183 Sermon Illustrations on Influence

He had been a stock boy in a grocery store ... and then one of those rare football players who isn't drafted but just shows up one day and gets a job. Kurt Warner went on, of course, to become the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, leading them to the Super Bowl two out of three years ... and, of course, becoming the NFL's Most Valuable Player. Now, that would be enough for most people. But not for Kurt Warner. He's got a bigger goal - at least according to what he told Sports Illustrated he would like as what he called his "football epitaph" - "Used his football platform to work for Jesus."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Platform You've Been Given."

Here's one follower of Jesus Christ who understands why he is where he is - to make a mark for his Lord. And you're where you are for the same reason.

No, you probably don't have a platform that touches millions - the kind a Super Bowl ring gives you. But, believe me, you do have a platform, given to you by God. The reason? "To work for Jesus." That's what the Bible is talking about when it says that "we are Christ's ambassadors." (2 Corinthians 5:20)

And God uses your abilities and interests and life experiences to put you in a position in other people's lives that can literally change their eternal address. It's obvious that the Old Testament hero, Joseph, understood this divine platform thing. You can hear it in his words recorded in Genesis 50:20, our word for today from the Word of God. The Lord built Joseph's platform through the brutal attack of his brothers, his being sold into Egyptian slavery, his first job in Egypt, and then two years in prison for something he didn't do.

Ultimately, Joseph is divinely maneuvered into being the assistant Pharaoh of Egypt; possibly the second most powerful man in the world. And just in time. His God-given wisdom leads him to a plan that ends up saving many people during a terrible seven-year famine. He's a champion, a hero in his country, to an even greater extent than any modern sports champion. Here's what Joseph says to his brothers about where God has placed him - "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good ... the saving of many lives."

Joseph was where he was so lives could be saved. That's why you are where you are. So people who know you, who are influenced by you, can meet your Savior and have their lives saved forever. Your platform for spiritual rescue is the job God has placed you in, or the pain you're going through or have gone through, the place where you live, the children God gave you, the recreation, the activities you're involved in. From heaven's viewpoint, the #1 reason you are there is so you will be in a position to take some people there to heaven with you!

It's a whole new way of seeing the everyday activities of your life - they are actually God's means of divinely positioning you with the folks there to let them see what Jesus is like in what you're like ... and to hear what He did for them when He died on the cross. Don't miss the purpose for which you've been placed where you are!

So are you using your platform to work for Jesus to do what Jesus came for - to "seek and save the lost"? (Luke 19:10) He's put you - His personal ambassador - in some places here on earth so some of the people there can have a chance at heaven.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

*

After years of service in South Africa, the famous missionary Robert Moffat returned to Scotland to recruit helpers. When he arrived at the church one cold wintry night, he was dismayed that only a small group had come out to hear him. What bothered him even more was that the only people in attendance were ladies. Although he was grateful for their interest, he had hoped to challenge men. He had chosen as his text Proverbs 8:4, “Unto you, O men I call.” In his discouragement he almost failed to notice one small boy in the loft pumping the bellows of the organ.

Moffat felt frustrated as he gave the message, for he realized that very few women could be expected to undergo the rigorous life in undeveloped jungles. But God works in mysterious ways. Although no one volunteered that evening, the young fellow assisting the organist was deeply moved by the challenge. As a result, he promised God he would follow in the footsteps of this pioneer missionary. And he remained true to his vow. When he grew up, he went and ministered to the unreached tribes of Africa. His name was David Livingstone!

=======================

When Robert Moffat, Scottish missionary to South Africa, came back to recruit helpers in his homeland, he was greeted by the fury of a cold British winter. Arriving at the church where he was to speak he noted that only a small group had braved the elements to hear his appeal. What disturbed him even more was that there were only ladies in attendance that night, for he had chosen as his text Proverbs 8:4, “Unto you, O men I call.”

In his consternation he almost failed to notice one small boy in the loft who had come to work the bellows of the organ. Dr. Moffat felt hopeless as he gave the message, realizing that few women could be expected to undergo the rigorous experiences they would face in the undeveloped jungles of the continent where he labored.

But God works in mysterious ways to carry out His wise purposes. Although no one volunteered, the young fellow assisting the organist was thrilled by the challenge, deciding that he would follow in the footsteps of this pioneer missionary, he went on to school, obtained a degree in medicine, and then spent the rest of his life ministering to the unreached tribes of Africa. His name: David Livingstone!

See: Matthew 28:19

[see also #23041]

The year was 1953. Albert Schweitzer had just returned from his mission work in Africa, where he had received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was arriving in Chicago by train and there were reporters, city officials, and well-wishers waiting for him.

As he stepped off the train, he was greeted by flash bulbs, smiling faces, and a throng of people. But he didn't immediately speak to the waiting crowd. Instead he looked beyond them. He said, “Excuse me just a moment,” and made his way through the crowd. He came to an elderly black lady who was having trouble carrying two suitcases. He walked over and said, “Let me help you, Ma'am.”

He picked up the suitcases, walked with her all the way through the terminal, put the suitcases on a bus, and wished her a nice day. He then turned around to face the reporters and city officials. He said, “Excuse me. I'm sorry I made you wait.”

One of the reporters who was covering his arrival said, “That's the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”

God is looking for men and women like that. People whose commitment to Jesus impacts everything they do. People who can proclaim Jesus without saying a word.

=================

"Living Example"

edited by Rev. David Lemmons

Reporters and city officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station one afternoon in 1953. The person they were meeting was the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. A few minutes after the train came to a stop, a giant of a man - six feet four inches - with bushy hair and a large mustache stepped from the train. Cameras flashed. City officials approached him with hands outstretched. Various people began telling him how honored they were to meet him.

The man politely thanked them and then, looking over their heads, asked if he could be excused for a moment. He quickly walked through the crowd until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was struggling with two large suitcases. He picked up the bags and with a smile, escorted the woman to a bus. After helping her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. As he returned to the greeting party he apologized, “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who had spent his life helping the poor in Africa. In response to Schweitzer's action, one member of the reception committee said with great admiration to the reporter standing next to him, “That's the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”

By From God's Little Devotional Book

from A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul

Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark

Victor Hansen & Barry Spilchuk

Edward Kimball was concerned about one of his young Sunday school students who worked at a shoe store in town. One day Kimball visited him at the store, found the student in the back stocking shoes, and led him to Christ then and there. Dwight L. Moody eventually left the shoe store to become one of the greatest preachers and evangelists of all time.

Moody, whose international speaking took him to the British Isles, preached in a little chapel pastored by a young man with the imposing name of Frederic Brotherton Meyer. In his sermon Moody told an emotionally charged story about a Sunday school teacher he had known in Chicago who personally went to every student in his class and led every one of them to Christ.

That message changed Pastor Meyer’s entire ministry, inspiring him to become an evangelist like Moody. Over the years Meyer came to America several times to preach. Once in Northfield, Massachusetts, a confused young preacher sitting in the back row heard Meyer say, “If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?” That remark led J. Wilbur Chapman to respond to the call of God on his life.

Chapman went on to become one of the most effective evangelists of his time. A volunteer by the name of Billy Sunday helped set up his crusades and learned how to preach by watching Chapman. Sunday eventually took over Chapman’s ministry, becoming one of the most dynamic evangelists of the 20th century. In the great arenas of the nation, Billy Sunday’s preaching turned thousands of people to Christ.

Inspired by a 1924 Billy Sunday crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina, a committee of Christians there dedicated themselves to reaching that city for Christ. The committee invited the evangelist Mordecai Ham to hold a series of evangelistic meetings in 1932. A lanky 16-year-old sat in the huge crowd one evening, spellbound by the message of the white-haired preacher, who seemed to be shouting and waving his lone finger at him. Night after night the teenager attended and finally went forward to give his life to Christ.

The teenager’s name? Billy Graham -- the man who has undoubtedly communicated the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people than any other man in history.

Where to take it from here...

Remember how this sequence of events started? A “nobody” named Kimball, concerned for one of his students, visited him at a shoe store- and in doing that, he changed the world. Millions of people have been affected by his decision to go to that shoe store and share the gospel with one person. And millions more will continue to feel the impact of it.

Can anything like that happen today? You bet it can. God wants to use you to change the world.

======================================================================== Another version:

In 1855, a Sunday School teacher named Ezra Kimball witnesses to a nineteen-year-old shoe clerk named Dwight L. Moody. Young Moody prayed and asked Jesus to come into his life but when he tried to join the church, they turned him down because he was too ignorant about biblical things. A year later he was admitted to church membership and became a Sunday School teacher. Later, he committed himself to God’s call to the ministry.

Moody was preaching in England on one occasion in the church where the cultured preacher and theologian Frederick B. Meyer was pastor. Meyer was uncomfortable with Moody’s poor grammar and deathbed stories and squirmed through Moody’s sermon. Meyer was particularly uncomforable when Moody told about a Sunday School teacher who was dying of cancer but led every member of his Sunday School class to Jesus before his death. Talking to one of his church ladies later, Pastor Meyer asked her how things were going with her Sunday School class and she replied everything was tremendous since she had heard Moody preach. “I have led every member of my Sunday School class to Jesus,” she joyously responded.

Moody fired F. B. Meyer’s spirit and later, when Meyer was on an evangelistic tour across the United Staes, young Wilbur Chapman heard him. Chapman was a discouraged young minister, but the Holy Spirit spoke through F. B. Meyer and encouraged Chapman.

Chapman became an outstanding evangelist and Bible teacher. As his work expanded, Chapman needed an assistant so he chose a poorly educated young man named Billy Sunday who was working for the YMCA. Sunday became an evangelist and, it is said, led more than a million people to the Savior.

In 1924, Billy Sunday preached in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a revival broke out. As a result of the revival, a prayer group formed and began praying that God would send a great revival to their city.

In answer to their prayers, Mordecai Ham came to Charlotte and preached and a great revival broke out. One night in 1934, two young men attended the services and were saved. One was Grady Wilson and the other was sixteen-year-old Billy Graham.

“There is a great sinner in this place tonight,” Ham said in opening his message that night Billy Graham said he thought to himself, {“Mother’s been telling him about me. }Both Billy Graham and Grady wilson were saved during Ham’s revival meeting in Charlotte and together they formed the well-known Billy Graham Evangelistic Team. And Billy Graham has preached to more people than any person in history.

________

Zig ziglar, CONFESSIONS OF A HAPPY CHRISTIAN (New York: Bantam Books, 1978) 148-149

An acquaintance of

Charles Spurgeon related the following conversation which

he had with Monsieur Blanc, a Monaco gaming house proprietor. "Why is

it," Blanc inquired, "that you never enter Monte Carlo's gardens?" "Well,

you see, I never gamble. And since I would be making no return to your

business, I hardly think it fair to you to avail myself of the advantages of your grounds." "Oh, but your presence would prove profitable to me," the proprietor exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Were it not for respectable

people like you who merely visit the gardens, I would lose many customers who

patronize my gambling saloons!" "How is that?" asked the puzzled man.

Monsieur Blanc explained, "Even though you would never play, your presence on

the grounds contributes very materially, although indirectly to my

revenue." The proprietor paused and smiled at Spurgeon's friend. "You see," he

continued, "there are a great many people who have not the slightest intention of patronizing your casino, who nevertheless feel themselves quite safe

in following folk like you into the gardens. And from the gardens, the transition to the tables of chance in quite easy indeed." That

admission steeled the determination of its hearer to avoid any proximity to that

park. Up to this time Charles Spurgeon would sometimes loiter on the grounds

of the casino enjoying the gardens which in his opinion were the "most

beautiful in the world." IN referring to the story related by his friend, Spurgeon declared, "After I heard that, I never again went near the gardens of

Monte Carlo." Flame

Picture this... a young

boy follows his father out to the garden everyday. The garden has been planted properly, the plants have come up, but so

have the weeds. Lots of them. There they are every morning. The father comes

to the edge of the garden and leans on his hoe. And looks at the garden...

.for an hour. Everyday he does this. The weeds just keep on growing. Everyday

the son watches this peculiar behavior. What is going through the mind of the

boy?

What lesson is he learning? First, gardens are boring. Second,

gardens are not worth the effort it takes to keep them up. And so... .the boy

grows to manhood. Does he plant a garden? Are you kidding! He learned from

his father that gardens aren't worth the trouble. Only... he is smarter

than his father. He doesn't even waste his time at a garden spot every

day... because he didn't even plant one. May I make an application? Fathers, grandfathers, your children and grandchildren observe how interested,

and how involved you are in God's work... in the work of the church. And I

want to make a prediction. What they see will directly influence their

actions and attitudes concerning God and spiritual matters in their future.

Some children were

arranging the figures of Mary, Joseph and the Christ child in the little manger scene. They lighted two tall candles and

carefully tried them in various positions until the light fell exactly where they

wanted it. One child excited said, "Be sure that Jesus shows!" My friends, a

friendly smile, a visit to a shut-in, a note to some lonely person, witnessing

to someone who doesn't know Jesus, having time to listen to a child's

story,...

these are only a few of the ways we can radiate the great light that

has come down to us through the ages.

The name Barabbas means

"son of father" or "son of a teacher." He possible came from a background of respectability, steeped in the tradition of

his people. In toady's vernacular we could call him a teacher's kid, or. .

. maybe even a preacher's kid. Somewhere something happened to change

Barabbas' life. It may be that he had saw someone in the synagogue who was living a hypocritical life and decided he didn't want anything to do with

religion when

he grew up. That even happens today, doesn't it! A Sunday School

teacher coming to church after having an argument with her husband at home can

spread a sour spirit of discontent to the youngsters she teaches. The

Christian leader in the church who has not lived the Christian life through the

week is seen by his neighbors, relatives, and business associates. It's

amazing how word of his actions and conversation come into someone else's house (a neighbor, or associate) take a spin around the dinner table, and lodge

in the little child's head to make a lasting impression. Many things may have happened to cause Barabbas to change. It may have been that he

suffered because he was a Jew living under Roman domination. If Barabbas had

lived in

the village of Sepphoris, four miles north of Nazareth, about A.D. 6,

he would have known a Jewish patriot by the name of Judas of Gamala who

organized a revolt and started it off with a march on the Roman arsenal in the

town. The plan was to capture the arsenal and drive the Romans out of Galilee

and Judea. The Roman commander moved on the city, however, and every inhabitant

was either massacred or enslaved. Something like this episode could have

been the thing that sent Barabbas down the wrong road. What led Barabbas into a

life of crime? We do not know, but he threw off the restraint and became a

robber and an outlaw.

A little clock in a jeweler's window in a certain Western town stopped one day for half an hour at twenty minutes after eight. School children, noticing the time, stopped to play; people hurrying to the train looked at the clock, and began to walk more slowly; professional men, after looking at the clock, stopped to chat longer in the sunshine; and all were late because one small clock stopped. Never had these people known how much they had depended upon that clock until it had led them astray.

Many are thus unconsciously depending upon the influence of Christians. You may think you have no influence, but you cannot go wrong in one little act without leading others astray. God's Word says, “None of us liveth to himself.”

__________

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

One of America's greatest preachers came one Sunday in midwinter to

an appointment. The day was unusually stormy and bitterly cold, and he

found the building empty. However, he took his seat in the pulpit and

waited. One man came in, and at the appointed hour the preacher stood

up and opened the service. At its close the solitary auditor departed

without waiting to face the minister. About twenty years later, the

same preacher was accosted by a stranger. "Do you remember," he asked,

"preaching years ago to one man at such a place?" "Yes, I do, indeed,"

replied Dr. Lyman Beecher. "If you are that man, I have been wanting

ever since to meet you." "I am the man," was the answer. "That sermon

saved my soul, and led me into the ministry. The converts of your

sermon, sir, are all over Ohio."

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Church-planting movements are taking off in China, Latin America and even northern Africa. So many people came to Christ in one African city that mosques had to close. One strategy coordinator reached his four- year goal of 200 churches among his assigned people group in just six months. It is not unusual to hear testimonies of God's miraculous power manifested in signs and wonders when people are confronted with the claims of Christ.

I am often asked why we don't see such things happening in America. Why do American Christians, with thousands of churches and a history of Christian witness, seem to make so little impact on our society? We expect to be confronted with the tragic consequences of spiritual darkness in cultures where the Gospel is not known. How do we explain it in our own country?

I really don't have answers for these disturbing questions, but Scripture has given me some insight. The Israelites became God's chosen people, not because they deserved His favor, but because He wanted them to be a priestly nation for the sake of others. He blessed them, not for their benefit, but to follow and fulfill His purpose.

It began with Abraham, who was called and blessed so that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, NKJV). God explained in Isaiah 49:6 (NASB) that His people were to be “a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

When Jesus gave the Great Commission to His followers, He was simply clarifying God's purpose that they make disciples of all nations. But did they get it? Did they carry the Gospel to Judea, Samaria and the uttermost ends of the earth? No, they stayed in Jerusalem until God allowed persecution to disperse them according to His purpose (Acts 8:1).

Throughout the Old Testament we read that God allowed Israel to be conquered and punished by pagan tribes, usually because they forsook God to worship other gods. But wasn't this also because they refused to fulfill God's purpose of glorifying Him among the nations?

Paul says in Romans that the hearts of the Jews had become hardened and they were rejected “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25, NKJV). Can it be that God will withhold His blessings and anointing until we regain a vision for our purpose as His people? Churches that have a heart for the nations and give a high priority to missions seem to be the ones God blesses. Must God allow our nation to suffer and our churches to founder before we look beyond our own programs and interests to our larger mission task?

If all the peoples of the world are to know Him, it is up to us, Abraham's spiritual children. May we not follow Israel's example, but obey and follow God's purpose.

__________

Jerry Rankin is president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #2063]

In the city of Washington, many years ago, a teacher had in his class a mischievous boy who not only would not listen, or behave well, but who interfered with the other scholars' giving their attention. The teacher became discouraged regarding that boy. Later on the boy left Washington for the West, and there wasted his life in reckless dissipation. Years afterward he came to Baltimore and spent the night in debauchery, and next morning, while under the weakening spell of his dissipation, he started walking along the streets of Baltimore. He soon found himself in one of the city's cemeteries and suddenly noticed on a tombstone the name of his old Sunday school teacher.

A flood of memories rushed upon him. Things that the teacher said came back to him. His heart melted, he pulled himself over the little railing, went to the grave, and there he gave his life to Christ as he knelt down and kissed the very dirt on the grave of his faithful old teacher. He entered the ministry and became the pastor of one of the most prominent churches in Virginia, and one of the most greatly beloved of all the Virginia pastors. And yet his old teacher had gone to his grave years before, feeling that his work was a failure as far as that boy was concerned. -- Sunday School Times

On one occasion when Whitefield, the great preacher, went to America he stood on the steps of the courthouse in Philadelphia, and preached to the people. There was, amongst the crowd, a little boy. The little boy saw that Mr. George Whitefield could not see to read his Bible very well, so he got his lantern, and lit it, and held the lantern for Mr. Whitefield to see to read by. Mr. Whitefield was very much obliged to him. The little boy listened with all his might and main to Mr. Whitefield's preaching. He listened so much that he let the lantern tumble down, and it was broken all to pieces.

Many years afterwards, Mr. Whitefield came back to America, on his fifth journey, he stopped at the house of a minister, who said to him one day: “Do you remember, sir, preaching once in Philadelphia, and a little boy, who was holding the lantern, dropped it and broke it?” “That I do,” said Mr. Whitefield, “and I would give anything in the world to know what has become of that little boy.” The minister said, “I was the little boy, sir. I held the lantern. I listened to you. I let it drop. Your preaching made me what I am, a Christian minister.” (J. Vaughan)

He had better said: “Christ, by the influence of His Spirit through your preaching made me what I am today, both a Christian and a minister.” The statement as it is, I fear, leans too much toward the adoration of Christ's minister instead of toward the adoration Christ, Who alone, as our God and Savior, is worthy to be the object of our worship. (Duane V. Maxey)

When Edward Bello committed his most recent crime, he expected to go to prison. Instead the judge sentenced him to nine months with no television. He said he wanted "to create a condition of silent introspection" in order to induce Bello to change his behavior.

Bello's lawyers were outraged. They're appealing on the grounds that making Bello keep his seven TV sets turned off is "cruel and unusual punishment" -- and thus violates the Constitution.

Oh, brother, now I've heard everything. When our Founders outlawed cruel and unusual punishment, they were thinking of things like floggings and amputations. Forcing someone to watch mind-rotting entertainment might also qualify, but equating a ban on TV with torture is a sad sign that television has become far too important in our culture -- important and destructive.

TV critic Michael Medved says the problem with TV isn't just the programming: The problem is the medium itself.

Medved notes that families began falling apart around 1960 -- the time the first generation raised on TV hit adolescence. These kids grew up on the wholesome sitcoms of the 1950s. Yet by 1965 the family, by every measure, had undergone massive deterioration.

The principal cause, Medved says, "was that most ... influential of all American institutions: television." Medved argues that television encourages attributes that are "deadly to the survival of marriages and families."

For example, TV encourages impatience by showing programs that solve every imaginable problem in thirty minutes. "And the whole point of commercials," Medved adds, "is to make you want things and to want them now." Both of these elements undermine the quality of endurance necessary for family life.

Television also promotes depression. The focus of TV news is relentlessly negative, Medved observes. If a father works three jobs to support his kids, that's not news. But if the same father shoots his children, we watch the gory details on dozens of stations for days.

Finally, TV leads to selfishness because it creates what Medved calls "the syndrome of entitlement" -- the sense that we're all entitled to "ceaseless arrays of ecstatic pleasures" -- just like the characters on "Friends" or "Ally McBeal." Programs like these teach that if some aspects of our lives -- like our marriages -- are not endlessly exciting, we ought to replace them.

In short, Medved concludes, television undermines those attributes most necessary for family survival: patience, sacrifice, optimism, and deferred gratification.

And he's right. We ought to take a good look, not just at what we watch, but how long we watch.

Next week is national TV Turnoff Week, in which Americans are encouraged to hide the remote and find other things to do. Why not figure out how much time your family spends watching TV every week -- and then spend that time doing things like reading aloud, going for walks, or volunteering in your community.

Your kids may initially view it as cruel and unusual punishment, but, in time, they'll achieve something far more important than learning what happens on their favorite sitcom: They'll be strengthening their family ties.

=======================================================================

"Editorial: Cruel and unusual punishment," editorial, THE CINCINNATI POST, 8 March 2002.

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein's sentence was not only generous, but too cute by half.

For $27,000 in credit-card theft, the judge sentenced Edward Bello, who has a 30-year rap sheet of petty crimes, to 10 months of detention in his suburban New Jersey home. Bello can leave to go to work, shop for groceries, visit the doctor and for educational and religious activities. The one thing he cannot do, the judge ruled, is watch TV during the 10 months.

The Associated Press quoted Hellerstein as saying he instituted it "to create a condition of silent introspection that I considered necessary to induce (the) defendant to change his behavior, to adhere to the right and to eschew wrong."

Bello's lawyers are appealing on the grounds that the ban on TV is a violation of the constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment.

We beg to disagree.

If Hellerstein had wanted to get ugly about it, he could have ordered Bello to turn on, and leave on for the duration of his sentence, all seven of his televisions. Now THAT would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Publication date: 03-08-02

=========================================================================

For further reading and information:

Learn more about "Turn Off TV Week," April 22-28, by visiting these sites: and .

Michael Medved, HOLLYWOOD VS. AMERICA: POPULAR CULTURE AND THE WAR ON TRADITIONAL VALUES (Harper Collins, 1993).

The mission of the Parents Television Council is to bring America's demand for positive, family-oriented television programming to the entertainment industry. Learn more by visiting its website .

_________________________

Copyright © 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. 'BreakPoint with Chuck Colson' is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

*

He was a young man who undoubtedly belonged to Christ. But only in

the last part of his life had he given himself to Christ. When he came

to die, he was filled with regret that he had done so little for

Christ, and with remorse that he had done so much against him. His

dying request was this: "Bury my influence with me." --McCartney

No matter how noble the reason for such an request, one's

influence, good or bad, lives after he has passed on. --D. V. M.

In 1740, according to records, a woman was born name Ada Take. True to her name, she took everything there was to be had in the way of liberties and licenses. She died a confirmed drunkard, and altogether she had 700 descendants. Among them, were 100 children born out of wedlock, 181 prostitutes, 142 beggars, 46 jailed inmates, and 76 other criminals. It has been estimated that this woman cost the country. $1,200,000. [Presbyterian Record]

Add that up according to the comparable figures of 1993, and I would imagine that she and her offspring would cost the taxpayers more like $120,000,000. Furthermore, there are today probably countless more in this country just like Ada Take.

________

Duane V. Maxey

Is the worship service over yet? You know, the one glorifying Michael Jordan, the greatest human since Moses -- or at least since Mark McGwire.

When Jordan retired from professional basketball Jan. 13 -- this time for good, he (almost) guaranteed -- the sports/media world seemed ready to deify him by acclamation, the way the Roman senate used to bestow divinity on a current or dearly departed emperor.

“God, Buddha, MJ,” proclaimed a sign in Chinese and English, held high by an Asian fan in a photo found on the National Basketball Association’s official Internet site. A collection of tributes from fans, newspapers and various acolytes included these:

• “It would be difficult to find one person on this planet who has never heard the name Michael Jordan.” (Missions researchers, meanwhile, estimate more than 1 billion people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.)

• “God will never fly again: Jordan to retire” -- headline in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

• “The heavens are a little less crowded this morning,” mourned one sportswriter. “Michael Jordan has left the firmament.”

• “The NBA and the fans and America and society and history are losing the greatest influence sports has ever had,” said Miami Heat coach Pat Riley. “The true meaning of leadership is influence, and he has influenced the world.”

Amid all the hyperbole, let’s examine Riley’s statement about influence, a serious observation from a winning coach who is a keen student of motivation.

Is Jordan the greatest basketball player in the history of the universe? Probably. He’s given millions of fans countless thrills with his amazing individual skills and uncanny ability to take over big games at will. “He was a 6-6 celestial body with the grace of Baryshnikov,” said a swooning admirer -- an apt comparison considering the fact that NBA refs regularly let Jordan take enough steps on offense to choreograph “Swan Lake.” In a quintessential team sport, Jordan changed the focus, perhaps permanently, to individual pyrotechnics.

That’s influence.

In marketing, the real force behind pro ball and other forms of entertainment, Jordan is undisputed king. His personal earnings have soared into the hundreds of millions, with no end in sight. Almost everything he touches turns to gold: sports products, toys, burgers, hot dogs, cologne, movies -- especially sneakers (the $100-plus kind kids in the projects shoot each other for because parents can’t afford them). When Jordan started wearing baggy shorts, everybody bought baggy shorts.

That’s influence.

Influence, however, doesn’t equal greatness. Celebrity doesn’t guarantee significance. Wealth doesn’t confer enduring worth. That is the great fallacy of our era of hype, an era so lacking in leaders -- and the understanding of real leadership -- that Bill Clinton tops the pope in a current list of people most admired by Americans.

It’s an international fallacy. Princess Diana, merely by dying sensationally after living an increasingly bizarre, media-driven life, became a quasi-religious cult figure in many countries.

To his credit, Jordan possesses real talent -- as opposed to being exclusively a media creation -- and has brilliantly exploited it on the court and in the business world. And compared to some of the thugs in the NBA and other pro sports, he’s a classy guy.

But he’s also been known to belittle teammates, humiliate competitors, gamble with shady characters and play 36 holes of golf a day after vowing to spend more time with his family.

Hey, Babe Ruth was no angel -- didn’t claim to be. Nor does Jordan.

It’s the desperate idol worship people heap on sports stars and other celebrities that reveals the deep spiritual hunger of a material age. Most try to satisfy it with substitutes for the real thing.

The First Commandment still applies: “I am the Lord your God ... . You shall have no other gods before Me.”

If you think it applies to someone else, compare the time you spend worshiping God daily to the time you spend watching sports and entertainment. You may have joined the cult of celebrity without knowing it.

Knowing the power of the twenty-six-letter alphabet, Benjamin Franklin said: “Give me twenty-six lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.”

Few things are more powerful than the printed page. In the fifteenth century, Richard Gibbs wrote a tract titled “The Bruised Reed” which led to the conversion of Richard Baxter. Baxter became one of England's greatest preachers.

Baxter wrote more than 100 books. One of them, "The Call To The Unconverted," led tens of thousands to Christ, including Philip Doddridge. Doddridge was called to preach and one of his books, "The Rise and Progress of Religion," led William Wilberforce to Christ. Wilberforce probably did more to abolish slavery from the British colonies than any man in England's history. His book, "A Practical View of Christianity," led Leigh Richmond to Jesus. Richmond's booklet, "The Dairyman's Daughter," brought thousands to Jesus.

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William S. Deal, "Paths of Revival" (no publisher given, 1984), p. 1

[see also #9841]

Date: Oct 03 1998 13:37:39 EDT

From: LemmonsAid

Subject: The Hottest Spice

… … … … … …

My Source: WOOD AVENUE BULLETIN

Vol 26, No. 37

Florence, AL

… … … … … …

Author: Kenneth Davis

… … … … … …

THINKING ABOUT INFLUENCE! – The Hottest Spice

Some people like spicy foods while others do not. Some people can’t eat spicy foods and their diet has to remain in the “bland” category. The hottest spice is believed to be the Red “Savina” Habanero pepper developed by GNS Spices of Walnut, CA. A single grain will produce detectable heat in 1,272 pounds of bland sauce.

There are some important lessons for us here if we will recognize them. Jesus spoke of influence when He delivered the Sermon on the Mount. He said of those who would follow Him, “Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savor… it is good for nothing but to be cast out… “

Whether we speak of salt or spices, we need to recognize that as Christians we are to influence those who are about us. There are two ways that we may influence others. First, we may influence others by our words. Second, our deeds may be a strong influence. People are more affected by what they see rather than by what they hear. What do they see in your life, and mine?

Do they see a devotion to Christ, shown by faithful attendance at Bible study and worship? Do they see someone who is truly striving to live the Christian life, or do they see someone who is indifferent about the Lord’s work? Will God say to us on that final day, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? or will He say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you?”

<> My Source: GREEN PLAIN PROCLAIMER

<> Volume 18, #16, April 18, 2000

<> Author: Flavil Nichols

=========================================

The Influence of... ONLY ONE

by Flavil Nichols

During the War Between the States, a young woman learned the truth and obeyed the Gospel. Her sweetheart, J.H. Halbrook, was a Confederate soldier. He was captured by the Union Army and kept a prisoner in Michigan until the war was over. He was given a ticket to Nashville and $2.50; and from there he returned to Centerville and found what was left of his home and family. He was reunited with his girlfriend, and they were married.

Mr. Halbrook's new wife studied the Bible with him, and he soon became a Christian. he thought the truth was so good and so simple that he bagan to teach and baptize many of his friends and neighbors. Then he began to preach, but he recognized his need for more training, so he enrolled in mars Hill Bible School and was taught and trained by T.B. Larimore.

Upon completing his studies at Mars Hill, Mr. Halbrook and his wife chose to move farther south rather than going back to Tennessee, and they went into the counties of Walker, Marion, Fayette, and Lamar counties in Alabama. Of his many converts were Charley Alexander Wheeler and his wife. Mr. Wheeler, after obeying the Gospel, soon began preaching to others. He started more than 100 congregations, and he baptized more than 6,000 people.

But wait--the story does not end here! One of those 6,000 baptisms was my father, the late Gus Nichols. And under my father's preaching 12,000 people were baptized!

And how many of those 12,000 began to preach "the glorious Gospel of Christ"? No one can know the exact number, but I personally know several who did. I am ONE whom he baptized and whom he encouraged to preach the Gospel. And under my preaching about 3,000 have been baptized. Among that number a few have gone on to preach the Gospel.

Only eternity will reveal the total results of the conversion of THAT ONE girl during the War Between the States nearly 150 years ago. But at least 21,000 people have already become Christians through this single thread in the fabric of her influence.

"Go, and do likewise" (Luke 10:37), for YOU are important too! Dear reader, if you go to heaven, others probably will be saved because of you! "What knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man whether thou shalt save thy wife?" (1 Corinthians 7:16).

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 6:16). ONLY ONE can be very influential.

Submitted by: artie Email address: artieag@hotmail.com

When Christians come to a point in their walk with the lord where God consumes every aspect of their life it is similar to the ecosystem of a lake.

The first thing you see is this huge body of water. A closer look and you begin to realize how many fish, boats, plants and other things exist in this lake. If you were to take a rock, no matter what size, and throw it into any part of the lake every single thing with in the lake will be effected by the impact left in the water. This of course would be the result of the ripples the rock left behind. Eventually the ripples will touch every thing inside the lake.

In the same way, a Christian or group of believers, should be focused on pleasing and serving God. For good or evil they can't help but impact the world around them.

In "Bono: The Biography" (Piatkus, 2001), Laura Jackson describes the powerful effect the U2 singer can have on an audience. In the middle of a 1983 Los Angeles concert, Bono leaps from the stage in what has become by then his customary effort to make authentic connection with the crowd.

Draped in a white flag, he's raised from the ground by screaming fans. The flag is torn to pieces as he's swept through the arena and onto the balcony. Up there he's mobbed; his clothes are torn, he feels the situation getting out of control. He tries to settle the crowd by threatening to jump if they don't calm down.

In the shouting and confusion, through the sound of the rest of U2 still playing on stage, Bono leaps and descends twenty feet towards the crowded floor below.

He's caught by a mob of excited fans.

Clothes tattered, he rushes back to the stage. But in his wake, several enthusiastic fans follow his lead and hurl themselves from the balcony. Thankfully, they too are caught by the audience below. Later, Bono is horrified to learn about his fans' lemming-like behavior and realizes the tragedy to which it could have led.

The Christian as rebel

In my late teens, U2 was one of my first contacts with Christianity and the idea that there could be a God-a God who might even have relevance for my life.

With friends on a hedonistic 18-hour car trip to Northern Australia-where the beer is cold and the girls tanned and golden-haired-I first listened closely to a pirated tape of U2's music. I liked the songs; they seemed somehow different from most radio pop fare.

Shortly thereafter I read Eamon Dunphy's The Unforgettable Fire, a "definitive" 1987 biography of the band. I discovered for myself the group's-especially Bono's-spirituality. From my reading U2 appeared to combine passionate commitments to authentic artistry, social justice, and the Christian faith.

For the first time in my life Christianity began to make some kind of sense. It was 1987 and The Joshua Tree had been dominating charts and airwaves for several months. I'd never owned a U2 record, but now was clearly the time. With a handful of dollars-mainly provided by my mother-I went out and bought both The Unforgettable Fire (1984) and The Joshua Tree on cassette.

Like Jack of Beanstalk fame, I showed these cassettes to my mother. I did it in part because she always liked to know what I was doing with "her" resources. But it was also an act of reconciliation.

For most of my teens I'd fought with my mother. Some of these clashes were physical, as when she had attempted to keep me from seeing my girlfriend. In my mid-teens, I had rebelled against my parents' values. Although they weren't Christians, their values were sacrosanct and my binge drinking, drug-taking, sex before marriage, and frequent blatant disrespect for them (sometimes publicly) put me at a distance from my mother.

"What have you gone and spent your money on that stupid pop music for?" she screeched. I tried to explain that this band was "Christian"-tried to explain, in that way teenagers have of saying a lot without saying anything, that my purchase marked also a change of attitude.

"You waste your money like that again and you won't get another cent from me, do you understand?"

I walked out of the room enraged-and firmly committed to the two U2 tapes in my hand. My mother may have wanted to throw her Jack's "worthless beans" out the window, but I had them in my possession and was determined to see what would grow from of them.

I think the Bono that Laura Jackson describes would get a kick out of this little story. Wasn't he the guy who in high school flirted with both Christianity and punk's outward rebelliousness; who attended prayer groups and was at the same time dubbed "the anti-Christ" because of his punk attire and individualism?

So, too, my exploration of Christianity became inextricably linked with youthful rebellion.

Christ, but not church

Not long after my twentieth birthday, in the words of the U2 song, "Promenade," I climbed the "spiral staircase to the higher ground" and became a Christian.

U2's music was a key plank in my conversion. Accompanied by some of the most creative sounds rock had ever produced, Bono's God-infused lyrics penetrated the soil of my soul, which had been earlier ploughed by two Christian friends.

The church-at least in the institutional sense-played almost no role in my conversion. I attended various churches as a young Christian and couldn't get out the door and past the pastor quick enough. What I experienced in those services-from Catholic to Pentecostal-bore no relevance to the cultural, artistic, supernatural, and nature-centered experience of God I had enjoyed in my conversion.

For five years I drifted-and my chief "discipler" became Bono Vox from the rock group U2.

The public Christian

In 1987, his face and faith splashed across the pages of Time magazine, Bono was the loudest voice in rock and one of the most public professed Christians in the world.

It was at this time, according to Jackson, that Bono tried desperately to ensure he wasn't idolized. I'm not what the archetypal idol should look like-or feel like he said. He didn't want to buy into the adulation his band was surrounded by at that stage, which evoked comparisons with the Beatles.

"We think we're overrated," Bono said.

Inwardly Bono was struggling both with dealing with his band's success and holding together his crumbling private life. He was throwing himself into worldwide causes at the same time he was becoming prone to heavier drinking. With a heavy touring schedule forcing months of separation from his wife, Ali, his marriage was under enormous pressure.

But sections of his live audiences began copying the "outward" Bono's every move. While commentators quizzed him on whether his followers were displaying mindless devotion, he insisted U2 fans were free-thinkers.

Some may have been. But not this fan, who'd planted his U2 tapes and was watching and hoping the tall plant growing out of them would lead to spiritual treasure.

Another late-eighties' U2 book release was Bono: In His Own Words. Given my limited involvement in church (and my only passing interest in the Bible), this book became my holy scripture. Its only contents were quotes from Bono-on all aspects of life. So there it was. How to live the spiritual life. I became a Bono fundamentalist.

A new fundamentalism

What I gleaned from Bono: In His Own Words (which may have been very different from what he intended to be gleaned from these out-of-context quotes) was that religion was the enemy of God; the Pope was the devil; the Bible could barely be trusted; morality was secondary to following the spirit (whatever interpretation of "spirit" you may bring to the word); and being good to people was what mattered.

I had all my "how-to-live" information. Now I just needed something to do with my life.

I was a Christian. I loved music. I could write a bit. I could hold a tune. And I knew there was one thing underpinning all Bono's opinions and attitudes-even his Christianity. He was a rock star. (Plus, his real name was Paul Hewson. It couldn't be a coincidence that I was christened Paul as well, could it?)

With no musical background, it took me more than a year to learn guitar and quite a bit longer to learn to sing properly. But I felt convinced God had called me to rock stardom, so for hours every day I sang and wrote the best songs I could-and played them to my helpless housemates.

It took a couple of years to get a band going. It took hours of writing and practice to get some songs together. Took a few more months to get a gig. Took another band before there was a decent crowd. Couldn't ever get a record deal.

But it did take five years of my life. Five years where I followed the rock star/Christian/evangelist/artist life: Bono's life.

It did take more than two years to fill the hole in my life that remained once I finally realized I'd never play before a stadium full of adoring fans. It was a hole that often took on the shape of suicidal thoughts. But I filled it-and am still filling it-with God. Minus an idol or two.

Heaven and hell

Towards the end of my "rock star" life, I decided to give up drinking as a "witness" to my non-Christian friends (I didn't have any Christian ones), people who were drunk or stoned several times per week.

It was hard. But I felt I was doing it for Jesus. I was making a sacrifice, and it was worth it to ensure that my friends came to heaven. If there was one thing my conversion had left me certain of it was the distance between the heaven I was going to and the hell I'd been rescued from.

Plus, hadn't Bono and other members of U2 made similar sacrifices? As Laura Jackson mentions in her biography, the band members (except for Adam Clayton) were well known for shunning "rock star" pleasures.

Before rehearsal one afternoon during this sober period, I read a Rolling Stone feature interview with Bono. The "Zoo TV" tour was just starting and U2 and Bono were undergoing a metamorphosis. The article spoke of Bono's smoking, drinking, partying, flirting, and naked romps on the beach with women other than his wife. He cursed and swore. And then he talked about U2's music and his band's place in the world:

"I want heaven and hell for my band," Bono said.

Heaven and hell? As in the marriage of the two that William Blake wrote about? For me, Bono was the closest thing to Christ on the planet. But the hell I knew I'd been dragged from couldn't be put together with any notion of heaven.

Now, as a 33-year-old, I have a strong appreciation for the artistic and other struggles U2 was going through at that time. It was a period in Bono's life when, as Laura Jackson writes, the singer didn't know where the stage personas he'd created ("Mephisto," "The Fly," et al.) ended and Bono began. But as an early twentysomething man trying to be the next Bono, my idol's behavior and words had let me down. I was crushed, beached. What was I going to do now? Where could I look for guidance?

The way out

I ended up back into drugs, Richard Bach books (it was a bad time), heavy drinking, womanizing. I believed in Christ and reincarnation. I saw spirit beings (which I later learned weren't angels). I "astral traveled."

But then another mentor appeared in my life: Eunice, a 78-year-old Pentecostal woman. During my rock music phase, I still needed to earn a living (unlike the millionaire Bono) and did so by caring for disabled people in their homes. Eunice lived with her cerebral-palsied son. Through many conversations, she helped me see that the seeds U2 had planted were still growing. I was still climbing toward the treasure at the top of the beanstalk-I was just on a detour. She prayed for me and I received the Holy Spirit.

I looked also to other mentors: C. S. Lewis, Soren Kierkegaard ... the Bible became important. Finally, even church became significant in my spiritual walk.

As a twentysomething, I was shattered by what was for me Bono's "infidelity" revealed in Rolling Stone. But as a 33-year-old, I'm glad I read that article. The aftermath, despite its ups and downs, was a much-needed step toward my becoming the free-thinking human being that Bono hoped all his fans were. And an imitator of Christ.

Follow me

Fans will find plenty of Christian rock idols to choose from today: Creed, Moby, Sixpence None the Richer, plus any number of acts that straddle the zone between "secular" and "Christian" audiences. Christian music stars come in all music flavors, too: hip-hop, dance, pop, techno, reggae, rock . . .

There are plenty of reasons for young Christian music fans to look up to them-not least of which is the fact (it might seem obvious) that they're Christian. Many of them, Bono included, pour out their imperfect lives just like the rest of us: with as much integrity as they can muster. They wrestle with their calling as artists, live their lives to the full, preach the gospel in word and deed. They give millions of dollars away for work that promotes the kingdom of God.

With a popular culture dominated by adherents of every other worldview, young Christian music fans could do worse than imitate a Christian musician.

After they are first imitating Christ.

If they're not, the fans risk living someone else's life, that of an idol who-despite a connection with Christ, despite an often express wish otherwise-could ultimately lead them away from Jesus.

____________

Paul Mitchell writes from the Melbourne area of Australia, where he is coordinating editor of Zadok Perspectives and contributing editor for the literary journal Cordite.

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

-- Robert F. Kennedy, Bits & Pieces

"Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that has."

-- Margaret Mead, Bits & Pieces

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, QFTM 8/7/02

"The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, QFTM 10/9/02

"Cooperation is working together agreeably... Collaboration is working together aggressively; and there's a world of difference between those two."

-- John C. Maxwell

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On this March 17, it seems appropriate that we pay our respects to the person who is probably the most famous living Irishman in the world. I refer, of course, to a man by the given name of Paul Hewson, a.k.a. "Bono", the lead singer and songwriter of the number one Rock and Roll band on earth, "U-2".

Consider the month they just had: An 11-minute performance at half-time of the Super Bowl (witnessed by an audience of 130 million viewers), followed by cleaning up with four awards at the Grammy's, followed by Bono's face on the cover of TIME magazine, proclaiming him "the globe's biggest rock star". That, my friends, is the "hat trick" of our popular culture. That is hitting the Trifecta. You can't get much bigger than that. And remarkably, they have stayed on top for over two decades-from being named "The Band of the '80's" by Rolling Stone 12 years ago, to returning to the pinnacle at the start of the 21st century.

But there's much more to this band than may at first meet the eyes. For Bono and several of his mates are deeply committed Christians. They actually got their start when they were involved together in a charismatic church in Dublin in the early '80's. Motivated by a desire to not just entertain but take their life-changing message to the secular and lost world of Western Europe and America, they began to weave biblical references and a Christian worldview into their lyrics. And their concerts lifted up another way than the one modeled by most of the hedonistic rock bands. As one of the band members has commented, "We knew about the tyranny of personal freedom, the dreadful empty oppression of sexual promiscuity. We knew about the depression that ambushed you on the other side of a drug-induced high." One journalist commented that U-2 "conveys a high-minded sobriety to young people who are fed up with self-indulgence."

Bono and his mates decided early on not to become an explicitly Christian band, singing only blatantly and obviously gospel lyrics. Their intent instead is to subtly express the emptiness and longing and searching that they find among their generation-and point the way to the only lasting source of fulfillment for that quest. In this respect, Bono is following in the footsteps of another Paul nearly two millennia earlier: hearing the cry of lost people, and showing them what they're really searching for. Every album U-2 has done contains messages for modern seekers. In the current best-seller "All That You Can't Leave Behind", the final song is called "Grace": "Grace takes the blame, covers the shame, removes the stain..." - exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross. "Grace is a thought that changed the world-Grace makes beauty out of ugly things..." - exactly what the Gospel does, when we experience it's forgiving touch for our sin and brokenness. In the platinum album "Joshua Tree", songs "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" - which they sang during the Super Bowl - have powerful Christian lyrics.

And this Irish Christian is living out his faith in more ways than just through his music. The TIME cover story focused on his enduring passion for relief and development of poor and needy people in Africa. The London Sunday Times recently ran an article about a rock singer named Noel Gallagher from a British band called "Oasis"; in it he spoke of his personal friendship with Bono of "U-2", and recounted the change that had come to his life. He spent two hours talking with Bono, asking him question after question about his faith. "It made tons of sense", Gallagher said. Afterwards, Bono mailed him a copy of a book by Christian writer Philip Yancey called "What's So Amazing About Grace?", which helped him with his own personal spiritual commitment.

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An ardent lover of the printed page, my mother quite fittingly holds the title of librarian. And it was this librarian that instilled in me a love for reading and the virtue (or perhaps the curse!) of having a nose in at least five books at once. Moreover, it was my grandmother who passed along her love for the writings of C.S. Lewis, which she maintains have left an imprint on her soul, and I thoroughly concur for Lewis has done the same with mine.

To be sure, each of us can pinpoint pivotal impressions made by family, made by reading, made by great authors and professors alike. Ravi Zacharias calls these impressions the "fingerprints on our souls." As I ponder the fingerprints upon my own life, I marvel at the various means God has used to guide me. And I am certain, as Dr. Zacharias has stated, that our lives are molded more purposefully and possibly even eternally than we ever realize by the books you and I read, and those at whose feet we study.

Prolific writer and novelist Frederick Buechner echoes this thought. In his book, SPEAK WHAT WE FEEL, Buechner examines the lives of the four authors who have been his life's greatest influences. “The writers we remember,” he explains, “have opened our eyes, maybe even our hearts, to things we might not have known without them.” [1] It is an insightful book, an intriguing look at four seemingly dissimilar authors linked together in the potent ways they speak of the vulnerability of mankind and in so doing, speak to the heart of Buechner himself.

But the fingerprints these authors have left upon Frederick Buechner's life are not only due to their words, he is careful to note, but due to their very lives as well. And indeed, when such prints are left upon our souls, our lives change, and we are given to new characteristics, because we are marked by the life of a person.

Moreover, King David reminds us that we are marked by the life of a personal God. Psalm 139 is a testimony to the omnipresent fingerprints of God that can be seen throughout all of creation and history, and through the days and years of David's own life. He proclaims of God: “You hem me in both behind and in front and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it... For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:5-6, 13-14)

Do you see what David knew full well? David recognized that the reason for humanity's existence is beyond ourselves, dependent and contingent upon the One whose reason for existence is in Himself. And David understood this because of the fearful and wonderful fingerprints of a sovereign and loving God upon his soul.

Dear friend, consider the fingerprints on your own soul. Beneath the prints of various lives, like David, you too are marked by the Person who has indeed, “engraved you on the palms of His hands.” (Isaiah 49:16)

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1. Frederick Buechner, Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say (San Francisco: Harper, 2001), p. ix.

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Copyright © 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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