The Other Side
Many years ago a doctor made a house call on a dying patient, who asked, “Doctor, what will heaven be like?” The physician paused, trying to think of a helpful reply. Just then they heard the sound of scratching on the closed door of the patient’s bedroom.
Promise Keepers
Joe was a behind-the-scenes kind of person—quiet, unassuming, often unnoticed. To see him, you wouldn’t think he had been carrying a heavy burden for more than 11 years. But Joe carried it well.
A Loud Fizzle
Abe Lincoln told the story of a blacksmith who heated a piece of iron in the forge, not knowing what he was going to make. At first he thought of shaping it into a horseshoe but changed his mind. After hammering on the iron for a while, he decided to try to make it into something else. By this time the metal was no longer malleable. Holding it up with his tongs and looking at it with disgust, the blacksmith tossed it into a vat of water. “Well,” he shrugged, “at least I can make a fizzle out of it!”
Something To Sing About
I understand why I’ve never been asked to join a choir or sing a solo. Musical talent is not one of my gifts. I discovered this at 9 years of age when I was outside one day singing lustily. My mother opened the door and asked, “Is one of the calves sick? I think I just heard one.”
Pure Love
A situation that once was viewed by most people as unacceptable and immoral has become commonplace. According to the National & International Religion Report, before the majority of American marriages take place, the man and woman have already been living together.
To Work Or To Wait?
A gifted and active Christian woman was stricken with an illness that confined her to bed. On her wall hung a motto, Be Strong— and Work for the Lord, based on 1 Chronicles 28:20. But those words, which used to bring her encouragement and strength, now brought only distress.
For His Name’s Sake
In a New York Times interview, a widely recognized man voiced his displeasure with a fast-food chain in whose TV commercials he had appeared. He felt that the quality of some of the items he advertised had been diminishing. Since people associated his name with the product, he didn’t want the corporation’s lowered standards to damage his own name.
When Everything Goes Wrong
Poor Jacob had reached the end of his rope. Hearing upsetting news from his sons who had just returned from Egypt, he said in utter dismay, “Everything is against me!” (Gen. 42:36 NIV).
A Real Relationship
Phillips Brooks, former minister of Boston’s Trinity Episcopal Church, is perhaps best known as the author of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” He was a very busy pastor, yet he always seemed relaxed and unburdened, willing to take time for anyone in need.
