my scale,

And can tell when each will fail;

From the caverns of the night,

I have brought new worlds to light;

I have measured earth and sky,

Read each zone with steady eye;

But no sight of God appears,

In the glory of the spheres.”

But the heart spoke wistfully,

“Have you looked at Calvary?”

Thomas C. Clark

Happiness is not found in pleasure, Clarence Macartney said. Lord Byron lived such a life if anyone did. He wrote, “The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone.”

Happiness is not found in money—Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”

Happiness is not found in position and fame—Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote, “Youth is a mistake, manhood a struggle, and old age a regret.”

Happiness is not found in military glory—Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent because, he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.’”

One Sunday morning a faithful Sunday school teacher was teaching her class of boys about heaven. She asked the question, "Where is heaven?" And one happy boy replied, "It's in our home since my daddy became a Christian."

A companion of a newly converted Christian said to him one day, "Can you tell me where hell is?" After a moment's hesitation the young Christian said, "Yes, it's at the end of a Christless life."

It is a great discovery to know what we can do well; doing it well is the only way the whole body of Christ can function. Don't be like that member of an orchestra who played the piccolo. Amid the thunder of the organ, and the roll of the drums, the player on the piccolo said to himself, "In all this din, my little instrument doesn't matter," and he ceased to play. Suddenly the great conductor threw up his arms, and all was still. "Where is the piccolo?" he cried. God listens for our share in His orchestra no matter how small that share may be.

Fred sat in his car, glaring angrily at the red traffic light-one minute, two minutes, three minutes! You would think for those little side roads they would have only a one-minute green light. There, only two cars went through all the time that he and the other motorists on the main road were waiting! How frustrating! Those lights always seem to turn red just as you drive up.

Behind Fred, in another car, sits Tom. But he does not mind the light a bit. It just gives him a chance to learn another Bible verse. He has a new one in a little stand on the dashboard, and he is saying it over and over. By the time the light changes, he will have another verse to use in witnessing!

It is estimated that the average motorist spends 26 hours a year waiting for traffic signals to change. And if Fred and Tom are average motorists, then Fred will spend 26 hours a year running his blood pressure up in angry frustration, and Tom will spend 26 hours a year memorizing God's Word so he will be a better servant of Jesus Christ.

The body of David Livingstone was buried in England where he was born, but his heart was buried in the Africa he loved. At the foot of a tall tree in a small African village the natives dug a hole and placed in it the heart of this man who they loved and respected.

If your heart were to be buried in the place you loved most during life, where would it be? In your pocketbook? In an appropriate space down at the office? Where is your heart?

Take a look at your own heart, and you will soon find out what has stuck to it and where your treasure is. It is easy to determine whether hearing the Word of God, living according to it, and achieving such a life gives you as much enjoyment and calls forth as much diligence from you as does accumulating and saving money and property. - Martin Luther

“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed me out a tiny spot,

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh, no, not that.

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little place for me!”

And the word He spoke, it was not stern,

He answered me tenderly,

“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;

Art thou working for them or me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”

A recent survey by America’s most popular teen magazine revealed that only 4.1% of the teenage girls in America feel they could to go their father to talk about a serious problem. Even more recently, USA Today published the eye-opening results of a study of teens under stress. When asked where they turn to for help in a crisis, the most popular choice was music, the second choice was peers, and the third was TV. Amazing as it may sound, moms were down the list at number thirty-one, and dads were forty-eighth.