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A Simple Bible
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Jul 19, 2009 7:58 pm
758 Views
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"I'm not supposed to give these away," the young man said, handing me a display Bible, "but I sense you should have this." I shrugged and absently tucked it away. We had a Bible at home. I'd only stopped by the Gideon's table because nothing else at the Iowa State Fair was set up.
A few days later I was walking to town when a car pulled up beside me. "Get in," the driver snarled, pointing a gun at me. I did as he said. Soon he pulled over, grabbed me and tried to force me down on the seat. I struggled with all my strength. Finally he ordered me out of the car.
Before both my feet were on the ground, I heard a shot and felt a sharp pain in my side. I collapsed, and the man came around the car. He picked up my purse, took out my wallet then threw the purse on my head and shot it. I felt a dreadful impact. Still conscious, I lay silent, hoping he would think I was dead. I heard the car drive away, and I stumbled to a nearby farmhouse. A woman called for help, and the police were closing in on the drug-crazed driver based on the description I'd given them.
At the hospital, just before I went into surgery to remove the bullet in my side, my sister came to see me. "Do you know what saved your life, Mavis?" she asked. She handed me the Bible that had been in my purse. A bullet was lodged inside, its tip stopping exactly at Psalm 37:14-15: "The wicked draw the sword, and bend the bow to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken."
This is what it means to know the voice of God. The young man wasn't supposed to give away the Bibles, but he "sensed" that God wanted him to give the Bible away to this lady. He probably thought that she would open the Bible and read something that would turn her life around, or bring her closer to the reality of God. But the sword came first, and then certainly a peace that only comes from God; the reality of His protection made manifest by those who "sense" His will.
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Doggie Talk
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Jul 19, 2009 4:33 pm
719 Views
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In the country at my grandmother's house, I was in the back yard with my son. He saw a dog walking across the yard. "Daddy, how do you say, come to me, to a dog?" he asked. A child can ask simple questions that have universal and far reaching implications.
There is no doggy language that literally says, "Come to me." You have to say it through tone and gesture. A dog has to FEEL that you want him to come to you and the dog has to feel that it's safe and beneficial for him to come to you. It's the same with people. We really don't say, "Be my friend" with words. We do it with tone and gesture and we have to make the other person feel that it's safe and beneficial for them to be our friend, wife, husband, boyfriend/girlfriend, employee or employer.
Even sales consists of a lot of doggy talk. If a salesperson is rude with a mean tone, you won't come. I don't want you to think of people as dogs, but understand that we really convey more on the unspoken than the spoken level. Tone and gesture. Dogs can't understand our language, but a dog knows the difference between being stumbled over and kicked. So do people, regardless of what your words are. Tone and gesture. People with pets live longer. Maybe they learn how to communicate better on the unspoken level and it carries over to the people side. Just maybe we should all learn the secret of how to say "Come to me" to a dog.
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Harvesttime is Near
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Jul 19, 2009 4:17 pm
751 Views
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“The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” Matthew 13:39.
Christ’s statement, “the end of the world,” caused astonishment among the disciples. They became curious, and made inquiries regarding the time and circumstances of this end. Even when their Master was in the shadow of the cross they approached Him with these questions: “When shall these things be?and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt.24:3). Jesus answered in a long discourse replete with instructions. Much of His talk remained a dim outline in the memory of the disciples, but the final event toward which history and the church were marching emerged clear and glorious: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14).
After the Master’s departure from this earth the disciples continued their search in Holy Writ, and looked forward to the consummation of the centuries. Jesus would return to earth, and the sheaves would be gathered in from every land in the midst of the greatest manifestation of power ever witnessed.
Such was to be the setting of the last Christian achievement. The apostles gave the lead, and since their day the true church has looked forward to the end of all things. Today, in the last hours of the harvest-time, this sense of urgency is sharper and greater than ever. The church no longer has centuries before her. Portentous omens overcast the horizon and ominous rumblings sound up and down the frontiers of the nations, but they are fraught with harvest-day possibilities. They are bringing the Biblical viewpoint and the solution envisioned by the Master and His disciples to the forefront in countless lands, making this a day of opportunity.
The end approaches with strides of great speed. Shall we not, in our place of responsibility and service, respond to God’s call today?
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