Illustrations Archives

• Missions, Missionaries, Vision  (July 24, 2007)
  When David Livingstone volunteered as a missionary with the London Missionary Society, they asked him where he wanted to go. He replied, "Anywhere, so long as it is forward." After he had reached Africa he recorded his impressions, saying that he was haunted by the smoke of a thousand villages stretching off into the distance. David Livingstone had the heart of a missionary.
• Patriotism, July 4th  (July 24, 2007)
  Grover Cleveland served two terms as President of the United States - 1885-89 and 1893-97. He had high ideals for America. He called it "the land that lives in us." Among the patriotic speeches he wrote and gave, one addressed that theme. He said, in part:
• Missions, Missionaries, Christian Service  (July 24, 2007)
  Because of her father's drinking problem, 11-year-old Mary Slessor was putting in twelve-hour shifts in the mills, helping her family pay its bills. She found she could prop books on her loom while working.
• Parents, Parenting  (July 24, 2007)
  Erma Bombeck once said that raising children is similar to flying kites. You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground. You run with them until you're both breathless. . .they crash. . .you add a longer tail.
• Prodigal Son, Sorrow  (July 24, 2007)
  The Sunday School teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son to his class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother expressed at the return of his brother.
• Mind Thoughts  (July 24, 2007)
  "The mind of man is the battleground on which every moral and spiritual battle is fought." (J. Oswald Sanders)
• Priorities, Possessions  (July 24, 2007)
  Charles Lindbergh became an instant hero in 1927 when he became the first flyer to make a Trans-Atlantic solo flight. A reporter asked him just before take-off why he was taking only five sandwiches and a container of water with him. Lindbergh replied,
• Pain, Trouble, Relief  (July 24, 2007)
  A guy walks into a shoe store and asks for a pair of shoes, size 8. The obviously well trained salesman says, "But sir, you take an 11 or eleven-and-a-half." "Just bring me a size eight."
• Messiah  (July 24, 2007)
  The December 16, 1997 issue of the tabloid The Sun carried this headline on the front page: New Messiah to Be Born in Holy Land. Inside the story says that on the eve of Christmas and Hanukkah a strange meteor would appear over Bethlehem. (The two festivals coincided in 1997, an event that occurs about once every ten years!)
• Overcoming Challenges  (July 24, 2007)
• Problems, Struggles  (July 24, 2007)
  A new kind of plane was on its first flight. It was full of reporters and journalists. A little while after takeoff, the captain's voice was heard over the speakers: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be your pilot for this plane's historic first flight. I can tell you the flight is going well.
• Memory, Aging  (July 24, 2007)
  Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.
• Priorities  (July 24, 2007)
  Two teenagers were arrested. After booking them, the police sergeant told them they were entitled to a phone call. Some time later a man entered the station and asked for them by name.
• Pride  (July 24, 2007)
• Order, Creation  (July 24, 2007)
  The late Harvard mathematician and philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, maintained that the whole scientific enterprise of the western world rested upon the belief that at the bottom of things science would find order rather than chaos.
• Meekness  (July 24, 2007)
  George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut said: "When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'That knowledge is reserved for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well, George, that's more nearly your size.' And He told me."
• Prices, Cost  (July 24, 2007)
  For the first time in many years, an older man traveled from his rural town to the city to attend a movie. After buying his ticket, he stopped at the concession stand.
• Oops!  (July 24, 2007)
  Here are some actual "gems" from church bulletins: 1. Don't let worry kill you. Let the Church help. 2. Thursday night Potluck Supper. Prayer and medication to follow. 3. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
• Maturity, Spiritual Maturity  (July 24, 2007)
  One day following the end of World War I, General Louis Lyautey asked his gardener to plant a particular type of tree on his estate. The gardener objected that the tree, being unusually slow to grow, would take nearly a century to reach maturity. "In that case,"
• Presence of God  (July 24, 2007)
  It sounds like a made-up story, but it is true. Some years ago a church in Carter County, Tennessee had an attorney draw up a deed for their property.