Topic(s): Atheism, Eternity & Judgment

An atheist boasted that he could do what he wanted to do without any fear. He should have added, and without any hope. Satisfaction here and now is the only thing the atheist has to offer; and he has no monopoly on that. The man who tries to account for our existence without God is like a blind child called force, wallowing hopelessly in a dark swamp called matter. Consider the dying words of some atheists:

• Ingersoll (1899) while dying exclaimed, “Oh God, if there be a God; save my soul, if I have a soul.”
• Voltaire (1788) while dying said, “I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you give me six months’ life.” (Said to Dr. Frochin, who told him his life could not be extended.) “Then I shall go to hell, and you will go with me.” (It is strange that people who, all of their life, say there is no hell, seem to feel there is, when called upon to leave this world.)
• Gambetta (1882) while dying said, “I am lost, and there is no use to deny it.” Isn’t it strange they say we are mere animals, that when we die, this is the end of us forever; and yet they seem to be afraid, and speak of being lost.
• Churchill (1764) stated when the end came, “What a fool I have been.”
• Hobbes (1679): “I say again, if I had the whole world to dispose of, I would give it to live one day. I am about to take a leap into the dark.”
• Gibbon (1794): “All is now lost—finally irrecoverably lost. All is dark and doubtful.”
• Thomas Paine (1809) stated, “O Lord, help me! O God, what have I done to suffer so much? What will become of me hereafter? Stay with me, for I cannot bear to be left alone! Send even a child to play with me.” —S.H. Hall

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good” —Psalm 53:1

Welcome To Holland

Topic(s): Father, Mother

I’m often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability—to try to help people who haven’t shared that experience to understand it and imagine how it would feel. It’s like this: when you are going to have a baby it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans: the coliseum, Michael Angelo’s David, the gondolas in Venice. You may even learn some handy phrases in Italian—it’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardness comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.” “Holland!” you say. “What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy. We’re supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plans. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting place full of famine and disease. It’s just a different place. So, you must go out and buy new guidebooks. You must learn a whole new language. And you meet a whole group of people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy. Less flashy. But after you’ve been there a while and are able to catch your breath, you look around and begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you’ll say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go; that’s what I had planned.” And the pain of that will never go away. Because the loss of that dream is a significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland” —Emily Pearle Kingsly

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” —Psalm 127:3

Leadership

Topic(s): Wisdom

Five syndromes can stunt a leader’s vision and growth:

1. Problem-Solving Syndrome: More time is spent on problem solving than leading.
2. “Busy Enough Now” Syndrome: An overloaded schedule restricts our ability to lead.
3. “No Vacancy” Syndrome: Content with current membership; wants no more.
4. Nostalgia Syndrome: More time spent remembering past than planning future.
5. Lazarus Syndrome: Too much energy is spent on trying to recover the inactive.

A quick evaluation might reveal a syndrome that is robbing us of energy and joy.—Injoy Life, Vol. 7 No. 4

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” — John 4:35

Pray for the Children

Topic(s): Children, Home, Prayer

When Richard Halverson was the U.S. Senate chaplain, he spoke before a group of preachers who had expressed anger about Congress’ inactivity on the subject of school prayer. They were irritated that Congress had not acted with a strong initiative to restore prayer in schools. Halverson asked, “How many of you have prayed with your children this month, outside of church?” Nobody raised their hand. Spiritual initiative starts in the home, not on Capitol Hill. —TableTalk, Sept. 1992, p. 10

“O LORD our God...give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes…” —1 Chronicles 29:16