Gatekeepers
In journalism, the term gatekeeper refers to reporters, editors, and publishers who consider various news items and determine which stories are newsworthy. Some long-time news professionals warn that the Internet allows information to get through without being checked at the gate.
His Part; Our Part
Whenever the Lord assigns us a difficult task, He gives us what we need to carry it out. John Wesley wrote, “Among the many difficulties of our early ministry, my brother Charles often said, ‘If the Lord would give me wings, I’d fly.’ I used to answer, ‘If God bids me fly, I will trust Him for the wings.’”
God Is At Work
We always crave change in a new year. This is why on January 1 we start diets, exercise programs, and new hobbies. Of course, a month later we’re usually back to our old bad habits. Maybe that’s because we crave too big a change and do not have enough power and will to make the changes.
The Bible’s School Of Prayer
To call God and us unequal partners is a laughable understatement. And yet by inviting us to do kingdom work on earth, God has indeed set up a kind of odd-couple alliance. God delegates work to human beings so that we do history together, so to speak. Clearly, the partnership has one dominant partner—something like an alliance between Microsoft and a high school programmer.
Do Your Best And Leave The Rest
Have you at some time found yourself under extreme pressure? Have there been episodes in your life when you were so burdened by tasks and responsibilities that there was simply no breathing space to prepare for your service to God?
Pascal’s Prayer
Blaise Pascal, the brilliant 17th-century intellectual, made significant contributions in the fields of science and mathematics. He established the groundwork for the development of mechanical calculators and modern hydraulic operations.
Fast Feet
While in Chile for a Bible conference, I was resting at the hotel when a rugby match came on the television. Though I don’t fully understand rugby, I enjoy it and admire the courage it takes to play such a dangerous sport.
Don’t Row
During a picnic on a scorching day at a Wisconsin lake, Ole’s fiancée Bess said how much she would enjoy some ice cream. So the young Norwegian immigrant gladly made a 5-mile round-trip by rowboat to bring it to her. When he returned exhausted with a container of melted ice cream, Ole told himself there must be a better way. He put his mechanical mind to work, and a year later in 1907, Ole Evinrude field-tested his lightweight, detachable motor for small boats. He married Bess, and when the outboard motors went into commercial production, she wrote the advertising slogan: “Don’t Row! Throw the Oars Away!”
The Battle Within
My doctor noticed a small spot on my skin—one that he thought needed some attention. It was a tiny problem that had to be treated so it would not grow into something worse. I hadn’t known it was a problem until he pointed it out.
