ABANDON
Steve Lyons will be remembered as the player who dropped his pants.
He could be remembered as an outstanding infielder ... as the player who played every position for the Chicago White Sox ... as the guy who always dove into first base ... as a favor ... read more
ABANDONED
During WWII six Navy pilots left their aircraft carrier on a mission. After searching the seas for enemy submarines, they tried to return to their ship shortly after dark. But the captain had ordered a blackout of all lights on the ship. Over and over the ... read more
ABILITY
Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke, Bits & Pieces, March 31, 1994, p. 16.
It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you ca ... read more
ABORTION
A professor in a world-acclaimed medical school once posed this medical situation -- and ethical problem -- to his students: "Here's the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. ... read more
ABSENT-MINDED
Dr. Harold C. Urey, Nobel prize winner in Chemistry, was walking along a sidewalk one day when he ran into another professor. They chatted for a few minutes, then, as they parted, Dr. Urey asked the other: "John, which way was I going when I met you?" ... read more
ABSOLUTES
At a recent gathering of seminary professors, one teacher reported that at his school the most damaging charge one student can lodge against another is that the person is being "judgmental." He found this pattern very upsetting. "You can't get a good ... read more
ACCEPTANCE
In 1900, the Daughters of the American Revolution elected social reformer Jane Addams to honorary membership. But Addams's antiwar stance during World War I and her insistence that even subversives had a right to trial by due process caused them to expel ... read more
ACCIDENT
Rowland V. Bingham, founder of the Sudan Interior Mission, was once seriously injured in an automobile accident. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. The following day, when he regained consciousness, he asked the nurse what he was doing the ... read more
ACCOMPLISHMENT
The concert impresario, Sol Hurok, liked to say that Marian Anderson hadn't simply grown great, she'd grown great simply. He says: "A few years ago a reporter interviewed Marian and asked her to name the greatest moment in her life. I was in her dressi ... read more
ALONE
In the operating room of a large hospital, a young nurse was completing her first full day of responsibilities.
"You've only removed 11 sponges, doctor," she said to the surgeon. "We used 12."
"I removed them all," the doctor declared. "We ... read more
AMBITION
Ambition usually progresses through the following stages: to be like Dad...to be famous...to be a millionaire...to make enough to pay the bills...to hang on long enough to draw a pension.
Bits & Pieces, September 1989.
Don't be afraid to tak ... read more
ARMAGEDDON
At the end of the 19th century two French writers went to visit the well-known French scientist, Peirre Berthelot. Berthelot was a kind of scientific prophet. He forecast some of the weapons of mass destruction which would appear in the next century. He s ... read more
ARMINIANISM
When a Calvinist says that all things happen according to the predestination of God, he speaks the truth, and I am willing to be called a Calvinist. But when an Arminian says that when a man sins, the sin is his own, and that if he continues in sin, and p ... read more
ASPIRATION
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was and still is generally regarded as one of the most outstanding justices in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was known as the Great Dissenter because he disagreed with the other judges so much. Holmes sat on the Supr ... read more
ATHEISM
An atheist said, "If there is a God, may he prove himself by striking me dead right now." Nothing happened. "You see, there is not God." Another responded, "You've only proved that He is a gracious God."
Unknown
As Vice President, Georg ... read more
BABBLE
I have received memos so swollen with managerial babble that they struck me as the literary equivalent of assault with a deadly weapon.
Peter Baida, Management Babble, American Heritage, April 1985.
I like nonsense -- it wakes up th ... read more
BAPTISM, IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
As I shut the door of the office after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at His feet. I f ... read more
BELIEF
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that ro ... read more
BIBLE
I was never out of my Bible.
John Bunyan.
I am a man of one Book.
John Wesley.
It seems that famed scientist Albert Einstein had more trouble finding his way home from work than he did finding the key to atomic power. One evening ... read more
BIRTH
A little boy asked his mother where he came from, and also where she had come from as a baby. His mother gave him a tall tale about a beautiful white-feathered bird. The boy asked his grandmother the same question and received a variation on the bird stor ... read more
BISHOP
In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter. "He was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he w ... read more
BITTERNESS
Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University. One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped -- but he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college.
A short time after the tragedy, Bruce' ... read more
BLESSING
At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian's personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for ... read more
BLINDNESS
Matt. 9:16,17 John 12:37-41
In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. ... read more
BLOOD OF CHRIST
When evangelist John Wesley (1703-1791) was returning home from a service one night, he was robbed. The thief, however, found his victim to have only a little money and some Christian literature. As the bandit was leaving, Wesley called out, "Stop! I hav ... read more
BOLDNESS
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen inc ... read more
BURNOUT
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no- nonsense un ... read more
CALLING
In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the mon ... read more
CARELESSNESS
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy; and for want of care about a horseshoe nail.
B. Franklin.
Steve Green, who sang s ... read more
CARNAL
What is carnality? According to the Greek dictionary, it means to have the nature and characteristics of the flesh (or more simply, it means "fleshly"). What, then , is the flesh? Sometimes it refers to the whole material part of man (1 Corinthians 15:3 ... read more
CERTAINTY
When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.
John Wesley.
An ... read more
CHRIST, sinlessness of
As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The tra ... read more
CHURCH
Yet membership in a confessing body is fundamental to the faithful Christian life. Failure to do so defies the explicit warning not to forsake "our assembling together." His understanding of this prompted Martin Luther to say, "Apart from the church, s ... read more
CIRCUMSTANCES
Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World's Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, "That man is really pumping water." But when he got closer, he discove ... read more
CONFORMITY
Athanasius, early bishop of Alexandria, stoutly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Christ was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being. Hounded through five exiles, he was finally summoned before emperor Theodosius, who demanded ... read more
CONVERSION
I was weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when I heard the voice of children from a neighboring house chanting, "take up and read; take up and read." I could not remember ever having heard the like, so checking the torrent of my tears, I ... read more
CROSS OF CHRIST
The government of Polish Prime Minister Jaruzelski had ordered crucifixes removed from classroom walls, just as they had been banned in factories, hospitals, and other public institutions. Catholic bishops attacked the ban that had stirred waves of anger ... read more
DECEPTION OF SELF
Jessica Hawn, former church secretary who committed immoral acts with Jim Bakker (former host of the PTL Club), and later brought down the PTL empire, said today (9-28-87) that God gave her "real peace" about granting an interview to Playboy magazine an ... read more
DEPRESSION
One of England's finest preachers was C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892). Frequently during his ministry he was plunged into severe depression, due in part to gout but also for other reasons. In a biography of the "prince of preachers", Arnold Dallimore wrote, ... read more
DESIRE
Driving up from Beersheba, a combined force of British, Australians and New Zealanders were pressing on the rear of the Turkish retreat over arid desert. The attack outdistanced its water carrying camel train. Water bottles were empty. The sun blazed piti ... read more
DIARIES
I think of David Livingstone, the pioneer missionary to Africa, who walked over 29,000 miles. His wife died early in their ministry and he faced stiff opposition from his Scottish brethern. He ministered half blind. His kind of perseverance spurs me on. A ... read more
DISCOURAGEMENT
Former heavy-weight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under ... read more
DOCTRINE
A pastor I know, Stephey Belynskyj, starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates. Then, next to those estimates, he helps them m ... read more
DOUBT
Let me meet you on the mountain, Lord,
Just once.
You wouldn't have to burn a whole bush.
Just a few smoking branches
And I would surely be ...your Moses.
Let me meet you on the water, Lord,
Just once.
It wouldn't have to be on White Rock Lak ... read more
EMPTINESS
Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world -- yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, "I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed ... It's the old son ... read more
END OF THE WORLD
The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each show is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager comes forward. He apologizes for the interruption, but ... read more
ENEMIES
Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.
Antisthenes.
Rabbi David A. Nelson likes to tell the story of two brothers who went to their rabbi to settle a longstanding feud. The rabbi got the two to reconc ... read more
EVANGELISM
EVANGELISM
The following article is based on a sermon by missionary Del Tarr who served fourteen years in West Africa with another mission agency. His story points out the price some people pay to sow the seed of the gospel in hard soil.
I was always perplexed ... read more
EVIL
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
Pogo.
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cu ... read more
FEAR OF MAN
Seeking to know God better, John Chrysostom became a hermit in the mountains near Antioch in A.D. 373. Although his time of isolation was cut short by illness, he learned that with God at his side, he could atand alone against anyone or anything. That les ... read more
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