by

The Lookout — Id’ rather see a sermon than hear one…

Id’ rather see a sermon than hear one any day;
Id’ rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example’s always clear.
And the best of all preachers are the men who live their creeds,
For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn how to do it if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lesson by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
The Lookout

by

George Whitefield — Had an hour’s conversation with a gentleman…

Had an hour’s conversation with a gentleman about new birth in Jesus Christ.  Breakfasted with some gentlemen in the great cabin, who were very civil and let me put in a word for God.  About eleven at night went and sat down among the sailors in the steerway and reasoned with them concerning the Christian life.  Gained an opportunity, by walking at night on the deck, to talk closely to the chief mate and one of the sergeants of the regiment and hope my words were not altogether in vain.
George Whitefield (as he noted in his journal the contacts he made on shipboard)

by

Henry W. Thornton — How great is the contrast…

How great is the contrast between that forgiveness to which we lay claim from God towards us, and our temper towards others!  God, we expect, will forgive us great offences, offences many times repeated; and will forgive them freely, liberally, and from the heart.  But we are offended at our neighbor, perhaps, for the merest trifles, and for an injury only once offered; and we are but half reconciled when we deem to forgive.  Even an uncertain humor, an ambiguous word, or a suspected look, will inflame our anger; and hardly any persuasion will induce us for a long time to relent.
Henry W. Thornton

by

Phillips Brooks — You who are letting miserable misunderstandings…

You who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day; you who are keeping wretched quarrels alive because you cannot quite make up your minds that now is the day to sacrifice your pride and kill them; you who are letting your neighbor starve until you hear that he is dying of starvation or letting your friend’s heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy, which you mean to give him some day; if you could only know and see and feel all of a sudden that time is short, how it would break the “spell.”  How you would go instantly and do the thing which you might never have another chance to do.
Phillips Brooks

by

Advent Herald — The following is a quotation from the words of Dr. W. B. Hinson…

The following is a quotation from the words of Dr. W. B. Hinson, speaking from the pulpit a year after the commencement of the illness from which he ultimately died:  “I remember a year ago when a man in this city said, ‘You have got to go to your death.’  I walked out to where I live, five miles out of this city, and I looked across at that mountain that I love, and I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God’s own poetry to my soul.  Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting his lamps, and I said ‘I may not see you many more times, but, Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and, River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and, Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down-pulling of the material universe!'”  This is the confidence of one who knew the Saviour.  Is it yours?
Advent Herald

by

Tony Bland — The phone rang in the office of a Washington D.C. church…

The phone rang in the office of a Washington D.C. church.  The voice on the other end asked, “Will the President be in church Sunday morning?”  The pastor quickly replied, “That I cannot promise, but I do know Jesus Christ will be here and that should be sufficient incentive for a reasonably large attendance.”
Tony Bland

by

R. C. Foster — Jesus said…

Jesus said, “Go,” but the church through selfishness and indifference has refused to obey.  We try to substitute “write,” “send,” or “give,” for “go.”  We try to salve our conscience by turning over the task of “going” to someone else and giving languidly for their support.  Of course, we must send where we cannot go.  But because we can’t go across the world does not excuse us for refusing to go across the street.
R. C. Foster

by

Norman Vincent Peale — Many of the world’s finest Oriental rugs…

Many of the world’s finest Oriental rugs come from little villages in the Middle East, China, or India.  These rugs are hand-produced by crews of men and boys under direction of a master weaver.  They work from the underside of the rug-to-be.  It frequently happens that a weaver absentmindedly makes a mistake and introduces a color that is not according to the pattern.  When this occurs, the master weaver, instead of having the work pulled out in the order to correct the color sequence, will find some way to incorporate the mistake harmoniously into the overall pattern.  In weaving our lives, we can lean to take unexpected difficulties and mistakes and weave them advantageously in the greater overall patterns of our lives.  There is an inherent good in most difficulties.
Norman Vincent Peale

by

James A. Michener — The master in the art of living…

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.  He hardly knows which is which.  He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.  To him he’s always doing both.
James A. Michener

by

Abraham Lincoln — It is said an eastern monarch once charged his wise men…

It is said an eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations.  They presented him with the words, “And this, too, shall pass away.”  How much it expresses!  How chastening in the hour of pride!  How consoling in the depths of affliction!
Abraham Lincoln

by

W. E. McCumber — We need to arrange a servanthood conference…

We need to arrange a servanthood conference, with workshops in love, forgiveness, feet-washing, cross bearing- in short, workshops in Christlikeness.  God is not waiting for people to get big enough to use, but to get small enough in their own eyes for Him to entrust with His mission and Spirit.  Christ cannot be represented by swaggering leaders who “lord it over” the flock of God.  He cannot be represented by puffed-up laymen who nominate themselves as church bosses.  He can be honestly manifested only in the lives of those who feel, as did Paul, that they are “less than the least of all the saints.”
W. E. McCumber

by

Unknown — The Day’s Result…

The Day’s Result
Is anybody happier because you passed his way? Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today? The day is almost over and its toiling time is through; Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you? Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along, Or a churlish sort of “Howdy”; then vanish in the throng? Were you selfish, pure and simple, as you rushed along your way, Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today? Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that’s slipping fast, That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed? Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said? Does the man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead? Did you waste the day or lose it, was it well or poorly spent? Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent? As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God would say, “You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?”
Unknown

by

Mother Teresa — It is very important that children learn…

It is very important that children learn from their fathers and mothers how to love one another- not in the school, not from the teacher, but from you.  It is very important that you share with your children the joy of that smile.  There will be misunderstandings; every family has its cross, its suffering.  Always be the first to forgive with a smile.  Be cheerful, be happy.
Mother Teresa

by

J. Hudson Taylor — A man who loves the Word of God…

A man who loves the Word of God, a man who dwells upon what it says, a man who keeps a little text in his mind to think about as he is walking on his way, and that meditates upon it day and night, “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”  If you can find a man who carries out this direction and doesn’t prosper, you can doubt the inspiration of the first Psalm; but find the man first.
J. Hudson Taylor

by

Karl Barth — They crucified him with the criminals…

They crucified him with the criminals.  Do you know what this implies?  Don’t be too surprised if I tell you that this was the first Christian fellowship, the first certain, indissoluble, and indestructible Christian community.  Christian community is manifest wherever there is a group of people close to Jesus who are with him in such a way that they are directly and unambiguously affected by his promise and assurance.  These may hear that everything he is, he is for them, and everything he does, he does for them.  To live by this promise is to be a Christian community.
Karl Barth

by

Wilfred Grenfell — Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the missionary doctor of Labrador…

Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the missionary doctor of Labrador, was a cynical young medical student in London when Dwight L. Moody went there to preach.  Said Grenfell of Moody: “When Mr. Moody finished his sermon, I resolved either to drop religion entirely or else make a real effort to do what Christ would do if He were in my place.  With a mother like mine, that resolve could only have one outcome.  So, beginning that night, I started doing what I thought Christ would do if He were a young doctor in London.”
Wilfred Grenfell

by

Giovanni da Fiesole — I salute you…

I salute you.  I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep.  There is nothing I can give you which you have not already; but there is much, very much, which though I cannot give it, you can take.  No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today.  Take heaven.  No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this precious little instant.  Take peace.  The gloom of the world is but a shadow.  Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.  There is radiance and courage in the darkness could we but see it; and to see, we have only to look.  Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their coverings, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard.  Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, and wisdom, and power.  Welcome it, greet it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it.
Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing Presence.  Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys.  They, too, conceal diviner gifts.  Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.  Courage, then, to claim it, that is all!  But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims wending through unknown country our way home.
And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, not quite as the world sends greeting, but with profound esteem now and forever.
The day breaks and the shadows flee away.
This old Christmas greeting from a letter written between 1387-1455 by Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico)

by

Henry Van Dyke — Are you willing to stoop down…

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
To remember the weakness, the loneliness of people who are growing old;
To stop asking how much your friends love you and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
To bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
To try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you?
Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone.
Henry Van Dyke

by

Ann Landers — An attorney I very much admired…

An attorney I very much admired once said that the greatest gift he ever received in his life was a note his dad gave him on Christmas.  It read, “Son, this year I will give you 365 hours.  An hour every day after dinner.  We’ll talk about whatever you want to talk about.  We’ll go wherever you want to go, play whatever you want to play.  It will be your hour.”  That dad kept his promise and renewed it every year.
Ann Landers

by

Unknown — There was a gift for each of us…

There was a gift for each of us left under the tree of life 2000 years ago by Him whose birthday we celebrate today.  The gift was withheld from no man.  Some have left the packages unclaimed.  Some have accepted the gift and carried it around, but have failed to remove the wrappings and look inside to discover the hidden splendor.  The packages are all alike:  In each is a scroll on which is written, “All that the Father hath is thine.”  Take and live!
Unknown

by

Helen Keller — Christmas is the harvest time of love…

Christmas is the harvest time of love.  Souls are drawn to other souls.  All that we have read and thought and hoped comes to fruition at this happy time.  Our spirits are astir.  We feel within us a strong desire to serve.  A strange, subtle force, a new kindness, animates man and child.  A new spirit is growing in us.  No longer are we content to relieve pain, to sweeten sorrow, to give the crust of charity.  We dare to give friendship, service, the equal loaf of bread and love.
Helen Keller

by

Pauline Phillips — O, heavenlty Father: we thank thee…

O, heavenly Father: we thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
That thy gifts to us may be used for others.
Amen.
Pauline Phillips

by

David Read — If I were to wake up one morning…

If I were to wake up one morning and find I was an atheist with my faith in God completely gone, I think I would miss almost more than anything else having someone to thank…I can hardly conceive what it would be like never, never being able to say in a moment of exhilaration or of unexpected happiness or of rescue from deep distress, “O God, you’re good to me!”
David Read

by

Charles H. Spurgeon — Doth not all nature around me praise God…

Doth not all nature around me praise God?  If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe.  Doth not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies?  Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration?  Does not the lightning write His name in letters of fire?  Hath not the whole earth a voice?  And shall I, can I, silent be?
Charles H. Spurgeon

by

Paul Tournier — There is a loyalty which turns into Idolatry…

There is a loyalty which turns into idolatry.  The very thing which once freed us can turn into the very thing that enslaves us: a method of prayer, a technique of mediation, a way of expressing ourselves through art, music, writing or speaking, which was once the channel through which God reaches us, may have become the very thing which prevents our continued growth.  We may confuse the channels of God with God himself!!  This turns us into idolators of a certain system.  We become fixed and petrified.  It’s natural to thrill at each new level of growth and feel that we’ve arrived.  But God, the living God, keeps breaking our old molds; He constantly enlarges us, presenting new challenges and new sacraments.
Paul Tournier

by

Seneca — As the mother’s womb holds us for ten month…

As the mother’s womb holds us for ten months, making us ready, not for the womb itself, but for life, just so, through our lives, we are making ourselves ready for another birth…Therefore look forward without fear to that appointed hour- the last hour of the body, but not of the soul…That day, which you fear as being the end of all things, is the birthday of your eternity.
Seneca

by

John Newton — I compare the troubles which we have to undergo…

I compare the troubles which we have to undergo to a great bundle of fagots, far too large for us to carry.  But God does not require us to carry the whole at once.  He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today and then another which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on.  This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying sticks over again today, and adding tomorrow’s burden to our load, before we are required to carry it.
John Newton

by

Unknown – There is a story about trust in God’s promises…

There is a story about trust in God’s promises that comes from F. W. Boreham.  Boreham tells about an episode during the early days of his ministry in Australia.  He went to call on one of his elderly parishioners.  Entering the room where the old man lay, he noticed a chair pulled up beside the man’s bed.  “I see that I am not your first visitor today,” said Boreham.  The old man then began to explain the presence of the empty chair.  He said that when he was a small boy, he had difficulty praying.  His pastor suggested that he overcome this difficulty by placing an empty chair in front of himself when he prayed, and by simply pretending that Jesus was sitting in that chair like an attentive friend.  He said he had maintained that habit ever since.  Boreham left the house a short while later.  A few days later, however, then man’s daughter came to tell him that he was dead.  “I was out of the room only for a short time,” said the daughter.  “When I returned, he was gone.  There was no change in him except I noticed that his hand was on the chair.”
Unknown

by

John T. Faris — A man was carrying a heavy basket…

A man was carrying a heavy basket.  His son asked to help him.  The father cut a stick and placed it through the handle of the basket so that the end toward himself was very short; while the end toward the boy was three or four times as long.  Each took hold of his end of the stick, and the basket was lifted and easily carried.  The son was bearing the burden with the father, but he found his work easy and light because his father assumed the heavy end of the stick.  Just so it is when we bear the yoke with Christ; He sees to it that the burden laid on us is light; He carries the heavy end.
John T. Faris

by

Thomas Galloway — The Bible as a book stands alone…

The Bible as a book stands alone.  There never was, nor ever will be, another like it.  As there is but one sun to enlighten the world naturally, so there is but one Book to enlighten the world spiritually.  May that Book become to each of us the man of our counsel, the guide of our journey, the inspiration of our thought, and our support and comfort in life and in death.
Thomas Galloway

by

The War Cry — In a British army discussion period…

In a British army discussion period on the religions of the world, men began to voice their opinions concerning Jesus.  To one He was “a good enough man”; to another, “an impossible idealist”; to another, “a revolutionary”; and to another, “a fanatic.”  At last a lad got to his feet and, with flushed face and stammering tongue, said: “Excuse me, but you’re all wrong.  He is more than that.”  The he paused, and a wit who knew the lad interposed with: “He’s got inside information!”  “So I have!” flashed back the young Christian.  “You see, I know Him!”  The men did not laugh.  They recognized the fact that the lad had got hold of something beyond their surface appraisals.
The War Cry

by

Unknown — Some of the world’s greatest men and women…

Some of the world’s greatest men and women have been saddled with disabilities and adversities but have managed to overcome them.  Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott.  Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan.  Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington.  Raise him in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln.  Subject him to bitter religious prejudice, and you have a Benjamin Disraeli.  Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes a Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Burn him so severely in a schoolhouse fire that the doctors say he will never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham, who set a world’s record in 1934 for running a mile in 4 minutes, 6.7 seconds.  Deafen a genius composer, and you have a Ludwig van Beethoven.  Have him or her born Black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Harriet Tubman, a Marian Anderson, or a George Washington Carver.  Make him the first child to survive in a poor Italian family of eighteen children, and you have an Enrico Caruso.  Have him born of parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down when he is four, and you have an incomparable concert violinist, Itzhak Perlman.  Call him a slow learner, “retarded,” and write him off as ineducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.
Unknown

by

Harry Emerson Fosdick — Once when Ole Bull, the great violinist…

Once when Ole Bull, the great violinist, was giving a concert in Paris, his “A” string snapped and he transposed the composition and finished it on three strings.  That is life- to have your “A” string snap and finish on three strings.  How many here have had to test that out!  Some of the finest things in human life have been done that way.  Indeed, so much the most thrilling part of the human story on this planet lies in such capacity victoriously to handle handicaps that, much as I should have liked to hear Ole Bull with all the resources of a perfect instrument at his command, if I could have heard him only once, I should have liked to hear him when the “A” string snapped and, without rebellion or self-pity or surrender, he finished on three strings.
Harry Emerson Fosdick

by

The West Side Baptist — There were two young boys…

There were two young boys who were raised in the home of an alcoholic father.  As young men, they each went their own way.  Years later, a psychologist who was analyzing what drunkenness does to children in the home searched out these two men.  One had turned out to be like his father, a hopeless alcoholic.  The other had turned out to be a teetotaler.  The counselor asked the first man, “Why did you become an alcoholic?”  And the second, “Why did you become a teetotaler?”  And they both gave the same identical answer in these words, “What else could you expect when you had a father like mine?”  It’s not what happens to you in life but how you react to it that makes the difference.  Every human being in the same situation has the possibilities of choosing how he will react, either positively or negatively.
The West Side Baptist

by

S. D. Gordon — There was an old Christian woman…

There was an old Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory.  She had once known much of the Bible by heart.  Eventually only one precious bit stayed with her.  “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”  By and by part of that slipped its hold, and she would quietly repeat, “That which I have committed unto him.”  At last, as she hovered on the borderline between this and the spirit world, her loved ones noticed her lips moving.  They bent down to see if she needed anything.  She was repeating over and over again to herself the one word of the text, “Him, Him, Him.”  She had lost the whole Bible, but one word.  But she had the whole Bible in that one word.
S. D. Gordon

by

James R. Miller — Kindness is just the word for [certain] small acts…

Kindness is just the word for [certain] small acts.  Kindness is love flowing out in little gentlenesses.  We ought to carry our lives so that they will be perpetual benedictions wherever we go.  All we need for such a ministry is a heart full of love for Christ; for if we truly love Christ we shall also love our fellow men, and love will always find ways of helping.  A heart filled with gentleness cannot be miserly of its benedictions.
James R. Miller

by

Grace. V. Watkins — In the dark immensity of night…

In the dark immensity of night
I stood upon a hill and watched the light
Of a star,
Soundless and beautiful and far.
A scientist standing there with me
Said, “It is not the star you see,
But a glow
That left the star light years ago.”
Men are like stars in a timeless sky:
The light of a good man’s life shines high,
Golden and splendid
Long after his brief earth years are ended.
Grace. V. Watkins

by

The Sunday School Times — Sometimes we are helped by being hurt…

Sometimes we are helped by being hurt.  A skilled physician about to perform a delicate operation upon the ear said reassuringly, “I may hurt you, but I will not injure you.”  How often the Great Physician speaks to us the same message if we would only listen!  Richer life, more abundant health for every child of His- that is His only purpose.  Why defeat that purpose?
The Sunday School Times

by

Henry Van Dyke — To be glad of life…

To be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions, but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor’s except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit, in God’s out-of-doors- these are little guideposts on the footpath to peace
Henry Van Dyke

by

William Jenkyn — The devil shapes himself…

The devil shapes himself to the fashions of all men. If he meets with a proud man, or a prodigal man, then he makes himself a flatterer; if a covetous man, then he comes with a reward in his hand. He hath an apple for Eve, a grape for Noah, a change of raiment for Gehazi, a bag for Judas. He can dish out his meat for all palates; he hath a last to fit every shoe; he hath something to please all conditions.
William Jenkyn

by

Unknown — Dear God: I want to thank You…

Dear GOD:
I want to thank You for what you have already done.
I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now.
I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day’s difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles…I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.
I’m thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven’t given up on me.
Unknown

by

Inscription, Milan Cathedral — Over the triple doorways of Milan Cathedral…

Over the triple doorways of Milan Cathedral are three inscriptions spanning the magnificent arches. Above one is carved a wreath of roses, with the words, “All that pleases is but for a moment.” Over the second is a cross, with the words, “All that troubles is but for a moment.” Underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is inscribed: “That only is important which is eternal.”
Inscription, Milan Cathedral

by

Margaret Clarkson — Pain is pain and sorrow is sorrow…

Pain is pain and sorrow is sorrow. It hurts. It limits. It impoverishes. It isolates. It restrains. It works devastation deep within the personality. It circumscribes in a thousand different ways. There is nothing good about it. But the gifts God can give with it are the richest the human spirit can know.
Margaret Clarkson

by

Ralph Gaither — I thank Thee, Lord…

I thank Thee, Lord, for blessings, big and small; For spring’s warm glow and songbird’s welcome call; For autumn’s hue and winter’s white snow shawl.

I thank Thee for the harvest rich with grain; For tall trees and the quiet shadowed lane; For rushing stream, for birds that love to fly; My country’s land, the mountains and the plain.

I thank Thee for each sunset in the sky, For sleepy nights, the bed in which I lie; A life of truth and peace; a woman’s hand, Her hand in mine unit the day I die.

I thank Thee, Lord, for all these things above; But most of all I thank Thee for Thy love.

Ralph Gaither (written while a POW in North Vietnam)

by

J. Hudson Taylor — It seemed to me that God had looked over the whole world…

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.
J. Hudson Taylor (when someone complimented him on founding the China Inland Mission)

by

Unknown — Let a man go to a psychiatrist…

Let a man go to a psychiatrist and what does he become? An adjusted sinner. Let a man go to a physician and what does he become? A healthy sinner. Let a man achieve wealth and what does he become? A wealthy sinner. Let a man join a church, sign a card, and turn over a new leaf and what does he become? A religious sinner. But let him go in sincere repentance and faith to the foot of Calvary’s cross, and what does he become? A new creature in Jesus Christ, forgiven, reconciled, with meaning and purpose in his life and on the way to marvelous fulfillment in God’s will.
Unknown

by

George MacLeod — I simply argue that the cross be raised again…

I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek; at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about.
George MacLeod

by

David J. Burrell — Blessed be God for his unspeakable gift…

Blessed be God for his unspeakable gift.  We need Him.  Souls desire Him as the heart panteth after the waterbrooks.  He came to the world in the fullness of time.  He comes at this advent season to us.  Today may be for some soul here the fullness of time.  Let us open the gates and admit Him, that this Christ may be our Christ forever; that living with Him and dying with Him, we may also be glorified together with Him.
David J. Burrell

by

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik — Oh, the comfort…

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

by

Jeremy Taylor — There are three important steps…

There are three important steps to take in preparation for a holy death.  And these three principles should be practiced throughout life.  (1) Expect that death will come knocking at your gates at any time; this will keep your priorities straight.  (2) Value your time for it is the most precious possession you have.  (3) Refrain from a soft and easy life; stress the holy life of self-discipline, labor, and alertness.  Engage each day in self-examination.
Jeremy Taylor

by

Robert Schoen — Setting aside a day of rest is difficult…

Setting aside a day of rest is difficult.  We are surrounded by too many things to do, too many places to go, and far too many distractions.  What would it be like if we could ignore these distractions and spend an entire day every week with our family and friends, and our spiritual thoughts?  An answer to this hypothetical question appears in the Talmud, which tells us that the world would be redeemed if everyone observed only two consecutive Sabbaths.
Robert Schoen

by

Billy Graham — Faith is the avenue to salvation…

Faith is the avenue to salvation.  Not intellectual understanding.  Not money.  Not your works.  Just simple faith.  How much faith?  The faith of a mustard seed, so small you can hardly see it.  But if you will put that little faith in the person of Jesus, your life will be changed.  He will come with supernatural power into your heart.  It can happen to you. Billy Graham

by

Unknown — A story is told about Daniel Webster…

A story is told about Daniel Webster.  During his days in the city of Washington the great statesman attended worship regularly in a little rural church outside the city.  Some of his colleagues were disturbed about it.  They said it lacked prestige.  And they asked him why he attended a little church in the sticks when he would be welcome in the more fashionable churches in Washington.  Webster answered that when he attended church in Washington they preached to Daniel Webster, the statesman, but in the little church, they preached to Daniel Webster, the sinner.
Unknown

by

News From The Ranch – December 2007

The Newsletter of Eric Elder Ministries

Missions Trip Update, “Jesus: Lessons In Love” now in paperback, New Hymns CD, and a move!

Jean Barling (left) and Lana Elder at Clover Ranch. Jean is a former interior designer who came from England this fall to help us redesign Clover Ranch, a new retreat center we're renovating in Central Illinois.

Jean Barling (left) and Lana Elder at Clover Ranch. Jean is a former interior designer who came from England this fall to help us redesign Clover Ranch, a new retreat center we’re renovating in Central Illinois.

Dear Friends,

It’s been awhile since I’ve sent any news from The Ranch — not because there hasn’t been any, but because there’s been so much! Here’s a brief look at what’s been going on this year.

Missions Trip

We had a great missions trip to England in February, a country where surprisingly only about 8% of the population attends church regularly. Thanks to your prayers and gifts, our team of eight was able to spend a week with a church in Tunbridge Wells, giving their building a face lift, and giving us all a “faith lift.” We continue to pray that their church will be a light in their community, reaching the many who still need to put their full trust and faith in Christ.

Clover Ranch Renovation

Besides getting the repairs done at the church in England, we were blessed in return in August when one of their members came to live here in the States for two months at Clover Ranch, a retreat Center we’re renovating. Jean Barling (pictured above on the left with Lana) is a former interior designer and helped us completely remodel the kitchen and bathroom, as well as get us started on many other projects around the house. With the help of dozens of volunteers and a few hired hands, we’ve been able to clean out the whole house, put on a new roof, replace all the windows, redo the plumbing, and start replacing some old wiring. We’re not done yet, but we’re well on our way to towards getting it open for guests to come and grow in their relationship with Christ. Thanks to all who came and helped!

New Devotional!

Jesus: Lessons In Love Front CoverBack at The Ranch website, I’ve finished a new book this year called Jesus: Lessons In Love. It’s a compilation of thirty devotionals I’ve written, based on the book of Matthew, and designed to help people read their Bibles and apply what they’re reading to their everyday lives.

These devotionals were sent out each week to over 17,000 people, some who signed up for the devotionals after visiting The Ranch website, and others who subscribed from another Internet ministry that I help run called This Day’s Thought (www.thisdaysthought.org). It was great to hear back from people each week from various parts of the world about how these messages touched their lives, like these…

“I just had to let you know your article ‘Love is Prepared’ is absolutely beautiful. I found my eyes welling with tears. May I share this with our readers in an upcoming edition of the paper?” Susan in Virginia

“What a wonderful message I really needed to read this morning.” Carol in New Mexico

“This is truly a blessing. I really need to know more about giving my all to God and serving him honestly and completely!” Suzan in South Africa

“Thank you. Very encouraging” Muleba

“…Thank you Eric. All day today I’ve been trying to figure out how I could manage things better so that I can get just the basic things done. But now that I’ve read this I know what the problem is. I’ve been trying to manage things, I need to spend more time with God and let him worry about how I get things done. I knew this before but for some reason I wasn’t doing it. God bless you and your family!” Misty in Illinois

“Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. Your have quoted some of my favorite Bible verses that share my beliefs about what Christians should be more like.” Leng in Texas

“Hey Eric, Always a blessing to receive your messages brother! Keep up the good work.” Len in Canada

“Thank you so much for the message of forgiveness.” Simeon

“Hi Eric, Thank you for your reminder of some of the ways we can bring our friends to Jesus . . . blessings in your ministry.” Judi

“Eric, This is an EXCELLENT summary of the Book of Matthew and a vital guide at living our lives. I’m printing this out and keeping it in my Bible as reference point for checking my motives. Thank you so much for your anointed wisdom throughout this series.” Al in California

If you missed reading the devotionals, or want to re-read them or give them to a friend, you can order copies of this book in paperback for less than $10 each, or as a downloadable book to read on your computer for just $2.50. It makes a great devotional to help you — or your friends — get started with reading the Bible again in the New Year. To request a copy of the book, or any of our other devotionals, just visit:
http://inspiringbooks.com

New Hymns CD!

Hymns Front CoverI’ve also just finished uploading a new CD to The Ranch website. It’s a collection of classic hymns that I helped produce and record for my sister, Marilyn Byrnes. The Hymns CD includes beautiful versions of your favorite hymns like “The Lord’s Prayer,” “What a Friend We Have In Jesus,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art,” and “Immortal, Invisible” (my favorite song on the CD). You can listen to it anytime day or night on The Ranch website at this link.

And if you’d like to get the music on CD for yourself or your friends, you can still order copies in time for Christmas up until December 12th. The CD’s are only $10.50 each, and can be ordered from the link below. (And if you need more gift ideas, you’ll find about 15 gift ideas from The Ranch at this link, too, all in the form of an inspirational book or CD…and all for less than $15 each!):
http://nspiringbooks.com

We’re Moving!

Lastly, we’ve been praying for some time now about possibly moving back to Lana’s hometown of Peru, Illinois (about 40 minutes northwest of where we live now). Lana’s parents have moved into a smaller house, so we would be able to move into their larger house. This move would give us more room as well as get us closer to them so we could help take care of them both. We’ve been working on the house and getting it ready for the move, which we hope to make by the end of the year. We’d appreciate your prayers during this transition.

Thanks again for all your prayers, encouragement and support for our ministry this year, not only on behalf of Lana and myself, but also on behalf of the visitors who are touched daily by it…like this one who wrote:

“I just ran across your web site about ‘how to know you’re going to heaven’ (a video message recorded for us by Bill Allison). I said your prayer and truthfully meant it with all my heart. My prayers have been answered. Thank you for that prayer to God. Now I know I will go to heaven. Thank you.” Mark

We truly appreciate all of you whose hearts are joined with us in this work. If you’d like to make a year-end donation, you can use this link:

PLEASE PRAY WITH US

Father,

  • Thank You for allowing us to work on building Your kingdom through missions trips and projects like Clover Ranch,
  • Thank You for teaching us so much in the Word of God that is helpful to us and others,
  • And thank You for the blessing of music that helps bring us peace in our frequently chaotic world.

Father,

  • We now pray that You would use each of these projects to draw people closer to You,
  • That You would smooth over all the things that need to happen before and during our move to Peru
  • And we pray that still more people find their way to The Ranch so they can find their way to You.

We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Eric Elder

To request copies of the Hymns CD, or the devotional Jesus: Lessons In Love,please visit:
http://inspiringbooks.com
To make a one-time or monthly donation, visit:
Make a Donation
To read about our ministry, visit:
About Eric Elder Ministries

The Ranch Fellowship is a non-profit 501(c)(3) religious organization whose purpose is to share the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

To give a gift to The Ranch and to yourself, please visit The Ranch Giftshop.
To make a donation without ordering, just click Make A Donation.