DECEPTION
A medical student spent his summer vacation working as a butcher in the daytime and a hospital orderly in the evenings. Both jobs, of course, involved wearing a white smock. One evening he was instructed to wheel a patient on a stretcher into surgery. The patient, a woman, looked up at the student and let out an earthly scream. “Oh, no,” she wailed, “it’s my butcher!”
Paul Harvey tells how an Eskimo kills a wolf. He coats his knife with blood and lets it freeze. Then he adds another coat of blood and then another. As each coat freezes, he adds another smear of blood until the blade is coated over by layers of frozen blood.
Then he buries the knife—blade up—in the frozen tundra. The wolf catches the scent of fresh blood and begins to lick it. He licks it more feverishly until the blade is bare. Then he keeps on licking harder. Because of the cold, he never notices the pain of the blade on his tongue. His craving for the taste of blood is so great that he licks the blade till he bleeds to death, swallowing his own life.
At one point in a debate, Abraham Lincoln was accused by his opponent, Douglas, of being two-faced. “I leave it to my audience,” replied Lincoln. “If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?”
DECISIONS
The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridges to cross and which ones to burn.
—David Russell
My life is not made by the dreams I dream but by the choices I make.
The degree of maturity a person attains is directly proportional to his ability to make wise decisions.
One-half the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.
—Josh Billings
A man’s judgment is no better than his information.
—Bits & Pieces
Half the worry in the world is caused by people trying to make decisions before they have sufficient knowledge on which to base a decision.
—Dean Hawkes
If I had to sum up in one word what makes a good manager, I’d say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.
—Lee J. Iacocca
When, against one’s will, one is high-pressured into making a hurried decision, the best answer is always “no,” because “no” is more easily changed to “yes” than “yes” is to “no.”
—Charles E. Nielsen
DEDICATION
Sam Jones was a preacher who held revival services which he called “quittin’ meetings.” His preaching was directed primarily to Christians, and he urged them to give up sinful practices in their lives. Sam’s messages were very effective, and many people promised to quit swearing, drinking, smoking, lying, gossiping, or anything else that was displeasing to the Lord.
On one occasion Jones asked a woman, “Just what is it that you’re quittin’?” She replied, “I’m guilty of not doing anything—and I’m going to quit doing that too!” Even though she had no habits to give up, she wasn’t actively living to please God.
Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today.
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way.
He has no tongue but our tongues to tell men how He died.
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.
When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to halt on the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat! Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.
One day while walking with some children, Queen Mary was caught in a sudden shower. Quickly taking shelter on the porch of a home, she knocked at the door and asked to borrow an umbrella. “I’ll send it back tomorrow,” she said. The queen had deliberately disguised her appearance by putting on a hat that partly covered her face and by wearing very plain clothing. The householder, reluctant to give a stranger her best umbrella, offered her a castoff she found in the attic. One rib was broken and there were several holes in it. Apologizing, she turned it over to the monarch, whom she did not recognize. The next day she had another visitor—a man with a gold braid on his uniform and an envelope in his hand. “The queen sent me with this letter,” he said, “and also asked me to thank you personally for the loan of your umbrella.” Stunned, the woman burst into tears. “Oh, what opportunity I missed that I did not give her my very best,” she cried.
At a religious festival in Brazil a missionary was going from booth to booth, examining the wares. He saw a sign above one booth: “Cheap Crosses.” He thought to himself, “That’s what many Christians are looking for these days—cheap crosses. My Lord’s cross was not cheap. Why should mine be?”
When someone complimented J. Hudson Taylor on the work of the China Inland Mission that he had founded, he said, “It seemed to me that God had looked over the whole world to find a man who was weak enough to do His work, and when He at last found me, He said, ‘He is weak enough—he’ll do.’ All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”
God’s plan took priority in eighteen-year-old Jonathon Edwards’s life. He wrote in his journal, “Resolved that all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved secondly that, whether or not anyone else does, I will.”
A gathering of friends at an English estate nearly turned to tragedy when one of the children strayed into deep water. The gardener heard the cries for help, plunged in, and rescued the drowning child. That youngster’s name was Winston Churchill. His grateful parents asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, “I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor.” “We’ll see to it,” Churchill’s parents promised.
Years later, while Sir Winston Churchill was prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. The country’s best physician was summoned. His name was Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered and developed penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved young Winston from drowning. Later Churchill remarked, “Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person.”
—Our Daily Bread
A young man, some years ago, lay dying. His mother believed him to be a Christian and was greatly surprised and distressed one day when, on passing his room, she heard him say, “Lost! Lost! Lost!”
Immediately she opened the door and cried, “My boy, is it possible you have lost hope in Christ, now that you are dying?”
“No, Mother, no!” he replied, “it is not that. I have a hope beyond the grave but I have lost my life! Twenty-four years I have lived and done nothing for the Son of God, and now I am going! My life has been spent for self. I have lived for this world—and now—while dying, I have given myself to Christ—but my life is lost!”
The Spanish ship Girona was on its way to Scotland from Ireland, seeking refuge for its thirteen hundred passengers and crew. She was a forlorn survivor of the great Armada which had set out in that year of 1588 to conquer England. On board was a young nobleman who wore a betrothal ring given to him on the eve of his departure from Spain by his young lover. The ring was a symbol of the gift of herself to him. But the Girona never reached Scotland. A wild storm drove the ship onto the jagged rocks, and it was broken in two. All but five men perished, including the young nobleman. Centuries later Robert Stenuit located the wreck and found the keepsake ring. Carved on it was a tiny hand offering a heart and these words, “No tengo mas que darte” (“I have nothing more to give you”). A wise commentator has remarked, “Christ wants to hear that same confession from each of us who are His children.”
Napoleon stood before his troops and asked for one hundred men to take the lead in an endeavor that seemed doomed to failure. He told them that every man would doubtless be killed the moment the enemy opened fire. Would any dare to respond to this call? Lifting his voice, Napoleon said, “Who will die for his emperor? Advance out of the ranks!” It is said that in response the whole regiment, as one man, instantly sprang forward.
Shamgar had an ox goad, Rahab had a string;
Gideon had a trumpet, David had a sling;
Samson had a jawbone, Moses had a rod;
Dorcas had a needle, But all were used of God.
I learned from William Booth that the greatness of man’s power is his measure of surrender.
—J. Wilbur Chapman
Years ago two young men heard of a Caribbean island where 3,000–4,000 African slaves were kept isolated from the Gospel by their godless master. The two men realized that they could share the story of Christ with these people only by becoming slaves themselves. So they sold themselves into slavery and used the money to buy the one-way ticket to this island. As they pulled out of the harbor, never to see their families and friends again, they clasped arms. One shouted across the water, “To win for the Lamb that was slain the reward of his sufferings.”
—Wherever
William Booth was asked by Dr. Chapman, “What’s the secret of your success?” He answered, “I was so concerned for London, I gave God everything.”
Jakob Mendelssohn, the great musician, once visited the Freiburg Cathedral when the regular organist was practicing. Mendelssohn asked whether he might play a few bars. At first the organist, not knowing the visitor, refused the request, but on second thought acceded, though somewhat reluctantly.
Mendelssohn began to play. The cathedral’s organist listened in ecstasy and then, placing his hand on Mendelssohn’s shoulder, asked, “Who are you?”
“Mendelssohn,” was the answer.
“Oh!” the organist exclaimed. “To think that I almost refused to let the great Mendelssohn play for me!”
How foolish it is for Christians to refuse to allow Christ to have full control over their lives.
Centuries ago the Spanish general, Pizzarro, neared the border of Peru. Calling his men together, he traced a line in the sand and announced, “Comrades, on that side there is toil, hunger, the drenching storm, and possible death; on this side is ease and leisure. There lies Peru and its riches; here lies Panama and its poverty. Each man must choose whether to go or stay. For my part, I go to Peru!”
A mission board once wrote to David Livingstone, “Have you found a good road to where you are in Africa? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.” Livingstone responded, “If you have men who will come only if there is a good road, I do not want them. I want those who will come if there is no road at all!”
Robert Robinson, a Christian, had strayed from the Lord. One day, while he was in a stagecoach, a woman seated next to him was reading poetry. She couldn’t understand a poem she was reading so she asked Mr. Robinson if he would explain it. As he looked at the poem, he glanced across the page and saw his own poem with the words, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.” Those words caused him to rededicate his life right then.
One day a man decided to go out to the beach for the afternoon. He went out to get his young son to go with him, who was playing in his sandbox. The son insisted on taking a bucket of sand with him, in spite of what his father said about how much sand there was at the beach. Finally the boy believed, and to his delight found sand along the beach as far as the eye could see.
Are we persisting on carrying along a little bucket of sand, little things in our lives that we refuse to give up?
Jim Elliot was a classmate of mine in college. He was a young wrestler, good-looking, and tough of body. He was also a deeply spiritual young man. Every morning he arose at five or five-thirty and read his Bible and made notes in his diary. One day, in his praying about the people overseas, he thought to himself, “Why shouldn’t I go? There is one minister for every 500 people in the United States, and one for every 500,000 overseas. Why shouldn’t I go?” And he went. He went to the Auca Indians in Ecuador and he was murdered. After his death, they found, scattered along the shore, a river-soaked diary. In it Jim Elliot had written, “Make me a crisis man, O Lord; not just a sign-post on the highway of life, but a fork in the road so that men who meet me will come to know Jesus Christ.”
—Ernest J. Lewis
Ye call Me Master and obey Me not;
Ye call Me Light and see Me not;
Ye call Me Way and walk Me not;
Ye call Me Life and desire Me not;
Ye call Me Wise and follow Me not;
Ye call Me Fair and love Me not;
Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not;
Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not;
Ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not;
Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not;
Ye call Me God and fear Me not.
These solemn thoughts of admonition are in the Cathedral of Lubeck, Germany.
Give me one hundred men who love nothing but God, hate nothing but evil, and know nothing but Jesus Christ, and I will change the world.
—John Wesley
When James Calvert sailed to the Fiji Islands as a missionary, the captain of the ship said, “You shouldn’t do this. You and those with you will be killed.” Calvert replied, “We died before we came.”
An early Greek general, looking over a hastily conscripted conglomerate army, was heard to remark to his lieutenant, “Would that I had as many soldiers as I had men.”
If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you. You are embarking on something that is going to take the whole of you.
—C. S. Lewis
Dedication is writing your name on the bottom of a blank sheet and handing it to the Lord for Him to fill in.
A woman in India stood by a heathen temple in process of construction. Someone asked her the cost of the temple. She looked in surprise at the questioner, a missionary, and said, “Why, we don’t know. It is for our god. We don’t count the cost.”
John Wesley traveled on horseback the equivalent of ten times around the world’s equator. He preached as often as fifteen times a week for fifty years. He authored more publications than any writer in the English language until the contemporary science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. He read books while making his horseback journeys. When he was past eighty, he complained that he could not read and work more than fifteen hours a day.
—John Haggai
Francis Xavier left wealth and position and set out across the world with the message of redemption through Christ Jesus. It took energy for him to labor twenty-one hours out of twenty-four, to learn to preach in twenty different languages in ten short years, to beg passage on a troop ship, and later sail with pirates in unsafe vessels. It took energy for him to sleep in tents with the Bedouins, cross the burning deserts and the snowy ranges of Asia. It took energy for Xavier to dare death in every form, shake hands with every ailment and disease, endure the pangs of hunger and horrors of thirst after a decimating shipwreck and bitter persecution. But he made a great impact on Japan.
Bertoldo de Giovanni was an important sculptor but none of his work has lasted. His chief claim to fame is as a historical connector. He was the pupil of Donatello, the greatest sculptor of his time, and the teacher of Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor of all time.
Michelangelo was only fourteen years old when he come to Bertoldo, but it was already obvious that he was enormously gifted. Bertoldo was wise enough to realize that gifted people are often tempted to coast rather than to grow, and therefore he kept trying to pressure his young prodigy to work seriously at his art. One day, he came into the studio to find Michelangelo toying with a piece of sculpture far beneath his abilities. Bertoldo grabbed a hammer, stomped across the room, and smashed the work into tiny pieces, shouting his unforgettable message: “Michelangelo, talent is cheap, dedication is costly!”
—Gary Inrig
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man;
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part,
When he yearns with all his heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch his methods, watch his ways—
How he ruthlessly perfects
Whom he royally elects.
How he hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows, converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
Which only God understands,
While his tortured heart is crying,
And he lifts beseeching hands.
How he bends but never breaks
When his good he undertakes.
How he uses
Whom he chooses,
And with every purpose, fuses him,
By every act, induces him
To try his splendor out.
God knows what he’s about.
It is said that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once had captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, “What will you give me if I release you?” “The half of my wealth,” was his reply. “And if I release your children?” “Everything I possess.” “And if I release your wife?” “Your Majesty, I will give myself.” Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, “Wasn’t Cyrus a handsome man.” With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, “I didn’t notice. I could only keep my eyes on you—the one who was willing to give himself for me.”
Many years ago a young man went out to China as a Christian missionary on an annual salary of about $2,500. He was so outstanding that there was competition for his services. A commercial concern wanted him, so they offered him $5,000 salary, but he declined. They raised it to $7,000. When he declined again, they raised it to $10,000, but he refused this, also.
They couldn’t understand, so they asked why he refused. He said he preferred to stay with the job he had. They asked if it was a question of the salary not being enough. He answered, “Oh, the salary is big enough, but the job isn’t.”
—Clarence W. Kemper
DEFEAT
If you want to be distressed, look within.
If you want to be defeated, look back.
If you want to be distracted, look around.
If you want to be dismayed, look before.
If you want to be delivered, look to Christ.
If you want to be delighted, look up.
DELAYS
The word “posthaste” dates back to the days of Henry VIII when some messengers with mail irresponsibly stopped on the road to play games or dilly-dally in some other way. Therefore a law was passed decreeing death by hanging for any dispatch-carrier who delayed the mail. Thus letters of the sixteenth century were often ornamented with a drawing of a messenger suspended from the gallows with this admonition printed beneath, “Haste, post, haste! Haste for thy life!”
—Leslie B. Flynn
DELEGATION
The most successful executives carefully select understudies. They don’t strive to do everything themselves. They train and trust others. This leaves them foot-free, mind-free, with time to think. They have time to receive important callers, to pay worthwhile visits. They have time for their families. No matter how able, any employer or executive who insists on running a one-man enterprise courts unhappy circumstances when his powers dwindle.
—B.C. Forbes
Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.
—Marcus Aurelius
The phrase “Let George do it” was coined over 450 years ago by King Louis XII of France.
The king had a prime minister, named George D’Amboise, who was so able that the king delegated an increasing number of vexing problems to this trusted assistant. The monarch thus left himself free to attend to other royal duties.
Don’t tell a man how to do a thing. Tell him what you want done, and he’ll surprise you by his ingenuity.
—General George Patton
The best executive is the one who has enough sense to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
—Theodore Roosevelt
DELUSION
In a day of illusions
And other confusions,
Upon their delusions
They base their conclusions.
DENOMINATIONS
During an interfaith conference, someone shouted, “The building is on fire!”
Methodists gathered in a corner and prayed.
Baptists cried, “Where’s the water?”
Quakers quietly praised God for the blessings that fire brings.
Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring, in no uncertain terms, that fire was evil.
Roman Catholics passed the offering plate to cover the damages.
Jews posted symbols on the doorposts hoping that the fire would pass over.
Congregationalists shouted, “Every man for himself!”
Fundamentalists proclaimed, “Fire is the vengeance of God!”
Christian Scientists agreed among themselves there was no fire.
Presbyterians appointed a chairperson who was to appoint a committee to look into the matter and make a written report to the Session.
Episcopalians formed a procession and marched out.
DENTISTS
Dr. Bill Hanson, a dentist and a church organist in Dallas, says his favorite hymn is “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”
DEPENDABILITY
The greatest ability is dependability.
—Bob Jones
Thomas J. Jackson inspired General Barnard Bee to point his sword toward Jackson’s tall, prominent figure and shout, “There’s Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!” Stonewall Jackson was a patient and courteous instructor, but the thing that won the abiding affection and love of his men was his dependability.
When the conflict between the States broke out, a young man who was engaged to a beautiful New England girl was one of the first to be called into service. Their marriage therefore had to be postponed. He managed to get through most of the conflict uninjured, but finally in the Battle of the Wilderness he was severely wounded. The young lady of his heart, not knowing of his condition, was counting the days until he returned. She waited for word from him, but no more letters came. At last she received one addressed in a strange handwriting which read: “There has been another terrible battle. It is very difficult for me to tell you this, but I have lost both my arms! I cannot write myself, but a comrade is penning this for me. While you are as dear to me as ever, I shall now be dependent on other people for the rest of my days and I feel I should therefore release you from the obligation of our engagement.”
This letter was never answered. Taking the next train, the young woman went directly to the scene of the late conflict and sent word to the captain concerning the purpose of her errand. The man was sympathetic and gave her directions where she might find the soldier’s cot. Tearfully she went along the lines of the wounded looking for her love. The moment her eyes fell upon him, she threw her arms around the young man’s neck and kissed him. “I will never give you up!” she cried. “These hands of mine will help you; I am able to support you, I will take care of you!”
He that is too big to do little things willingly is too little to be trusted with big things.
DEPENDENCE ON GOD
Our efficiency turns out to be a deficiency unless we have God’s sufficiency.
—The Vance Havner Quote Book
A little boy was tugging at a big rock and doing his best to lift it. He was grunting and pulling but it didn’t budge. His father came along and asked him if he was having any trouble. He said, “Yes, I am trying and trying and can’t move the rock.” The father said to him, “Well, Son, are you using all available energy?” The boy replied, “Yes, Father, I think I am.” Then the dad looked at him and said, “No, Son, I don’t think you are, for you haven’t asked for my help.”
So it is with us. We think we are unable to overcome or surmount some obstacle, but perhaps it is because we haven’t prayed about it. We haven’t asked for our Father’s help.
—Rives Baptist Church bulletin
DEPRESSION
The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy found his life going stale when he was fifty years old. For the next two years he could think of little else but taking his own life. He hid every rope for fear he would hang himself, and he even stopped hunting, for fear he would turn the gun on himself. Then he discovered that his despondency lifted when he thought about God. There was an upsurge of hope, a feeling of stability. “Why look further?” he asked himself. “I’ll seek God and really live.” And he did.
You can be cured in fourteen days [to patients afflicted with melancholia] if you follow this prescription. Try to think every day how you can please someone.
—Alfred Adler
I think I have learned that the best way to lift one’s self up is to help someone.
—Booker T. Washington
Dr. Bertrand Brown, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said that depression is the number one problem in this country today. Depression is the common cold of psychological disorders. Almost everyone experiences it at some time.
—Paul W. Powell
In an address to the British Medical Association, a prominent physician said, “The best medicine I’ve discovered is prayer. As one whose whole life has been concerned with the sufferings of the mind, I would state that all hygienic measures to counteract disturbed sleep, depression of spirit, and a distressed mind, I would undoubtedly give first place to the simple habit of prayer. It does more to quiet the spirit and strengthen the soul than any other therapeutic agency known to man.”
William Cowper was a Christian, but he had sunk to the depths of despair. One foggy night he called for a horsedrawn carriage and asked to be taken to the London Bridge on the Thames River. He was so overcome by depression that he intended to commit suicide. But after two hours of driving through the mist, Cowper’s coachman reluctantly confessed that he was lost.
Disgusted by the delay, Cowper left the carriage and decided to find the London Bridge on foot. After walking only a short distance, though, he discovered that he was at his own doorstep! The carriage had been going in circles. Immediately he recognized the restraining hand of God in it all.
Convicted by the Spirit, he realized that the way out of his troubles was to look to God, not to jump into the river. As he cast his burden on the Savior, his heart was comforted. With gratitude he sat down and penned these reassuring words: “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. O fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy; and shall break in blessings on your head.”
The late actress Joan Blondell used a common kitchen timer to pull herself up out of the dumps. “I set the timer for 6 ½ minutes to be lonely, and 22 minutes to feel sorry for myself. And then when the bell rings, I take a shower, or a walk, or a swim, or I cook something—and think about something else.”
—Bits & Pieces