EVIL An important book on evil as a psychiatric reality is: The People of the Lie by Psychiatrist Scott Peck. He suggests a personality disorder which he simply calls evil characterized by the following four…
Sermon Illustrations
AMBIGUITIES ABOUT THE SIN OF LYING A couple of more quotes from Smede's excellent book, Mere Morality, here referring to the ninth commandment. The commandment sends us into all human relationships with a bias toward…
CLARIFYING THE MESSAGE From a father's letter to a son in college: "Am enclosing $10 as you requested in your letter. Incidentally, $10 is spelled with one zero, not two."
EVERYTHING HAS ITS PRICE The jetliner had just taken off and all the passengers had settled down. In the first-class section a man sat next to a well-dressed matronly woman who was wearing a stunning…
YOUR FATHER KNOWS THE WAY When I was a small boy growing up in Pennsylvania we would often visit my grandparents who lived nine miles away. One night a thick fog settled over the hilly…
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN IT I found this helpful story in Wilde's Illustration Service for Ministers . Dr. J. Henry Jowett, the well-known English preacher was talking to an old salt about sailing a…
THE EFFECTS OF SIN ON A SOCIETY There is a harrassed, knife-edge quality to daily life. Nerves are ragged and, as the scuffles and shootings in subways or on gas queues suggest, tempers are barely…
WHO BEATS WHOM? A judge called a young lad into his chambers. He announced to the boy that he had to make a decision as to which parent was to receive custody of him. The…
THINGS I read an interesting article in Psychology Today (Dec) called "Object Lessons" It was about a study made in the Chicago area with 82 families (315 individuals) and their attitudes towards "Things" or "Cherished…
COST OF GOVERNMENT PAPERWORK The chairman of Eli Lilly & Co, in testimony before the President's Commission on Federal Paperwork, said they had gathered the following information: "Our company prepares 27,000 government forms or reports…
WIVES, ACCOUNTANTS, BANKERS Where do small-business owners go for advice? Do they consult their bankers, professional organizations, other businessmen? Nope, they turn to their wives. In a survey of companies with under $300,000 in sales,…
HOW NOT TO DO IT The Sheriff's Office in a Texas city once distributed a list of rules titled "How to Raise a Juvenile Delinquent in Your Own Family." The list included the following: Begin…
THE FLOWER AND THE SERPENT From Macbeth Act I, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth tells her husband how to carry out his treacherous role on the eve of King Duncan's fatal visit to Macbeth's castle: To…
BACK WITH MY KIND OF PEOPLE Comedian Henry Morgan tells the story of a yachtsman whose boat foundered in the South Pacific. A giant wave finally swept him ashore on an uncharted island. Warily he…
BE SURE YOUR SINS WILL BOOMERANG A. Phillip Johnson of Union City, California is almost 87 and for nine years has been the Chaplain of the Masonic Homes. Last year he sent in this story…
THE IMPRESSARIO I 'm sure some of you remember the famous Sol Hurok, the impressario. He brought many of the great musical performers from Europe to America a few years back. In our days the…
FRIVOLOUS DIMENSIONS OF MODERN LIFE Bathrooms collect fads. Hundreds of things end up on shelves or in cabinets. They fill the corners and line the tub. Some of them make for interesting reading, when one…
THE PRODIGAL SON Here's one you can memorize and then recite at the Church Social. It is a lighter version of the familiar parable. I guess you could say it is in the 'Key of…
COMMUNICATION Author and Drama Critic Alexander Wollcott liked to sit at the window of his New York apartment overlooking the East River and watch the boats go by. A visitor once asked him: "How can…
THE NEW MATERIALISM In a recent editorial in Christianity Today, Harold Myra includes these words about the new materialism: We see it in every stratum of society, often resulting in preposterous consumption in a desperately…
