HAVE A NICE DAY Most of us in our more cynical moments have questioned the sincerity of people who tell everybody to "have a nice day." One lady was overheard saying to someone who told…
Sermon Illustrations
LEADERSHIP opportunities can be taken away, as Shebna learns in Isaiah 22. In the August issue of Bits and Pieces we read these ten characteristics of a good leader: Persistence. Not insistence. A strong leader…
PREACHING THAT IS FAITHFUL, GOOD, CURRENT, INTERESTING, AND BIBLICA L. Theology, News and Notes is the quarterly journal of the Alumni Association of Fuller Theological Seminary. It is an outstanding publication that deals in each…
FIFTH PRIZE -- A BIT IRREVERENT I particularly liked the story our judges awarded fifth prize, in fact I have already used it myself in a sermon since it came in. It was sent in…
FOURTH PLACE -- ONE WITH GESTURES The story that was awarded fourth place is one that is best seen told rather than reading it. I heard (and saw) it told just this last winter at…
DON'T THROW ME INTO THAT BRIAR PATCH DEPT If you know what a wine brick is -- you were drinking during prohibition. When wine was outlawed, bootleggers began to press grape concentrate into bricks, which…
IN TIME WE LOOK SILLIER Peter C. Schroder, Jr. of San Pedro sent in this one I heard years ago and had forgotten. It seems that in seminary two men competed for top honors. Their…
BUT HURRY "This is the age of the half-read page and the quick hash and the mad dash; the bright night with the nerves tight; the plane hop and the brief stop; the lamp tan…
MINISTER'S DILEMMA I 'm sure you too have seen and heard all the hoopla in recent days about minister's burnout, the minister and his family, etc. It seems the problems of the professional ministry are…
THE HUMAN WAY OF THINKING I found the following story in the popular new book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons From America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. (Harper &…
THE CYNIC IN ALL OF US The three least credible sentences in the English language: "The check is in the mail." "Of course I'll respect you in the morning." "I'm from the government and I'm…
UNAWARE An airliner, stacked over a major airport, contacted the tower and was told to hold at 3,000 feet. The pilot radioed back that he was indeed holding at 3000 feet. Suddenly, another voice cut…
BRAVERY If there is one thing upon earth that mankind loves and admires better than another it is a brave man -- a man who dares look the devil in the face and tell him…
OUR READERS WRITE I have really been excited about the abundance of stories that have come in for our Scour The Barrel Contest. By the time you read these lines our judges will be hard…
FREEDOM'S VALUE Some years back Dr. Raymond Paty, then President of the University of Alabama, told the story of the times shortly after the Civil War, when a large plantation owner came upon old Sam…
INDIVIDUALISM Sarah Adler, noted Jewish actress never was willing to admit to her true age. One day a newspaperman asked her, "Madam Adler, I don't mean to embarrass you, but would you mind telling me…
USING YOUR HEAD "God gave us two ends-one to think with and one to sit on. Heads you win; tails you lose." Claire Morrow, Arcadia Presbyterian Church
CHILD REARING In the biography Blackberry Winter by Margaret Mead, she tells of her Grandma who was a wonderful storyteller and who had a "set of priceless, individually tailored anecdotes with which American grandparents of…
TASTE THE GENTLE JOY Joy is like the rain Coming upon us, soft and gently Then passing away-oftimes unnoticed Or swift and powerful as a sudden storm Raging in and around us Flooding over us…
THE MASADA MENTALITY Archibald Rutledge tells the story that as a young boy he was always catching and caging wild things. He particularly loved the sound of the mockingbird so he decided to catch one…
