While attending a major concert or stage performance, most of us take for granted the challenging and dangerous “behind the scenes” work performed by the stage “riggers.” These men and women walk the four-inch rafter beams — often a hundred feet above the concrete floor — to hang sound- speakers and spot lights. For such …
MOTIVATION I was reminded by my friend Ken Christensen the other day that, though you can lead a horse to water and yet not make him drink, it is possible to salt his hay a little and encourage his drinking. Along that line I was reminded of the following story: Although Joseph Duveen, the art …
Endurance | Evangelism | Motivation | Perseverance | Temptation Read More »
INTEGRITY At a national spelling contest in Washington an incident occured that made me feel good — and made me wonder. In the fourth round of the contest, Rosalie Elliot, then a 11-year-old from South Carolina, drew the word “avowal.” In her soft Southern accent she spelled it. But did the seventh grader use an …
Evangelism | Failure | Honesty | Temptation | Truth Read More »
THE NINE TESTS OF CONFUCIUS FOR JUDGING MEN “Man’s mind,” says Confucius, “is more treacherous than mounts and rivers, and more difficult to know than the sky. For with the sky you know what to expect in respect of the coming of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and the alternation of day and night. But …
CONSIDER WELL Consider well that both by night and day While we busily provide and care For our disport, our revel and our play, For pleasant melody and dainty fare, Death stealeth on full slily; unaware He lieth at hand and shall us all surprise, We wot not when nor where nor in what wise./When …
Death | Defeat | Discouragement | Temptation | Warning Read More »
OPPORTUNITY / TEMPTATION Why is it that opportunity knocks only once yet temptation bangs on the door constantly?
EVER notice? that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther than the loudest call to duty? (Earl Wilson) Or, did you ever notice . . . that when you run into a man with real enthusiasm for hard work, he turns out to be your boss. (Maynard Printing) quoted in the Readers Digest Temptation, …
DEALING WITH TEMPTAION There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is a cowardly response to the fact that you might get caught.
THOUGH I DRIVE THROUGH THE VALLEY I can remember vividly, as I’m sure she can, my mother teaching me how to drive. It was 1972 and we had a Plymouth station wagon and a Chevrolet Malibu. Whenever I would ask my parents to help me test drive, they had two approaches to teaching me to …
STRESS DIET We live in one of the most diet- conscious societies that has ever existed. Some of them are more realistic than others. Here’s one that has been called The Stress Diet. Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice whole wheat toast, 8 oz. skim milk.Lunch: 4 oz. lean boiled chicken breast, 1 cup steamed zucchini, …
POWER OF PRAYER In late May I was admiring my lovely, green, blooming cantaloupe plants. The foliage was hearty and spreading rapidly. Then, in mid-June and throughout July, a drought set in, and the leaves began to wilt. Finally, I realized that if I wanted to harvest any cantaloupes, I would have to water the …
CAN WE DECEIVE GOD? When our son was a youngster in grade school, his route home from school each day took him by an irrigation canal. He had been instructed repeatedly not to play around the canal on his way home. It was not uncommon for youngsters to drown in the open waterways. One afternoon …
Disobedience | Excuses | Repentance | Sin | Temptation Read More »
DIVINE GUIDANCE ON DIETING Did you read the one about the overweight guy who always stopped by the bakery on his way to work in the morning to pick up some goodies for the staff coffee break? It seems he finally decided to go on a diet and in order to avoid the temptation he …
WILL POWER/CONSCIENCE A man consulted a psychiatrist. He complained, “I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me.” The doctor asked, “And you want something that will strengthen your willpower?” The fellow replied, “Well, no, I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.” Bits and Pieces
CHOOSE THOU FOR ME Thy way, not mine, O Lord, However dark it be! Lead me by Thine own hand; Choose out my path for me. I dare not choose my lot: I would not, if I might; Choose Thou for me, my God, So shall I walk aright . . . The kingdom that …
Guidance | Light | Poetry | Poverty | Strength | Temptation | Wisdom Read More »
TEMPTATION A youngster was asked what he did when he was tempted. He replied, “Well, when I hear Satan come knocking at the door of my heart, I just say to the Lord Jesus, who lives within my heart, ‘Lord Jesus, will You please go to the door?’ And then, when the Lord Jesus opens …
Children | Consecration | Holy Spirit | Submission | Success | Temptation Read More »
DECISIONS The story is told of an elderly man who, a number of years ago, had lost his right arm in an accident. At first the trauma of the loss totally destroyed the man’s desire to attend or enter into any sports even though they had been so much a part of his life. All …
Adversity | Consecration | Obedience | Sports | Success | Suffering | Temptation Read More »
SAFE PLACE According to one story about W.W.II, a U.S. Army general needed a new driver. He interviewed three soldiers for the responsible position. “If you’re on a winding mountain road during a battle, how close can you drive to the edge of a drop- off?” he asked. The first driver said he could easily …
Holiness | Obedience | Purity | Sanctification/ Sin | Separation | Sin | Temptation Read More »
GODLY CRITICS HURT If criticizing gives you pain, then do it. If it gives you the slightest pleasure, keep your mouth shut.
SEEDS OF SIN For temptation to conceive (become sin), two ingredients are necessary, just as two ingredients are necessary for the conception of a human baby. Essential are the contributions of both the father and mother, the egg and the sperm. Similarly, James (the book of James) uses the idea of conception, consisting of two …
Desire | Sin | Submission | Temptation | Weakness Read More »