|
|
(Click here to display the 53 quotes shown above.) In a man's dream, he had a vision of walking through life on a sandy beach with Jesus by his side. As he looked back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that at the troublesome spots of his life only one set of footprints marked the sand. The man asked Jesus where the Lord had been during those troublesome times. Jesus replied, "That single set of footprints is mine. Then I was carrying you and your burden."
Aesop wrote a fable about four bulls who were great friends. They always kept close to each other so that if any danger
was near they faced it together. They
grazed together, moved together, and lay down to rest together. After David Livingston had been in Africa about 12 years, he had a desire to travel from where he was, on the east of the continent, over to the west coast through a part of that continent that no other European had ever been before. He didn't have any possibility of doing it on his own, so he went to a local chief and asked for 27 men of the local tribe who would go with him. The chief was more than a little bit suspicious. The trip was dangerous and he'd learned about white men that they were not entirely trustworthy. Livingston, sensing some of that feeling about him, made him a promise. "If you give me your sons, I promise to return with them, and to deliver them to their homes and their families. My life will be a pledge." Well, the chief agreed on that basis, and Livingston set out. The journey was every bit as dangerous as it was thought to be. There was incredibly difficult terrain, there were hostile tribes, there were all kinds of predatory and dangerous animals, there was sickness and illness. But finally, they made it to the west coast, and they stumbled into the port of Luanda, which had been their target, only to be amazed by finding a British warship there. And that warship had been sent from England for the specific purpose of finding Livingston and bringing him back, on the orders of Queen Victoria. The captain came to him and said, "Sir, Queen Victoria has sent me to urge you to return. All England is waiting to honor you." Very tempting. The request, even the order of the Queen, because when the Queen invites, that is a command in most cases. And the thought of going home, and the thought of being honored, but Livingston had a problem. He had made a promise. "Well," they assured him, "the promise of a white man to an African doesn't matter. And the Queen is more important than a chief." Livingston had made a commitment, and despite all the urgings of the naval officers who were there, he turned his back and headed back into the jungle. The round trip ended 2 1/2 years after he started, with him delivering those people back. To honor a promise. That was probably why, when Livingston died, the Africans were very committed to bury his heart in Africa. They were more than willing to listen to a man whose word was something they could trust. It was also something very important to Livingston - his whole life was staked on a very simple premise. He talked about it often. He took Matthew 28:20 seriously - "Lo, I am with you always, right to the end of the age." And he used to say, "It's the word of a gentleman, and I trust it." - Dr. Gary Inrig, sermon on 5/26/1991.
Alcohol is a product of amazing versatility. Back in the third century Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage wrote to his friend Donatus: "It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered, in the midst of it, a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. ..They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians, and I am one of them." --Sunday School Times "All of nature depends on hidden resources. The great trees send their roots down into the earth to draw up water and minerals. Rivers have their sources in the snow-capped mountains. The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system, and the most important part of the Christian's life is the part that only God sees. Unless we draw upon the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life." -- Warren Wiersbe, in his book Be Joyful
All of the apostles were
insulted by the enemies of their Master. They were called to seal their
doctrines with their blood and nobly did they bear the trial. According to
traditional statements, the following is what became of the apostles:
All the great injustices of
history have been committed in the name of unchecked and unbridled
"majority rule."
As an old minister, five years in my first pastorate and forty-one
in the second, I would pass on an encouraging hint to younger brethren. I left
my first pastorate scared away by criticism, afterwards to learn the noise had
all been made by one man. One man in a church, community, or organization, may
by loud and persistent effort create the impression that matters are all wrong
and that everybody is demanding a remedy; which puts me in mind of the old story
about the "frog farm." An African-American divine was once asked to explain the doctrine of election. Said he, "Brethren, it is this way: The Lord He is always voting for a man, and the Devil he is always voting against him, then the man himself votes, and that breaks the tie!" The Sunday School Times
An ancient fable tells of three merchants crossing the Arabian
Desert. Traveling in darkness to avoid the intense heat one starless night, they
were passing over a dry creek bed when a voice form the blackness commanded them
to halt. They were then ordered to stoop, pick up pebbles form the creek bed,
and put them in their pockets. After obeying the strange command, they were told
to leave that place, camping nowhere near.
The mysterious voice then told them that in the morning they would be
both happy and sad. Shaken and
confused, and obeying the mysterious intruder, they traveled through the night.
When morning came, the men anxiously looked into their pockets, and rather than
finding the pebbles as expected, there were precious jewels. They, indeed, were
happy and sad. They were happy they
had picked up the jewels, but sad because while they had the opportunity they
had not picked up many more.
An ancient legend tells of a
king who walked into his garden one day to find almost everything withered and
dying. Speaking to an oak near the gate, he learned that it was sick of life
because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was upset, for it
could not bear delicious fruit like the pear tree, while the pear tree
complained that it did not have the lovely odor of the spruce; and so it went
throughout the entire garden.
An ancient Persian proverb offers the following excellent advice
on developing leaders.
An artist wanted a man for a model who would represent the
prodigal. One day he met a wretched beggar and he thought: "That man would
represent the prodigal." He found the beggar ready to sit for his painting
if he would pay him. The man appeared on the day appointed, but the artist did
not recognize him. He said, You made an appointment with me."
"No," responded the artist, "I never saw you before."
"You are mistaken; you did see me and made an appointment with me."
"No; it must have been some other artist. I have an appointment to meet a
beggar here at this hour." "Well," said the beggar, "I am
the man." "You, the man ?" "Yes" "What have you
been doing?" "Well, I thought I would get a new suit of clothes before
I got painted." "Oh," replied the artist; "I don't want
you."
An aunt of mine was teaching
Sabbath School. She was telling the
youngsters about Daniel and the Lion's Den.
She had a picture of Daniel standing brave and confident with a group of
lions around him. One of the little
eight-year-old girls started to cry. An eagle, soaring high above the Niagara River, spotted an animal stranded on an Ice flow. Swooping down, he dispatched his prey, then began to feed as they floated down the river toward the falls. As the eagle fed, he kept his eyes on the narrowing distance between the roaring falls and his ice flow. Unconcerned, he enjoyed his feast up to the last moment, when he planned to let go and fly to safety. He didn't know that as he fed, the spray from the water was freezing his talons to the fur of his kill, which was already frozen to the floating ice. When the floe was only yards from the falls, the eagle tried to let go and fly away; the ice held him fast. With a final scream, the eagle disappeared over the side, into the churning, deadly cascade below. --Rev. D. Paul Ray An interesting story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that has always intrigued me is "The Great Stone Face." A boy named Ernest is its central character. His mother told him in his earliest years about an ancient legend of their valley. She said, "Someday a man will arise, born in this neighborhood, whose countenance will resemble the great stone face which you see on the side of that distant mountain." As Ernest looked at the far-off ridge, he saw in the craggy rocks what appeared to be the features of a fine and noble individual. From then on, he spent hours concentrating on that inspiring sight. He longed for the day when he might see a real face as kind and wise as that. Carefully he scrutinized various ones in the village like Mr. Gathergold, General Blood and Thunder, and the one they called "the Poet." Each time, however, he was disappointed. Yet he never became discouraged in his search, but faithfully performed his daily duties with cheerfulness, always seeking to be helpful to others. His many good deeds increasingly won for him the love and respect of all. One evening after many years had passed, while he was speaking to a group of neighbors, his countenance was lighted by the setting sun. Suddenly the one called "the Poet" pointed to him and exclaimed, "Look! There's the man who resembles the Great Stone Face!" And so it was! In the exercise of his faith and the pursuit of kindness and duty, Ernest himself had fulfilled the legend.
An obscure college professor
had a wife who was hard-of- hearing. His
dream was to perfect a hearing
device so his wife, whom he loved very much could hear.
He devoted every spare dollar and every spare moment he had to working on
his dream. History books tell us he failed in his venture, but he was far from
being a failure. Alexander Graham
Bell missed one goal, but mankind benefited enormously because he dedicated
himself to seeking a solution to someone else’s problem.
He aimed to help one and missed. Instead,
he helped millions.
An old deacon who used to pray
every Wednesday night at prayer meeting, always concluded his prayer the same
way: "And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life." Well, it got
too much for one fellow in the prayer meeting, and he heard the old deacon one
time too often. So when the old man made that prayer, the fellow jumped to his
feet and shouted, "Lord, Lord, don't do it!
Don't do
it! Kill the spider!" An old Japanese farmer had just harvested a rice crop that would make him rich. His farm was on a high plain overlooking the village at the ocean's edge. A mild earthquake had shaken the ground, but the villagers were used to that, so they took little notice. The farmer, looking out to sea, saw that the water on the horizon appeared dark and foreboding. He knew at once what it meant a tidal wave. "Bring Me a torch; quick," he shouted to his grandson. Then he raced to his stacks of rice and set them ablaze. When the bell in the temple below rang the alarm, the people scrabbled up the steep slopes to help save their neighbor's crop. But the farmer met them at the edge of the plain, shouting, "Look! Look!" They saw a great swell of water racing toward them. As it crashed ashore, the tiny village below was torn to pieces. But because that farmer willingly sacrificed his harvest, more than 400 people were spared. God the Father also gave up something He held dear, His only Son. As a result, millions have experienced salvation through faith in Him. How thankful we should be for Jesus Christ God's sacrifice! --Leadership Magazine
An old laborer, bent double
with age and toil, was gathering sticks in a forest.
At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he threw down the bundle of
sticks, and cried out: "I cannot bear this life any longer.
Ah, I wish Death would only come and take me!"
An organization in Montana
offered a bounty of five thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two
hunters named Sam and Jed decided to head for the hills and make some money
capturing wolves. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests searching
for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without any
success, they both fell asleep.
"And exhorted them all,
that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord" Acts 11:23. A
traveler in a European village discovered a beautiful custom. At night she saw
the people going to church, each carrying a little bronze lamp. These lamps they
placed in sockets by their pews. The soft light of the lamps was the only
illumination for the service. If a member was absent there was a dark place!
And what does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow, brother, of its sorrow; but, ah! it empties today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil, it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes. It does not bless tomorrow, and it robs today. For every day has its own burden. God gives us power to bear all the arrows of his making; but he does not give us the power to bear the sorrows of our own making, which the anticipation of sorrow most assuredly is. -- Ian Maclaren
Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher
for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had
taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out.
Alexander the Great was one of
the few men in history who seemed to deserve his descriptive title. He was energetic, versatile, and intelligent.
Although hatred was not generally part of his nature, several times in
his life he was tragically defeated by anger.
The story is told of one of these occasions, when a dear friend of
Alexander, a general in his army, became intoxicated and began to ridicule the
emperor in front of his men. Blinded by anger and quick as lightning, Alexander snatched a
spear from the hand of a soldier and hurled it at his friend.
Although he had only intended to scare the drunken general, his aim was
true and the spear took the life of his childhood friend.
Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded an army and was president of the
United States. But when Eisenhower
was a child, he had an explosive temper.
Any decision involving a group
of people rarely pleases everyone. In my position as head usher, I was directed
by several members of the Sunday morning congregation toward the distant
thermostat.
Anyone can find an excuse if
they really want to find one. The excuse may even seem plausible on the surface. Anything which makes religion its second object makes religion no object. God will put up with a great many things in the human heart, but there is one thing He will not put up with in it - a second place. He who offers God a second place offers Him no place at all. - John Ruskin One Sabbath, a minister began his sermon in this way: "I'd like to make three points today. First, there are millions of people around the world who are going to hell. Second, most of us sitting here today do not give a damn about it." After a lengthy pause he continued: "My third point is that you are more concerned that I, your pastor, said the word damn than you are about the millions of people going to hell."
It has been more than 35 years since Kitty Genovese was stabbed to
death in a suburb of New York City, but her tragic death continues to be a
symbol of public apathy.
Al Capone, in his crime career, bought big limousines, leased
splendid apartments, bought from a single firm one day twenty-three suits at
$135 a suit, and a dozen shirts at $30 a shirt, and thirty diamond-studded belt
buckles at $275 each, all in one purchase. "Applause before a speaker begins is an act of faith. Applause during the speech is an act of hope. Applause after the speech has concluded is an act of love." A young man once studied violin under a world-renowned master. Eventually the time came for the student's first recital. Following each selection, despite the cheers of the crowd, the performer seemed dissatisfied. Even after the last number, with the shouts louder than ever, the talented violinist stood watching an old man in the balcony. Finally the elderly one smiled and nodded in approval. Immediately the young man relaxed and beamed with happiness. You see, the man in the balcony was his teacher, and thus the applause of the crowd had meant nothing to him until he had first won the hearty approval of his master.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
told how a lecture he received at the age of nine helped set his philosophy of
life. An uncle, a stolid, no-nonsense type, had taken him for a
long walk across a snow-covered field. At
the far side, his uncle told him to look back at their two sets of tracks.
"See, my boy," he said, "how your footprints go aimlessly back
and forth from those trees, to the cattle, back to the fence and then over to
where you were throwing sticks? But
notice how my path comes straight across, directly to my goal. You should never
forget this lesson!"
"As an airplane pilot,
from the first time I sat in the beginner's seat beside my instructor I was
taught to 'trust' my instruments. 'Your
instincts will fool you,' my instructor rightly told me.
'You must learn that even though you may feel you are flying south, if
your compass says you are flying east, you'd better believe it.'
As newsman Clarence W. Hall followed American troops through
Okinawa in 1945, he and his jeep driver came upon a small town that stood out as
a beautiful example of a Christian community. He wrote, "We had seen other
Okinawan villages... down at the heels and despairing; by contrast, this one
shone like a diamond in a dung heap. Everywhere we were greeted by smiles and
dignified bows. Proudly the old men
showed us their spotless homes, their terraced fields... their storehouses and
granaries, their prized sugar mill." As you travel down Interstate 77 through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, you cannot help but notice the message of the three silent crosses. Those crosses call to mind a sermon I read some year ago by Myron J. Taylor titled "A Hill With Three Crosses." He said that one cross portrays a thief dying IN sin, and the other a thief dying TO sin. But the center cross speaks of the redeemer dying FOR sin. It divides all humanity into one of two categories -- those who reject Christ and die in sin, and those who receive Christ and can die to sin.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on the verge of the great European
invasion in World War II, said, "There comes a time when you have done all
that you possibly can do; when you have used your brains, your training, your
technical skills, and the die is cast, and events are in the hands of God." Assurance This sin-damaged world keeps on
struggling, The storm clouds of life keep on rolling,
At one time there was a radio program called "Job Center of
the Air." The host said that
of the 2,500 people he helped find employment, only 10 sent a thank-you note.
He was surprised and somewhat hurt. |