GAY AGGRESSION The Big Brothers interviewer in Minneapolis was confronted with a new situation: An applicant had just admitted to him that he was a homosexual. The interviewer knew that Minneapolis had a "gay rights"…
Sermon Illustrations
SPRING CLEANING There are hidden corners of my mind, so out of sight that I don't even have to worry about them when I clean up before company comes. Not even the most fastidious, nosy…
LOOK AGAIN A man showed up at a talent agent's office in New York City -- right in the middle of the Great White Way -- back during the halcyon days of vaudeville. The jaded…
HOME Still a long way from home Is no real problem If we're on the way home. Especially if the father Already sees us. Joe Elmore, Alive Now!, May/June, 1989.
EXPECTANCY AND THE GOOD LIFE Washington Irving once wrote: "Great minds have purposes; others have wishes." His insight leads to the realization that without expectancy, we lack purpose. Achievers, in particular, exhibit this attitude of…
SUNSET But beauty seen is never lost, God's colors all are fast; The glory of this sunset heaven Into my soul has passed. John Greenleaf Whittier
THE KNEELING CAMEL The camel at the close of day kneels down upon the sandy plain To have his burden lifted off to rest again. My soul, thou, too shouldst to thy knees when daylight…
HELP FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES We ten hungry Americans grabbed food at a French street cafe just as it was closing down. An hour later, stomachs churning, we decided we needed to find the hotel where…
MORALITY It is no secret that ideas about what is Right and what is Wrong vary from time to time and place to place. King Solomon would not be apt to see eye to eye…
HOW TO HOLD Let me hold lightly things of the earth; Transient treasures, what are they worth? Let me hold lightly things that are mine -- Lord, let me hold tightly, all that is thine.…
KEEP WHAT YOU GIVE AWAY There is a story about a Methodist layman who gave $100,000 to build a college in Liberia in the early 1920's. By the 1940's the college had grown and was…
STEWARDSHIP PERSPECTIVES The father of two daughters had just awakened in the morning. His wife was in the kitchen making breakfast. She turned to the two daughters and said, "Run upstairs and tell daddy that…
THE UNWILLING GIVER From my vantage point on the platform during the worship service, I viewed the struggle from start to finish. At first I quietly chuckled, but then realized I was observing a more…
THE GIFT MUST ALWAYS MOVE There is a tribe of native Americans for whom the act of gift giving has become a sacred duty. Gifts are shared at every occasion from the most routine visits…
NO RETRIEVAL: THE SAYING OF OMAR IBN, AL HALIF, THE SECOND CALIPH: Four things come not back: The spoken word; The sped arrow; Time past; The neglected opportunity. The Evangel
GIVING, HOPE AND APPRECIATION In Lee Iacocca Talking Straight, he shares a number of stories about raising funds for the Statue of Liberty project on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the lovely lady…
YANKEE DOODLE DANDY . . . A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. Bill Vaughan, in Context.
THE STEWARDSHIP OF NOW! When you stop and think about it, willingness is the one thing we humans bring to the process of creation. We did not call ourselves into being, or have any "say-so"…
AH, GOOD DAYS! School had just closed for the summer. He came in, flung his books to a corner of the room where they'd rest for three months, and asked in an excited voice, "Dad,…
THE RICH STOREHOUSE OF RESOURCES If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, I should say books, friends, and nature; and the greatest of these, at least the most constant and…
