CATCH AN EYE On a summer day I took my three year old daughter to a Kiddy Park in Dallas, Texas to ride the rides. I put her on a small ride which she insisted on trying even though it was the ‘scariest.’ As she whipped around the corners in the kiddy car, she wrinkled …
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A NATION UNDER GOD The Declaration of Independence, as originally presented to Congress, contained three references to God” the first in the opening paragraph where “the laws of nature and of nature’s God: are invoked; the second in the next paragraph where “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men . . . …
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WHERE HE LEADS ME In “pastures green?” Not always. Sometimes He Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me In weary ways, where heavy shadows be. And by “still waters?” No, not always so; Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow, And O’er my soul the waves and billows go./But when the storm beats loudest, and …
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AN INSIDE JOB In a remote Swiss village stood a beautiful church. It was so beautiful, in fact, that it was known as the Mountain Valley Cathedral. The Cathedral was not only beautiful to look at — with its high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows — but was beautiful to hear. You see, this …
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SECOND GUESSING THE LORD An acquaintance was talling his mother about a friend who had died and left three small children. His mother said, “Why couldn’t it have been me? I am ninety-three years old, and she was so young. I’ve worked hard all my life to serve the Lord, and I’m ready to go.” …
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WHAT WE THINK WE NEED “Surely,” one sometimes hears it said, “it is absurd to try to change the will of God. Who are we that we should tell God what to do? If we believe in God at all, we must believe that he is already ordering all things for the best.” Well, let …
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MURPHY’S PRINCIPLES OF PRAYER 1. People forget to pray for others in direct proportion to the frequency with which they say, “I’ll pray about that.” 2. In any prayer group at any given moment, 95% of the people will not be paying attention to your prayer. 55% will be daydreaming, 20% will be thinking about …
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IN ALIGNMENT Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God’s purpose. Prayer does not consist in battering the walls of heaven for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to …
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YOUR DREAMS MAY NOT COME TRUE Dwight Eisenhower once reminisced about his childhood. “When I was a boy in Kansas, a very good friend and I got to talking about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I said I wanted more than anything else in the world to be” — and here …
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ANGELS UNAWARE I ‘ve always found missionary biographies to be a rich source of stories that are both true and inspiring. One I’ve just read and found to be filled with fascinating illustrations is Steel In His Soul: The Dick Hillis Story by Jan Winebrenner (Overseas Crusades, Milpitas, California, 1985). Dick Hillis grew up in …
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FUTILITY: A spider climbed a telephone pole, and, swinging her body in a wide arc, attached her web to another pole nearby in order to spin a magnificent web for catching insects. Unfortunately, her choice of area was poor, because a railroad track ran between the poles. She had no sooner made contact with the …
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RUSSIAN BIBLES Millions of Bibles for the Soviet Union are in the pipeline or on order, according to an analysis of Bible society and mission agency figures. For example, the Colorado-based International Bible Society will print one million New Testaments on a government-controlled press near Moscow for distribution through the Soviet Children’s Fund, a secular …
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In God’s Cosmic Drama, The Universe is the stage, God is playwright, God is director, God is actor, God is critic.
SUSPENDING JUDGMENT OF GOD We have emphasized all along that the Christian faith is warranted belief and is therefore profoundly rational. This means that we have sure and sufficient reasons at the point of coming to know God (the point of original assent), but this is not the case for every question in life. At …
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FAITH VERSUS LUCK The other day I heard of a man whose only motivation was luck. He tried to make a living by gambling in the lottery, and indeed, he was lucky. When he won the biggest prize someone asked him how he did it. He said, “I was smart and I was lucky.” Pressed …
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RECONCILING EVIL Dr. Vernon Ground, former president of Denver Seminary and a compassionate and thoughtful man, wrote this in a recent letter: “One thing which impresses me more and more is the bewildering tragedy of human life. As I counsel with emotionally broken individuals and as I observe the pain, injustice and frustration in the …
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THE ROAD TO ETERNAL GAIN Russ Chandler, religion writer of the L. A. Times wrote an excellent book a few years ago entitled The Overcomers. It tells the stories of twelve outstanding Christians who have dealt with significant problems in their lives. The book begins with the story of Elisabeth Elliot, who first became prominent …
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GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND MAN’S FREE WILL During his days as guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary, R. B. Kuiper once used the following illustration of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility: I liken them to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If I wish to support myself by them, …
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SERENITY A couple were vacationing in New England and were staying at an old inn. While finding it peaceful and quiet, they thought the place lacked enough activities to keep them interested. To make matters worse, it was raining when they got up this morning and there was no end in sight. The couple ventured …
LET GOD RULE THE PRESENT Oliver Cromwell’s personal secretary traveled to the European continent on important state business. He stayed overnight in a room by the seaside, but did not sleep well. The custom of that area was that a servant was to sleep in the room as well. The servant slept soundly. The next …
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