Hearing Aid
Joshua, a precocious 2-year-old, watched his mother baking cookies. “Please, may I have one?” he asked hopefully. “Not before supper,” his mother replied. Joshua ran tearfully to his room, then reappeared with this message: “Jesus just told me it’s okay to have a cookie now.” “Jesus didn’t tell me,” his mother retorted. Joshua replied, “You must not have been listening!”
God’s Little Blessings
Our family was at Disney World a few years ago when God handed us one of His little blessings. Disney World is a huge place—107 acres huge, to be exact. You could walk around for days without seeing someone you know. My wife and I decided to do our own thing while our children sought out the really cool stuff. We parted at 9 a.m. and were planning a rendezvous around 6 p.m.
Gifts Without Guilt
Kara and April left central Russia and traveled across six time zones to attend a retreat in Tallinn, Estonia, for women serving the Lord in Eastern Europe. Because of fogged-in airports and diverted flights, they had to spend an extra $600 on air expenses. Kara felt guilty about leaving her husband to care for their two young children and to run their ministry. The unplanned financial burden added to her guilt, and she e-mailed her husband that she was having difficulty enjoying the retreat.
Cleaning Out The Files
A certain businessman was notorious for saving almost everything that came across his desk—especially correspondence. Consequently, the files in his office were bulging. One day his secretary asked if she might dispose of all the old, useless material. The man was reluctant, but finally said, “Well, all right, but be sure you make a copy of everything before you throw it away.”
Word Hunger
I had just completed a night of Bible conference ministry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was chatting with some of the people who had attended. At the end of the line was a young man in his twenties. He shared with me that he had been a Christ-follower for only about 4 months, and he was eager to learn more of the teachings of the Bible. I referred him to the RBC Web site with the Discovery Series topics as one possible resource for his personal study.
The Dead Sea Squirrels
Our family was excited to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit that was coming to town all the way from Israel. These ancient copies of the Old Testament provide evidence that our Bible has remained accurate over the centuries. Our nephew Daniel was so elated about this outing that he told his schoolmates, “Our family is going to see ‘the dead sea squirrels!’” We all laughed when we heard his misquote. His little ears had turned a word he had never heard (scrolls) into a word he did know (squirrels). And in his childlike enthusiasm, he also knew that the family was going to see something wonderful!
Truth That Transforms
Truth is truth even if it doesn’t seem to affect our lives directly. But the truth that God gives us in the Bible not only opens heaven’s door for us, it also changes our lives.
Instant Access
Pastor Rich McCarrell explained to his young son how his secretary screened his phone calls at the church office. He said, “If your mom calls me and I’m busy, the church secretary will tell her what I’m doing, and then Mom will decide if I should be interrupted or if she should leave a message.”
True Victory
In 2005, the surprising Boys Town High School Cowboys carried a perfect record into a Nebraska state semifinal football game. But more important, the players had taken giant strides toward overcoming their family backgrounds of abuse, abandonment, and neglect that had brought them to the safe, caring environment of Boys Town.
