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Misc.
Truth
Compromise
The following is a Russian
parable. A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When
about to pull the trigger
the bear spoke in a soft
soothing voice
“Isn’t it
better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let us negotiate the matter.”
Lowering his rifle
the
hunter replied
“I want a fur coat
” “Good
” said the bear
“that is a
negotiable question. I only want a full stomach
so let us negotiate a
compromise.”
They sat down to negotiate
and after a time the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been
successful. The bear had a full stomach
and the hunter had his fur coat.
Compromises rarely satisfy
both sides in equal measure. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Convictions
”In religion
the things
about which men agree are apt to be the things that are least worth holding
the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” – J.G.
Machen
Convictions
George Norris
a Senator
from Nebraska
after making a very unpopular decision in the view of his
constituents
stated: “I would rather lie in the silent grave
remembered by
both friends and enemies as one who remained true to his faith and who never
faltered in what he believed to be his duty
than to still live
old and aged
lacking the confidence of both factions.” – John F. Kennedy
Sound Doctrine
A Peanuts cartoon pictured
Lucy and Linus looking out the window at a steady downpour of rain. “Boy
” said
Lucy
“look at it rain. What if it floods the whole world?”
“It will never do that
”
Linus replied confidently. “In the ninth chapter of Genesis
God promised Noah
that would never happen again
and the sign of the promise is the rainbow.”
“You’ve taken a great load
off my mind
” said Lucy with a relieved smile.
“Sound theology
”
pontificated Linus
“has a way of doing that!” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Truth
Truth does not need updating. There is
a story of a man who came to his old friend
a music teacher
and said to him
“What’s the good news today?” The old teacher was silent as he stood up and
walked across the room
picked up a hammer
and struck a tuning fork. As the
note sounded out through the room
he said
“That is A. It is A
today; it was A five thousand years ago
and it will be A ten thousand
years from now. The soprano upstairs sings off-key
the tenor across the hall
flats on his high notes
and the piano downstairs is out of tune.” He struck
the note again and said
“That is A
my friend
and that’s the good news
for today.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Truth
The relationship between truth and
holiness is similar to that between light and vision. Light cannot create an
eye or give a blind eye vision
but it is essential to seeing. Wherever light
penetrates
it dissipates darkness and brings everything into view.
In a similar manner
truth cannot
regenerate or impart spiritual life
but it is essential to the practice of
holiness. Wherever truth penetrates
it dissipates error and reveals everything
for what it really is. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Response to Truth
You are driving down the highway when
you encounter a sign that reads
“Dangerous Curve Ahead.” Immediately you are
confronted with making a choice. One
you can observe the warning and slow
down. Two
you can ignore the warning and maintain your rate of speed. Or
three
you can defy the warning and speed up. Whatever response you exercise
you will not change the truth of the sign. The curve remains dangerous
regardless of whether you acknowledge the fact or not. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Suppressed Truth
John Cage
a contemporary American
composer
believes that the universe is impersonal by nature and that it originated
only through pure chance. In an attempt to live consistently with this personal
philosophy
Cage composes all of his music by various means of chance. He uses
among other things
the tossing of coins and the rolling of dice to make sure
that no personal element enters into the final product. The result is music
that has no form
no structure and
for the most part
no appeal. Though Cage’s
professional life accurately reflects his belief in a universe that has no
order
his personal life does not
for his favorite pastime is mycology
the
collecting of mushrooms
and because of the potentially lethal results of
picking a wrong mushroom
he cannot approach it on a purely by-chance basis.
Concerning that
he states: “I became aware that if I approached mushrooms in
the spirit of my chance operations
I would die shortly.” John Cage “believes”
one thing
but practices another. In doing so
he is an example of the man
described in Romans 1:18 who “suppresses the truth of God
” for when faced with
the certainty of order in the universe
he still clings to his own novel
theory.— Cited by Francis Schaeffer
In the early 1900s George Riddell
acquired the sensational London newspaper The News of the World. Meeting
British journalist Frederick Greenwood one day
Riddell mentioned that he owned
a newspaper
told Greenwood its name
and offered to send him a copy. The next
time they met
Riddell asked Greenwood what he thought of The News.
"I looked at it and then I put it
in the wastepaper basket
" said Greenwood
"and then I thought
'If I
leave it there the cook may read it
' so I burned it."
Today in the Word
November 3
1993.
Two men had an argument. To settle the
matter
they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case.
He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished
the
judge nodded in approval and said
"That's right
that's right."
On hearing this
the defendant jumped
up and said
"Wait a second
judge
you haven't even heard my side of the
case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he
too
was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished
the judge said
"That's right
that's right."
When the clerk of court heard this
he
jumped up and said
"Judge
they both can't be right." The judge
looked at the clerk of court and said
"That's right
that's right."
Roger von Oech
Ph.D.
A Whack on
the Side of the Head
Warner Books
1983
p. 23.
Henry Augustus Rowland
professor of
physics at Johns Hopkins University
was once called as an expert witness at a
trial. During cross-examination a lawyer demanded
"What are your
qualifications as an expert witness in this case?"
The normally modest and retiring
professor replied quietly
"I am the greatest living expert on the subject
under discussion." Later a friend well acquainted with Rowland's
disposition expressed surprise at the professor's uncharacteristic answer.
Rowland answered
"Well
what did you expect me to do? I was under
oath."
Today in the Word
August 5
1993.
Even those who claim to be Born Again
are not necessarily firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible. In his book
which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America
George
Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.
In chapter four he states
"The
Devil
or Satan
is not a living being but is a symbol of evil." Then
asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at
being Born Again
he states
"Do you agree strongly
agree somewhat
disagree
somewhat
or disagree strongly with that statement?"
The Born Again population reply with
32 percent agreeing strongly
11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did
not know. Thus
of the total number responding
48 percent either agreed that
Satan is only symbolic or did not know!
Should it then be surprising that a
few pages later Barna would receive some very startling responses? His next
question
"Christians
Jews
Muslims
Buddhists
and others all pray to
the same God
even though they use different names for that God." Again
the respondents were asked to agree strongly
agree somewhat
disagree somewhat
or disagree strongly.
Of that population surveyed who
identified themselves as Born Again
30 percent agreed strongly
18 percent
agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent!
(What Americans Believe
pp. 206-212).
Watchman Expositor
Vol. 10
No. 4
1993
p.
31.
A pastor I know
Stephey Belynskyj
starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students
to guess how many beans are in the jar
and on a big pad of paper writes down
their estimates. Then
next to those estimates
he helps them make another
list: their favorite songs. When the lists are complete
he reveals the actual
number of beans in the jar. The whole class looks over their guesses
to see
which estimate was closest to being right. Belynskyj then turns to the list of
favorite songs. "And which one of these is closest to being right?"
he asks. The students protest that there is no "right answer"; a
person's favorite song is purely a matter of taste.
Belynskyj
who holds a Ph.D. in
philosophy from Notre Dame asks
"When you decide what to believe in terms
of your faith
is that more like guessing the number of beans
or more like
choosing your favorite song?" Always
Belynskyj says
from old as well as
young
he gets the same answer: Choosing one's faith is more like choosing a
favorite song.
When Belynskyj told me this
it took
my breath away. "After they say that
do you confirm them?" I asked
him.
"Well
" smiled Belynskyj
"First I try to argue them out of it."
Tim Stafford
Christianity Today
September 14
1992
p. 36.
At the end of the Battle of Britain
British vice-marshal Alexander Adams was driving to a meeting at his
headquarters when he came upon a sign: ROAD CLOSED -- UNEXPLODED BOMB. Adams
called over the policeman on duty
hoping he might be able to suggest an
alternate route.
"Sorry
you can't go
through
" said the policeman as he approached the car. "The bomb is
likely to go off at any minute now." Then he caught sight of Adams's
uniform. "I'm very sorry
sir
" he said
"I didn't know you were
a wing commander. It is quite all right for you to go through."
With "advisors" like that
who needs enemies! Although that policeman -- who was trained to respect rank
-- momentarily allowed his deference to a vice-marshal to overcome his good
sense
Adams had better sense than to follow his advice.
Today in the Word
May 2
1993.
William Jennings Bryan
Secretary of
State in Woodrow Wilson's Cabinet
was interviewing a man who was seeking a
diplomatic post in China. Bryan warned the applicant that it was necessary to
qualify as a linguist. "Can you speak the Chinese language?" he
asked.
The man was equal to the occasion.
Looking Bryan squarely in the eye
he replied
"Try me. Ask me something
in Chinese." --
John F. Parker in Washington Roll
Call
Reader's Digest
May
1981.
Once the Devil was walking along with
one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny.
"What did he find?" asked the cohort.
"A piece of the truth
" the
Devil replied.
"Doesn't it bother you that he
found a piece of the truth?" asked the cohort.
"No
" said the Devil
"I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it."
Klyne Snodgrass
Between Two Truths
- Living with Biblical Tensions
1990
Zondervan Publishing House
p. 35.
Cleveland Amory tells this story about
Judge John Lowell of Boston. One morning the judge was at breakfast
his face
hidden behind the morning paper. A frightened maid tiptoed into the room and
whispered something to Mrs. Lowell's ear. The lady paled slightly
then squared
her shoulders resolutely and said
"John
the cook has burned the oatmeal
and there is no more in the house. I am afraid that this morning
for the first
time in seventeen years
you will have to go without your oatmeal."
The judge
without putting down his
paper
answered
"It's all right
my dear. Frankly
I never cared much for
it anyhow."
Bits & Pieces
March 4
1993
p. 23.
Another poll sheds light on this
paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. According to
sociologist Robert Bellah
81 percent of the American people also say they
agree that "an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief
independent of any church or synagogue." Thus the key to the paradox is
the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their
own terms -- terms that make no demands on behavior. A woman named
Sheila
interviewed for Bellah's Habits of the Heart
embodies this attitude.
"I believe in God
" she said. "I can't remember the last time I
went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It's 'Sheila-ism.' Just
my own little voice."
Charles Colson
Against the Night
p. 98.
Allan Bloom writes: "Openness -
and the relativism that makes it the only plausible stance in the face of
various claims to truth and various ways of life and kinds of human beings --
is the great insight of our times. The true believer is the real danger. The
study of history and of culture teaches that all the world was mad in the past;
men always thought they were right
and that led to wars
persecutions
slavery
xenophobia
racism and chauvinism. The point is not to correct the
mistakes and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at
all."
Charles Colson
Against the Night
p. 84.
To please his father a freshman went
out for track. He had no athletic ability
though the father had been a good
miler in his day. His first race was a two-man race in which he ran against the
school miler. He was badly beaten. Not wanting to disappoint his father
the
boy wrote home as follows: "You will be happy to know that I ran against
Bill Williams
the best miler in school. He came in next to last
while I came
in second."
Bits & Pieces
September 17
1992
p.
12.
Once when President Franklin D.
Roosevelt was preparing a speech
he needed some economic statistics to back up
a point he was trying to make. His advisers said it would take six months to
get accurate figures. "In that case
I'll just use these rough
estimates
" FDR said
and he wrote down some numbers in his text.
"They're reasonable figures and they support my point.
"Besides
" he added as an
afterthought
"it will keep my critics busy for at least six month just to
prove me wrong."
Bits & Pieces
June 25
1992.
At the county fair a distinctively
dressed Quaker offered a horse for sale. A non-Quaker farmer asked its price
and since Quakers had a reputation for fair dealing
he bought the horse
without hesitation. The farmer got the horse home
only to discover it was lazy
and ill-tempered
so he took it back to the fair the next day. There he
confronted the Quaker.
"Thou hast no complaint against
me
" said the Quaker. "Had thou asked me about the horse
I would
have told thee truthfully the problems
but thou didst not ask."
"That's okay
" replied the
farmer. "I don't want you to take the horse back. I want to try to sell
him to someone else. Can I borrow your coat and hat awhile?"
Source Unknown.
In the survey taken in early 1991
interviewees were asked
"Do you agree strongly
agree somewhat
disagree
somewhat
or disagree strongly with the following statement: There is no such
thing as absolute truth; different people can define truth in conflicting ways
and still be correct." Only 28% of the respondents expressed strong belief
in "absolute truth
" and more surprisingly
only 23 percent of
born-again or evangelical Christians accepted this idea!
What a telling revelation! If more
than 75 percent of the followers of Christ say nothing can be known for
certain
does this indicate
as it seems
that they are not convinced that
Jesus existed
that He is who He claimed to be
that His Word in authentic
that God created the heavens and earth
or that eternal life awaits the
believer? That's what the findings appear to mean. If there is no absolute
truth
then by definition nothing can be said to be absolutely true. To the
majority
apparently
it's all relative. Nothing is certain. Might be. Might
not be. Who knows for sure? Take your guess and hope for the best!
James Dobson
December 1991 letter
quoting George Barna
What Americans Believe.
While an estimated 74 percent of
Americans strongly agree that "there is only one true God
who is holy and
perfect
and who created the world and rules it today
" an estimated 65
percent either strongly agree or somewhat agree with the assertion that
"there is no such thing as absolute truth."
Christianity Today
September 16
1991
p.
48
from George Barna
The Barna Report: What Americans Believe
1991.
A woman's red station wagon was
crushed by an elephant at a circus. The owners of the animal apologized
explaining that the animal
for some reason
simply liked to sit on red cars.
In spite of the damage
the woman's car was still drivable. But on the way to
the garage she was stopped short by an accident involving two other cars just
ahead of her. When the ambulance arrived a few minutes later the attendants
took one look at her car
then ran over to assist her.
"Oh
I wasn't involved in this
accident
" she explained. "An elephant sat on my car." The
ambulance attendants quickly bundled her off to the hospital for possible shock
and head injuries
despite the lady's vehement protests.
Bits and Pieces
October
1991.
The drunk husband snuck up the stairs
quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises
he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into
bed
smiling at the thought that he'd pulled one over on his wife.
When morning came
he opened his eyes
and there stood his wife. "You were drunk last night weren't
you!"
"No
honey."
"Well
if you weren't
then who
put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?"
Source Unknown.
A number of years ago the Douglas
Aircraft company was competing with Boeing to sell Eastern Airlines its first
big jets. War hero Eddie Rickenbacker
the head of Eastern Airlines
reportedly
told Donald Douglas that the specifications and claims made by Douglas's
company for the DC-8 were close to Boeing's on everything except noise
suppression. Rickenbacker then gave Douglas one last chance to out-promise
Boeing on this feature. After consulting with his engineers
Douglas reported
that he didn't feel he could make that promise. Rickenbacker replied
"I
know you can't
I just wanted to see if you were still honest."
Today in the Word
MBI
October
1991
p.
22.
Once
when a stubborn disputer seemed
unconvinced
Lincoln said
"Well
let's see how many legs has a
cow?"
"Four
of course
" came the
reply disgustedly.
"That's right
" agreed
Lincoln. "Now suppose you call the cow's tail a leg; how many legs would
the cow have?"
"Why
five
of course
" was
the confident reply.
"Now
that's where you're
wrong
" said Lincoln. "Calling a cow's tail a leg doesn't make it a
leg."
Bits and Pieces
July
1991.
Those that think it permissible to
tell white lies soon grow colorblind.
Austin O'Malley.
Dr. Clarence Bass
professor emeritus
at Bethel Thelolgical Seminary
early in his ministry preached in a church in
Los Angeles. He thought he had done quite well as he stood at the door greeting
people as they left the sanctuary. The remarks about his preaching were complimentary.
That is
until a little old man commented
"You preached too long."
Dr. Bass wasn't fazed by the remark
especially in light of the many positive
comments. "You didn't preach loud enough
" came another negative
comment; it was from the same little old man. Dr. Bass thought it strange
that the man had come through the line twice
but when the same man came
through the line a third time and exclaimed
"You used too many big
words" --this called for some explanation.
Dr. Bass sought out a deacon who stood
nearby and asked him
"Do you see that little old man over there? Who is
he?"
"Don't pay any attention to
him
" the deacon replied. "All he does is go around and repeat
everything he hears."
Pulpit and Bible Study Helps
Vol.16
#5
p. 1.
Writing letters of recommendation can
be hazardous--tell the truth and you might get sued if the contents are
negative. Robert Thornton
a professor at Lehigh University
has a
collection of "virtually litigation-proof" phrases called the Lexicon
of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations
or LIAR.
Here are some examples:
*To describe an inept person--"I
enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications
whatsoever."
*To describe an ex-employee who had
problems getting along with fellow workers--"I an pleased to say that this
candidate is a former colleague of mine."
*To describe an unproductive
candidate--"I can assure you that no person would be better for the
job."
*To describe an applicant not worth
consideration--" I would urge you to waste no time in making this
candidate an offer of employment."
Larry Pryor in Los Angeles Times.
Two brothers were getting ready to
boil some eggs to color for Easter.
"I'll give you a dollar if you
let me break three of these on your head
" said the older one.
"Promise?" asked the younger. "Promise!" Gleefully
the
older boy broke two eggs over his brother's head.
Standing stiff for fear the gooey mess
would get all over him
the little boy asked
"When is the third egg
coming?"
"It's not
" replied the
brother. "That would cost me a dollar."
Source Unknown.
Justin Martyr may have been the first
Christian to express what we today call "the integration of faith and
learning." He wrote
"Whatever has been uttered aright by any man in
any place belongs to us Christians."
D. Bruce Lockerbie
Thinking and
Acting Like a Christian
p. 87.
When regard for truth has been broken
down or even slightly weakened
all things will remain doubtful.
St. Augustine.
The unattended garden will soon be overrun
with weeds; the heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error will
shortly be a theological wilderness.
A.W. Tozer.
Men occasionally stumble over the
truth
but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing
happened.
Winston Churchill.
The late former Canadian Prime
Minister John Diefenbaker told the story of the day Winston Churchill
sitting
in the House of Commons
was brought the message that his deadly enemy
Aneurin
Bevan
had just died. Churchill bowed his head
clearly shaken. "A great
man
a brilliant man
a tragic loss
" he muttered. Some minutes later
another member of parliament came to Churchill to inform him that the press was
waiting outside to get his "heartfelt opinion on Nye Bevan."
Churchill thought a moment
then
looked up warily and said
"Are you sure he's dead?"
Source Unknown.
A ship captain one day recorded in the
ship's log
"First-mate drunk today." It was a true statement
but
was the first incident where the mate had been drunk while on duty. The mate
pleaded with the captain to amend the statement
but the captain refused
saying it was a true statement.
The next time the First-mate was in
charge of the ship
he recorded in the log
"Captian sober today."
Source Unknown.
The kings of Italy and Bohemia both
promised safe transport and safe custody to the great pre-Reformation Bohemian
reformer
John Hus. Both
however
broke their promises
leading to Hus's
martyrdom in 1415.
Earlier
Thomas Wentworth had carried
a document signed by King Charles I which read
"Upon the word of a king
you shall not suffer in life
honour
or fortune." It was not long
however
before Wentworth's death warrant was signed by the same monarch!
Today in the Word
April
1989
p. 16.
Everybody has the right to express
what he thinks. That
of course
lets the crackpots in. But if you cannot tell
a crackpot when you see one
then you ought to be taken in.
Harry S. Truman.
A couple of hunters chartered a plane
to fly into the Canadian wilderness. Two weeks later when the pilot came to
pick them up
he saw the two animals they had bagged and said
"I told you
fellows I could only take you and one moose. You'll have to leave the other
behind."
"But we did it last year in a
plane this size
" protested one of the hunters
"and the other pilot
let us take two moose."
"Well
okay
" said the
pilot. "If you did it before I guess we can do it again."
So the two moose and the hunters were
loaded in and the plane took off. Because of the heavy weight
it rose with
difficulty and was unable to clear an obstructing hill. After the crash
the
men climbed out and looked around.
One hunter said to the other
"Where are we
anyway?"
His companion surveyed the scene.
"I think we got about half a mile farther than we got last year."
Source Unknown.
ASPECTS
OF THE GOSPEL.
Ⅰ.
Gospel of God. “Separated unto the gospel
of God” (Rom.1:1).
Ⅱ.
Gospel of the grace of God. “ I have received of the
Lord jesus
to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Ⅲ.
Gospel of Jesus Christ. “ The beginning of the
gospel of fesus Christ” (Mark 1:1).
Ⅳ.
Gospel of Christ. “I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ” (Rom. 1:16).
Ⅴ.
Gospel of uncircumcision. “ When they saw that the
gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me” (Gal.2:7).
Ⅵ. Gospel of peace. “Your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15).
Ⅶ. Everlasting Gospel. “ Having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth” (Rev.14:6).
──
F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》
INCORRUPTIBLE THINGS.
Ⅰ. Incorruptible God. “ Changed the glory of the incorruptible God”
(Rom.1:23; 1.Tim.1:17
R.V.)
Ⅱ.
Incorruptible Blood. “ Not redeemed with corruptible things……but with the
precious blood of Christ” (1.Peter 1:18
19).
Ⅲ. Incorruptible Word. “ Not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible
by the Word of God” (1. Peter 1:23).
Ⅳ. Incorruptible Apparel. “ The incorruptible apparel of a meek and
quiet spirit” (1.Peter 1:4).
Ⅴ. Incorruptible Apparel. “ The incorruptible apparel of a meek and
quiet spirit” (1. Peter 3:4
R.V.; Titus 2:7; Eph.6:24).
Ⅵ. Incorruptible Crown. “ We an incorruptible” (1.Cor.9:25).
Ⅶ. Incorruptible Body. “ The dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1.
Cor.15:52).
── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》