The King's Message
On January 21, 1930, the name of Harold Vidian became synonymous with heroism. On that day, England's King George V was scheduled to give the opening address at the London Arms Conference. The king's message was to be sent by radio all around the world.
The Power Of Demonstration
"If I can make a point with an explosion, I do." That's the motto of chemistry teacher Susan Willson, 1995 Science Teacher of the Year in Texas. Al Balmer, her colleague at McNeil High School in Round Rock, won the same award in 1996. His classroom ceiling bears the marks of numerous soda-bottle "missile" launches, and the walls are pockmarked from being struck by mousetrap-propelled cars.
Lighten Your Load
In her book Streams in the Desert, Lettie B. Cowman tells of a minister who was heavily burdened with anxiety. After carrying this weight for quite some time, he began to realize that his anxiety was almost entirely due to "borrowed" things. A good portion of his worry belonged to tomorrow. An even larger amount related to the week to come. And a sizable percentage was a carryover from his yesterdays.
If God Seems Far Away
In my five decades of ministry, I've talked to many people who were deeply troubled because God seemed far away. They didn't feel that He cared about their personal needs, so they had a difficult time praying.
The Bottom Line
A phrase we often hear is "the bottom line." It comes from the world of business and finance, where it refers to a company's or individual's cash or asset balance. Usually it appears as the final line of the last page of a report or balance statement, so it is referred to as the "bottom line." It tells you how you stand on the most important aspect of the report—how much money you made or lost.
More Than A Conqueror
Fanny Crosby, composer of thousands of songs, was truly "more than a conqueror." When she was only 6 weeks old, faulty treatment of an eye infection resulted in lifelong blindness. By age 8, having fought and won over discouragement, she wrote this poem:
The Eyes Of Mercy
When a Michigan deer hunter found a 100-pound buck struggling to get out of a mud-bog in which it was hopelessly stuck, the hunter couldn't bring himself to squeeze the trigger. Instead, he and his hunting partner snared the animal with a rope and pulled it out of the mud. The deer then bolted to freedom.
Our Father's Anguish
Think about the anguish that the parents of a rebellious son must have felt in Old Testament times! The law required them to bring such a son before the authorities for execution by stoning (Dt. 21:18-21). This was likely carried out only in extreme circumstances, but imagine the emotional struggle they must have endured in fulfilling God's holy law!
Time For Everything
Perhaps the most sought-after but elusive possession of the 90s is "time for everything." The film industry focused on this dilemma in a comedy about a harried man who is cloned so he can fulfill his roles as father, construction foreman, and husband. While pop culture proclaims that people can juggle multiple roles if they just manage them well enough, it takes more than cellular phones and pagers to pull it off in real life.
