MUCH LIKE TONIGHT Much like tonight it must have been, The keen wind knifing every crack And burnishing the stars until they sang Out of the midnight heavens, sharp as jewels. The stable was unheated,…
Sermon Illustrations
THE 'THINK SYSTEM' IN RED CHINA A friend recently loaned me an amazing book, entitled Life And Death In Shanghai, by Nien Cheng (Grove Press, New York, 1986). It is the compelling story of a…
STYLE -- HOW YOU SAY IT Helena Modjeska (1844- 1909) was one of the most popular actresses of her time because of her emotional style and superb ability. She once gave a dramatic reading in…
INSIDE WORK Marjorie Camper frames a beautiful parable of an amazing promise in a moment in which she shared with her six-year-old son. It took place one spring day as the two of them were…
WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD? In his book, Who Speaks For God, Chuck Colson tells us in the first chapter of a New York bishop who announced unequivocally that "AIDS is not God's judgment on the…
SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP Someone wrote the editor of THE CHRISTIAN HERALD to ask how a couple could be assured a happy, harmonious marriage. The editor answered by telling about two children who had been told to…
RIGHT AND WRONG In our haste to deal with the things that are wrong, let us not upset the things that are right. From Bits and Pieces
DOGGED PERSISTENCEI once heard W. A. Criswell, long time beloved pastor of the famous First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, tell a story about an evangelist who loved to hunt. As best I recall, the…
MARRIAGE/DIVORCE STATISTICS There's good news for the American family: the glum statistics that say half of the marriages end in divorce are wrong, according to pollster Louis Harris. Actually, only 1 in 8 marriages end…
MANY LOVERS, LITTLE LOVE In his book, No Wonder They Call Him The Savior, Max Lucado recalls this story which was originally reported in the Miami Herald in the summer of 1980. Lucado writes: Judith…
NOT FOR SALE While traveling in rural Oklahoma a man's car ran out of gas. He went to a nearby farmhouse to call a service station but the farmer insisted on taking him to town,…
TWO DIMENSIONS OF PRAYER If you're a tennis player, you may be familiar with The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey. Gallwey points out that when we watch a game of tennis between…
DEEP LISTENING One of my favorite stories about listening comes from the depression years. A young man saw an ad in the newspaper for a telegraph operator. He hurried to the address of the building…
PRAYER AT THE HOUSE OF DYING Dear Lord, the Great Healer -- I kneel before You Since every good and perfect gift Must come from You. I pray, give skill to my hand, Clear vision…
PERSISTENCE Although I disagreed with many of Senator Russell Long's stands, I appreciate his persistence. He once said, "I expect to fight that proposition until hell freezes over. Then I propose to start fighting on…
EXPECTATIONS It was Aunt Sarah's birthday. Aunt Sarah was ninety-nine years old -- the oldest resident in a small town. Among the guests at her birthday party was her thirty-nine-year-old pastor. As the pastor was…
THE FAITH OF ANOTHER In William Gibson's autobiographical Mass For The Dead, he relates how, after his mother's death, he yearned for the faith that had strengthened her during her remarkable life and upheld her…
FORGIVE US BOTH An Atlanta minister tells the story of a clergyman who was given a very flowery introduction. When the clergyman stood up to present his message, he said, "May the Lord forgive this…
WHAT YOU THINK What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else…
PETER'S FACE There are two beautiful paintings of the repentant Peter, one by Goya and the other by El Greco. The striking thing about both paintings is that Peter is not pictured as being in…
