Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, I know that by sending these “thoughts” out to over 600 people each week, I am sending them to a mixed crew. Some of you are experiencing inner peace and great joy. Others are tired and going through stressful circumstances. Two friends I know are experiencing the grief of loss. Some may be looking forward to the Christmas season with a sense of excitement and anticipation, while others are feeling depressed or emotionally numb. Some may be going through what St. John of the Cross called, “The Dark Night of the Soul” (struggling to even believe, or sense God’s wonderful presence at all), while others feel like he is so close he’s breathing down their necks. Over the years I’ve walked through each one of those places in my journey with Jesus. Like the seasons of the year, we too go through spiritual seasons – not staying put in one, but entering into one and then exiting out of it into another.  I don’t know who is where at this present time, but I did feel led to pos...

Dear Friends, Throughout my life I have heard preachers say there is a “God-shaped hole in the souls of people.” I believe it is true, since we were created by God and in his image. It is indelibly imprinted on our being. St. Augustine suggested this in different words when he suggested our souls will “never be at rest until they rest in him.” Others point to Ecclesiastes 3:11 to prove the point, where we read: “[God] has also put eternity into the human heart…” Yet, the one person who expressed this concept better than any I have read (besides possibly C. S. Lewis) is Blaise Pascal, the brilliant French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher, who lived from 1623-1662. It is taken from the book, ”Pensees” (“Thoughts”) first published in 1670, eight years after he passed away. Though passing at the early age of 39, it consisted of profound thoughts, ideas and notes which he had scribbled down with the intention of using them in a book he hoped to write in defense of th...

Dear Friends, Today I share the true story of a humble but strong-willed woman who profoundly influenced the lives of a whole generation of Christian people (especially women), who followed her example in pursuing missionary ministry overseas. Her name was Amy Carmichael – and lest any forget her story, I offer this semi-short blend of fact from many sources. I trust it might inspire you as well. Enjoy.  “Amy Carmichael was born in 1867 into a devout and well-to-do Christian family in Ireland. In her teen years, she was educated at a Wesleyan Methodist boarding school, where at age 13 she trusted Christ as Savior and Lord. At 18 her father died, leaving her family in difficult financial circumstances. The family moved to Belfast, where she became involved in a ministry in the slums where she witnessed the horrendous conditions in the factories where many women and young girls worked. In conjunction with a church in the city, the ministry grew to the point of needing to construct a...

Dear Friends, Last week I sent you some thoughts from the 1915 weekly calendar I found at Nancy’s childhood home in Massachusetts. I got many appreciative responses, so I thought I would send you one last selection of them today. One person wrote saying that they also, like me, enjoy “the old dead guys.” I must confess I do have a deep appreciation for many of them. Certain things change and become obsolete over time, but common sense and wise words tend to retain their staying power. Therefore, I send you this one last grouping of thoughts from, “The Business Man’s Calendar,” published in 1914 (for 1915), by Dodge Publishing Co., 216 E. 23rd Street, New York City. Enjoy! “No amount of money ever made a good soldier, a good teacher, a good artist, or a good workman.” Ruskin “Do good with what you have; or it will do you no good.” William Penn “The happy man is he who is cheerful with moderate means; the unhappy man is he who is discontented in the midst of excess an...

Dear Friends, This past week Nancy and I were up in Massachusetts cleaning out things from her childhood home when I came across a pristine copy of “The Business Man’s Calendar” published in 1915. (Nancy’s mom was an avid collector of antiques!) Each page covers an entire week, and on each page is a quote from well-known people. It's beautifully decorated and I wish you could see it, though each time I have attached photos they haven’t gone through.   At any rate, I’ve always taken Genesis 12:2 to teach that when I’m blessed, I’m supposed to “be a blessing” (or share the blessing I’ve received with others – Genesis 12:2). Therefore, I share 15 of my favorites from the 52 in the calendar. And to keep it all in perspective, consider as you read that this calendar was published during the height of the Great War (WWI). On the last page it says, “Bound paper copies can be attained at 35 cents postpaid; full leather-bound copies $1.50 postpaid.” Enjoy. “To rejoice in the s...

Dear Friends, It’s been a while since I sent you a quote from Charles Spurgeon, so I thought I would remedy that! He was such a gifted communicator of Scriptural truth. This particular quote has to do with God's glorious grace in bringing people to salvation. Read them, ponder them, wrestle with them, and then go and compare them to Scripture. Or think back on your own pre-conversion and conversion experience. I trust they will edify and bless your hearts as much as they have mine. Enjoy.   "I hear someone murmur, 'God will not give grace to those who do not repent.' I reply, ‘God gives people grace to repent and no person ever repents until grace is first given to them to lead them to repentance.’ 'But God will not give his grace to those who won't believe,' says another. I reply, ‘God gives grace to men by which they are moved to believe. It is through the grace of God that they are brought to faith.’”   Or as he says elsewhere: “I must conf...