The Son Who was a Failure

            At thirty-three, he was a middle-aged failure. At least, that is what his father thought. He spent all of his spare time working on a cockamamie dream. He had done so for years.

            Finally, he finished. He brought the product of his work over to his father’s house. His mother was thrilled. His sisters begged for a ride. His father refused to come out of the house.

            Who cared how you got from one place to another!  Not only that, what a silly concept—mobilizing yourself?

            So the father went back into the house. His son and daughter-in-law got back in the new contraption and transported themselves back home. The trip took one hour and covered ten miles, but they did it themselves. No horses, no donkeys, no oxen. They returned in their automobile.

            The year was 1896. In a few years, the son would have a company producing his brand of automobile.  A few years after that, he would become one of the most powerful, influential, richest, and most famous men on the planet. He, more than anyone else, would create the middle class in the United States.

            One other thing. The son, who was a failure, would make the name of the man most people had never heard of, one of the most recognized names on earth one hundred years running. Anyone know the first name of the father? I don’t, I forgot. But thanks to the son, Henry, I know the father’s last name.

            Ford.

Overhearing the Gospel

I picked up the book, IN THE LAND OF BELIEVERS, last week from our local library. The subtitle gives away the premise: “An Outsider’s Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church.” In other words, a non-practicing, Jewish coed decided to attend and become a member of, under cover, a large Virginia megachurch.

It reminds me of my favorite “over-hearing the gospel story.” An acquaintance of mine, several years ago, was serving as a campus minister at a Texas university. He became friends with a guy, who grew to be very interested in the gospel. They began meeting in the student’s dorm room to study the Bible together.

The student’s roommate got wind of this—and did not like it. He decided to sabotage the study. He began bringing his girlfriend over, and while the guys were trying to study, began a process of—how do I say this?—physical intimacy that led ultimately to consummation.

As I recall, this happened a couple times. The campus minister and the student would be studying. In would come the roommate with his girlfriend. They would greet the studiers; act normal while the studiers studied, the shift into a more expansive, mutually, interactive process. At this point, the studiers would leave. After a couple of episodes like that, the studiers shifted their study somewhere else.

The interesting thing is, the student studying with the campus minister never became a Christian. The roommate and the girlfriend ultimately obeyed the gospel and became upstanding members of the campus minister’s congregation. As a matter of fact, she became the church secretary.

You never know what might happen when people overhear the gospel.

Valuable Blood

TIME magazine, this week, carries a story about Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps, the greatest cricket player in history. The publisher, Kraken Opus, has placed on the market a limited edition of Tendulkar’s autobiography.

Only ten copies were printed of this edition and they have already sold—

for $75,000 a piece. Why such high value? Each edition carries with it, a pint of Sachin Tendulkar’s blood.

That is valuable blood.

Believe it or not, I know someone’s whose blood carries a higher value.

Planning for Your Trip

John 14:2--In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

The U. S. had two severe gas shortages in the 1970s: one in 1973 and one in 1979. During both crises, it was common for long lines to form at the gas pumps.

This was the era, when service stations offered attendants to pump the gasoline for customers (those born after that era have no idea what I am talking about), and the parable is told of a preacher waiting in line to buy gas. The line was long and people were getting testy. It was the holiday season-many were in a hurry to begin their trips to see relatives-and they were particularly irritable.

When his turn arrived, the preacher pulled up to the pump. The attendant commented to him, “I sure wish people would plan their trips.”

The preacher replied, “Yes, I know exactly what you are talking about. I have the same problem in my profession.”

Phil. 3: 20a--But our citizenship is in heaven...

Eternity, preparing for eternity, John 14:2, gas shortage, Phil. 3: 20 

Releasing the Angel Within

Legend has it, one time Michelangelo was sculpturing a huge block of marble. While he was working with chisel in hand-just chipping away-a guy walks up and asks, "What are you doing?"


Michelangelo replied, "I'm releasing the angel imprisoned in this block of stone."

A fallen world imprisons the angels within all of us. Encouragement is like sculpting. By encouraging others, we can, like Michelangelo, contribute to releasing the angels within others. 

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (I Thess. 5:11.)

Who Are You?

            Leigh Montville writes of the famous movie star, Cary Grant, enjoying a quiet dinner with his wife and another couple in the Flamingo Hotel in Los Angeles, during his prime.

            A stranger arrived at the table and began asking Grant questions. He continued until he was clearly disrupting what had been a beautiful meal for the two couples. Consequently, Grant told the intruder, “That’s enough, you’ll have to go.”

            The boor became angry and rude, and he cursed Grant. “Just who do you think you are?”

            In a crushingly polite tone, Grant answered, “I know who I am. But do you know who you are?”

            People who are rude are to be pitied. They do not know who they are. We humans are blessed in that we are created in the image of God. Our actions should reflect a knowledge of this truth.

The Virgin

Several years ago, radio evangelist, David Jeremiah, told of a pure teen age girl, who was being accosted by some of her more promiscuous girl girlfriends at school, Her reply? "I can be like you whenever I want, but you can never again be like me."

Those girls will one day discover: the less the sexual experience before marriage, the better the sexual experience after marriage.

God’s teachings are not designed to hinder, but to harness all there is out of life.