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In Other Words...

A Research Service Of Facts & Humor For Christian Leaders

October 2024

ADVERSITY: Tension was high as the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia was trying to decide if Charles Stanley would become their pastor in 1971.  He was already on staff and had been preaching, but a contingency didn’t want Dr. Stanley to lead their church and they made sure he knew it.  He referenced it as the most difficult time in his ministry and it was then that a senior adult named Mrs. Salles (Saw-lz) insisted that he join her for lunch.  He held her off for some time but finally relented.  After their meal, she took him up to her assisted-living room to show him the 1892 painting by Briton Riviere titled Daniel In The Lions Den.  She drew his attention to that famous work of art where Daniel is looking up at a streaming beam of light with his hands tied and the lions behind him.  She said, “Son, I want you to remember this, Daniel doesn’t have his eyes on the lions but on God.”  Later at the business meeting to determine if Stanley would become the new pastor of First Baptist, this short lady in her seventies stood and made the motion to call him as their pastor.  Stanley then served in that position for five decades and never forgot what he called the most powerful sermon he’d ever heard.  We must all determine if our eyes will stay on the lions or the Lord. Obey God, Charles Stanley, Dallas Theological Seminary, 11/9/2018
 
APOLOGY: Tiff’s Treats is a $500 million cookie company operating in eight states…and it all started with an apology.  In 1999, Tiffany Taylor stood up Leon Chen for a date.  To apologize, she baked him some cookies and delivered them hot.  Leon was so impressed with the taste that he convinced her to make it a business.  These two sophomores at the University of Texas started making cookies out of his apartment with the niche of delivering them hot to their customers.  They launched their business dream with $20 and a cellphone…and got married.  Tiffany’s Treats was shortened to Tiff’s and now they not only have nearly 100 locations, but they’re expanding with “ghost kitchens” where the cookies are made in cities that don’t yet have a brick & mortar building.  Never underestimate the value of an apology. Beaumont Enterprise, 10/2/24, p.A1
 
BIBLE: In his classic book on ministry, James Emery White emphasizes the priority of Scripture.  He noted that no matter the question or situation, their church & leadership has one simple value, “Go to the Bible, and then go with the Bible.”  He said ministers must be committed to asking, “What does the Bible say?” What They Didn’t Teach You In Seminary, James White, 2011, p.81
 
CHURCH: Jeff Bezos handpicked Andy Jassy to be his successor at Amazon.  When he sat down for an interview with Time magazine, Jassy was asked to define the online behemoth that is both loved & loathed.  Jassy simply replied, “We exist to make customers’ lives better.”  Regardless of opinions about Amazon, every church should put that statement in the cart and proceed to checkout because we do exist for the purpose of making lives better (John 10:10). Time, 4/11/22, p.62

CULTURE: Priscilla Shirer wrote a book to accompany the Kendrick brothers’ movie The Forge.  In it she noted how faith plays out like we’re walking up a descending escalator.  It’s a constant battle that we start to lose the moment we let up…and we irritate those going the opposite direction.  The idea of swimming upstream has been used often and is still a great visual, but this added twist about disrupting those we’re moving against is helpful.  She also notes that culture moves down like the escalator so don’t expect it to take us up. I Surrender All, Priscilla Shirer, 2024, p.100
 
DEBT: In a first for America, the U.S. government is expected to spend more this year on interest payments ($870 billion) to service the national debt than on defense ($850 billion).  The tab for our $35 trillion debt now exceeds $100,000 for every single American. The Week, 5/24/24, p.11
 
DECEPTION: Problems in China just keep mounting as the Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu province had to come clean on their “panda ruse.”  Trying to compensate for their lack of iconic Chinese bears, the zoo trimmed a pair of Chow Chow dogs and dyed them black & white.  After a ground swell of complaints arose, the state media criticized the zoo for misleading visitors.  Officials defended their covert actions by claiming they were clearly billed as “panda dogs.” The Week, 5/24/24, p.12
 
GOD: Mark Dever has stated, “God is not limited to where you think you last spotted Him.”  It may feel like He’s still residing at that great revival 30 years ago or in the church we used to attend, but He’s omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent…and working in the present.  We’re often tempted to think God is under the constraints we see as normal so we mistakenly project our limitations on the One who has no limits. The Message of the Old Testament, Mark Dever, 2006, p.640
 
POTENTIAL: Al Blaschke has reclaimed his title as the oldest person to tandem skydive.  He originally set the record at 103 in 2020, but was bested by a Swedish woman in 2022.  So, on November 27, 2023, Al went skydiving with Texas governor Greg Abbott (the governor’s first jump) and regained the record.  Afterwards, the 106-year-old Texas man told reporters, “If you think you can’t, you’re just underestimating yourself.  Everyone is more capable than they think.”  Wise words from a man born on January 4, 1917. GuinnessWorldRecords.com
 
REDEMPTION: In 2009, Chris Jordan unveiled a unique piece of art titled Gyre that mimics the famed Japanese masterpiece, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.  Jordan is a photographer so he used 2.4 million pieces of plastic trash along the Pacific shoreline as his palette to recreate Hokusai’s 1831 original.  The 8’x11’ three-panel artwork looks like the woodblock print from nearly two centuries ago.  When looking at the giant collage you can spot items like toothbrushes, buttons, combs, plastic spoons and particles of water bottles…all actual pieces of trash that washed up on the beach.  Jordan’s objective as an eco-artist is to draw attention to environmental concerns and we should take note.  But his work also highlights God’s redemptive work of making a masterpiece out of the trash in our lives. Freedom Starts Today, John Elmore, 2021, p.218
 
VIRTUE: A.J. Jacobs is a best-selling author who has written about his unique experiences, such as The Year of Living Biblically.  His latest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally, examines the rights granted in our U.S. Constitution.  Among the books he suggested for further study, he noted the premise of Jeffrey Rosen’s The Pursuit of Happiness. Jacobs said of Rosen, “He makes a strong argument that the Founders believed happiness was tied to virtue: not just feeling good, but doing (Jacob’s italics) good.”  It’s not only true of our country but our churches as well.  The Lord expects us to “bear much fruit” not just talk about it (John 15:8). The Week, 5/24/24, p.23
 

EVERYDAY HUMOR

 
AGING: While MJ Robarts was applying face cream, her daughter remarked, “She’s applying Oil of Delay.” Reader’s Digest, May 2021, p.49
 
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: We’ll know when AI has progressed to the point of being like humans…it will blame other chatbots for its mistakes. Saturday Evening Post, July 2007, p.104
 
POLITICS: British publisher Ernest Benn (1875-1954) said, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.”  His assessment still seems quite accurate all these years later. The Week, 5/24/24, p.17

IN OTHER WORDS... began in 1991 and is a research service produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry, Pastor of the Westgate Memorial Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas.  Subscribers receive access to over 7,000 illustrations on our website PLUS one emailed issue per month filled with intriguing facts, quotes, humor, and spiritual illustrations from a wide variety of sources.  All content is copyrighted.  Visit www.iows.net to start a new subscription or send inquiries to: 

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