MANIPULATION VERSUS PERSUASION The line between manipulative and persuasive motivators is very difficult to draw sometimes. The manipulative person is peruasive and deceptive. You may get manipulated into doing something because of trickery. For example,…
Sermon Illustrations
EVERYBODY WANTS TO MAKE A BUCK DEPARTMENT I read the following story in Ronald Reagan's early autobiography (written before he became Guv, let alone President), entitled Where Is The Rest of Me? (p. 215). I…
MIRTH A man without mirth is like a wagon without springs: He is jolted disagreeably by every pebble in the road. Henry Ward Beecher
HOW YOU KNOW A twelve year old boy became a Christian during a revival. The next week at school his friends questioned him about the experience. "Did you see a vision?" asked one friend. "Did…
SUMMER SCENE When little Jimmy returned home from summer camp, his parents asked him if he had been homesick. He replied, "Not me, but some of the kids were who had dogs." Funny, Funny World
OUR WIDER READERSHIP Among our subscribers are included a number of Rabbis. Though they write to tell me they can't use all that we publish, they do read Parables, Etc. and appreciate being included in…
LEBANON Ahmed is 15. He is too old, too worldly wise for that age. The Time reporter tells us: "The saddest thing Ahmed has ever seen, he says, is the sight of children without their…
SUCCESS Like perfume, success it to be sniffed, not taken internally. Russ Reid, Eternity.
STRENGTH OUT OF HORROR I used two quotes from the special Time magazine report (Jan 11, 82) on Children of War. It was subtitled "Out of the Horror, Amazing Strength" This report included interveiws with…
OVERHEARD CONVERSATION "Did you wake up grumpy this morning?" "No I let him sleep in."
AFFIRMATION AND HUGGING In contrast with rejection is the ministry of affirmation. In a world where people are finding themselves being rejected in so many ways, it is vital that they find the affirmation that…
EVIDENCES OF GOD This life were brutish did we not sometimes Have intimations clear of wider scope Hints of occasion infinite, to keep The soul alert with noble discontent And onward yearnings of unstilled desire;…
FREEDOM February is the month in which we celebrate the two great presidents, Washington the Father of our Country and Lincoln, the Great Emancipator. It is a month in which we remember something of our…
GOSSIP The small streams of gossip poured into the ears emerge as mighty cataracts out of the mouths. Paul Eldridge, Maxims of a Modern Man.
GOALS REQUIRE PRELIMINARY STEPS Ken also shared with me a story told by Ray Stedman of Peninsula Bible church in Palo alto, California. Ray said he once asked a nine-year-old boy what he wanted to…
WAITING FOR THE DIRECT MESSAGE FROM GOD FOR YOUR PEOPLE Do you ever step up to the pulpit on Sunday morning knowing you are not as well prepared as you should be? My friend Ken…
THE GROWING FAMILY We hear a great deal these days about family life, and certainly there has been a great number of books on love, marriage, raising kids, solving marital dilemmas, etc. If anything has…
TECHNIQUES FOR DAILY SUCCESS We all need to be reminded from time to time about the basics of getting through the work that is before us. Debra Smith presented these seven classic techniques for daily…
MENTAL ATTITUDE -- OPTIMISM I 'm always fascinated by stories of people who have managed to develop a different mental attitude than that commonly held by men and women around them. The poor person who…
SICK JOKE DEPARTMENT Also under the somewhat sick joke department was the recent Wizard of Id cartoon that showed the king chatting with the undertaker in front of the funeral home. He asks the undertaker,…
