Devout Fathers

I love the story Gordon MacDonald tells. Among the legends is the tale of a medieval sidewalk superintendent who asked three stone masons on a construction project what they were doing. The first replied that he was laying bricks. The second described his work as that of building a wall. But it was the third laborer who...

Death of the Righteous

Donald Cargill was a bright star in the history of Scottish persecutions. He was condemned by the government and sentenced to the gallows. When he came to the scaffold, Cargill said these moving words, although it was said that the drums were beaten in an attempt to drown out his voice: Now I am near to getting to my ...

Church Attendance

The reasons why I'm giving up sports: football in the fall, baseball in the summer, basketball in the winter. I've had it all. I quit attending sports once and for all, and here are my 11 excuses: 1. Every time I went, they asked for money. 2. The people I sat next to didn't seem friendly. 3. The seats were too hard and not ...

Children

Take a Moment to Listen. Take a moment to listen today - To what your children are trying to say; - Listen today, whatever you do - Or they won't be there to listen to you. - Or they won't be there to listen to you. - Listen to their problems, listen for their needs, - Praise their smallest triumphs, praise their smallest deeds;...

Burden Bearer

Several years ago, The Wall Street Journal carried a story about Sally, an overly conscientious youngster who made herself miserable over the smallest failures and setbacks. Early one fall, while the leaves were still on the trees, there was an exceptionally heavy snowstorm. Sally's grandfather took her for a drive and said, ...

Worship Sevice

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. It was covered with names and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the Pastor walked up, stood beside the boy...

Work

God works wonderfully through the faithfulness of people in many different vocations. It isn't just through the clergyman that our Father providentially cares for and speaks to us. It isn't just in a church building or at a church event that we can expect to see God at Work. In his book Gene Edward Veith observes God's mighty...

Vision

According to Charles Panati, Silly Putty was an accident. James Wright, of General Electric, was striving to find a synthetic rubber that would be cheaper and more versatile than the real thing. What he came up with had some interesting qualities, but had no real practical use. It offered no real advantage to the real thing. ...

Some Insights about Preaching

Insights into preaching come in the strangest ways. Knowledge that they are true insights comes from a familiar place, that core out of which the preacher creates. Here then are four strange ones. Strange, but true. The first is...