Abstinence (By Robert Layton)

I WAS HOLDING A NOTICE FROM my 13-year-old son's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality. Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in an actual lesson presented exactly as it would be given to the students.
When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only about a dozen parents there. 
As we waited for the presentation, I thumbed through page after page of instructions in the prevention of pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned only in passing. 
When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there were any questions. I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable part in the material.
What happened next was shocking. There was a great deal of laughter, and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand. The teacher and the nurse said nothing as I drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind had gone blank, and I could think of nothing to say. The teacher explained to me that the job of the school was to teach "facts, " and the home was responsible for moral training. I sat in silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials.
"Donuts, at the back, " announced the teacher during the break. "I'd like you to put on the name tags we have prepared-they're right by the donuts and mingle with the other parents."  
Everyone moved to the back of the room. As I watched them affixing their name tags and shaking hands, I sat deep in thought. I was ashamed that I had not been able to persuade them to include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials. I uttered a silent prayer for guidance. My thoughts were interrupted by the teacher's hand on my shoulder. 
"Won't you join the others, Mr. Layton?" The nurse smiled sweetly at me. "The donuts are good." 
"Thank you, no, " I replied.
"Well, then, how about a name tag? I'm sure the others would like to meet you." 
"Somehow I doubt that, " I replied. "Won't you please join them?" she coaxed.
Then I heard a still, small voice whisper, "Don't go." The instruction was unmistakable. "Don't go!" 
"I'll just wait here, " I said.
When the class was called back to order, the teacher looked around the long table and thanked everyone for putting on name tags. She ignored me. Then she said, "Now we're going to give you the same lesson we'll be giving your children. Everyone please peel off your name tags." 
I watched in silence as the tags came off. "Now, then, on the back of one of the tags, I drew a tiny flower. Who has it, please?" 
The gentleman across from me held it up. "Here it is!"
"All right, " she said. "The flower represents disease. Do you recall with whom you shook hands?" He pointed to a couple of people. "Very good, " she replied. "The handshake in this case represents intimacy. So the two people you had contact with now have the disease." There was laughter and joking among the parents. The teacher continued, "And whom did the two of you shake hands with?" The point was well taken, and she explained how this lesson would show students how quickly disease is spread. "Since we all shook hands, we all have the disease."
It was then that I heard the still, small voice again. "Speak now", it said, "but be humble." I noted wryly the latter admonition, then rose from my chair. I apologized for any upset I might have caused earlier, congratulated the teacher on an excellent lesson that would impress the youth, and concluded by saying I had only one small point I wished to make. "Not all of us were infected, " I said. "One of us . . . abstained."

The Lord Is My Shepherd - Keith Miller

Years ago, when our daughters were very young, we'd drop them off at our church's children's chapel on Sundays before the eleven o'clock service. One Sunday, just as I was about to open the door to the small chapel, the minister came rushing up in full vestments. 
He said he had an emergency and asked if I'd speak to the children at their story time. He said the subject was the Twenty-third Psalm.
Just as I was about to get up from the back row and talk about the good shepherd, the minister burst into the room and signaled to me that he would be able to do the story time after all.
He told the children about sheep, that they weren't smart and needed lots of guidance, and that a shepherd's job was to stay close to the sheep, protect them from wild animals and keep them from wandering off and doing dumb things that would get them hurt or killed. 
He pointed to the little children in the room and said that they were the sheep and needed lots of guidance. Then the minister put his hands out to the side, palms up in a dramatic gesture, and with raised eyebrows said to the children, "If you are the sheep then who is the shepherd?" He was pretty obviously indicating himself.
A silence of a few seconds followed. Then a young visitor said," Jesus, Jesus is the shepherd."
The young minister, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, "Well, then, who am I?"
The little boy frowned thoughtfully and then said with a shrug "I guess you must be a sheep dog."
I remember the look on that young minister's face every time I get to thinking that I'm the shepherd in charge of some of God's sheep. There's only one shepherd of the flock -- and I'm not He.

Little Johnny, burst into the house, crying his eyes out. His Mama asked him what the problem was. "Pop and I were fishing, and he hooked a giant fish. Really big. Then, while reeling it in, the line busted and the fish got away."
"Now come on, Johnny," his mother said, "a big boy like you shouldn't be crying about an accident like that. You should have laughed."
"That's what I did, Mama."

Imagine that I dump 10,000 plastic eggs in your back yard. I assure you that inside one of those hollow eggs is a check for $1 Million dollars with your name on it. Would you get discouraged if you opened the first 100 eggs without finding the check? 
How about the first 1000 eggs? Of course not ! You'd just keep opening those eggs, just waiting for the moment when you'd find the check.
St. Paul knew the meaning of the word "suffering." He had been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, starved, and rejected. And yet Paul said that his sufferings were nothing compared to the glory that would come. 
In other words, Paul had opened a lot of empty eggs, but he never gave up or got discouraged. He believed that something great was in his future - God's glory revealed in him. Perhaps it feels to you as if your life has been nothing but empty eggs. You've already opened 99000 of them and you're not sure you've got the will to go on. 
Let me encourage you today. Don't give up. I don't want to trivialize the challenges you are facing, but I do want to help you put them into perspective. They are only temporary, and God has something much greater in store for you. Compared to the glory that will be revealed in us one day, our suffering doesn't merit discouragement. 
Hang on. Don't give up. Keep going. One day God will replace your discouragement with incomparable glory!

The ancient Spartans were famous for being laconic - that is, laboring to put their thoughts into the fewest possible words.
The very word laconic comes from the fact that the district of which Sparta was the central city was Laconia.
The most condensed laconism in history was produced in the fourth century B.C. when Philip of Macedon was reducing all the Greek cities to obedience. The last holdout was Sparta, which, now past its prime of power, nevertheless remained in stubborn isolation. Philip didn't really need it for his future plans, but it annoyed him that there should be a patch of obstinacy on the map. He therefore sent the Spartans a message that went: "You had better submit without delay, for if I march my army into your land, I will kill all your men and destroy your city." And the Spartan leaders turned Philip's anger to admiration (so that he decided to leave them alone after all) by sending back a one word answer: "If."

In 1954 Opening day of Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds played the Milwaukee braves. Two rookies started in that game. Cincinnati had a rookie named Jim Greengrass who went 4 for 4 with four doubles - WOW! The other rookie went 0 for 4, but that was just his first day.
Jim Greegrass went on to start his own lawn care company and most of us have never heard of him.
The other rookie? His name is Hank Aaron.
You may have a life that is strewn with mistakes and blunders, but the question is 'Which direction are you heading? How do you want to finish?

Several years ago a preacher moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.
When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it.  Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet."
When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change". 
The driver with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I  have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I just wanted to see what you would do, if I gave you too much change."
When my friend stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, and held on, and said, "O God", I almost sold your Son for a quarter".

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.

The Reverend Johannes Osiander (1657-1724) of Tubingen, Germany, was knocked down by a wild boar, had his horse fall on him during a flood, was shot at by bandits, was buried under an avalanche, was blown into the Rhine River by a blizzard, was crushed by a fallen tree, was shipwrecked, and even run over by a ship. He escaped unharmed every time.

Do YOU believe in divine intervention? I bet Johannes Osiander does. If God can retrieve Johannes Osiander from the jaws of tragedy, how much more can He do to help us in our day to day struggles?

Flowers to the Living

A young couple heard the sobbing in the next room as the birth-mother of their new son said good-bye to the infant and left. Upon entering the room with their case-worker to meet the child they were adopting, they were handed two envelopes. The one was a letter from the girl who had given up her child for adoption. It explained that she would never try to interfere, meet with them or contact their new son. The other was a sealed envelope which she requested they give the boy when he reached the age of 18. The couple read the first letter and then gave the sealed envelope to the care of their lawyer to abide by the girl's wishes.

Instead consider what you would have written. Would you speculate on when we'll all drive flying cars, if and when we'll establish a colony on the moon or when we'll really know who got the most votes in Florida? Sounds silly, doesn't it?  

For this year, consider what you would leave for people to be sure to know 20 years from now, and then do your best to tell them now instead of then. Someone was once asked if they had sent flowers to the family of a mutual friend who had just died. The surprise answer was, "No. I try to send flowers to the living."

Write your message and give flowers to the living.

The Lord is my Shepherd...
THAT'S RELATIONSHIP!
I shall not want...
THAT'S SUPPLY!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...
THAT'S REST!
He leadeth me beside still waters...
THAT'S REFRESHMENT!
He restoreth my soul...
THAT'S HEALING!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness...
THAT'S GUIDANCE!
For His name sake...
THAT'S PURPOSE!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...
THAT'S CHALLENGE!
I will fear no evil...
THAT'S ASSURANCE!
For thou art with me...
THAT'S FAITHFULNESS!
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me...
THAT'S SHELTER!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of  mine enemies...
THAT'S HOPE!
Thou anointest my head with oil...
THAT'S CONSECRATION!
My cup runneth over...
THAT'S ABUNDANCE!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life...
THAT'S BLESSING!
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord...
THAT'S SECURITY!
Forever...
THAT'S ETERNITY!
-- Author Unknown

1000 Marbles

My Name Is Gossip

Reportedly a true story:

On a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well- off white South African lady has found herself sitting next to a fine looking black gentleman. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating. 

"What seems to be the problem, Madam?" asked the attendant.

"Can't you see?" she snapped out loud, "You've sat me next to a Kaffir. I can't possibly sit next to this disgusting human. Find me another seat!"

"Please calm down, Madam," the stewardess replied. "I believe the  

The woman cocks a snooty look at the outraged black man beside her

"Madam, as I suspected, economy is full. I've spoken to the cabin

Before the lady has a chance to answer, the stewardess continues:

"Please realize, it is most extraordinary to make this kind of

With that, she turned to the black man and said: "So if you'd like to

At which point, the surrounding passengers burst into a standing ovation while the man walked to the front of the plane!

Research??

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.
2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.
3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.
4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.
5. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!
6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis.  
7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of  8. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to  
11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.
12. Most North American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling. 

In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread restrictions:

1. No sale of bread to minors.
2. A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete celebrity TV spots and bumper stickers. 
3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills we might associate with bread. 
4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.
5. The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

Remember: Think idiotically, act globally And just as importantly. If you stop to think, remember to start again.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

 Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

 Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

 At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

 John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

 Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

 Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.

These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

So, take a couple of minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and  REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS "NEVER FREE"!!!! 

TESTIMONY  OF DARRELL SCOTT FATHER OF TWO VICTIMS OF COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS -  LITTLETON, COLORADO

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a  $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up.  

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first,  let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.  But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will  never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean,  crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him. 

Psalm 17:8 states that God will keep us, "as the apple of His eye."

THOUGHT: The worth of our lives come not in what we do or who we are but by WHOSE we are! You are special. Have a great day!!!

An Agnostic is running along the edge of a very high cliff, when he trips and   falls over the edge! As he is falling, about half-way down, he manages to grab   onto a branch, which breaks his fall. So he is hanging onto this branch for dear   life, the ground a long way below. He stays like this for some time, thinking   that help will arrive, but of course it doesn't. By now, he is aching all over,   and is not sure for how much longer he can hold on, so in desperation, he looks   to the sky, and prays for the first time...

"God, Do you really exist?"

"OH YES", a voice replies, "OF COURSE I EXIST"...

"Then God, If you do actually exist, please God, can you save me?"

"OH YES, I CAN SAVE YOU, BUT YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME. DO YOU TRUST ME?"

"Of course I trust you, implicitly! I've never doubted your existence, ever!" the man replies untruthfully, now very desperate.

"WELL IF YOU TRUST ME, LET GO OF THE BRANCH"...

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. Each of the wooden people was carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village. Every Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village.

And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking stars or dots on one another. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots.The talented ones got stars, too.. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars. Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star.

Others, though, could do little. They got dots. Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more dots. He would try to explain why he fell and say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him more dots. After a while he had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him another dot. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and give him one without reason. "He deserves lots of dots," the wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person." After a while Punchinello believed them. "I'm not a good wemmick," he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of dots. He felt better around them.

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick. Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either. "That's the way I want to be",thought Punchinello. "I don't want anyone's marks." So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it. "It's easy," Lucia replied. "every day I go see Eli." "Eli?"

"Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him."

"Why?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there." And with that the Wemmick with no marks turned and skipped away.

"But he won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out. Lucia didn't hear. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other stars and dots. "It's not right," he muttered to himself. And he resolved to go see Eli. He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard. "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name..

"Punchinello?" The voice was deep and strong. Punchinello stopped. "Punchinello! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at you." Punchinello turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman.

"You know my name?" the little Wemmick asked.

"Of course I do. I made you." Eli stooped down and picked him up and set him on the bench. "Hmm," the maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles. "Looks like you've been given some bad marks."

"I didn't mean to, Eli. I really tried hard."

"Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think."

"You don't?"

"No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special."

Punchinello laughed. "Me, special? Why? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?"

Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders, and spoke very slowly. "Because you're mine. That's why you matter to me." Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this--much less his maker. He didn't know what to say.

"Every day I've been hoping you'd come," Eli explained. "I came because I met someone who had no marks."

"I know. She told me about you."

"Why don't the stickers stay on her?"

"Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them."

"What?"

"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about the stickers."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You will, but it will take time. You've got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the ground. "Remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think he really means it." And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.  

‘For not the way man sees is the way God sees, because mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for God, he sees what the heart is’

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.  While I drove him home, he sat in stoney silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward, he walked me to my car. We passed the tree, and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again." 

"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.  As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, and somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still gift-wrapped Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt.7:11, "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.

This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic.  For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one had ever had the courage to go against him.  Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation.  At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students,

"If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!"

In twenty years, no one had ever stood up.  They knew what he was going to do next.  He would say,

"Because anyone who believes in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do it."

And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces.  All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare.  Most of the students thought that God couldn't exist.   Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.  Well, a few years ago there was a freshman who happened to enroll.  He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor.   He was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid.  But for three months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought.  Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith ... he hoped.  Finally, the day came.

The professor said, " If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!"

The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom. 

The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!! If God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"

He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken. The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall.

The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus.

I have to tell you what happened to me.  I am a waitress at Denny's restaurant on the weekends. Today, as I was finishing my shift, I saw a young man sitting in my section with a cup of coffee, in front of him, and he had no menu.  He looked to be about nineteen or twenty.  He was bald with several obvious body piercing. When I asked him if he wanted anything, other than coffee, he told me that he just came in to get out of the heat.  He said he did not have the money to pay for the coffee so he had not touched it yet.  I told him to enjoy his coffee, as I would buy it.  I then made a statement, out loud, more to myself, that I should hope if ever I didn't have the money for a cup of coffee, someone would see fit to buy me a cup.  A little later I saw the same young man crying.  I went over to him and asked if he was alright?  He said that the people, who had been sitting at the next table,  gave him $5 on their way out.  Then another couple came over to him and asked him if he had a place to stay and gave him an additional $10.  He continued and said that a gentleman, a couple of booths over, offered him a job washing cars at a garage.  He said when he woke up this morning, he had decided that this was to be his last day on earth.  He went on to say that his parents had kicked him out when he was 16 and recently times had become very hard.  He said he had no where to turn.   Now he had a job, a place to stay, at least for the weekend, and $15 cash.   All this unfolded because he took a chance to come in, out of the heat, and was brave enough to admit that he had no money.  I can not tell you what this did for my faith in my fellow man.  I am still crying when I think of it.  This seems to be an Angels and miracle story.  I don't remember ANY of the people he said approached him.  It was my section at the very back of the restaurant.  I thought that, except for the two of us, it was empty.  The next day Ricky came back to the restaurant after work.  He is very excited to have a job and said that things were really looking up.

By Ember of Arlington, Texas USA

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the Older angel replied..."Things aren't always what they seem".

If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage, although it may not seem so. All things are working for the good to them who love the Lord.

Mary was studying her Bible quietly at her desk. A still, small voice began to speak to her. "Mary?"

"I'll do it through you, Mary. Keep coming to me for your strength. It is a very big job raising My Warriors; but I will walk with you through it every step of the way. I will be your Helper, and I will be your Strength."

CHRISTIAN SURVIVAL KIT

MUSTARD SEED: To remind you that nothing is impossible
NEEDLE: To remind you that it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God
CLAY: To remind you that He is the potter and we are all the work of His hand
CANDLE:   To remind you that God is the way, the light
HEART: To remind you that the man who loves God is known by God
BLOCK: Though you may stumble, you will not fall for the Lord upholds you with his hand
DIME: To remind you to give back to God 1/10 of the blessings he has given you
TOOTHPICK:  To remind you not to try and remove the splinter from someone else's eye until you remove the plank from your own.

Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
People have a way of living up or down to your opinion  of them.
Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. The person you choose to marry is deserving of thecourtesies and kindnesses you bestow on your friends.
Please hand this down to your children and your children's children: The more things change the more they are the same.

Jane Wells (1886)

Imagine you and the Lord Jesus walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently rarely varying the pace

"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever."  --Psalm 31:11-12

On a cold day in 1942, inside a Nazi concentration camp, a lone young boy looks beyond the barbed wire and sees a young girl pass by.  She too, is moved by his presence.  In an effort to give expression to her feelings, she throws a red apple over the fence - a sign of life, hope, and love.

The young boy bends over, picks up the apple. A ray of light has pierced his darkness.  The following day, thinking he is crazy for even entertaining the notion of seeing this young girl again, he looks out beyond the fence, hoping. On the other side of the barbed wire, the young girl yearns to see again this tragic figure who moved her so. She comes prepared with apple in hand. Despite another day of wintry blizzards and chilling air, two hearts are warmed once again as the apple passes over the barbed wire.

The scene is repeated for several days. The two young spirits on opposite sides of the fence look forward to seeing each other, if only for a moment and if only to exchange a few words. The interaction is always accompanied by an exchange of inexplicablyheartening feelings. At the last of these momentary meetings, the young boy greets his sweet friend with a frown and says, "Tomorrow, don't bring me an apple, I will not be here. They are sending me to another camp."

The young boy walks away, too heartbroken to look back.   From that day forward, the calming image of the sweet girl would appear to him in moments of anguish. Her eyes, her words, her thoughtfulness, her red apple, all were a recurring vision that would break his nighttime sweats. His family died in the war. The life he had known had all but vanished, but this one memory remained alive and gave him hope.

In 1957 in the United States, two adults, both immigrants, are set up on a blind date. "And where were you during the war?" Inquires the woman.

" I was in a concentration camp in Germany," the man replies.

" I remember I used to throw apples over the fence to a boy who was in a concentration camp," she recalls.

With a feeling of shock, the man speaks. "And did that boy say to you one day, 'Don't bring an apple anymore because I am being sent to another camp'?"

"Why, yes," she responds, "but how could you possibly know that?"

"He looks into her eyes and says, " I was that young boy."  There is a brief silence, and then he continues, " I was separated from you then, and I don't ever want to be without you again. Will you marry me?"

They embrace one another as she says, "Yes."  On Valentine's Day 1996, on national telecast of the Oprah Winfrey show, this same man affirmed his enduring love to his wife of forty years.

" You fed me in the concentration camp, " he said, " you fed me throughout all these years; now, I remain hungry if only for your love."