PREPARATION
Someone asked H. A. Ironside, “Why should I get a seminary education? You didn’t and you’re a great preacher.” Ironside responded, “God does bless some who don’t have an education, but He doesn’t bless those who have an opportunity for education but don’t take advantage of it.”
My father, John Roach Straton, had a reputation as a defender of the faith. A young man had come to him and said, “I want to preach.” Questioning him, my father discovered that he had not finished high school, much less college or seminary. So his advice was to complete all three. The fellow replied, “But I believe that God will fill my mouth.” Father responded, “Yes, God will fill your mouth if you fill your head first.”
—Hillyer H. Straton
Dig the well before you are thirsty.
—Chinese proverb
When the chief of a New England town’s voluntary fire department was asked what was the first thing they did when called to extinguish a fire, he said, “The first thing we do is drench the premises with water, knock out the windows, and chop up the furniture.”
“What’s the second thing you do?”
“The second thing we do,” added the chief, “is to make absolutely certain we are at the right address.”
—Accent on Youth
If you give me ten minutes to chop down a tree, I’ll spend my first two minutes sharpening my ax.
—C. S. Lewis
I will study and get ready, then maybe my chance will come.
—Abraham Lincoln
Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine.
Nelaton was a skilled and highly esteemed French surgeon. Once he said that if he had only four minutes to perform a life-saving operation, he would take at least one minute to assess the best way to do it.
PRESIDENTS
In America anyone can grow up to be president. That’s just the chance we all take.
—Adlai E. Stevenson
During World War II a young navy pilot made an air strike against the Japanese-held Chichi Jima Island. His plane was struck by anti-aircraft fire, and he had to bail out over the Pacific. Another pilot spotted his chute just as it hit the water and radioed his position. Within minutes, the submarine USS Finback surfaced and rescued the flyer. Safely on board, he silently thanked God for sparing his life. That young pilot was George Bush, the man who became the forty-first president of the United States.
PRESSURE
It does not matter how great the pressure is, it matters only where the pressure lies—whether it comes between you and God, or whether it presses you closer to His heart.
—J. Hudson Taylor
You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension, and discipline are taken out of your life.
—James G. Bildey
PRIDE
I read a fable about a dog who loved to chase other animals. He bragged about his great running skill and said he could catch anything. Well, it wasn’t long until his boastful claims were put to the test by a rabbit. With ease the little creature outran his barking pursuer. The other animals, watching with glee, began to laugh. The dog excused himself, however, by saying, “You forget, folks, that I was only running for fun. He was running for his life!”
—Richard W. De Haan
A man was asked why he so often talked to himself. He replied, “Well, sir, you see it’s this way. I like to talk to an intelligent person and I like to hear an intelligent person talk.”
A conceited person never really gets anywhere—because he thinks he’s already there.
—Hal Roach
He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
—Hal Roach
Your halo only has to slip a few inches to become a noose.
An egotist is a self-made man who worships his creator.
A mother whale said to her baby whale, “When you get to the surface and start to blow, that’s when you get harpooned.”
Paul Dixon, president of Cedarville College, was successful and sensed he was filled with pride. He told his pastor about his problem with pride when a young man. His pastor just laughed at him and then said in all seriousness, “What makes you think you have reason to be proud?” He then added, “I’ll tell you what you should realize is the cause of pride.” “What’s that?” Dixon asked. “Imagination.”
Sometime when you’re feeling important,
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime when you take it for granted
That you’re the best qualified in the room.
Sometime when you think you’re going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple direction
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water.
Put your hand in it up to the wrist.
Take it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you wish as you enter.
You may stir up the water, galore,
But stop—in just a minute
It looks much the same as before.
Now the moral of this little lesson
Is to try to improve and not worsen.
Be proud of yourself, but remember—
There is no indispensable person.
Some people are willing to serve God but only as His consultant.
The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, and drunkenness are mere flea biters in comparison. It was through Pride that the Devil became the Devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.… As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people. And, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
—C. S. Lewis
The human body is very sensitive. Pat a man on the back and his head swells.
Do you wish people to speak well of you? Then do not speak at all of yourself.
A top-ranking British official once entertained a haughty and sophisticated lady in his home. By mistake his assistant asked her to sit on the left of her host rather than in the place of honor at his right hand. The visitor was offended and became very indignant. Turning to the general she said, “I suppose you have real difficulty in getting your aide-de-camp to seat your guests properly at the table.” “Oh, not at all,” came the reply. “I have found that those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter!”
The bigger a man’s head becomes, the easier it is to fill his shoes.
A proud man is one who waits for a vacancy in the Trinity.
—Mark Twain
He who sings his own praises is always a soloist.
There’s one thing to be said about the egotist—he doesn’t talk much about other people.
There are only two classes of people: Those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God finally says, “Thy will be done.”
—C. S. Lewis
A pompous boor was loudly telling his companion and the world about his accomplishments.
“I tell you, I started with nothing,” he proclaimed. “I am completely self-made.”
A sad little man could no longer stand it. “I sympathize with you, friend,” he said quietly. “I’m no good at those do-it-yourself projects either.”
It isn’t the things we know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we know for sure that do.
The person who knows everything has a lot to learn.
My sermon today is on humility, and in my opinion, it’s one of the finest pieces ever written.
Bumper sticker: “I’m back by popular demand.”
Pride has its built-in hazard, as illustrated in the fable of the two ducks and the frog. These best of friends had to leave their home pond when it began to dry up. The ducks knew they could easily fly to another location. To transport their friend the frog, they decided to fly with a stick between their two bills, with the frog hanging on the stick with its mouth. A farmer, looking up from his field at the flying trio, remarked, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea. I wonder who thought of that.” The frog said, “I did.” He learned the hard way that pride goeth before a fall.
—Leslie B. Flynn
Jumbo the elephant and Flick the flea were longtime friends. They often walked and chatted together.
One day they were walking along a backcountry road when they came to a flimsy wooden bridge that spanned a deep gorge. They walked across side by side, the little bridge swaying and creaking under the weight of the elephant. When they were across, the flea asked his big friend, “Did you notice how we shook that bridge?”
When you sing your own praise, you always get the tune too high.
Don’t brag; it isn’t the whistle that pulls the train.
An egotist is an “I” specialist.
None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.
—Benjamin Whichcote
When small men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting.
The greatest of all faults is to imagine you have none.
While still a young man, Henry Morehouse conducted evangelistic services in Canada. He was quite distressed when there were little outward results. He had seen many some to Christ in the United States and Great Britain, but in Canada he seemed to meet only with defeat. Day and night he was on his knees searching his heart and crying, “Oh God, why is there no revival? Why is there no seeming movement of the Holy Spirit?” The next day as he walked along the street he saw a large sign on which appeared these words: “Come to hear Henry Morehouse, the most famous of all British preachers!” “Ah,” he said to himself, “now I have found the reason!”
He went at once to the campaign committee and said, “Brethren, I see how you have advertised me as the greatest of this and the greatest of that! No wonder the Holy Spirit cannot work! He is grieved and quenched because you haven’t magnified the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Make sure it is God’s trumpet you are blowing. If it is only yours, it won’t wake the dead; it will simply disturb the neighbors.
—Major Ian Thomas
The greatest sin in the ministry is pride.
—J. Vernon McGee
A man who had a high opinion of himself stepped on a coin-operated scale that dispensed a card, giving his weight and comments about his personality. After reading the card, he handed it to his wife and said, “Here, look at this!” She took it and read aloud, “You are dynamic, a born leader, handsome, and much admired by women for your personality.” Giving a second look, she added, “Hmmmm … I see it got your weight wrong too!”
—Our Daily Bread
While walking along the water’s edge one day, Oliver Wendell Holmes met a small child. After they had strolled down the beach for a short distance, she announced, “I must go home now.” As she was leaving, he remarked, “When your mother asks you where you’ve been, tell her you’ve been walking with Oliver Wendell Holmes!” The sweet youngster replied, “And when your folks ask you where you’ve been, tell them you have been walking with Mary Susanna Brown.” In Christ there are no “big shots” and no “favored ones.”
The head begins to swell when the mind stops growing.
It is a sign that your reputation is small and shrinking if your tongue must praise you.
—Mathew Hale
“Pali, this bull has killed me.” So said Jose Cubero, one of Spain’s most brilliant matadors, before he lost consciousness and died.
Only twenty-one years old, he had been enjoying a spectacular career. However, in this 1985 bullfight, Jose made a tragic mistake. He thrust his sword a final time into the bleeding, delirious bull, which then collapsed. Considering the struggle finished, Jose turned to the crowd to acknowledge the applause.
The bull, however, was not dead. It rose and lunged at the unsuspecting matador, its horn piercing his back and puncturing his heart.
Just when we think we’ve finished off pride, just when we turn to accept the congratulations of the crowd, pride stabs us in the back. We should never consider pride dead before we are.
—Craig Brian Larson
He who thinks he can find in himself the means of doing without others is much mistaken; but he who thinks that others cannot do without him is still more mistaken.
—La Rochefoucauld
“Thank you for that message, Pastor.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord.”
“I thought of that, but it wasn’t quite that good.”
In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea, causing a tragic loss of life. The news of the disaster was further darkened, however, when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident which hurled hundreds of passengers into the icy waters. The tragedy was not traced to some major problem like a breakdown in radar or thick fog. The blame was attributed to human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other’s presence. Both could have taken evasive action to avert the collision. But according to the news reports, neither wanted to give way to the other. It seems that each was too proud to yield and make the first move. By the time they saw the error of their ways, it was too late.
—Our Daily Bread
The man who does as he pleases is seldom pleased with what he does.
When Napoleon set out to conquer Russia at the head of the Grand Army of Europe, someone reminded him that “man proposes but God disposes.” The conqueror of Europe replied, “I am he that both proposes and disposes.”
The secretary of Ray Stedman, former pastor in Palo Alto, California, had a sign in her office that said, “I’ve come to accept two truths: (1) There is one God, and (2) You ain’t Him.”
More irksome than the person who exalts himself is someone who agrees with you when you describe your faults.
—William Walden
Mohamed Ali, when he was Cassius Clay, was on a plane. A flight attendant said, “Please fasten your seatbelt.” He responded in pride, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” She responded, “Superman don’t need no airplane either.”
Nothing’s as hard to do gracefully as getting down off your high horse.
—Soundings
George Allen wrote a book entitled Presidents Who Have Known Me.
Five things I keep meekly hid
“Myself” and “I”
And “Mine” and “My”
And what “I did and said.”
He who sings his own praises is seldom asked for an encore.
Temper is what gets most of us into trouble. Pride is what keeps us there.
At one time the newspaper cartoonist H. T. Webster amused himself by sending telegrams to twenty of his acquaintances, selected at random. Each message contained the one word, “Congratulations!” So far as Webster knew, not one of them had done anything in particular on which he might be complimented. But each of the twenty took the message as a matter of course and wrote him a letter of thanks. Each had assumed that he had done something worthy of a congratulatory telegram!
You can have no greater sign of a confirmed pride than when you think you are humble enough.
No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power.
—Charles Caleb Cotton
God has humbled Himself, but man is still proud.
—Augustine
The man who has an exalted opinion of himself is usually a poor judge of human nature.
A man wrapped up in himself makes a small package.
No man is great in the eyes of his butler.
Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.
—Benjamin Disraeli
Every time he looks in the mirror he takes a bow.
The Devil has no fault to find with people who are satisfied with themselves.
Few can tell what they know without also showing what they don’t know.
Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
—Mark Twain
A man is never as good as he says he is or as bad as others say he is.
The quickest way to take the starch out of a man who is always blaming himself is to agree with him.
Be big enough to admit and admire the abilities of people who are better than you are.
The worker who has a right to boast doesn’t have to.
Far better a sinner who knows he is a sinner than a saint who knows he is a saint.
No man can give the impression at the same time that he is clever and that Jesus Christ is Lord.
—James Dewey
Nothing is more to me than myself.
—Max Stirner
An egotist is a person who thinks that if he hadn’t been born people would ask why not.
—E. Pangborne
An insurance company pictured the Titanic sailing straight for the iceberg which many years ago sank that luxury liner. States the advertisement, “They called her the ‘Millionaire’s Special.’ Four city blocks long, eleven stories high, powered by triple propellers, protected by the latest, most ingenious devices, luxurious and beautiful beyond words, she caught the fancy of the world. On April 10, 1912, she slipped out of Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. Less than five days later, she went down in 12,000 feet of icy water, 300 feet of her hull ripped open by a massive iceberg. Actually the Titanic was more than a ship. She was a symbol of man’s power. Majestic! Colossal! Unsinkable! But when the ‘unsinkable’ sank, something went down with it. No one would ever again feel the same confidence in man’s strength.”
He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
—Benjamin Franklin
An egotist is a person of low taste who is more interested in himself than in me.
—Ambrose Pierce
I had dinner with a relation who, when thanks were offered for the food, said, “I bow my head before no one, neither God or man. I’ve made my own way by myself.”
—E. Schuyler English
One of Socrates’ disciples asked the master, “Why is it, sir, that you tell all who want to become your disciple to look into this pond and tell you what he sees?”
The sage answered, “That is very simple, my friend. I am ready to accept all those who tell me they see the fish swimming around. But those who see only their own image mirrored in the water are in love with their ego. I have no use for them.”
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I think whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
In the full clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head’s bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matter not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
—William Ernest Henley, Invictus
The family was discussing a domineering and extremely self-centered maiden aunt. Mother, exasperated by Aunt Ella’s latest demand, said, “What Ella needs is to experience some real trouble, such as losing someone she loves very much.”
Grandma, who had been listening, remarked quietly, “True child, true. But you can’t cry at your own funeral.”
PRIORITIES
When Charles E. Hummell was going into the ministry, a businessman gave him an excellent piece of advice. “Be careful that the urgent doesn’t crowd out the important.”
—The Tyranny of the Urgent