Heaven's Ambassadors
A fourth-grade classmate of mine made a lasting impression on me. His goal was to be a national ambassador when he grew up. He never achieved this lofty childhood dream, but as a believer in Christ he is an ambassador in a land that is not his real home.
An Experience In Immensity
My wife and I were traveling through northern Texas on Interstate 40, and we pulled off at a rest stop. On a metal sign was a description of the area. One sentence caught my eye. It read, "Traveling the high plains of Texas is an experience in immensity." How true! Stretching out as far as the eye could see was the vast open space of land and sky.
Look Who's Reading You
I heard about a judge who used bumper stickers to encourage better driving. He gave two options to people guilty of driving while intoxicated.
Spiritual Starvation
Many of us live in countries where food is abundant and people are well-fed. That's why we may not be familiar with the symptoms of starvation. At the outset, victims have an insatiable craving for nourishment. As time passes, however, the body weakens, the mind is dulled, and the desire for something to eat wanes. In fact, starving people actually reach a point when they don't even want food that is placed before them.
Childish Or Childlike?
When teaching adults, Jesus talked about childlike faith (Lk. 18:15-17). In 1 Corinthians 13:11, Paul spoke of childish thinking.
Three = One
The Bible teaches that God is one God, even though He exists as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Critics ridicule this concept, saying that we add 1+1+1 and come up with the sum of 1.
A Strategy Of Patience
Patience should characterize the life of every believer who is trying to do God's will. This virtue is illustrated by John Wooden in his book They Call Me Coach. The author, who was head basketball coach at UCLA for many years, said, "In game play, it has always been my philosophy that patience will win out. By that, I mean patience to follow our game plan. If we do believe in it, we will wear the opposition down and will get to them. If we break away from our style, however, and play their style, we're in trouble. And if we let our emotions command the game rather than our reason, we will not function effectively. I constantly caution our team, 'Play your game. . . . Eventually, if you play your game, stick to your style, class will tell in the end! This does not mean that we will always outscore our opponent, but it does ensure that we will not beat ourselves.'"
Telephone Runaround
I needed to make a phone call to my insurance company. It's a good thing I started calling early!
What A Relief!
In November 1996, a man who had spent 23 years evading the law was finally arrested by US marshals outside a Tennessee motel. The long flight began when he disappeared to avoid serving a 2-year sentence for embezzling. While on the run, the man made millions of dollars by apparently legal means, but he could never use his real name or stay long in one place. After the arrest, the man's lawyer said, "If one can feel good about being arrested, I know he feels good that this is going to be behind him."
