The Cookie Thief<\/b><\/p>\n
A woman was waiting at an airport one night. With several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shop, Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.<\/p>\n
She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see, That the man beside her, as bold as could be, Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between, Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.<\/p>\n
She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock, As the gutsy \u201ccookie thief!\u201d diminished her stock. She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, Thinking, \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t so nice, I\u2019d blacken his eye!\u201d<\/p>\n
With each cookie she took, he took one, too. When only one was left, she wondered what he\u2019d do. With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, He took the last cookie and broke it in half.<\/p>\n
He offered her half, as he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, \u201cOh brother, This guy has some nerve, and he\u2019s also rude, Why, he didn\u2019t even show any gratitude!\u201d<\/p>\n
She had never known when she had been so galled, And sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, Refusing to look back at the \u201cthieving ingrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, Then sought her book, which was almost complete. As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise. There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!<\/p>\n
\u201cIf mine are here,\u201d she moaned with despair, \u201cThen the others were his and he tried to share!\u201d Too late to apologize, she realized with grief, That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!<\/p>\n
Source Unknown<\/p>\n
Folly of Judging Others<\/b><\/p>\n
For some reason, it is easier to jump to negative conclusions about people than it is to assume the best abou them. When we do this, we ascribe to them bad intentions and evil purposes that may not be true. We also reveal something about ourselves, for the faults we see in others are actually are reflection of our own.<\/p>\n
In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H. A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser\u2019s desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship\u2019s safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. <\/p>\n
The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, \u2019It\u2019s all right, bishop, I\u2019ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread<\/p>\n
Circumstances<\/b><\/p>\n
It was F. B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. <\/p>\n
Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17<\/p>\n
Judgmental<\/b><\/p>\n
At a recent gathering of seminary professors, one teacher reported that at his school the most damaging charge one student can lodge against another is that the person is being \u201cjudgmental.\u201d He found this pattern very upsetting. \u201cYou can\u2019t get a good argument going in class anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cAs soon as somebody takes a stand on any important issue, someone else says that the person is being judgmental. And that\u2019s it. End of discussion. Everyone is intimidated!\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of the other professors nodded knowingly. There seemed to be a consensus that the fear of being judgmental has taken on epidemic proportions.<\/p>\n
Is the call for civility just another way of spreading this epidemic? If so, then I\u2019m against civility. But I really don\u2019t think that this is what being civil is all about. Christian civility does not commit us to a relativistic perspective. Being civil doesn\u2019t mean that we cannot criticize what goes on around us. Civility doesn\u2019t require us to approve of what other people believe and do. It is one thing to insist that other people have the right to express their basic convictions; it is another thing to say that they are right in doing so. Civility requires us to live by the first of these principles. But it does not commit us to the second formula. To say that all beliefs and values deserve to be treated as if they were on a par is to endorse relativism\u2014a perspective that is incompatible with Christian faith and practice. Christian civility does not mean refusing to make judgments about what is good and true. For one thing, it really isn\u2019t possible to be completely nonjudgmental. Even telling someone else that she is being judgmental is a rather judgmental thing to do! <\/p>\n
Uncommon Decency, Richard J. Mouw, pp. 20-21<\/p>\n
Fitting Rebuke<\/b><\/p>\n
Before we are too harsh in judging those scribes and Pharisees of Jesus\u2019 day, let\u2019s stop and look at ourselves. All too many Christians today go to church to find fault, to gossip, and to criticize. Warren Wiersbe, in his book Angry People, wrote, <\/p>\n
An incident in the life of Joseph Parker, the great British preacher, illustrates this tragic truth. He was preaching at the City Temple in London. After the service one of the listeners came up to him and said, \u2019Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical error in your sermon.\u2019 He then proceeded to point out the error to the pastor. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, \u2019And what else did you get out of the message?\u2019 What a fitting rebuke!\u201d<\/p>\n
Source Unknown<\/p>\n
Only God Knows<\/b><\/p>\n
We sometimes criticize others unfairly. We don\u2019t know all their circumstances, nor their motives. Only God, who is aware of all the facts, is able to judge people righteously. <\/p>\n
John Wesley told of a man he had little respect for because he considered him to be miserly and covetous. One day when this person contributed only a small gift to a worthy charity, Wesley openly criticized him. After the incident, the man went to Wesley privately and told him he had been living on parsnips and water for several weeks. He explained that before his conversion, he had run up many bills. Now, by skimping on everything and buying nothing for himself he was paying off his creditors one by one. \u201cChrist has made me an honest man,\u201d he said, \u201cand so with all these debts to pay, I can give only a few offerings above my tithe. I must settle up with my worldly neighbors and show them what the grace of God can do in the heart of a man who was once dishonest.\u201d <\/p>\n
Wesley then apologized to the man and asked his forgiveness. <\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, July 20, 1992<\/p>\n
Stanford University<\/b><\/p>\n
In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University. Eliot received the unpretentious couple into his office and asked what he could do. After they expressed their desire to fund a memorial, Eliot impatiently said, \u201cPerhaps you have in mind a scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were thinking of something more substantial than that… perhaps a building,\u201d the woman replied. In a patronizing tone, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple departed. The next year, Eliot learned that this plain pair had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial named Leland Stanford Junior University, better known today as Stanford! <\/p>\n
Today in the Word, June 11, 1992<\/p>\n
The Angel<\/b><\/p>\n
The following story appeared in the newsletter \u201cOur America:\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cDodie Gadient, a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaning up against the trailer, she prayed, \u2019Please God, send me an angel \u2026 preferably one with mechanical experience.\u2019 Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and, without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket: \u2019Hell\u2019s Angels\u2014California.\u2019 As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, \u2019Thanks so much,\u2019 and carry on a brief conversation. Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, \u2019Don\u2019t judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you\u2019re talking to.\u2019 With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.\u201d <\/p>\n
Given half a chance, people often crawl out of the boxes into which we\u2019ve relegated them. <\/p>\n
Larry D. Wright <\/p>\n
Sleepy Man<\/b><\/p>\n
At a pastor\u2019s conference in Spokane, Chuck Swindoll told of being at a California Christian camp. The first day there a man approached him and said how greatly he had looked forward to hearing Dr. Swindoll speak and his delight at now finally being able to realize that desire. <\/p>\n
That evening Swindoll noticed the man sitting near the front. But only a few minutes into the message the man was sound asleep. Swindoll thought to himself that perhaps he was tired after a long day\u2019s drive and couldn\u2019t help himself. But the same thing happened the next few nights, and Dr. Swindoll found his exasperation with the man growing. <\/p>\n
On the last night the man\u2019s wife came up and apologized for her husband\u2019s inattention to the messages. She then explained that he had recently been diagnosed as having terminal cancer and the medication he was taking to ease the pain made him extremely sleepy. But it had been one of his life-long ambitions to hear Dr. Swindoll speak before he died, and now he had fulfilled that goal.<\/p>\n
Chuck Swindoll<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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