Topic(s): Wisdom

Those are the letters that Archie Dunham frequently jots at the top of his notepad when he's in a really important meeting. The initials--QTH STS STA-remind him to be "Quick To Hear, Slow To Speak, and Slow To Anger." It's advice from the Epistle of James (1 :19), reports Industry Week magazine, that Dunham, the president of Conoco Oil Company, employs to help him exercise good judgment: "Learn to be a good listener, gather information from many sources, don't react too quickly to what you hear, and above all else, don't become angry," Dunham advises in the publication. "Anger impairs your ability to make good decisions. It also contributes to a poor attitude and can keep you from enjoying the many opportunities life has to offer."

 

The Land of Beginning Again

Topic(s):  Encouragement

Louisa Fletcher Tarkington in the first stanza of her poem "The Land of Beginning Again" wrote:

I wish that there were some wonderful place called the Land of Beginning Again, where all our mistakes and all our heartaches and all our poor selfish grief
could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never be put on again.

That is a real possibility. We can begin again with God's help. Christ said: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 2:15). Paul affirms: "...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 

Reverse Invictus

Topic(s):  Jesus, God's Sovreignty

In a recent issue we quoted Henley's famous poem, "lnvictus." Sister Tina Dempsey from Piedmont, Alabama, called to mention that she had come across the noble sentiments of another poet, Dorothea Day, who in response to Henley wrote (from Wayne Jackson's Commentary on Job:

Out of the light that dazzles me, Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule that men call chance My head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears-That life with Him! and He’s the aid,
That, spite the menace of the years, Keeps, and shall keep, me unafraid.
I have no fear though strait the gate; He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate; Christ is the Captain of my soul.

 

How an Old-Time Preacher handled mischief

Topic(s):  Humor, God's Will

One of the best known preachers of the first half of the twentieth century was J.D. Tant (1861-1941). My Dad knew Brother Tant and heard him preach. A few months before Dad died, he was telling me about some of the preachers he had known and some of the things that had transpired in former days. Among those events was the following story of Brother Tant that Dad said took place about 191 2.

Brother Tant was preaching in a Gospel meeting somewhere in south Texas and was baptizing a goodly number of people as they heard the message of truth so powerfully taught. Some ruffians decided to disrupt the meeting, and offered the "town clown" a side of ham and a bushel of corn if he would go forward at the meeting to be baptized, and come up from the water cursing. The brethren "got wind" of what was going to take place and anxiously warned Brother Tant. He assured them that lie would take care of it if it did occur and for them not to worry.

Sure enough, the suborned man came forward amidst several other respondents. Closing the service under the old "brush arbor," by lantern-light all made their way to the creek for the baptisms. Brother Tant baptized all the genuine folks first in a very meaningful way, saying something similar to what all Gospel preachers say when baptizing. After all the legitimate baptisms, he then said, "One more man has come tonight and if he'll now join me here in the creek we will take care of the matter." The man then waded out into chest-deep water to Brother Tant with the ruffians mingled in the crowd looking on; all ready to laugh brother Tant to scorn when the man came up from the water cussing. But Brother Tant, holding the man firmly in his strong arms, said with a loud voice, "For a side of ham and a bushel of corn, I now dunk one of the most worthless characters that ever was born." Whereupon Brother Tant pushed him under the water and held him there for a bit, and when he finally did lift the man up above water level, the fellow was spewing and gasping for breath! Instead of cursing, he realized he was no match for brother Tant and hurriedly and meekly left the scene.

While the story is humorous, it gives us insight into what tough environs the "pioneer preachers" took the Gospel, and how they handled the situations which arose. Remember, the Bible says, "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceits" (Prov. 26:5). Dad said the meeting continued for several more nights with numerous other responses. And the church of our Lord was established in another Texas town. Thank God for men like J.D. Tant.

Author Unknown