Who Packed Your Chute?
Charles Plumb was sitting in a restaurant when a man came up to him and said, "You're Plumb. You flew jet fighters in Vietnam. You were on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know all that?" asked Plumb. The man, who had been on the same ship, replied, "I packed your parachute." Then he added, "I guess it worked." "Indeed it did," said Plumb.
Lost In The Fog
The fog was as thick as pea soup. Visibility was limited to a few feet, and the lake was as smooth as glass. The only sound to break the silence was the laughing of a loon across the lake.
Maintaining Character
News reporting is a tough business that tends to make reporters hard and unfeeling. That's what Barbara Bradley, a correspondent for National Public Radio, tells aspiring journalists. But she also believes it doesn't have to be that way. "I made a strategic decision when I first fell in love with journalism," Bradley says, "that if I found myself beginning to get tough I would leave the business. It's just a career, and why mortgage your character for a career? Maintaining your character counts for something and you can do it; it's just a decision you have to make."
Our Life In Heaven
The following words were inscribed on a gravestone: "Don't weep for me now, don't weep for me ever; for I'm going to do nothing forever and ever." Some people think heaven will be a boring place. Others, after years of exhausting work, look forward to doing nothing in heaven—the ultimate retirement!
It's true that in heaven we will rest from earthly labors (Revelation 14:13), but it's not a place of inactivity. When John saw a vision of the New Jerusalem with the throne of God and the Lamb, and populated with God's redeemed people, he stated plainly, "His servants shall serve Him" (22:3).
Leave It Buried
A 10-year-old boy wanted to be a pastor when he grew up. One day, when the family's black cat died, he had an opportunity to do some "practice preaching" by conducting a funeral.
Flee!
I didn't see the movie The Exorcist, but I do recall its impact on my community. It left a lasting impression on many people about Satan's power. Even many Christians began to live in fear, swayed by the vivid images of evil. It seemed as if the devil was almost as powerful as God.
The Tongue That Defiles
My words have an effect on others; they also have an effect on me. When I speak evil, I not only reveal the sin in my own heart (Luke 6:45), I also reinforce that evil and cause it to grow. Jesus said it's not what goes into my mouth that defiles me, but what comes out. James put it another way: "The tongue . . . defiles the whole body" (James 3:6). My untamed tongue corrupts me.
Faithfulness Required
Much of our attention and praise is directed toward highly visible and successful people. But occasionally we read about an ordinary, obscure person being honored for many years of faithful service. It may be a school custodian, a cafeteria worker, a handyman, or a clerk in a store who has served others in a dependable and unselfish way.
Finding God
Tourists rarely take great photographs. They seldom make the effort to be at the right spot at the right time to get the right angle of light in the right weather conditions. To capture beautiful outdoor pictures, professional photographers are careful to view the scene from different angles, during different seasons, and at different times of day.
This makes me wonder if the reason some people don't have a clear picture of the beauty and glory of God is that they make snap judgments. They come to wrong conclusions about God based on a bad church experience, or an encounter with someone who claims to be a Christian but isn't living like one. They misjudge what the Lord is like and turn away from Him, feeling disillusioned.
