In Christian preaching, a goal represents the purposeful aim or divine objective believers pursue, often linked to spiritual growth and eternal rewards (Philippians 3:14). Illustrations frequently use images of determined athletes, explorers, or travelers overcoming obstacles, emphasizing perseverance and focused commitment toward God's calling.
"All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."
T. E. Lawrence (1888 - 1935)
Explorer and writer
Cited in BITS & PIECES
During World War II, critics praised Winston Churchill as a magnificent war leader, but felt he failed to provide England with the spiritual guidance it needed. Upon hearing his criticism, Churchill retorted, “Since I became prime minister, I have appointed no fewer than six new bishops. What more do they want?”
Churchill’s reply exposes a mistake that leaders can make. We think if we provide the sufficient tools, methods, and personnel for a group task, we’ve done our job. But this is management, not leadership. Managers hover over details, ensuring that operations run smoothly; leaders provide the direction and motivation to pursue an overall mission. Managing produces immediate results; leading operates more in the futuristic world of ideas, strategies, and inspiration.
"When I believe that something I am doing is important and right I am not easily dissuaded. I am not afraid of being alone on an issue. And I don't like to lose. When I get into a battle, I fight hard. I don't get discouraged, and I don't give up. I learned at my mother's knee that the way to succeed is to start sooner, work harder and know more than anybody else. And I try to follow that adage. Losing is a habit. And so is winning. I don't accept defeat as final. Only death is final - and even then I hope for a reprieve.
-- Senator Phil Gramm
Existentialist question asked by Tony Campolo to a student: "How long have you lived?" Not how long their blood has been pumping, but really living. C.S. Lewis: "Our age is marked by moderate vice and moderate virtue."
Columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
Spurgeon wrote likewise: “If you are not seeking the Lord, the Devil is seeking you. If you are not seeking the Lord, judgment is at your heels.”
In the Christian life, it’s not enough simply to wake up. We are called to run, to become more like Christ, to press ahead in godliness. Or, as Paul put it,”I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 AV)
On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coghlan, the Irish world record holder at 1500 meters, was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders. With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place -- good enough to qualify for the finals.
He looked over his shoulder to the inside, and seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coghlan a yard before the finish, thus eliminating him from the finals. Coghlan’s great comeback effort was rendered worthless by taking his eyes off the finish line.
It’s tempting to let up when the sights around us look favorable. But we finish well in the Christian race only when we fix our eyes on the goal: Jesus Christ.
In actions speak louder than verbs, Herb Miller writes: Two Kentucky Farmers who owned racing stables had developed a keen rivalry. One spring, each of them entered a horse in a local steeplechase. Thinking that a professional rider might help him outdo his friend, one of the farmers engaged a crack jockey. The two horses were neck and neck with a large lead over the rest of the pack at the last fence, but suddenly both fell, unseating their riders.
The professional jockey remounted quickly and rode on to win the race.
Returning triumphantly to the paddock, the jockey found the farmer who had hired him fuming with rage. “What’s the matter?” the jockey asked. “I won, didn’t I?
“Oh yea,” roared the farmer. “You won all right, but you crossed the finish line on the wrong horse.”
In his hurry to remount after the fall, the jockey has jumped on his competitor’s horse.
Success is meaningless unless we are in the right.
It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman named
Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island. She intended to
swim the channel from the island to the California coast. Long-distance
swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English
Channel in both directions.
The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly
see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with
rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of
the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so
close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she
quit... only one-half mile from her goal.
Later she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I
might have made it." It wasn't the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused
Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog.
Many times we too fail, not because we're afraid or because of the peer
pressure or because of anything other than the fact that we lose sight of the
goal. Maybe that's why Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into
the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because
she could see the land. #1877
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In his book of sermons “The Living Faith,” Lloyd C. Douglas tells the story of Thomas Hearne, who, “in his journeys to the mouth of the Coppermine River, wrote that a few days after they had started on their expedition, a party of Indians stole most of their supplies. His comment on the apparent misfortune was: ‘The weight of our baggage being so much lightened, our next day’s journey was more swift and pleasant.’
“Hearne was in route to something very interesting and important; and the loss of a few sides of bacon and a couple of bags of flour meant nothing more than an easing of the load. Had Hearne been holed in somewhere, in a cabin, resolved to spend his last days eking out an existence, and living on capital previously collected, the loss of some of his stores by plunder would probably have worried him almost to death.”
How we respond to “losing” some of our resources for God’s work depends upon whether we are on the move or waiting for our last stand.
In “Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People,” Stuart Briscoe wrote:
“One of my young colleagues was officiating at the funeral of war veteran. The dead man’s military friends wished to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested the pastor to lead them down to the casket, stand with them for a solemn moment of remembrance, and then lead them out through the side door. This he proceeded to do, but unfortunately the effect was somewhat marred when he picked wrong door. The result was they marched with military precision into a broom closet, in full view of the mourners, and had to beat a hasty retreat covered with confusion.
“This true story illustrates a cardinal rule or two. First, if you’re going to lead, make sure you know where you’re going. Second, if you’re going to follow, make sure that you are following someone who knows what he is doing!”
#1919
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About 350 years ago a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into wilderness.
In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?
Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision.
With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. Without it, we rarely move beyond out current boundaries.
When Apple Computer fell on difficult days a while back, Apple's young chairman, Steven Jobs, traveled from the Silicon Valley to New York City. His purpose was to convince the Pepsi Company's president John Sculley to move west and run his struggling company.
As the two men overlooked the Manhattan skyline from Sculley's penthouse office, the Pepsi executive started to decline Jobs' offer.
"Financially," Sculley said, "you'd have to give me a million-dollar salary, a million-dollar bonus, and a million dollar severance."
Flabbergasted, Jobs gulped and agreed - if Sculley would move to California. But Sculley would commit only to being a consultant from New York. At that, Jobs issued a challenge to Sculley: "Do you want to spend your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?"
In his autobiography "Odyssey," Sculley admits Job's challenge "knocked the wind out of me." He said he'd become so caught up with his future at Pepsi, his pension, and whether his family could adapt to life in California that an opportunity to "change the world" nearly passed him by. Instead, he put his life in perspective and went to Apple.
Many people don't recognize a chance to change the world. Part of the Christian message is letting people know what a difference the gospel makes.
According to a sociologist:
In the 18th century the goal of parents was to have their children survive to adulthood. In the 19th century, the goal of parents was for their children to get good jobs. Today in the 20th century, parents want their children to be happy.
[see also HolwickID #17818]
In a recent NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him. Delcavo was able to convince only four other runners to go with him.
Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way.”
Delcavo was one who ran correctly. In the same way, our goal is to run correctly — to finish the race marked out for us by Christ. We can rejoice over those who have courage to follow, ignoring the laughter of the crowd.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness… “ (2 Tim 4:7-8)
#3155
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Another version from Wit&Wisdom:
The runners in an NCAA cross-country track championship held in Riverside, California, came to a turn that was not well-marked…
Mike Delcavo knew the way and waved frantically for the other runners to follow him. Only four did. One hundred twenty-three out of the 128 runners took the wrong turn and lost their opportunity to win the race. Delcavo later said his competitors were laughing as he chose to take what he knew was the right way.
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Source: KneEmail
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The life of faith is sometimes an uphill trek, but the view from the top is
well worth it. Therefore we must keep moving forward.
1. Take it one step at a time.
2. Take time to eat.
3. Keep moving forward.
4. Travel in fellowship.
5. Look back (remember).
6. Stay on the alert.
7. Behold the beauty.
8. You will reach the peak.
#3483
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that "Hope without an object cannot live." If you have ever lost the focus of life, you understand hopelessness. Perhaps you have invested much into your job, marriage, or the struggles of life; and then you saw it all destroyed. The object of your hope is gone, and you feel dead and aimless.
Psychologist William Marston asked 3,000 people this question: "What do you have to live for?" 94 percent responded that they were merely enduring their lives, hoping someday that things would get better. I suppose that this is an expression of hope to a small degree, hoping that the future will be better than the past or present. Yet, this seems so inadequate. If our only encouragement is found in hoping for a better tomorrow, is this an adequate hope? It has been said that some people see only a hopeless end, but the Christian sees an endless hope. The Bible says that hope will always remain.
People need a reason to live, and resources for living:
It is not uncommon to find people without a reason for living. They simply exist until they can bear it no longer, or they fill their emptiness with meaningless pursuits. Other people have reasons for living, but no resources for living. Once they attain to their reason for living they are left disappointed or strangely empty.
Many astronauts in America's space program experienced this. Jim Irwin said his whole life revolved around the mission to land on the moon. Once the mission was completed, he experienced a severe depression. He concluded that the only lasting reason for living had to be found in God, and so he became a Christian. Two other astronauts who went on the moon also became believers and are involved in Christian ministries.
Sermon in Philippians series. Forget past, press ahead. Phil. 3:12-14
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FORGET AND PRESS
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I. Think of it as a race.
A. Athletics in college and ancient Greece.
B. Three keys for successful Christian running.
II. The race isn't over yet.
A. Some Christians act like it is.
1) Perfectionism.
2) Smug triumphalism.
B. Paul: "Not that I have obtained all this."
1) Salvation is a process.
2) Face your faults.
III. Don't look back.
A. "Forgetting what is behind."
B. What we look back at.
C. What memory do you need to let go of?
IV. Focus on the future.
A. Pressing and straining.
B. Aim high.
C. What are you living for?
V. A prize is waiting.
#4346
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I spoke at a middle school in the spring of 1995. When the program was over, the principal asked me if I would pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and the principal knew it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out some things about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy. When he was born, the doctors told his parents that he would not live to see 5, then they were told he would make it to 10. He was 13 and from what I was told, a real fighter. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for your dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different; he just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me.
When we finished talking, I went into my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I won for power lifting and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “Rick, you are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday, when I get to the Olympics and win my gold medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before.
Dear Rick,
My mom said I should send you a thank-you letter for the neat picture you sent me. I also wanted to let you know that the doctors tell me I don’t have long to live anymore. It is getting very hard for me to breathe and I get tired very easy, but I still smile as much as I can. I know that I will never be as strong as you and I know we will never get to lift weights together. I told you someday I was going to go to the Olympics and win a gold medal. I know now I will never get to do that. But I know I am a champion, and God knows that too. He knows I am not a quitter,and when I get to heaven, God will give me my gold medal, and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thanks for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
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By Rick Metzger, from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger
#4672
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Out on the road we have the wonderful opportunity, especially in the autograph lines, to sit and talk to everybody and get the feedback on songs like my song, "Living in a Moment You Would Die For."
As an artist, it tells me we are doing our job when we're touching people's hearts. That's the whole purpose of music. It's what it's all about when we can make just a little difference in people's lives.
I had this seven-year-old boy and his father come up to me. The boy stuck his hand out and said, "Mr. Ty, I really love your song, 'Living in a Moment You Would Die For.'" And I said, "Well, that's great, son."
And as he turned to walk away, his father looked over and said, "No, he's really got a story to tell you. He lost his mom. She died during childbirth." And the boy turned and said, "To me, she was that person - she died for me. 'I am living in the moment that she died for.'"
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By Ty Herndon, from Chicken Soup for the Country Soul, Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Ron Camacho
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"In soloing [flying] - as in other activities - it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it."
[Earhart failed to complete her round-the-world flight in 1937 and was never seen again.]
Amelia Earhart (1897 - 1937)
Aviator
Cited in BITS & PIECES
It all began in a cage containing five apes. In the cage a banana was hung on a string, stairs were placed under the banana. Before long, an ape went over to the stairs and started to climb. As soon as he touched the stairs, someone outside the cage sprayed all the apes with ice water.
In a few minutes, another ape began to make his way up the stairs toward the banana ... again, all the apes were sprayed with ice water.
As the day wore on, several more attempted to reach the banana; each time the result was the same: the other [more experienced] apes physically stopped him.
At this time, one of the original apes was removed and replaced by a new one. The new ape roamed around for a minute; then he spied the banana. Immediately, he made his way to the stairs. To his horror, all the other apes attacked him. After another attempt and attack, he realized if he tried to climb the stairs, he’d be assaulted again.
Soon another of the original apes was removed; like the other, he was replaced by a new ape. This newcomer saw the banana and the stairs right away; he wasted no time going for the prize. But, lo, he was attacked savagely. Interestingly, the previous newcomer took part in the punishment of this upstart, doing it with enthusiasm.
Still a third member of the original group was replaced by a new one. The new ape made a turn toward the stairs but was attacked before getting there. Strangely, two of the four apes that beat him had no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they were participating in the beating of each newcomer.
After replacing the fourth and final apes, all of those who had been sprayed with ice water were gone. None of the current occupants of the cage ever again approached the stairs, they only looked longingly at the banana. Why not?
Because that's the way it had always been around there, and that's how their traditions always began.
Comments: Paul told us we should fight the good fight, but he intended that our fight be against the enemies of the cross. Little did he know how many would infiltrate the church, or what effect it would have on the children of God.
God hung a banana over the work of every church. He knew it would not be easy to reach, what with the opposition guaranteed to come; but He desires we persist in spite of hardships and headaches, ice water and beatings.
Many churches earnestly recruit new apes ... but, more often than not, the minute he turns toward the prize that’s before him, he’s beaten back by his fellow apes.
________
Adapted from a story by an unknown author via an e-mail from a friend.
Einstein was on a train coming to New York City but couldn't find his ticket. As the brilliant scientist frantically searched for his ticket, the train's conductor recognized him and assured Einstein it would not be necessary for him to find his ticket. Continuing to search, however, Einstein told the conductor, "This is not an issue of trust, but of direction. Without that ticket, I have no idea where I am going."
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Version by Wit and Wisdom, 3/25/05 --
In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, “We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.” So he agreed.
After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century.
Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his other pocket. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat by him. He couldn't find it.
The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively.
The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.'
Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'“
Having said that Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.
You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I'm going.”
"The secret of life is to have a task. Something that you devote your entire life to, something to bring everything to, every minute of the day, for your whole life. And the important thing is, it must be something you can't possibly do."
Henry Moore (1831 - 1895)
Painter
Cited in BITS & PIECES
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"Success is not a destination: It is a journey. The happiest people I know are those who are busy working toward specific objectives. The most bored and miserable people I know are those who are drifting along with no worthwhile objectives in mind."
Zig Ziglar
Professional speaker
Cited in BITS & PIECES
In Philippians 3:8 Paul states, "I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus..."
His reason for this statement was to proclaim his reason for being, knowing Jesus. No business, church, family, or individual can be effective, unless they know their reason for existing.
A good example of this is the IRS; like them or not, they know their purpose. Their handbook says: "[Even] during a national emergency resulting from enemy attack, the essential functions of the Service will be as follows: assessing, collecting, and recording taxes."
While everyone else panics, they'll be doing what they're supposed to do -- take our money.
Application: What is your primary purpose in life? If we asked this question today we'd get a variety of answers. Some would say:
To be a good wife or husband.
To be a good parent.
To provide for my family.
To do my job.
To survive retirement.
And so on.
These are worthy, but unsatisfactory. The question is "What is your primary purpose in life"?
What is the purpose of an ink pen? Of course the answer is: "To write"! But a $1,000, gold Le Blanc, which is out of ink, may be attractive, but it's a failure as a pen! It's not fulfilling its intended purpose. When it's time to endorse your lottery winnings, you'd pass over the gold pen for a 29¢ BIC, if it worked.
Paul is saying "I want to know Christ so I may be like Him." This is also our reason for being.
Unfortunately, on the day of the Lord's return for His Bride, "the essential functions of the church will continue as follows: philosophizing, posturing, collecting and recording of tithes."
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Henry David Wadsworth Longfellow :
"Nor deem the irrevocable past
As wholly wasted, wholly vain
If rising on its wrecks, at last
To something nobler we attain."
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Cynthia Kersey has written a book on successful small-business entrepreneurs. "Unstoppable" is written for those with dreams but who've been discouraged by the nags of naysaying. Kersey profiles 45 small-business owners who've overcome every obstacle in their journey to fulfill their dream.
Seven common factors appear in each of these success stories:
a. They followed their hearts!
b. They were devoted to their goal!
c. They believed in themselves!
d. They prepared for/anticipated challenges!
e. They accepted help/built a support team!
f. They sought creative solutions!
g. They persevered to the end!
[Unstoppable, published by Cynthia Kersey & Associates)
Application: I am continually astonished at the world's propensity to co-opt biblical principles and concepts without attribution. Kersey may have written a fine book but her material is not original, to her or any other latter-day social scientist.
Jethro offered Moses a lesson in "span-of-control" and hierarchical leadership models long before the first French management specialist supposedly originated the idea. Joseph demonstrated ethics in his workplace, long before Bill Clinton fail to do so in his and started a whole industry of business ethicists. And Jesus, well His lessons on perseverance are legend. These are just a few of the many examples to be gleaned from the Testaments. Yet Paul told us the world knows the Law of God instinctively. [Romans 2:14-16]
Each of Kersey's seven observations are well documented in the God's Word:
a. God tells us our hearts are the seats of the motivation to do good
or evil; where our treasure is our heats will follow.
b. We are taught we are to set our minds of things above, eternal
goals.
c. The Bible says a wee small voice will guide us, and while listening
to that voice we are to trust ourselves to Him.
d. The parable of the ten virgins teaches us to prepare; we are told
that we should anticipate tribulations in this world.
e. Paul said we should be united in the bonds of peace, that we should
work together, and that we should consider the interests of
others as more important than our own.
f. We are taught not to fear man but God and that all things are
lawful but not all things are profitable.
g. Certainly the letters to the seven churches in Revelation
challenge us to persevere.
It occurs to me that the business world would benefit greatly by requiring all first year business and management students to take a course in biblical business and management principles.
Source/Attribution: John Gillmartin
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Each winter, certain parts of America get hammered with monster snowstorms. And when it's our turn, we all have stories about how we survived the winter of whatever year it is. Well, no one's got a story like a Norwegian explorer named Boerge Ousland. For 64 days, he saw little more than white. He recently became the first person to ever cross the continent of Antarctica alone and unaided. It took him 64 days to cover those frozen 1,675 miles. He harnessed Antarctica's fierce winds by strapping himself to this parachute-like sail. With the winds in his favor, he could ski as much as 140 miles a day. All the while, he's towing a sled carrying about 400 pounds of supplies, enduring monotony and even temperatures that dipped to 40 degrees below zero. After his incredible journey, Ousland talked about the huge mental challenge of facing seemingly endless fields of snow. But here's how he did it, in his own words, “It's so big and so far - you have to keep concentrating on the near future and make every day a victory.” Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “So Big, So Far, So Doable.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 6:25 and following, “Do not worry about your life ... look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?’ or 'What shall we drink?’ or 'What shall we wear?’ Your Heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Jesus' orders here are real clear - repeated three times, “Do not worry.” What makes us worry? Things that are, in the words of that Antarctic explorer, “so big and so far.” In fact, right now you may be facing a situation like that - maybe several of them. They look as huge as the vast expanse of Antarctica must have looked to that explorer. You're looking at or maybe you're worrying about an overwhelming challenge in your finances, or your family, maybe your health, your responsibilities, or a relationship. But your anxiety is contributing absolutely nothing to managing this situation. If anything, worry is actually paralyzing you, or distorting your judgment, or robbing you of the energy you need for this challenge.
Listen to the teaching of your Master - don't keep dragging your tomorrows into your today. Worry is trying to live your tomorrow before you get there; before you have the grace for that day that God only issues in 24-hour increments. Jesus is saying, “Just do today!” That's how one man handled the seemingly endless winter of his Antarctic journey. He said, “You have to keep concentrating on the near future.” Yes, like today!
He said, “Make every day a victory.” That's how you deal with a child who's taking everything you've got as a parent. It's how you beat a sin that's conquered you for so long. It's how you dig your way out of a mountain of debt. It's how you manage the unmanageable. “Make every day a victory.” And on those days that don't exactly turn out to be victorious, put that day behind you and start fresh on that next new day. Remember, the Bible says, “His mercies are new every morning.”
When you stop worrying about tomorrow and you focus on today - and on your Heavenly Father who knows what you need - what seems so big and so far becomes so doable.
________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1865]
Did you ever see a company of soldiers going through their exercises? Well, if you have, you will remember that, after their muskets are loaded, the officer who is exercising them calls out, “Make ready -- take aim -- fire.”
The aim of each soldier is the thing which he tries to hit when he fires his gun.
When soldiers are engaged in what is called target-shooting, or firing at a mark, they have a large board set up, at some distance from them. The surface of this board is painted all over in black and white rings or circles. In the center of the board is a small black circle, sometimes called the bull’s-eye. Every soldier, as he takes aim, tries to hit the bull’s-eye, or black circle, in the center of the board. The aim of the soldier is that which he tries to hit with his gun.
And in the same way we use the word aim as referring to anything a person undertakes to do. If a new scholar enters your class in school, and says to himself, as he enters, “Now I am going to be the head of this class,” and if he begins to study his lessons with great diligence and care, so as to get above the others, then you may say the aim of that scholar is to be the head of the class.
The aim of Christopher Columbus was to discover a shorter way to India. The aim of Sir John Franklin and his companions, who perished in the Arctic regions, was to find out a passage by sea from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. The aim of Dr. Kane, in his voyage to the north, was to find out what had become of Sir John Franklin. The aim of Dr. Livingstone, in his long journey through Africa, was to find out the best way of carrying the gospel into the interior of that vast country.
There are a great many aims that people set before them in this world. Some aim to get great riches others to get a great name; and others to enjoy great pleasure. But St. Paul tells us of an aim that is much better than all these. He says, Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
________
J. Wilbur Chapan, “Present Day Parables.”
John Wesley's Rule for Christian Living (also called his Closing Hymn):
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can,
In every place you can,
At all the times you can,
To everyone you can,
As long as you ever can –
Do all the good you can.
_______________
Christian History; also found in Margaret T. Applegarth, {Twelve Baskets Full,} Harper's, 1957, 37.
===============
Another version:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
- John Wesley
In 1963 Thomas Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld were the first humans to ascend Mount Everest along the western ridge. From his account of that journey:
_________________________
For those who didn't dally, our daily treks ended early in the afternoon, but rarely before the heat and aching feet forced us to ask each passing Sherpa, "How much farther to camp?" The reply, we soon were to discover, was invariable: "Only two mile more, Sah'b...."
Evenings were peaceful, smoke settling in the quiet air to soften the dusk, lights twinkling on the ridge we would camp on tomorrow, clouds dimming the outline of our pass for the day after. Growing excitement lured my thoughts again and again to the West Ridge [of Everest]....
There was loneliness, too, as the sun set, but only rarely now did doubts return. Then I felt sinkingly as if my whole life lay behind me. Once on the mountain I knew (or trusted) that this would give way to total absorption with the task at hand. But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.
Thomas F. Hornbein
"Everest: The West Ridge"
"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible."
-- Jonathan Swift
"Never let your memories be greater than your dreams."
-- Doug Ivester
"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."
-- Wayne Gretzky
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow them."
-- Louisa May Alcott
"The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it."
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick
"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see..."
-- Henry David Thoreau
"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), Philosopher (Bits & Pieces, 4/12/02)
"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."
-- Japanese proverb (Bits & Pieces, 4/12/02)
"Never let your memories be greater than your dreams."
-- Doug Ivester
"All of our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them."
-- Walt Disney
"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams."
-- Dr. Jonas Salk
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose."
-- Brian Tracy
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable."
-- Christopher Reeves
"Live out of your imagination, not your history."
-- Stephen Covey
"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time."
-- Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British prime minister
"Hold on to your dreams for they are, in a sense, the stuff of which reality is made. It is through our dreams that we maintain the possibility of a better, more meaningful life."
-- Leo Buscaglia
"Why is it when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?"
-- Lily Tomlin (http://www.bigwacko.com/)
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
-- Oscar Wilde (http://www.bigwacko.com/)
"I always advise young people to dream small dreams, because small dreams can be achieved, and once you achieve a small dream and a small success, it gives you confidence to go on to the next big step."
-- John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing Company, B&P 6/23/03
"Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away."
-- Tom Clancy, novelist, QFTM 6/28/03
"The significance of a person is not in what they attain but rather in what they long to attain."
-- Kahlil Gibran, Wit & Wisdom 9/23/03
*
"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community."
-- Albert Einstein
Jason Robards once told Louis Botto an incredible story that he didn't believe until he read it in a "New York Times" article. According to Robards, before he achieved success as an actor, he was sitting on a bench in Central Park one day when a man approached and asked if he wanted a job. "What kind of job?" the actor asked. The stranger escorted him to a brownstone next door to the Alvin Theatre on West 52nd Street (now the Neil Simon Theatre).
Robards was ushered into a room full of tables with straps on them and levers on the side. "What do you do here?" the curious actor inquired. "We stretch people" was the reply. "Who wants to be stretched?" Robards asked. "Mainly applicants for the police department, who have to be 5'8" tall, and short men with a tall date for a few hours."
Robards took the job, but one day a friend of his in the police department warned him not to go to work the next day. "We're going to raid the place, so don't be there," he advised. The actor stayed home, and the stretch parlor was not only raided, but closed for good the next day.
My dad had taken me on all kinds of rides at Riverview Amusement Park that day - but he wanted to take me on their biggest roller coaster, "The Bobs." I did not share his excitement. I'd seen the commercials with people screaming in terror as they were catapulted through space on those murderous ups and downs! But I gave in. As we were subjected to those heart-stopping heights and drops, Dad tried to talk to me. I didn't scream, I didn't cry - I didn't do anything. I was frozen. No sounds, no expression, no signs of life.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Stocks, Profits, And Other Exciting Roller Coasters."
I guess that roller coaster was supposed to be fun - I just wanted off! Actually, a lot of folks are feeling that way these days - folks who've been riding the financial roller coaster on Wall Street, in corporate earnings, in layoff threats. If it was ever "fun," it's not fun anymore. There's a growing uneasiness about the future for many people. But it's not just about the latest high or low on the Dow Jones - it's just the nature of any security that is rooted in "earth-stuff" of any kind.
In a sense, all earth stuff is a roller coaster. Just ask anyone who's suddenly lost their home in a storm or a fire ... or who've lost a 30-year job ... or even their personal health or their life partner. Just like that roller coaster I dreaded, a lot of us have felt the bottom suddenly drop out of something we were counting on.
Which gets us thinking about what is really important in the short ride we have here on earth. In a sense, everything in our lives can be divided into one of two columns - stuff that really matters and stuff that really doesn't. And while our roller coaster is riding high, we tend to neglect the things that really matter. Like the God who made us. The God we'll meet the moment our heart beats for the last time.
The problem is that your earth-pursuits may have blinded you to what really matters ... to what really lasts. They may have even marginalized God in your life. Most of us make a little room for God at the edges - a little church, a little charity. But He's God! He's supposed to be the "sun" we revolve our life around, not one of the "planets" that revolves around us.
Mark 8:36, our word for today from the Word of God, provides the ultimate profit-and-loss sheet on your life and mine. Jesus simply asks, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" A little later, He told about a rich man who was planning how to expand his already huge empire and relishing that he had "plenty of good things laid up for many years." God broke in and said, "This very night your life will be demanded from you." (Luke 12:16-20)
One day God will surprise you with that same announcement - "It's over." And then all that will matter is whether or not the sins of your life have been forgiven ... whether or not you belong to the God who made you. But because we've all been so full of "us," the Bible says there's a "grand canyon" between us and our Creator. It can only be bridged by Jesus Christ - because He died on the cross to take the rap for every wrong thing you've ever done.
And the "roller coaster" you've ridden lately may actually be a wakeup call from God - to turn you from what can never be secure to an anchor relationship with Him that you can never lose. If you've never begun that personal relationship with Jesus and you want to - would you tell Him that right now? And I want to send you the booklet called "Yours For Life" that I wrote about this relationship, if you just let me know you want it.
There may be more ups and downs - but you're headed into your future, anchored to the never-leave-you love of Jesus Christ - and knowing that this ride ends in His arms.
________________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"
*
If you've ever checked your suitcase when you're about to take a trip by airplane, you know what they do with our luggage. No, not lose it. Not usually. The ticket agent determines what your final destination will be, he prints out an adhesive sticker with that destination on it, and he puts it around your suitcase handle. And then you settle back in your seat, knowing that bag will meet you at the other end of the trip. With the millions of bags the airlines handle daily, it's amazing that most go straight to the right destination. Now there are some exceptions. Like the one I checked in Idaho about two weeks ago. Oh, I checked it through to my final destination - Newark, New Jersey. It's still floating somewhere out there in the Baggage Twilight Zone. Well, like I said, most of the time they get it to your final destination.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Checked Through To Your Final Destination."
If you belong to Jesus Christ, God has placed a final destination sticker on you! It says "Heaven." And I am happy to report to you that, unlike human delivery systems, God's record is 100% in delivering what is in His care to the final destination He promised. He's never lost one that was entrusted to Him.
Our word for today from the Word of God starts with John 10:27 - in a sense, your personal life insurance policy ... for eternal life, that is. Jesus says, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand."
Jesus says, "I know the ones who are Mine, and I've put My final destination sticker on them. It says 'Eternal Life.' No one is going to get them away from Me. I won't stop until I've delivered them safely home." Isn't that awesome? Your getting to Heaven isn't up to you. That's what the Bible means when it says it is "not by works" but that it is "by grace you have been saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Now it may be that you have often questioned whether or not you really belong to Jesus - whether or not your final destination is Heaven ... whether that's really settled. Those recurring doubts could be for one of two reasons. One is that you really don't belong to Jesus. He's in your head, but not in your heart. Even though you have a lot of Christianity, maybe you've missed Christ! You know He died on the cross to pay the death penalty for the sinning you've done - that you need Him as your personal Savior. But maybe somehow you've missed that actual moment of commitment, when you stand at Jesus' cross yourself and say, "For me, Jesus. What you did here is for me. Right now I'm giving me to You."
I know I'm married because I know there was a time when I made a conscious commitment of my life to Karen. If you have committed yourself to Jesus, you should know you have. If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. And it's important you get it settled today - before your heart turns harder or you risk another day without Jesus.
The other reason you may not be sure of your final destination is that you've fallen for the devil's big lie. He knows that, based on your trust in Jesus Christ, God has put His "Heaven" sticker on you. Satan's lost you - so he's reduced to making you wonder if you're really going to Heaven. Your enemy wants you to spend your whole life wondering if you belong to Jesus instead of living like you do! Don't fall for it any longer!
If you're not sure there's been a time when you've begun your relationship with Jesus Christ, make sure today - once and for all. You can wonder if God has ever marked you for Heaven before today, but you'll know He did it today if He's never done it before.
Then, enjoy the trip each new day. Let your life be a living "Thank You" card to Jesus, joyfully obeying Him. You're in the hands of the One who has never lost one that is truly committed to Him - and He will deliver you safely to your destination in Heaven. After all, He paid your fare with His life!
________________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"
*
"If you don't know where you're going, when you get there you'll be lost."
Yogi Berra
Cited in Even More of the Best of...BITS & PIECES
If you happen to watch the Discovery Channel on cable TV, you can end up seeing some real "reality TV" - including some pretty unusual fare. How about this one, "The Search for the Giant Squid"? No, that is not an adventure flick - it was a documentary about one scientist's quest to film what no one has ever filmed - the giant squid. For the whole hour, the viewer follows this man's almost lifelong pursuit. You watch as the likely target area is identified - as an expensive expedition follows clues that seem to be leading to the elusive prey - the giant squid. But at the end, you find out you got sucked into an expedition that ultimately failed to find what it was looking for.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "The Long Search For That Elusive Goal."
It's disappointing - a long search, an expensive search, that ends up not finding what it was looking for. For many of us, that could be our life story. Maybe yours.
It could be that you've been on your quest since you were a teenager. You've been through a lot of relationships since then - sampled a lot of experiences - maybe enjoyed a few achievements along the way -even found a pretty respectable status quo. But you still haven't found what you hoped you'd find by now. In spite of all the places you've looked, you still can't honestly answer the million dollar question - "Why am I here?" You still haven't found what will give you the love you need and fill that hole in your heart.
At the peak of her fortune and fame, with 146 tennis championships behind her and married to John Lloyd, Chris Evert said this: "We get into a rut. We play tennis, we go to a movie, we watch TV, but I keep saying, 'John, there has to be more.'" Maybe you know that feeling. The good news is: there is more. Much more.
In John 4:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is talking with a woman who has been searching for a long time. In her case, her search has taken her into a series of unfulfilling relationships with men. And since they meet at a well where they have each come for a drink, Jesus puts his diagnosis of her restlessness in these words: "Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become a spring of water, welling up to eternal life."
Jesus says that all our earth-sources of love and meaning are wells we have to keep going back to for more - and they never satisfy for long. But what He offers is a relationship with Him that puts the source inside us where it can't be touched, where it will never leave us thirsty again.
That "eternal life" He promises did not come cheap. We're searching because we're away from our Creator - not by His choice, but by ours. We've done our life our way, not His way. And the only way the wall between Him and us could come down was for Jesus to pay for the sinning you and I did - by dying on the cross for them.
Today, Jesus - the One you were made by and made for - is offering to be the end of your search. He's what you've been looking for all your life - that search ends at His cross. You can tell Him right where you are - "Jesus, I'm tired of looking and not finding. You're right - I've blown it with God. But I believe You died to bring me to Him. I'm Yours beginning today." If that's what you want, I hope you'll let me send you the booklet, "Yours For Life," that I wrote about this relationship. Just let me know you want it.
You're so very close to the answers you've been searching for so long. His name is Jesus. Don't live another empty day without Him.
________________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'
*
Like other athletes preparing for the New York City Marathon, Zoe Koplowitz knows the usual tips: Dress for the weather, pace yourself, start out slow. But slow for Koplowitz, who takes to the 26.2-mile course every year with two fuschia crutches that match her eye shadow, can mean a race that stretches well into the next day.
“Last year was a little better than usual,” said Koplowitz, 55. “I knocked it off in 28 hours.”
Like the 30,000 or so runners attempting the marathon this Sunday, Koplowitz goes as fast as she can. She was diagnosed 30 years ago with multiple sclerosis, the degenerative disease of the nervous system. She also has diabetes. She wears thigh braces because she suffers from a painful leg condition called illotibial band syndrome. She has carpal tunnel syndrome in her wrists from using crutches.
That hasn't stopped the motivational speaker from finishing 17 marathons, 15 of them in New York and all of them in last place.
“A cab driver told me something. It was a very nice analogy. I was kind of like the Yankees,” she said. “People have a need for me to win because they have a need to win themselves. And when I finish, they do, too.”
Marathon spokesman Richard Finn said, “We think it's great that she keeps coming back.”
Koplowitz' first marathon, in 1988 when she was 40, was her fastest: 19 hours, 57 minutes.
“I thought it would be 12 hours. I thought that I would just go and go and go until I got there,” the New Yorker said.
Her longest marathon was more than 33 hours, in 2000. The weather that year was humid and warm, conditions that generally exacerbate her MS.
Koplowitz begins her journey at the Verrazano Bridge starting line at 6 a.m., more than four hours before the other runners. She stops every mile to stretch, and tests her blood sugar every two hours. She doesn't take a break of longer than 15 or 20 minutes, except one stop at a restaurant during the last nine or 10 miles. She doesn't sleep.
The Guardian Angels, the volunteer civilian patrol, watch over Koplowitz for the last 10 miles. Restaurants and police precincts open their doors for her in the middle of the night.
For using her crutches - nicknamed Spot and Rover - a good part of her training is upper-body weight work. “I've got biceps that make grown men weep,” she says.
When she's not marathoning, she needs one crutch to walk.
Koplowitz is not the only disabled marathoner. The Achilles Track Club, which represents disabled runners, estimates that more than 1,000 members ran the marathon last year.
Her finish is not scored; the New York City Marathon stops recording finishers after eight hours.
She doesn't have an exact time goal. She always tells herself 24 hours, “but I realize I pushed very, very hard last year and I got 28.”
“I know that I won't be able to do this forever,” Koplowitz said. “Each year is very special to me.”
Once asking his mother for a definition of sin, John Wesley received a response fit for theology books. “Take this rule,” Susanna Wesley wrote to John. “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”(1)
In a world that vehemently rejects the depravity of humankind, and much less desires a definition for a word deemed prehistoric and intolerant, what can we glean from her careful words? I believe we can glean much, though the thought I suggest is simple.
Among the notions of the business world runs a common thread of thought: no successful corporate entity exists for long without a mission statement. Any business that seeks to organize itself always determines a final goal by which all distractions are judged and removed. In a sense, Mrs. Wesley defined sin as anything that distracts you from your ultimate mission in life. In our attention-deficit disordered culture, distractions abound. But you will never understand what a distraction is until you clearly enunciate your final goal. Have you defined that goal for your life?
When Boris Becker was interviewed after his second Wimbledon victory, he was asked a simple question. Noting the tennis pro had overcome much to achieve a goal many can only dream of accomplishing, the reporter asked, “What is your greatest challenge in life?” Becker answered quickly. His greatest challenge, he said, was to keep from committing suicide.
In his words is a careful warning. We must choose our goals carefully. If when we accomplish our goals, we find our lives still lacking, it may have been a worthy goal, but it was not a goal worthy of defining our life's purpose. It was not meant to be our final goal.
When a news reporter asked another one of our athletic heroes why he chose to become a Christian, Deion Sanders spoke about the night his team won the Super Bowl. It was after all of the interviews and victory photos had been taken. He had just finished ordering a new car. And as he sat there, he suddenly realized that every goal he had ever attempted had now been reached. The mere thought of this made him uneasy. The empty and dejected part of him would never be filled with fame or accomplishments. Turning to Christ, he cried for wholeness.
In a hymn written after the death of a friend, John Wesley sings of a life unobscured by lesser goals than this.
Servant of God, well done!
Thy glorious warfare’s past;
The battle’s fought, the race is won,
And thou art crowned at last.
When your mission statement in life is a relationship with God, you will find there is no greater purpose, nothing that gives your life more significance. Then to his glory you will say of your goals: “I can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
________
1. Letters of Susanna Wesley, June 8, 1725.
________
Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
*
Once there were three boys playing on the snow-covered ground. Along came a man who suggested that the boys race, with the winner receiving a prize. The boys readily agreed.
The man explained the rules for the race. He would stand at the end of the field. When he gave the signal, the boys were to start to run. The boy who had the straightest footprints in the snow would be the winner.
The race started and the first boy kept looking at his feet to make sure his steps were straight. The second boy kept looking at his contestants to see what they were doing; but the third boy just ran on with his eyes firmly fixed on the man at the end of the field. The third boy was the winner, because his footsteps were straight in the snow. He had kept his eyes on the goal ahead of him.
Life is like that race. If we take our focus off Christ and begin looking down at our circumstances, we will fail. It is easy to get bogged down with the day-to-day struggles that we encounter, but we must realize that God will take care of us. We can never be the man and woman that Christ wants us to be if we lose our focus.
A focused life is a life built on faith. When we trust God to take care of the circumstances, we will be free of the worry and doubt that will throw us off track.
Quote: A man focused on God always knows the direction he is headed.
(Seminary student gives a Miss America finalist a list of qualities he is looking for in a wife. They later marry.)
Scarlett Morgan had heard all the one-liners.
Years of experience fending off hormone-driven men had taught her to spot a come-on from a mile away.
But this one was different.
"I have a mystery that I need you to help me solve," Scott Smith told Morgan as the two Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary students stood in the lobby of the school's Ledford Center weight room.
"Trust me," Smith said, assuring her their meeting that night (Feb. 14, 1995) would not be considered a date, after several previous attempts by Smith to lure Morgan on a romantic evening with a meal or movie had failed.
This time, however, Morgan agreed to meet Smith for coffee after a missionary commissioning service on campus.
After all, Smith was not a total stranger, Morgan reasoned to herself before accepting his invitation. The two had participated in a couple of revival services together. She sang. He preached.
"Scott had always hit me as a different person," Morgan said.
Morgan first met Smith in September 1994 when he boldly approached her on a sidewalk on the seminary campus and introduced himself.
For Morgan, spontaneous introductions from strangers had become routine following her crowning as Miss North Carolina in 1990. And besides, Morgan said, everyone at seminary was always friendly.
But when Smith bought her a cup of coffee in the seminary cafe and handed her a list of 30 qualities he desired in his future wife, Morgan was speechless.
"When I saw the list, I said to myself, 'I cannot believe this, Lord, what are you doing?'" she said. "I had been praying about the Lord's direction in my life."
Smith told Morgan he also had been praying for nine months that God would send him wife.
Smith's criteria for a mate included characteristics such as ministry-minded, people-oriented, musically talented, adaptable and adventurous.
"I just ask that you prayerfully consider what you've heard," Smith told Morgan.
"At the end she didn't give me a response," Smith said. "I came away that night with a clear realization that she didn't say anything."
Still, he said, he knew he had done the right thing. He said he had prayed fervently for several days before asking Morgan to meet with him. Earlier, he had even sought the advice of one his preaching professors, Wayne McDill, who suggested he make the list of characteristics he desired in a wife.
"I had 30 things on that list and I knew she matched" all of them, Smith said.
Smith said he had felt compelled to share the desires of his heart with Morgan after receiving a sign from God following a revival service in November 1994 that affirmed his continued pursuit of Morgan despite her repeated rejections.
"I put out a fleece," Smith said. "I prayed if there is anything to be expected after that match (with his list of characteristics of a wife) then Billie Kay Tsika will offer me hot tea." Smith said that he had no idea whether Tsika, wife of evangelist Paul Tsika, even drank hot tea. But following a revival service in Elberton, Ga., Smith said, Billie Kay invited him to visit their new bus and promptly asked him would he like some hot tea.
"I just could not run from the thought of her (Morgan)," Smith said.
Smith shared his answered prayer with Morgan as well.
Morgan said, however, not once during their three-hour conversation did she think that Smith was trying to convince her to date him.
"I was just overwhelmed by his faith in God," Morgan said. "After that night, I knew God had something in mind."
Two weeks later Smith and Morgan went out on their first official date. Three months later they were engaged. Smith and Morgan were married in March.
"I know that this is a match made in heaven," Morgan said.
Smith said his marriage with Morgan will serve as a constant reminder that God blesses a fervent prayer life.
For Smith, Feb. 14, 1995 will be a stone for remembrance.
"It was a divine appointment."
Einstein was on a train coming to New York City but couldn't find his ticket. As the brilliant scientist frantically searched for his ticket, the train's conductor recognized him and assured Einstein it would not be necessary for him to find his ticket. Continuing to search, however, Einstein told the conductor, "This is not an issue of trust, but of direction. Without that ticket, I have no idea where I am going."
==================================
Version by Wit and Wisdom, 3/25/05 --
In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, “We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.” So he agreed.
After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century.
Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his other pocket. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat by him. He couldn't find it.
The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively.
The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.'
Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'“
Having said that Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.
You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I'm going.”
(Seminary student gives a Miss America finalist a list of qualities he is looking for in a wife. They later marry.)
Scarlett Morgan had heard all the one-liners.
Years of experience fending off hormone-driven men had taught her to spot a come-on from a mile away.
But this one was different.
"I have a mystery that I need you to help me solve," Scott Smith told Morgan as the two Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary students stood in the lobby of the school's Ledford Center weight room.
"Trust me," Smith said, assuring her their meeting that night (Feb. 14, 1995) would not be considered a date, after several previous attempts by Smith to lure Morgan on a romantic evening with a meal or movie had failed.
This time, however, Morgan agreed to meet Smith for coffee after a missionary commissioning service on campus.
After all, Smith was not a total stranger, Morgan reasoned to herself before accepting his invitation. The two had participated in a couple of revival services together. She sang. He preached.
"Scott had always hit me as a different person," Morgan said.
Morgan first met Smith in September 1994 when he boldly approached her on a sidewalk on the seminary campus and introduced himself.
For Morgan, spontaneous introductions from strangers had become routine following her crowning as Miss North Carolina in 1990. And besides, Morgan said, everyone at seminary was always friendly.
But when Smith bought her a cup of coffee in the seminary cafe and handed her a list of 30 qualities he desired in his future wife, Morgan was speechless.
"When I saw the list, I said to myself, 'I cannot believe this, Lord, what are you doing?'" she said. "I had been praying about the Lord's direction in my life."
Smith told Morgan he also had been praying for nine months that God would send him wife.
Smith's criteria for a mate included characteristics such as ministry-minded, people-oriented, musically talented, adaptable and adventurous.
"I just ask that you prayerfully consider what you've heard," Smith told Morgan.
"At the end she didn't give me a response," Smith said. "I came away that night with a clear realization that she didn't say anything."
Still, he said, he knew he had done the right thing. He said he had prayed fervently for several days before asking Morgan to meet with him. Earlier, he had even sought the advice of one his preaching professors, Wayne McDill, who suggested he make the list of characteristics he desired in a wife.
"I had 30 things on that list and I knew she matched" all of them, Smith said.
Smith said he had felt compelled to share the desires of his heart with Morgan after receiving a sign from God following a revival service in November 1994 that affirmed his continued pursuit of Morgan despite her repeated rejections.
"I put out a fleece," Smith said. "I prayed if there is anything to be expected after that match (with his list of characteristics of a wife) then Billie Kay Tsika will offer me hot tea." Smith said that he had no idea whether Tsika, wife of evangelist Paul Tsika, even drank hot tea. But following a revival service in Elberton, Ga., Smith said, Billie Kay invited him to visit their new bus and promptly asked him would he like some hot tea.
"I just could not run from the thought of her (Morgan)," Smith said.
Smith shared his answered prayer with Morgan as well.
Morgan said, however, not once during their three-hour conversation did she think that Smith was trying to convince her to date him.
"I was just overwhelmed by his faith in God," Morgan said. "After that night, I knew God had something in mind."
Two weeks later Smith and Morgan went out on their first official date. Three months later they were engaged. Smith and Morgan were married in March.
"I know that this is a match made in heaven," Morgan said.
Smith said his marriage with Morgan will serve as a constant reminder that God blesses a fervent prayer life.
For Smith, Feb. 14, 1995 will be a stone for remembrance.
"It was a divine appointment."
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