Point of Reference
Once, in reply to a delegation of bank presidents who urged whether it was not time to give up all thought of the Union, President Abraham Lincoln told the following story......
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Let's Get Physical
Robert Murray McCheyne was a gifted and grace-filled preacher of the gospel in Scotland. He entered Edinburgh University at the age of fourteen in 1827, after which he went on to lead a Presbyterian congregation to over a thousand by the age of twenty-three....
Complacency Is a Killer
While I was ministering at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio, there was a man in our congregation who was a senior pilot with Northwest Airlines. He was among their top ten senior pilots and had some thirty years of flying the Boeing 747 around the...
It Comes With a Guarantee
When a young couple gets married, they immediately dream of getting their own house. They work hard and set about saving their money for a down payment on their dream house. Finally, the day arrives when they draw up the papers to buy the house. They meet with...
The First Place
Gandhi was a great admirer of Christ. He considered the life of Christ a beautiful example of the perfect man. He was deeply impressed by Christ's teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and sought to follow its message. He viewed Christ as the embodiment...
Stand and Be Counted
In The Trouble with Jesus, Dr. Stowell's Gold medallion winning book, he wrote about an incident while serving as president of Moody Bible Institute in the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. Joe Stowell was among a large...
Make Your Mind Up And Get On With It
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip and during the night Holmes said, "Watson, look up into the sky and tell me what you see." Watson said, "I see millions and millions of stars." Holmes...
You Will Get It When You Need It
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian, who along with her father and sister courageously hid Jews in their home during the Second World War. Her family was betrayed and handed over to the...
The First Thing To Do Is Nothing
One of the hardest lessons for us to learn in our walk with God is that sometimes the best thing to do is nothing, nothing in the sense that we actively wait for God to do that which allows us to do more for His...
Pay Attention
Some years ago I attended a Pastor's Conference at Cedarville University in Ohio and heard Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Seminary, tell the following story. On a particular day, a successful executive was speeding down a street in his fancy new...
It's Off to Work We Go
Like all good Israelites, the writer of Proverbs 14:23 assumes the place, dignity and validly of all types of work. "In all (kinds of) labor there is profit." The place and necessity of work are assumed throughout the Old Testament. This appreciation for...
The Blessing of Not Knowing It All
The mother was waiting for her little girl to get off the bus after her first day at school. When she got off the bus, the mother asked her, "What did you learn today?" The little girl replied, "Nothing, I guess. The teacher said I have to come back tomorrow." Life has a way of bringing us all back again and again to the reality of our own ignorance....
Keep ReadingHaving Enough
Many years ago Dr. Joseph Parker, a contemporary of C. H. Spurgeon and pastor of the famous City Temple Church, mounted the steps to his pulpit and announced his reading for the morning as Psalm 23. Slowly and distinctly he read, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want."...
Keep ReadingIt Is All Good
I have a friend in ministry who has a wonderful habit of invariably finishing a conversation especially when talking of difficult problems or people with the words, “It is all good.” His words are based on the wonderful promise of Paul in Romans 8:28 where those loved by God are reminded that God is actively working all things in their lives together for their good....
Keep ReadingPerfect Timing
Phillips Brooks, the former New England pulpiteer, was known for his calm demeanor. So you can guess the surprise of his associates when they found him pacing up and down the floor of his study like a lion in a cage. One of the friends asked, "What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks?" He abruptly responded, "The trouble is that I am in a hurry, but God isn't."...
Keep ReadingTargeted for Assassination
Before entering the ministry, I spent some six years as a reserve police officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. At the time, Northern Ireland was dealing with the insurgency of the IRA terrorist organization which was trying to force the British out of Northern Ireland against the will of the majority of its people. As a police officer, I was a target for assassination....
Keep ReadingFinding the Right Words to Say
I once read about an Ambassador from Spain to America who did not know the English language very well. In a meeting with an American diplomat they began to engage in some small talk, and so the Ambassador was asked if he had any children....
Keep ReadingSpoiled for Choice
Daniel Boone was one of the heroes of the American frontier. It is said that he was once returning from the uncharted forests beyond the Kentucky River, and was asked by a lady if he was ever lost. The famous scout replied, “I cannot say I was ever lost, ma’am, but I was bewildered for three days.”...
Keep ReadingGoing Forward
Some years back the Readers Digest magazine told the story that when someone suggested that rowing become part of the Clemson University’s athletic program, Athletic Director, Frank Howard, declared...
Keep ReadingWork On The Fundamentals
A generation back there was a famous Hollywood actor named Spencer Tracy who starred in such notable flicks as Captain Courageous (1937), Father of the Bride (1950), and The Old Man and the Sea (1958). Most people in that day...
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