Sermons and Biblical Studies

Bullet-Proof Vests Bob Vernon, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, tells of how the Department would test bullet-proof vests—and demonstrate to rookie officers their value—by placing them on mannequins and then shooting round after round at them. They’d then check to see if any of the rounds penetrated the vests. Invariably the vests would … Continue reading “Belief”

Behavior and Belief Behavior and belief – If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it. Source unknown Faith Faith in many ways is like a wheelbarrow. You have to put some real push behind it to make it work. Source unknown Impact of Religion The Princeton Religion Research Center has measured the impact of … Continue reading “Behavior”

The Impossible Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. St. Francis of Assisi Tragedy of Life The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. Richard L. Evans, Bits & Pieces, March 4, 1993, p. … Continue reading “Beginning”

The Painting Over 2, 000 years ago a young Greek artist named Timanthes studied under a respected tutor. After several years the teacher’s efforts seemed to have paid off when Timanthes painted an exquisite work of art. Unfortunately, he became so enraptured with the painting that he spent days gazing at it. One morning when … Continue reading “Begin (again)”

Life by the Throat By the age of 5, Beethoven was playing the violin under the tutelage of his father—also an accomplished musician. By the time he was 13, Beethoven was a concert organist. In his 20s he was already studying under the very watchful eyes of Haydn and Mozart. In fact, Mozart spoke prophetic … Continue reading “Beethoven”

Resource •      Christian Child Rearing, P. Meier, Baker, 1977, pp. 74ff.

Beautiful People Joyce Brothers, well-known and popular psychologist, points out in Better than Ever that “beautiful people have beautiful personalities …We consistently judge them to be more sensitive, kind, intelligent, interesting, sociable, and exciting than less attractive people.” Dr. Brothers goes on to speak of a study made in a school among kindergartners and teachers … Continue reading “Beauty”

Commitment to a Cause We have all seen John Wayne movies that made combat look like a romantic romp in the park. Men who have been through it tell a different story. The most graphic descriptions of battle I’ve read came from Bruce Catton’s excellent books on the American Civil War, including The Army of … Continue reading “Battle/Bravery”

Faith and Sight From valley to valley out over the hilltops, From sunshine to fog like the darkest of night; So we follow the Lord down life’s winding pathway, And walk much by faith and little by sight. ‘Twould be easy to see were His presence like lightning, And easy to hear if like thunder … Continue reading “Baxter, Richard”

Rebound Les Henson, a six-foot, six-inch senior forward on the Virginia Tech basketball team, will never forget a game against Florida State University in Tallahassee last year (1986). With two seconds to go and the score tied at 77 to 77, Henson grabbed a rebound off the Florida State backboard a foot from the baseline … Continue reading “Basketball”