Power

Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can.Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Datsun in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles.Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power.The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; His presence was like 'tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But He also works through the church,the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power.

Source unknown

A Father

His shoulders are a little bent, His youthful force a trifle spent, But he's the finest man I know, With heart of gold and hair of snow.

He's seldom cross and never mean; He's always been so good and clean; I only hope I'll always be As kind to him as he's to me.

Sometimes he's tired and seems forlorn, His happy face is lined and worn; Yet he can smile when things are bad: That's why I like my gray-haired dad.

He doesn't ask the world for much, Just comfort, friendliness, and such; But from the things I've heard him say, I know it's up to me to pay.

For all the deeds he's done for me Since I sat rocking on his knee; Oh, not in dollars, dimes, or cents,That's not a father's recompense.

Nor does he worship wealth and fame, He'd have me honor Jesus' name.

Source unknown

TV Is My Shepherd

The TV set is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for his name's sake. Because it requireth all of my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian, because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see.

It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God's Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend the evening worship services and doing nothing in the kingdom of God.

Yea, though I live to be 100 I shall keep on viewing television as long as it will work, for it is my closest companion. Its sound and its picture, they comfort me.

It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those set forth in the word of God.

Surely, no good thing will come of my life, because my television offereth me no good time to do the will of God; thus I will dwell crownless in the house of the Lord forever.

Source unknown

Kneeling to Pray

A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling.


Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.

'Well," said the chaplain, 'you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them."

For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked ,"By the way, did you take my advice?"

'I did, for two or three nights."

'How did it work?"

'Well," said the young man, 'I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed."

'Well," asked the chaplain, 'How did that work?"

The young soldier answered: 'We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."

Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them to it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ.

Moody's Anecdotes, pp. 73-74

Destroyed by Fire

Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the phonograph, the incandescent light, the storage battery, talking movies, and more than 1000 other things.

December 1914 he had worked for 10 years on a storage battery. This had greatly strained his finances. This particular evening spontaneous combustion had broken out in the film room.

Within minutes all the packing compounds, celluloid for records and film, and other flammable goods were in flames. Fire companies from eight surrounding towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the attempt to douse the flames was futile.

Everything was destroyed. Edison was 67. With all his assets going up in a whoosh (although the damage exceeded two million dollars, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof), would his spirit be broken?

The inventor's 24-year old son, Charles, searched frantically for his father. He finally found him, calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind. 'My heart ached for him," said Charles. 'He was 67,no longer a young man,and everything was going up in flames.

When he saw me, he shouted, 'Charles, where's your mother?' When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.'' The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, 'There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."

Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph.

Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick, Thomas Nelson, 1978, pp. 82-3, and Bits and Pieces, November, 1989, p. 12

Law Like a Brush Fire

A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth; a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn't outrun it.

Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for,a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come.

They didn't have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near,and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched.

Fire would not pass where fire already had passed.
The law is like a brushfire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned-over place, not a hair of my head will be singed. Christ's death has disarmed it.


Adapted from Who Will Deliver Us? by Paul F. M. Zahl