CATCH AN EYE On a summer day I took my three year old daughter to a Kiddy Park in Dallas, Texas to ride the rides. I put her on a small ride which she insisted…
Sermon Illustrations
FAITH AND WORKS Our faith is expressed through specific, concrete, practical works. When John Wesley was six-years-old the parsonage in which he lived with his family caught fire. The alarm was given and the parents…
A LEADER IS NOT THE CAUSE A true leader is committed to the cause, and does not become the cause. Staying personally dedicated to the cause can become extremely difficult, particularly if the cause succeeds.…
THE SERVANT HEART Arnold Billie is a rural mail carrier in southern New Jersey. For the last quarter century, his daily route has taken him 63 miles through two counties and five municipalities. Mr. Billie…
THE GOOD SAMARITAN -- A Wise Strategy When we bought our new television set, the neighbors gathered one Saturday to help us put up the antenna. Since we had only the simplest tools, we weren't…
THE OPPOSITE OF STEWARD IS VICTIM In his book, The Search for Power, Harvard Professor David C. McClelland contends that there are four stages in the development of the individual to maturity: Stage 1: Power…
FILL THE SPACES Select a large box, and place in it as many cannon balls as it will hold, and it is, after a fashion, full; but it will hold more if smaller matters be…
THE SNOWBALL EFFECT -- PASS IT ON "How can I ever repay you?" asked a person of a friend who had done him a great favor. "I shall forever be indebted to you for your…
FOUR LESSONS FROM GEESE This story was
GIFTS Whenever you start talking about gifts (Romans 12) -- you get into one of those exotic medieval arguments about the line between gifts and talents. And can you develop gifts? A reporter once said…
PLAN AHEAD A favorite joke among San Francisco lawyers concerns the phony who fakes an injury in an auto accident, comes to court in a wheel chair and is awarded $200,000. When the verdict is…
ONE UPSMANSHIP Steve Wing, former colleague now pastoring the Presbyterian Church in Colby, Kansas, sent me one he heard from one of his members about the lack of rain out in the plains states. It…
DUTY A duty is a task we look forward to with distaste, perform with reluctance, and brag about afterwards. Bits & Pieces.
COURAGE TO RISK Let come what will, I mean to bear it out, And either live with glorious victory Or die with fame, renowned in chivalry. He is not worthy of the honeycomb That shuns…
ANGER Dr. David Swoap told the following at a commencement address at Westmont College this past year: When I lived in Washington D. C. I was privileged to meet Mother Teresa. I asker her, "Don't…
THE CRITICAL SPIRIT A salesman, visiting his barber for a haircut, mentioned that he was about to take a trip to Rome, Italy. The barber, who came from Italy said "Rome is a terribly overrated…
COURAGE IN SPIRIT The lady was small, old and frail. And she had lost the sight of her eye and it had to be removed. When it was to be replaced with a false eye…
PERSEVERENCE Tommy Cruse was an Irish immigrant who migrated to New York and worked there for several years in the grinding jobs offered to Irish immigrants. Seven years later, he got gold fever and headed…
THE POWER THAT TAKES US UP One day in Lucerne, Switzerland, a man went up to the summit of Mount Pilatus in a cable car operated by hydraulic power. As he ascended, he marveled at…
THE WILL TO WIN Take the case of Ike Skelton, Jr. Ike was stricken with polio as a young boy. A Kansas City doctor told the parents, "If he gets better, healing will come from…
