Preparing Or Enjoying?
When you're 9 years old, you don't want to think a lot about the future. That's why it sometimes doesn't do any good to explain to my son Steven the long-term advantages of struggling through long division and practicing the piano. While I'm trying to convince him that he needs to be preparing for his future, his mind is set on enjoying the present.
The Outward Look
Ours is a self-serving age. That's what George Sweeting, former president of Moody Bible Institute, told graduating seniors at Taylor University. To illustrate, he told of a farmer who was single and wanted a wife. So he put an ad in a newspaper that read: "Man 35 wants woman about 25 with tractor. Send picture of tractor."
Watch What Happens!
A missionary to Haiti was told by a doctor that she might have cancer. A biopsy was performed and sent away for analysis. As she waited for the results, she was filled with fear and could find no peace of mind.
Triumph In Tragedy
Patricia St. John, who has been described as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary faith, poured out her life ministering to people in the neediest places on our planet. She was in Sudan when war refugees flooded that country. They had suffered terribly and had lost everything, yet those among them who were Christians still gave thanks to God.
How Tall Are You?
When it comes to how tall we stand, inherited genetic factors establish a ceiling that limits our height. Regardless of diet and exercise, physical growth ceases at a certain point. No matter how hard we may try, when that limit is reached we can't grow anymore (vertically that is, though many of us have a tendency to continue to expand horizontally).
Think!
Immediately following a soccer game in Athens, Greece, years ago, 21 people died and more than 50 were injured. The tragedy occurred when a wildly excited crowd responded to the victory of their team by blindly rushing out of the stadium. What they didn't realize was that a gate at the bottom of one of the 20 staircases was locked. As the mob reached the gate, many people were trampled by the shoving masses behind them. The fans were celebrating so loudly that they couldn't hear the screams of those who had fallen down.
Back On The Farm
As a 5-year-old keeping the cows out of my father's fields, I was awed by the sounds and sights of a North Dakota summer day. Only the occasional mooing of a cow or the whistling of a meadowlark broke the soft stillness. Shimmering heat waves danced across the prairie while a cautious coyote skulked nearby. Hungry hawks circled overhead as snow-white clouds lazily floated in the sky.
The Restless Sea
I fight a losing battle with black silt on the lake bottom near our cabin. In the morning before my grandchildren awaken, I rake the lake bottom close to the dock so they can wade on clean sand.
Retreat To Replenish
It had been a busy day for Jesus. He was visiting the seaside town of Capernaum, but it was no vacation.
