FUNNY! The late Groucho Marx once said: “My mother loved children—she would have given anything if I had been one!” Woody Allen said: “I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens!” THE POTENTIAL DANGER OF THE PAST When Sir Winston Churchill visited the United States during World War II, he was heard to say, “If the present quarrels with the past, there can be no future.” That’s good, isn’t it? The idea is extremely clear—we have to accept the past as unalterable and move on. We can’t stay and quarrel with it or be preoccupied with it. or we’ll ruin the future if we do. Is there something in your past that is quarreling with your present? Then leave it in the past and move on! There’s a bright new future awaiting you! As the Apostle Paul wrote, “…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14). THE UNIVERSALITY OF SIN, EVEN AS SEEN IN THE SMALLEST CHILD Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Oh, the awfulness of the sin principle that operates within every single human being, including the smallest child! Perhaps this universal tendency to evil has been stated most clearly by a secular agency, believe it or not! One of the clearest statements on original sin comes from a report of the secular Minnesota Crime Commission. In studying humanity, the Commission came to this frightening but factual conclusion! Listen to this Commission’s report (and remember, this is a secular agency): “Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it—his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toy, his uncle’s watch. Deny him these wants, and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous, were he not so helpless. He is dirty. He has no morals, no knowledge, no skills. This means that all children—not just certain children—are born delinquent! If permitted to continue in the self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive actions to satisfy his wants, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist!” So here is a clear statement on the universality of sin and of the fact, as Romans 5:12 states, that by one man (Adam) sin entered the world! A PANCAKE SPEAKS! There’s a true story about a pastor who was staying in a large hotel in the South, and he spoke to his waitress about her soul, and she immediately began to justify herself. She told him about her good character, how hard she worked, and how well she took care of her aged mother. Day after day as she waited on him, she told him about all her good deeds. The pastor said to her one morning: “Mildred, will you bring me something special from the kitchen?? “Why, certainly, I’ll get you anything you want,” she said. The pastor, a godly and loving man of God, said: “Would you bring me a pancake cooked only on one side?” Well, Mildred told him that it would taste terrible and that he wouldn’t want to eat it! But he insisted, and she went out to the kitchen. The pastor could hear the chef talking in loud tones, and he heard Mildred repeating the order! Finally, she brought the pancake cooked on one side and set it before him. The chef followed her to see what would happen! The pastor said kindly, “Mildred, for the past two weeks you have been telling me how good you are, how hard you work, how you take care of your mother, what fine character you have, etc. I admit that, humanly speaking, you are well done, like the underside of this pancake. But as God sees you, you are this uncooked mess of runny dough, unpalatable and nauseous. What you need is Christ, and Christ alone!” Convinced by the force of this illustration, and, of course, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, Mildred saw herself as God saw her and immediately trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as her own personal Saviour! MORE TOMORROW! STAY TUNED!
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 01:57:17 +0000
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