Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6
David Jeremiah, in a recent "Turning Point" devotional, mentions that Allen C. Emery was a successful businessman who also served as an officer for many evangelical organizations; and for several years, he chaired the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He and his wife also hosted a Bible Club at their Massachusetts home that drew up to 100 young people each week.
Allen once wrote about his father's influence on him. In his book, A Turtle on a Fencepost, Emery said, "Today I find myself still asking myself, 'What would daddy do?' when confronted with those decisions in business and in life that are so often not black and white, but gray."
"Once," he recalled, "(my dad) lost a pair of fine German binoculars. He collected insurance only to find the binoculars a year later. Immediately he sent a check to the company and received a letter back stating that this seldom occurred and that they were encouraged. It was a small thing, but children never forget examples lived before them."
Teaching children to be moral and honest is part of parental responsibility. The best textbook is the Bible, and the best teacher is a godly mom or dad.Says Allen Emery, "I am in debt to the memory-making efforts that my father made to imprint indelibly upon my mind the meaning of integrity."
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Integrity and Lost Binoculars
Spelling Integrity
At a national spelling contest in Washington an incident occurred that made me feel good--and made me wonder. In the fourth round of the contest, Rosalie Elliot, then an eleven-year-old from South Carolina, was asked to spell avowal. In her soft Southern accent she spelled it. But did the seventh grader use an a or an e as the next to last letter? The judges couldn't decide. For several minutes they listened to tape recording playbacks, but the critical letter was accent-blurred. Chief Judge John Lloyd finally put the question to the only person who knew the answer, "Was the letter an a or was it an e? he asked Rosalie. Surrounded by whispering young spellers, she knew by now the correct spelling of the word. Without hesitating, she replied she had misspelled it. She walked from the stage. The entire audience stood and applauded, including half a hundred newspaper reporters, one of whom was heard to remark that Judge Lloyd had put quite a burden on an eleven-year-old. Rosalie rated a hand and it must have been a heartwarming and proud moment for her parents. The thing that makes me wonder, however, was the apparent feeling on the part of so many that the issue might have been in doubt and that honesty might have bowed to temptation. Have we in this age stopped taking honesty for granted, even from our children?
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 62-63.
Zingers by Croft Pentz - September 25 2007
It isn't your position that makes you happy or unhappy; it is your disposition.
Character is revealed by your actions in an unguarded moment.
A person's reputation is precious, but a person's character is priceless.
Our present choices determine our permanent character.
If you want to get a true estimate of a man, observe what he does when he has nothing to do.
Buy the Book by Croft Pentz Here
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Decision Without Procrastination
During the early days of the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist launched a series of meetings in Chicago with promise of the largest crowds that he had ever addressed up to that time.
He was speaking of the life of Christ, and on the first Sunday night, October 8, 1871, he took as his topic the trial before Pilate. As he came to the end of his message, he turned to Matthew 27:22, "What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?" He concluded, "I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds during the week, and next Sabbath we will come to Calvary and the cross, and we will decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth."
It may have been an artistic device. But speaking of it in later years, Moody called that conclusion to his morning's address the greatest mistake of his life. Even while Mr. Sankey was singing the final hymn: Today the Savior calls; For refuge fly; The storm of justice falls, And death is nigh- the fire engines began to sound on the street on their way to their first contact with the great Chicago fire in which Moody's hall was laid in ashes, and in which it is estimated that over a thousand persons lost their lives.
Moody never saw that congregation again, and some of those to whom he spoke on that night doubtlessly died.
A Lesson On Death and Taxes
Gary Thomas writes in Christianity Today: Thinking about eternity helps us retrieve [perspective]. I'm reminded of this every year when I figure my taxes. During the year, I rejoice at the paychecks and extra income, and sometimes I flinch when I write out the tithe and offering. I do my best to be a joyful giver, but I confess it is not always easy, especially when there are other perceived needs and wants.
At the end of the year, however, all of that changes. As I'm figuring my tax liability, I wince at every source of income and rejoice with every tithe and offering check--more income means more tax, but every offering and tithe means less tax. Everything is turned upside down, or perhaps, more appropriately, right-side up. I suspect judgment day will be like that.
-- Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2.
See: Mt 12:36; Lk 12:48; Ro 14:12; 1 Pe 4:5.
Zingers by Croft Pentz - September 18 2007
The real strength of a man is not physical but moral and spiritual.
God will not judge you for what you have done but for what you have refused to do.
To get nowhere, follow the crowd.
Christianity is a beggar going into business with a millionaire.
If Christ is kept on the outside, there must be something wrong inside.
Buy the Book by Croft Pentz Here
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
My Thoughts Following September 11, 2001
Message posted in "My Daily Dose of Inspiration" on September 12, 2001 -
My thoughts and prayers go out to so many families who are suffering the pain and loss of their loved ones in the recent attacks on the thousands of innocent people.I just got off the phone with a friend in California, who said that he had a cousin who worked on the 72nd Floor of the second Trade Tower building. He got word at one point that things were ok, and that it would be fine to go back to work, but using his God-given common sense, he made haste toward the stairway that led him down the street and into safety, and was only 2 blocks away when the first building collapsed. It seems that many others were able to exit the building before it too was attacked and collapsed, and for that we give God thanks.
President Bush stated our greatest hope in his address to the Nation when he quoted from Psalm 23:4 -Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me..
We must continue to pray for the strength of God in the days and months ahead, and wisdom and knowledge to find the perpetrators of such evil and senseless terror.
As faces are being matched with the numbers of fatalities, we will sense even a greater sense of pain.
I know that God is with us. God will help us, and no, I am not ashamed to look to God for the strength and encouragement to get through this.
"America Prays" - Prayer by Max Lucado after 9/11 Attacks
A Prayer For America by Max Lucado - Written after the September 11 attacks for a special service called "America Prays"
Dear Lord,
We're still hoping we'll wake up. We're still hoping we'll open asleepy eye and think, What a horrible dream.
But we won't, will we, Father? What we saw was not a dream. Planes did gouge towers. Flames did consume our fortress. People did perish. It was no dream and, dear Father, we are sad.
There is a ballet dancer who will no longer dance and a doctor who will no longer heal. A church has lost her priest, a classroom is minus a teacher. Cora ran a food pantry. Paige was a counselor and Dana, dearest Father, Dana was only three years old. (Who held her in those final moments?)
We are sad, Father. For as the innocent are buried, our innocence is buried as well. We thought we were safe. Perhaps we should have known better. But we didn't.
And so we come to you. We don't ask you for help; we beg you for it. We don't request it; we implore it. We know what you can do. We've read the accounts. We've pondered the stories and now we plead, Do it again, Lord. Do it again.
Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us. Do it again, Lord.
Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We have children, too, Lord. Do it again.
And Sarah? Remember her prayers? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord. Do it again.
You changed Daniel from a captive into a king's counselor. You took Peter the fisherman and made him Peter an apostle. Because of you, David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again, Lord, for we need counselors today, Lord. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.
Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw here on that Tuesday, you saw there on that Friday. Innocence slaughtered. Goodness murdered. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the ash fell on our children, the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our towers were shattered, the very Tower of Eternity was pierced.
And by dusk, heaven's sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.
But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do it again, Lord. Grant us a September Easter.
We thank you, dear Father, for these hours of unity. Disaster has done what discussion could not. Doctrinal fences have fallen. Republicans are standing with Democrats. Skin colors have been covered by the ash of burning buildings. We thank you for these hours of unity.
And we thank you for these hours of prayer. The Enemy sought to bring us to our knees and succeeded. He had no idea, however, that we would kneel before you. And he has no idea what you can do.
Let your mercy be upon our President, Vice President, and their families. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe.
And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you've used her to heal a hurting world.
Do it again, Lord. Do it again.
Through Christ, Amen.
As written by Max Lucado for America Prays, a national prayer vigil held Saturday, September 14, 2001. Permission to copy not only granted but encouraged.
Zingers by Croft Pentz - September 11, 2007
If truth stands in your way, you're headed in the wrong direction.
Ananias wouldn't attract attention today in this age of specialized prevarication.
When you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you said.
As stretching a rubber band weakens the rubber, so stretching the truth weakens the truth.
Sometimes nothing is harder to see than the naked truth.
Buy the Book by Croft Pentz Here
Friday, September 7, 2007
Real Success and Real Failure
Peter was a failure in ways that we most dread: he was impotent in a crisis and socially inept. At the arrest of Jesus he collapsed, a hapless, blustering coward; in the most critical situations of his life with Jesus, the confession on the road to Caesarea Philippi and the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration, he said the most embarrassingly inappropriate things. He was not the
companion we would want with us in time of danger, and he was not the kind of person we would feel comfortable with at a social occasion.Time, of course, has reversed our judgments on the two men. Judas is now a byword for betrayal, and Peter is one of the most honored names in church and world. Judas is a villain; Peter is a saint. Yet the world continues to chase after the successes of Judas, financial wealth and political power, and to defend itself against the failures of Peter, impotence and ineptness.
-- Eugene Peterson, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1. See: Lk 21:34; 1 Co 7:31; Jas 4:4.
Success Can Be Deceptive
The comedy film Cool Runnings is about the first Jamaican bobsled team to go to the Olympics.
John Candy plays a former American gold medalist who becomes a coach to the Jamaican team. The players grow to like the American coach and affectionately dub him "Sled-god."
Later in the story, the coach's dark history comes out. In an Olympics following his gold medal performance, he broke the rules by weighting the U.S. sled, bringing disgrace on himself and his team. One of the Jamaican bobsledders could not understand why anyone who had already won a gold medal would cheat. Finally he nervously asked Candy to explain. "I had to win," said the coach. "I learned something. If you are not happy without a gold medal, you won't be happy with it."
-- Randall Bergsma, Sheldon, Iowa. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2.
See: Ecc 2:11; Mt 6:19; Lk 9:25.
Zingers by Croft Pentz - September 7 2007
Few people ever carve their way to success with cutting remarks.
When we succeed, we have worked hard; when others succeed, they are lucky.
To be a success, sometimes a person must have enough courage to make a fool of himself.
The secret of success could be learning at an early age that you are not perfect.
You are only responsible to try--not to succeed.
-- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
Buy the Book by Croft Pentz Here
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Train Stops Just In Time
The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlamp spearing the black darkness ahead. The train was carrying Queen Victoria. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine's headlights was a weird figure in a black cloak, standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brakes and brought the train to a grinding halt.
He and his fellow trainsmen climbed out to see what had stopped them. They could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch, the engineer walked a few yards farther up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. A bridge had been washed out and had fallen into a swollen stream. If he had not heeded the ghostly figure, the train would have plunged into the stream.
While the bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they solve the mystery. At the base of the engine's headlamp was a huge moth. The engineer looked at it for a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the "phantom flagman" in the beam. He knew what had happened: the moth had flown into the beam, seconds before the train reached the washed-out bridge. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure waving its arms.
When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, "I'm sure it was no accident. It was God's way of protecting us."
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 30-31.
Is Debt A "Tool?"
Dave Ramsey Writes...
Myth: Debt is a tool and should be used to help create prosperity.
Truth: Debt is not a tool; it is a method to make banks wealthy, not you.
Debt is dumb.
Most normal people are just plain broke because they are in debt up to their eyeballs with no hope of help. If you're in debt then you're a slave, in the sense that you do not have the freedom to use your money to help change your family tree.
According to a recent USA Today article about debt, 78 percent of baby boomers have mortgage debt, 59 percent have credit card debt, 56 percent have car payments.
It takes a lot of will, discipline, courage and help to slay the debt monster. But it can be done.
Imagine how much you could put toward retirement if you just didn't have a stinking car payment? This is how the wealthy build their wealth.
Debt is really dumb. Welcome to the real world! Start your Total Money Makeover Now.
Visit DaveRamsey.com for more information and the tools to get out of debt.
Zingers by Croft Pentz - Sept. 4, 2007
Christian Living
The rewards are always at the end of the road. It pays to go all the way with Jesus.
It is not more preaching that is needed, but more gospel in the lives of Christians.
If your Christianity isn't contagious, it must be contaminated.
Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off the Lord.
The degree of your devotion to Christ is the barometer of your love for him.
Buy the Book by Croft Pentz Here
