Ready To Go?
A man decided to make all the necessary arrangements for the day of his funeral. He picked out a burial plot and chose the inscription he wanted carved on his headstone. A minister, who knew him well, heard that he was busily preparing for the inevitable day. So he went to the man and said, "I understand that you've done everything you can possibly do to provide a resting place for your body. Have you given any thought to a resting place for your soul?"
Redirected Paths
As part of a gospel outreach to the community, a group of Christians brought in a popular professional athlete to give his testimony. When he arrived, one of the organizers noticed he was acting arrogant. He pulled the guest aside and said, "We've been praying for this event for a long time. People out there need to see Jesus in you. You are being cocky, and that's not going to do anyone any good."
No Pain, No Gain
Christian educator and author Howard Hendricks cautions parents not to bribe or threaten their children to get them to obey. What they need is firm, loving, and at times painful discipline.
Two Calls
Novelist Bret Lott received two life-changing calls on the same day. The first told him that one of his most promising writing students had died unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm. The second call came several hours later from a popular television talk show host telling Lott that she had chosen one of his novels for her monthly on-air book club. It would mean instant celebrity status and financial success. The first call was sobering, the second was exhilarating—and he had to try to balance the two.
Small Thing, Big Impact
Are most people truth-tellers? Can what they say be taken at face value? Or are they like the ancient Cretans, whose reputation was that they were "always liars"? (Titus 1:12).
Go For The Gold!
Carl Lewis won four gold medals in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Despite his outstanding performance, he was accused of holding back in the long jump. Instead of going for the world record, he stopped competing after his first jump, confident that he would win the gold. Carl said that the Olympic trials had taken more out of him than he had expected, so he decided to save his strength for the other events. He explained that he was there to win gold medals—not to set records that would probably last only a short time.
Outside Our Comfort Zone
Longfellow wrote, "The vine still clings to the moldering wall, but at every gust the dead leaves fall." Like that vine, many churches today cling to the crumbling wall of traditional programs, losing members like dead leaves carried away by the biting winds of our times.
Where Are We Going So Fast?
Scientific measurements indicate that we are moving even when we are standing still. The surface of the earth at the equator rotates at about 1,000 miles per hour. The earth is orbiting the sun at about 67,000 miles per hour. Our solar system whirls around the center of our galaxy at 490,000 miles per hour, and it zooms along at 43,000 miles per hour in the direction of the star Vega in the constellation Lyra. But that's not all. Our Milky Way galaxy is hurtling through space at 1.3 million miles per hour.
The Right Place
People stay away from church for many reasons. Maybe the weather is bad, or it's a busy day, or they don't like guest speakers.
