An American Indian was asked to explain the grace of Jesus. He took a pile of leaves and an
earth worm. He laid the worm in the leaves and set the leaves on fire—at the
last minute he lifted it out and said, “That is the way Jesus saved me!”
On February 27, 1991, during the Desert Storm War, a woman by the name of Ruth Dillow
received the worst call of her life. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private First
Class, had stepped on a land mine and was dead. For the next three days she
grieved. No one could comfort her.
On the third day after receiving
the terrible news, the phone rang. On the other end of the phone there was a
voice that said, “Mom, it’s me. I’m alive.” At first she thought it was a cruel
joke, but as the conversation continued, she realized it was her son.
After businesses were ravaged by bombs during World War
II the owners would often clear away the rubbish and place a sign out front that
said, “Business as usual.” When God saves us, His desire is that we would put
out a sign that says, “Under new management.”
On
Sunday February 18, 2001, Nascar lost one of its greatest drivers. Dale
Earnhardt, also known as “The Intimidator,” was in third place on the last lap
of the Daytona 500 when his car was tapped from behind and sent head-on into
the wall at 180 mph. In a matter of moments it was evident something was
terribly wrong. Dale Earnhardt had died in the crash. On the following Monday
an autopsy report revealed he had died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The
story is told of a king who was in his throne room, holding
a council with his advisers, noblemen, and high ministers of state. Suddenly
there was a bang and a clatter at the door of the throne room. All eyes turned
as the door burst open and a young boy ran into the room.
One
of the king’s royal guardsmen tried to stop the boy. “Hold there, lad!” he
shouted. “Don’t you know you’re disturbing the council of the king?”
“He’s
your king,” laughed the boy, “but he’s my Daddy!” And the boy bounced into the
open arms of his father, the king.
Zach Dunlap said he feels, “Pretty good,” Just four months after the doctors almost removed his organs because he was declared brain dead.
Mr.
Dunlap was pronounced dead November 19, 2007 at United Regional Healthcare System in
Wichita Falls, Texas.
While family members payed their last respects just before his organs were to be given for transplant, he moved his foot and hand in reaction to a pocketknife being scraped across his foot and pressure being applied under one of his fingernails.
A
mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor
replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice
demanded death.
“But
I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.”
“But
your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied.
“Sir,”
the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I
ask for.”
“Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.”
And he spared the woman’s son.
On May 24, 1965, a 13½ foot boat
slipped quietly out of the marina at Falmouth, Massachusetts. It would be the
smallest craft ever to make the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to England. The
Tinkerbelle was piloted by Robert
Manry, a copy editor for the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, who felt that 10 years at the desk was enough boredom for a
while. So he took a leave of absence to fulfill his secret dream.
The story is told of a woman who left her husband. The
husband called the police and filed a “missing persons report.” A few weeks
later the police found her a few counties over. They asked him if he wanted
them to take him to her. By now the husband had realized how poorly he had
treated his wife. He decided to write his wife, and he did for months. Finally,
Christmas came, and he went to see her (she was in a run down hotel). He asked
her to come home and she did. On the way home he said, “I’ve written you for
months, why did you come home so easily?”
“Let my heart gracious God, be so effected with Your glory and majesty,
that I may fulfill these weighty duties which You have required of me. I
have called upon You to pardon me of my sins. Thank You for the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, offered on the cross for me. You gave Your
Son to die for me and have given me assurance of salvation.”—George Washington’s Diary
Warren Buffet is one of the greatest investors
in our day. In June 2005, someone bought a lunch with him for $351,100. If
there was an entrance fee to Heaven no one would get there.
Imagine
you are half a million dollars in debt. Someone comes to you and writes out a
check for $500,000, saying, “This is all for you, to cancel your debt. You don’t
have to do anything but reach out and take it, and it’s yours.” So you take the
money and pay your debt. You are now debt-free and totally in the clear.
A minister waited in line to have his car filled with
gas just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there
were many cars ahead of him. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a
vacant pump. “Reverend,” said the young man, “I’m so sorry about the delay. It
seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.”
The minister chuckled, “I know what you mean. It’s the same in my business.”
“John 3:16 addresses a number of ‘isms.’ The phrase ‘For God’ responds to atheism,
which claims there is no God. The phrase
‘so loved’ responds to fatalism, which asserts God is an impersonal force. The phrase ‘the world’ responds to
nationalism, which says God loves only one group of people. The phrase ‘that He
gave’ responds to materialism, which says it is more blessed to receive than to
give. The phrase ‘His only begotten Son’
responds to Mohammedism, which says God has no Son.
The Titanic’s captain did not believe the ship was sinking until
water was ankle deep in the mail room. At that point he realized
that the unsinkable ship was sinking. Ships that could have helped rescue the
people on board were not asked to help early enough and did not arrive in time.
Many believe they will get saved at the eleventh hour. What they do not realize is, it may come so fast they do not know it is the eleventh hour.
A little boy carried
his new boat to the river. He placed it in the water and let out the
string. All at once a strong current caught the boat. He tried to
pull it back to shore, but the string broke and the little boat raced downstream.
The little boy searched for the boat until night fell and he
went home with a heavy heart. A few days later he saw his boat in a store
window. He spoke to the store manager: ”Sir, that’s my boat in your
window! I made it!”
In Bible times a seal was the way a person identified
something that he owned. For example, business men would purchase timber in
Lebanon. When they purchased it they stamped it with their seal. The logs were
then floated down the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea to the port where the
buyers could collect their logs. Any log with their mark of ownership on it
belonged to them.
The
Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit—he has God’s mark of ownership, and God
does not give up His own.
Matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted
while playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled “Christ in a
Tuxedo.” He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount,
remove his gown, and cry out, “Give me my tuxedo and top hat!” But as he read
the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted,” he began to
tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew chapter five,
ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors.
