GAMES
Early in the eighteenth century two young monks were disciplined by their abbot for an infraction of the monastery rules. “Brothers Benedict and Fidelis,” he said sternly, “your punishment will be seclusion for three months—under the rule of silence!” At first the disciplined ones gave themselves to prayer and study, but the silence was oppressive and the idle hours weighed heavily on them. Finally the younger monk had an idea. He collected all the smooth, flat stones of one size that he could find in the courtyard until, with the help of his “silent partner,” they had gathered twenty-eight. He then placed different numbers on each of them and began devising a new game to while away their unproductive hours. It was difficult for them to communicate, but after a few weeks they managed by making gestures to outline certain rules to govern their play with these marked stones. The most difficult thing was keeping silent when they were excited over winning a game. Then they had a happy idea. They were allowed to utter aloud the prayer, “Dixit Dominus Domino Meo.” By reducing this to one word, the victor was able to signal his triumph by excitedly exclaiming, “Domino! Domino!” The pastime they devised has been refined but is still played in scores of countries today.
GENEALOGIES
“My family’s ancestry is very old,” said one club member trying to impress the group. “We can be traced back to the early kings of Europe.” Then turning to a lady sitting nearby, she asked, “And how old is your family, my dear?” “I really don’t know,” replied the lady with a sweet smile, “all our records were lost in the Great Flood.”
—The Links
GENEROSITY
A host of an American in Korea could not speak any English, except for two words: “Help yourself.”
GENIUS
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
—Thomas A. Edison
Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.
The greatest genius will not be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.
—Johann von Goethe
GENTLENESS
A gentleman is one who thinks of others before himself.
—Confucius
The true gentleman is God’s servant, the world’s master, and his own man.
A nurse in a serviceman’s hospital complained to the chaplain that she had been rudely treated by some of the patients. He answered, “Thank God for that!” “What do you mean?” she inquired in astonishment. “Well,” he explained, “if you are holding a glass and someone knocks against you, you can only spill out what is inside! When people misjudge and persecute us, we soon reveal what is in our hearts. If we are Christ-filled and governed by the Holy Spirit, we will manifest the gentleness and meekness of our Savior. In fact, God often allows us to be pushed around and mistreated so that unsaved men may be astonished at His grace as we overflow with love and forbearance.”
Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength.
—Francis De Salem
On one occasion Abraham Lincoln sent a note by messenger to his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. Stanton was a capable man, but was noted for his brusqueness and rigid opinions. As the messenger stood waiting for a reply, Stanton tore up the note and shouted, “President Lincoln is a fool!”
When the messenger returned and told Mr. Lincoln what the Secretary had said, Lincoln thought a moment, and then said with a grin, “Well, perhaps Mr. Stanton is right!”
The Greek word praus means power under control. A three-year-old girl called to her mother to come and see a doggie. Her mother thought it was another imaginary dog, but she went out anyway. To her surprise she saw the girl petting an injured Mexican wolf. The mother told the girl to back off from the dog slowly, and she did. The mother called a vet, who gave the animal a shot. The wolf recovered and stayed in the girl’s backyard. She played with the wolf as a pet for twelve years. The wolf had power under control. That was “gentleness.”
GIFTS
The perfect gift for the person who has everything is a burglar alarm.
GIVING
If you give because it pays, it won’t pay.
—R. G. LeTourneau
A farmer was known for giving extensively to the Lord’s work. He explained it this way: “I keep shoveling into God’s bin, and God keeps shoveling back into mine, and He has the bigger shovel.”
An African convert, who loved to help others, earned money by making and selling a special kind of bean-cake. She had always been conscientious in her giving, but after suffering a severe foot injury in an accident, her income ceased. It was many long months before she could resume her work. She eagerly awaited the day when she could sell her tasty cakes again and promised the local missionary that she would give one-third of her earnings to the Lord instead of just ten percent. Her ambitious goal for the first week of business was to make a profit of three shillings. The missionary was surprised when the woman returned after only two days with one shilling as an offering for the Lord. “You surely haven’t earned three shillings already!” he exclaimed. The elderly African Christian seemed surprised by the question. “Do you think I would give my Lord the last of the three?” she asked. “This is the first one and it belongs to Him; the other two I will make will be for me.” Her heart was so filled with love for the Savior that she found joy in honoring Him with her initial earnings.
He who gives to me teaches me to give.
—Danish proverb
When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.
The trouble with some folks who give until it hurts is that they are so sensitive to pain.
We make a living by what we get—we make a life by what we give.
In order to appreciate the luxury of giving, one must have been, at some time, poor.
A pig was complaining to a cow that he was not appreciated. “I don’t understand it,” he said, “people are always talking about how generous you are, giving them cream and milk and butter for their daily use. That’s nice, of course, but I give more than you do—ham and bacon and bristles and feet. Yet nobody has any use for me. They make fun of me and call me a pig. I don’t like it.”
“Perhaps the difference,” the cow replied after a moment’s hesitation, “is that I give while I’m still living.”
A Spanish-American convert was being baptized in West Texas. Before the ceremony he was seen going back to where his clothing was. He was told that his clothes would be safe. “Sí, sí,” he replied, “but I am getting my pocketbook; I want it to be immersed too!”
A preacher was preaching on the need of the church to grow and expand.
He said, “This church needs to walk.” A man in the back said, “Amen, brother! Let her walk!”
The preacher said, “This church needs to run!” The man said, “Amen, brother! Let her run!”
He said, “This church needs to fly!” The man said, “Amen, brother! Let her fly!”
The pastor then said, “But you know, folks, it’s gonna take a little money.” There was a hush over the congregation and then a man in the back said, “Let her walk.”
A man decided to give his son-in-law a check for $5,000 on the day of his wedding to his daughter. The bride’s sister was to present the groom with the money. “Did you give him the check?” asked the father. “Yes, Father,” she answered. “And what did he say?” “Why, he said nothing, but he did shed some tears.” The father asked, “How long did he cry?” And she replied, “Oh, about a minute.” “Only a minute!” roared the father. “What an ingrate! Why, I cried for an hour after I signed the check!”
“Go, break to the needy sweet charity’s bread;
For giving is living,” the angel said.
“And must I be giving again and again?”
My peevish and pitiless answer ran.
“Oh, no,” said the angel, piercing me through.
“Just give till the Lord stops giving to you.”
Old Deacon Hunter
Sat in the corner
As the contribution box passed by;
Sweetly content
He dropped in a cent
And said, “What a good churchman am I!”
When a Christian gets rich—either the Lord gains a fortune or loses a man.
One night a preacher was making an appeal for funds and he invited the congregation to bring their gifts and lay them on the altar. The response was large, and soon the aisles were filled with people, bringing up their offerings.
Soon a little girl came slowly toward the front. She was lame and walked with a crutch. At the altar she pulled a little ring from her finger and laid it with the other gifts. Adjusting her crutch, she went back to her seat. After the meeting, the preacher said to her, “My dear, I saw the thing you did tonight. It was beautiful but, you know, the response of the people tonight has been large, and we find we have some money left over, so we don’t need your ring and I have brought it back to you.” The little girl looked up with rebuke in her eyes, and said, “I didn’t give that ring to you.”
Too often we forget that the offerings of the Lord’s people are made not to man but to God.
You get more than you give when you give more than you get.
—Bits & Pieces
No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor is the reward of what one gives.
—Calvin Coolidge
When we place our contribution in the collection plate, we are not giving to the Lord; we are just taking our hands off what belongs to Him.
Blessed are those who give without remembering and who receive without forgetting.
God judges what we give by what we keep.
—George Mueller
A wise lover regards not so much the gift of him whom he loves, as the love of the giver.
Mary Jane was given two nickels as she was about to leave for the morning service. One was for the collection plate and one for herself. As she trudged along to church, she dropped one of her precious nickels and it rolled into the sewer. Mary Jane looked down through the grating and came to the sad conclusion that it was lost forever.
“Well, there goes the Lord’s nickel,” she murmured.
Caesar Augustus gave an expensive gift to a person he wanted to honor. The person was so overwhelmed, he said, “This is too great a gift for me to receive.”
Caesar responded, “But it’s not too great a gift for me to give.”
Once I knew a Baptist; He had a pious look.
He had been totally immersed—except his pocketbook.
He’d put a nickel on the plate, and then, with might and main
He’d sing, “When we asunder part, It gives us inward pain.”
—S. M. Greene
It’s not what you’d do with a million,
If riches should e’er be your lot,
But what are you doing at the present
With the dollar and a quarter you’ve got?
He who earns is an industrious man;
He who spends is a well-furnished man;
He who saves is a prepared man;
He who gives is a blessed man.
You can’t take your money to heaven with you, but you can send it on ahead of you.
We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.
Once a certain preacher was born in quite a poor, humble family. The Lord kept him humble and his congregation kept him poor!
A rich man once gave ten thousand dollars each to three persons saying, “I want to settle all my accounts when I die. At the time of my death, you may deduct whatever you think I owe you—and throw the rest into my grave.”
Sure enough, at his funeral, his church pastor said, “I discovered that you never gave anything to the church. Here, I’ve deducted ten percent.” And he threw in nine thousand dollars.
Next came his partner and threw in five thousand dollar bills, saying, “I deducted the amount you owed me.”
Finally came his lawyer, proudly saying, “Although you owed me some money, I am canceling all fees and returning to you the entire amount.” And he threw in a check for ten thousand dollars.
A young lad, whose usual allowance was five cents a week, received a gift of a dollar from his aunt. He was overjoyed. His aunt asked him what he planned to do with the money.
“I’m going to take it to Sunday school next Sunday and give it to God,” he answered. “He never gets anything but nickels either.”
—E. Schuyler English
Old Josh won a million dollars in a lottery. His minister went to tell him the news, but he hesitated to tell him outright for fear he would have a heart attack out of shock. So the minister said, “Do you think you would ever win the lottery?” Josh replied, “Probably not. I never win any of those things.”
The minister then asked, “Suppose you won a million dollars in a lottery. What would you do with the money?”
“Well, I’d give half of it to the church,” Josh replied. Just then, the minister fell over dead from a heart attack!
In a certain church the pastor started taking a collection for greatly needed repairs on the ceiling. Finally old deacon Tight stood up and said, “I will give five dollars.” Just then a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit him on the head. So deacon Tight looked up and said, “Well, I guess I’d better give ten dollars.” Then the pastor, with rare common sense and pointed discretion looked up to heaven and said, “Oh, Lord, hit him again!”
The late John Roach Stratton told of two men who went to the dock at New York City because of their interest in foreign missions. The one, a wealthy businessman, was beaming with pleasure. The other man said to him, “You seem to be much pleased.” “Yes,” answered the businessman, “I am sending by that ship in North River ten thousand dollars worth of equipment for a hospital in China.” “Well, that is interesting, and I’m glad you made the gift. But you know, I too have a gift on that same ship; my only daughter is on board going as a missionary.” The first man looked into the face of the new friend and said, “My dear brother, I feel as though I have given nothing compared with your sacrifice.”
Some teenage girls who loved the Lord formed a “do without” club in order to raise money for missions. They determined to add to their fund by sacrificial giving. The majority, who were from well-to-do homes, easily found ways to contribute. But for one poor little girl named Margie it was extremely difficult. One day she knelt by her bed and asked the Lord to show her something she could do without. As she prayed, her pet spaniel licked her hands. Suddenly she remembered that the family doctor had offered to buy him. The tears came as she exclaimed, “Oh, Bright, I can’t think of parting with you!” Then she thought of the words, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” “I’ll do it!” she said. Going to the doctor’s home, she sold the dog for fifty dollars. Even though she missed her pet, she was still happy because she had been able to put all the money into the mission fund.
The doctor was pleased with the dog, but he wondered if a pressing need had caused the girl to part with him, so he stopped by her house. When he heard her story, he went home deep in thought. In his life of abundance he had never denied himself anything. The next morning Margie found the dog scratching at the door. This note was fastened to his collar: “Your practical Christianity has done more for me than any sermon I’ve ever heard. Last night I offered what’s left of my wasted life to God. I’d like to join your club, and begin by doing without Bright.”
—Our Daily Bread
A intensive survey in 1988 survey revealed that seven out of ten households in America contributed an average of $790 to charitable organizations and almost half of all Americans (45%) volunteered an average of 4.7 hours per week in time to charitable causes and organizations in 1987.
An interesting finding of the survey was the fact that Americans of low to moderate incomes are more generous than upper income individuals in their contribution of volunteer time and money. Another interesting discovery was that many Americans are willing to give of their time and financial resources but they are not made aware of the needs.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
—Winston Churchill
GOALS – AIMS
Oversleeping will never make dreams come true.
—Teen Esteem
I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes
Improved means are often dedicated to the achievement of unimproved goals.
—Henry David Thoreau
When Christopher Columbus landed in San Salvador instead of India, he said, “You can’t navigate without a decent map.”
When David Livingstone was finishing his work in Africa, someone said, “Now what will you do?” He said, “I’ll go anywhere as long as it’s forward.”
Set your goal high. You may not reach it, but you’ll put on muscle climbing toward it.
Once a stranger in America stopped a man on the road and asked him, “Where does this road lead to?” The man answered, “Where do you want to go?”
Again the stranger persisted, “Where does this road lead to?”
“My friend,” replied the other, “this road leads to any place in the United States.”
It is the same with communication. The leader must know his destination if he wishes to arrive there.
—John Haggai
If we but knew where we now stand and whither we are tending, we should know better what to do.
—Abraham Lincoln
The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.
—David Starr Jordan
Bernie May, the U.S. Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, once wrote a paper entitled, “Fly the Airplane,” in which he described his early training as a pilot and his instructor’s word regarding the procedures to follow in case of an emergency. There were a series of steps to take regarding the throttle, the flaps, the engines, etc., and he said, “Between each of them write on the card ‘Fly the Airplane.’ Don’t become so involved in handling the emergency that you fail to continue flying the airplane.” He pointed out that some years ago a commercial airliner crashed in the swamps of Florida because the entire crew was so involved in the process of checking a landing gear which did not seem to be coming down that they forgot to fly the airplane.
High expectations are the key to everything.
—Sam Walton
Just as the Green Bay Packers dominated football in the 1960s, the San Francisco 49ers dominated in the 1980s. Like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh was the coach of the decade. Among Walsh’s coaching idiosyncrasies was this: He mapped out the first twenty or so offensive plays before every game. The reason was simple. Walsh wanted extra assurance that the 49ers were off to the right start. Repeated practice of those plays meant confidence going into the game, fine execution from the outset, frequent first-quarter scores, and momentum that was hard to stop.
Goals are dreams with deadlines.
—Diana Scharf Hunt
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.
—Les Brown
If you don’t know where you are going, you may end up someplace else.
—Yogi Berra
A manufacturer once required all executives to put three objectives in writing at the beginning of each year.
Each executive had to list one general goal for his operation, one specific goal, and one personal objective. At the end of the year, progress in achieving the three objectives was reviewed, and executives were accordingly awarded extra financial compensation.
—Bits & Pieces
You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.
—Charles C. Noble
The main thing is that the main thing always remains the main thing.
—German proverb
Two fellows who went fishing found a good fishing spot. “Did you mark the spot?” one said. “Yes, I put an X on the boat.” “Well, you idiot, what if we don’t get the same boat tomorrow?”
You must know the harbor to which you are headed if you are to catch the winds to take you there.
—Seneca
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Ireland experienced a terrible famine. The government put thousands of men to work to pay for the food that was apportioned them. The projects were not carefully planned, and therefore many were kept busy digging roads which seemed to have no destination. A playwright, depicting this, tells of a little boy who came home one day and said to his father, “Dad, they’re makin’ roads that lead to nowhere.”
A man had difficulty with his memory. He went to a doctor. The doctor said, “The only way we can help your memory is to impair your eyesight. Which do you want to retain—your eyesight or your memory?” The man answered, “Don’t take away my sight. I’d rather see where I’m going than remember where I’ve been.”
When you determine what you want, you have made the most important decision in your life. You have to know what you want in order to attain it.
—Douglas Lurtan
The absence of conscious goals usually leads to confusion and emptiness.
—James Armstrong
Start with the goal and work back. Picture what you want, define the purpose, the need, the goal—the objective that is desired. Then try to devise ways to build that machine, to outline its method of management, to devise a process of operation—to reach the goal for which you start.
—Thomas Watson
Focus precedes success.
—Bobb Biehl