Friendship

Samuel Clemens, more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain was a gifted writer. Yet Twain held a deep contempt for Christianity. He once referred to it as a “slaughterhouse religion” because of the doctrine of the blood atonement, and he often turned his ridicule on those who believed the Bible. He met and fell in love with Olivia Langdon, a young woman from a good Christian family. While they were courting he appeared to have downplayed his lack of faith, and she agreed to marry him.

One day a farmer grabbed his shot gun to shoot at a flock of pesky crows. Unfortunately, he didn’t see his sociable parrot that had joined the crows. After firing a few shots, he walked over to the fallen birds and was surprised to find his parrot badly ruffled with a broken wing. When the farmer’s children saw the injured bird, they asked, “Dad, what happened?” The farmer simply replied, “Bad company.”

A middle school teacher asked her class to write imaginative definitions of a friend. These were the descriptions she received:

“A friend is a pair of open arms in a society of armless people.”

“A friend is a warm bedroll on a cold and frosty night.”

“A friend is a mug of hot coffee on a damp cloudy day.”

“A friend is a beautiful orchard in the middle of the desert.”

“A friend is a hot bath after you have walked 20 miles on a dusty road.”

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

A man dialed a wrong number and got the following recording: “I am not available right now, but I thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”

Source: Unknown

Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the scarring years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”

Ninety percent of people said that friendliness or facilities was a major factor when deciding where to attend church.

Out of 353 people interviewed about the first time they attended a new church 311 mentioned the friendliness of the church. Out to those same 353 people 117 specifically mentioned greeters or welcome centers.

Ninety-one percent of formerly unchurched people said that the beliefs of a church were important in their decision about where to attend church. Eighty-nine percent of those who transferred their membership said the same thing.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

2. Smile. If you want to draw others to you, light up your face with a smile.

3. Remember names. A person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound to that person.

4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Treat others the way they want to be treated.

Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

A young man in Bible college fell asleep during class. As he was sleeping, a friend of the young man suddenly shook him and earnestly whispered, “Hey, he just asked you to pray!” The sleeping man, thinking he had just been called on to pray, jumped to his feet and began his prayer while still partly asleep, interrupting the teacher’s lesson. The student finished his prayer and sat down. The teacher, unflustered, thanked the student and continued with the lesson.

Source: Unknown

A woman was interviewed by reporters on her 102^nd birthday. When asked about the benefits of living past the century mark, she answered, “No peer pressure!”

Source: 1001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers, Edward K. Rowell

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

The April 29, 1992 issue of the Chicago Tribune reported: “A stripped gear in the propeller controls of a commuter plane caused it to nosedive into the Georgia woods last April, killing former U.S. Senator John Tower of Texas and twenty-two others, the government concluded Tuesday. A gear that adjusted the pitch of the left engine’s propellers was slowly worn away by an opposing part with a harder titanium coating, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

We may know sports figures, their statistics, even their personal likes and dislikes, but we don’t really know them. How well do you know God? You likely know all about Him, you likely have studied His book, the Bible, but do you actually know Him?

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

Two men were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and his friend anxiously asked, “What are you doing? Don’t you know you can’t outrun a grizzly bear?”

“I don’t have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!”

Aren’t you glad we don’t have a heavenly Father with a friendship like that!

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West coast Baptist College

A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. Among the thousands of answers received were the following:
“One who multiplies joys, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable.”
“One who understands our silence.”
“A volume of sympathy bound in cloth.”
“A watch that beats true for all time and never runs down.”
The winning definition read: “A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.”

A horse shot twice with a crossbow survived after four fellow mares spent three hours taking turns licking the wound clean.

The 20-year-old horse, Zeta, was in critical condition after one of the arrows bounced off her rib, while another lodged an inch from her lung as she grazed in a field in the U.K. Zeta's owner, Jo Young, said the four other horses saved Zeta’s life.

One ingenious teenager who was tired of reading bedtime stories to his little sister decided to record several of her favorite stories on tape. He told her, “Now you can hear your stories anytime you want. Isn't that great?” She looked at the machine for a moment and then replied, “No. It hasn't got a lap.”

Source: Unknown

Harriet Frye watched as her four-year-old granddaughter handed a small Easter basket of candy eggs to her grandfather. Crystal then climbed up into her grandpa’s lap, looked into his eyes, and very seriously said, “Friends share.”

Source: The Best of Grandparents' Brag Board, Pregel and Riley

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.