Be prepared for the worst. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral. Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen made up her mind, though. She would take Michael whether they liked it or not!
If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket. But the head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, "Get that kid out of here now! No children are allowed. Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady.
Please don't, take my sunshine away Karen called it a miracle of God's love! We Have Everything We Need. One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon, a man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that restricting the cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us.
We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly. Who Will Take The Son? A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said,"Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life.
He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art. The young man held out his package. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man.
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He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. Who will bid for this picture? Then a voice in the back of the room shouted. Who will start the bidding? We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids! Who'll take the son? Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. Let's see the masters. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time.
Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets every thing! God gave His son 2, years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, "The son, the son, who'll take the son? JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited. JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
JESUS makes a new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions. It's obvious there is really no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. Yes, Jesus is better, much better than Santa Claus. A Beautiful Story - The Dime. Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold.
Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend. Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled.
It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the house hold in their mother's absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother.
Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to.
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Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime.
He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him,"You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you.
As Bobby waited he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers. The sound of the door closing as the last customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid.
Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen.
Would you like them? Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son. As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked out. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.
I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars. The Feast Of Tabernacles. The two great feasts of the Jews were the Feast of Passover These two great feasts Each of these feasts had its peculiar religious sacrifice, pointing to our Lord and his sacrifice and the Gospel Church, his body The Fall festival was held in connection with the Day of Atonement and its sacrifices for sins, which typified the better sacrifices of this Gospel age and the ultimate atonement for the sins of the whole world, and the consequent ultimate removal of the curse which still rests upon the world of mankind.
This festival was instituted at the time Israel passed from the wilderness into the Land of Promise. It commemorated the wilderness life and the entrance into Canaan, where they were privileged to enjoy their inheritance and have more substantial dwelling places. It was really the festival of the New Year, and a kind of thanksgiving occasion for the ingathering or harvest of the year. The usage of the people on this occasion is thus described by Edersheim and others: The Bible in a synopsis of 50 words:.
I am a Soldier in God's Army. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up. I am a soldier.
Looking Unto Jesus - Various Short Stories and Articles to Stimulate Thought
A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.
Here's what I suggest: Sit down on a chair; place an empty chair in front of you and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, "I'll be with you always. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm. The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.
Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed. Prayer is one of the best spiritual gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another. May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let His presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, and to bask in the sun. It is there for each and every one of you. Give us this day our daily bread. What Was In Jeremy's Egg?
Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow mind and a chronic, terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all his young life. Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as possible and had sent him to St. At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises.
At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day, she called his parents and asked them to come to St. Teresa's for a consultation. As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems.
Why, there is a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students! Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here. Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class.
She had 18 other youngsters to teach and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read or write. Why waste any more time trying? As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. The other children snickered, and Doris' face turned red. She stammered, "Wh-Why, that's very nice, Jeremy. Now please take your seat. Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter.
Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. He just listened intently, his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them. That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day.
She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents. The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their Math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. Yes that is new life, too. She explained that the moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. Then Doris opened the fourth egg. The egg was empty! Surely it must be Jeremy's, she thought, and, of course, he did not understand her instructions.
If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. When she could speak again. Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty? Then his Father raised him up! The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.
Three months later Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Hugging is almost perfect! There are no movable parts, no batteries to wear out, no periodic check-ups, no monthly payments, no insurance requirements. There is low energy consumption, and very high energy yield. Hugging is theft-proof, inflation-proof, not-fattening, non-polluting, non-taxable, and, of course, fully returnable. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit which dwells in you.
Show Your marvelous loving kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry.
Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact It wasn't long before he realized how impossible it was to do so. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following poem This is the beginning of "My Wood," an essay by E. Forster about his reaction to owning a small estate he bought with the royalties from his novel "A Passage to India. A few years ago I wrote a book which dealt in part with the difficulties of the English in India.
Feeling that they would have had no difficulties in India themselves, the Americans read the book freely. The more they read it the better it made them feel, and a cheque to the author was the result. I bought a wood with the cheque. It is not a large wood - it contains scarcely any trees, and it is intersected, blast it, by a public footpath.
The Story Behind the Hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” | Stuarts Draft Retirement Community
Still, it is the first property I have owned, so it is right that other people should participate in my shame, and should ask themselves, in accents that will vary in horror, this very important question: What is the effect of property upon the character? Don't let's touch economics; the effect of private ownership upon the community as a whole is another question - a more important question perhaps, but another one.
Let's keep to psychology. If you own things, what's their effect on you? What's the effect on me of my wood? In the first place, it makes me feel heavy. Property does have this effect. Property produces men of weight, and it was a man of weight who failed to get into the Kingdom of Heaven 1. He was not wicked, that unfortunate millionaire in the parable, he was only stout; he stuck out in front, not to mention behind, and as he wedged himself this way and that in the crystalline entrance and bruised his well-fed flanks, he saw beneath him a comparatively slim camel passing through the eye of a needle and being woven into the robe of God.
The Gospels all through couple stoutness and slowness. They point out what is perfectly obvious, yet seldom realized: Sometimes the Gospels proceed further and say with Tolstoy that property is sinful; they approach the difficult ground of asceticism here, where I cannot follow them. But as to the immediate effects of property on people, they just show straightforward logic. It produces men of weight. Men of weight cannot, by definition, move like lightning from the East unto the West, and the ascent of a fourteen-stone 3 bishop into a pulpit is thus the exact antithesis of the coming of the Son of Man.
My wood makes me feel heavy. The Jordan is the river in which John the Baptist christened repentant sinners. The professor grins knowingly. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him.
How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one? The elderly man is sympathetic. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. God made Satan, didn't he? Is there evil in this world? The professor suddenly shouts at his student. In a still small voice: Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther.
The class is mesmerized. The old man shakes his head sadly.
Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi
Have you ever seen Jesus? According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now? The professor turns and smiles. Come, come, speak some proper wisdom to the gathering. The Christian looks around the room.
Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat? The second Christian continues. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than degrees. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. He waves his hand for the student to continue. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it.
The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a student who has been reading it. Is there such a thing as immorality? You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil? What is that work, God is accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil. Since no-one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an ongoing endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion?
Are you now not a scientist, but a priest? Now, have you quite finished? The premise that everything can be examined by science is a premise which is flawed The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. No one appears to have done so. Well, according to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science cannot prove the professor has thoughts.
In silence the professor stared at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answered. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil. To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself.
Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light. He is despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted. Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence. Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. And now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and iron because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two. Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing. As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Therefore rejoice, O heaven, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles's.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gold and Ivory Tablecloth. At Christmas time men and women everywhere gather in their churches to wonder anew at the greatest miracle the world has ever known. But the story I like best to recall was not a miracle -- not exactly. It happened to a pastor who was very young. His church was very old. Once, long ago, it had flourished. Famous men had preached from its pulpit, prayed before its altar. Rich and poor alike had worshipped there and built it beautifully.
Now the good days had passed from the section of town where it stood. But the pastor and his young wife believed in their run-down church. They felt that with paint, hammer, and faith they could get it in shape. Together they went to work. But late in December a severe storm whipped through the river valley, and the worst blow fell on the little church -- a huge chunk of rain-soaked plaster fell out of the inside wall just behind the altar.
Sorrowfully the pastor and his wife swept away the mess, but they couldn't hide the ragged hole. The pastor looked at it and had to remind himself quickly, "Thy will be done! That afternoon the dispirited couple attended the auction held for the benefit of a youth group.
The auctioneer opened a box and shook out of its folds a handsome gold and ivory lace tablecloth. It was a magnificent item, nearly 15 feet long. Who, today, had any use for such a thing? There were a few halfhearted bids. Then the pastor was seized with what he thought was a great idea. He carried the cloth back to the church and tacked it up on the wall behind the altar. It completely hid the hole! And the extraordinary beauty of its shimmering handwork cast a fine, holiday glow over the chancel.
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It was a great triumph. Happily he went back to preparing his Christmas sermon. Just before noon on the day of Christmas Eve, as the pastor was opening the church, he noticed a woman standing in the cold at the bus stop. She told him that she had come from the city that morning to be interviewed for a job as governess to the children of one of the wealthy families in town but she had been turned down. A war refugee, her English was imperfect. The woman sat down in a pew and chafed her hands and rested. After a while she dropped her head and prayed.
She looked up as the pastor began to adjust the great gold and ivory cloth across the hole. She rose suddenly and walked up the steps of the chancel. She looked at the tablecloth. The pastor smiled and started to tell her about the storm damage, but she didn't seem to listen. She took up a fold of the cloth and rubbed it between her fingers. There could not be another like it. For the next few minutes the woman and the pastor talked excitedly together.
She explained that she was Viennese; that she and her husband had opposed the Nazis and decided to leave the country. They were advised to go separately. Her husband put her on a train for Switzerland. They planned that he would join her as soon as he could arrange to ship their household goods across the border. She never saw him again. Later she heard that he had died in a concentration camp. Then she went away. As the church began to fill on Christmas Eve, it was clear that the cloth was going to be a great success. It had been skillfully designed to look its best by candlelight. After the service, the pastor stood at the doorway.
Many people told him that the church looked beautiful. One gentle-faced middle-aged man -- he was the local clock-and-watch repairman -- looked rather puzzled. In our home in Vienna, my wife put it on the table" -- and here he smiled -- "only when the bishop came to dinner. The pastor suddenly became very excited. He told the jeweler about the woman who had been in church earlier that day. The startled jeweler clutched the pastor's arm. Together the two got in touch with the family who had interviewed her.
Then, in the pastor's car they started for the city. And as Christmas Day was born, this man and his wife, who had been separated through so many saddened Yule tides, were reunited. To all who hear this story, the joyful purpose of the storm that had knocked a hole in the wall of the church was now quite clear. Of course, people said it was a miracle, but I think you will agree it was the season for it! I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die is cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on God's presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go until He comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me "my banner is clear"!
Wedgewood Baptist Church Tragedy. We continue to express to you the glory of God spreading through our community and around the world because of this tragedy What God is doing at our church! By now almost everyone has heard of the tragedy that took place on Sept. That morning had been the day of "See You at the Pole," when students gather around their flagpole in the morning to pray for their school and nation.
What the media hasn't reported, however, is how God has been so evident, both during and after the shooting. He has done amazing works! Our pastor, Brother Al, had prayed that God would do whatever it took to expand the ministry of Wedgewood Baptist Church. Our church is one that is used as a model of how NOT to pick a location, because no one in the world knew where it is. One example is the United Methodist Church who sent 15 people the following Sunday to cover our childcare. They didn't want any church members to have to miss the service because they were taking care of the children.
One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.
She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today? According to James 2: It was a cold winters day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. She patiently shows how the traditional interpretations of the parables all focus on reversing an ideology supposedly held by the Second Temple Jews of Christ's time.
The story of the Good Samaritan shows how Priests and Levites were afraid of ritual contamination and so passed by the man who had been attacked by robbers; the Prodigal Son contrasts the works-righteousness of the Older Son with the unmerited grace that the Father shows to the Prodigal. The parables demonstrate how Jews had their chance with the Gospel, but they blew it, so God is now going to give it to the Gentiles which, Levine points out, is the traditional interpretation of the parable of the Laborers on the Vineyard.
Levine also shows that this is bunk. The Jews of Christ's time had a rich and developed theology of caring for the poor, of atonement and reconciliation, of the unconditional love of God, and most of the other things that Christians find in the parables and pretend to represent Jesus's massive departure from the Pharisees of his day. Pharisees, it turns out, were not all evil hypocrites who followed the law blindly. Lots of them were pretty cool. But they ended up with a bad wrap. Levine is clear about the difficulty that she faces in trying to resituate the parables in their original Jewish context.
This is difficult work because the anti-Semitic interpretations started in the Gospels. Luke, especially, often frames the parables in ways that make the negative portrayals of Jews inevitable. So Levine has to try to parse out the core of the parable and discount the narrative setting in which it occurs, which is an extraordinary difficult sort of textual criticism to do, but I think that she does a creditable job. Basically, I think that Short Stories by Jesus does an exceptional and near-perfect job of showing that the parables don't really mean most of the things that I have always believed that they meant.
Overthrowing old interpretations is only part of the game. The exegete still has to show what they do mean. And here I was not as impressed. Levine does not seem to have any kind of consistent approach to positive interpretation. Sometimes she situates them in the context of the average Jewish day laborer of the time--and tries to explain what such a person would have heard. Other times, she invokes an extremely complicated critical apparatus and makes arguments that rely on commentaries and linguistic distinctions that would have bewildered the people of this context or any other.
And sometimes, she offers a sort of bland "why can't we all just get along" reading that hovers at the top of the surface and never gets deeper. In the end, most of her interpretations destabilize so many traditional meanings, and offer so few compelling alternatives, that the parables end up looking like zen koans--contradictory stories that may or may not mean anything at all but which sustain an enormous amount of contemplation. This is a fine thing to be, but I don't really think that this captures the essence of how the New Testament uses parables as a teaching tool.
It's not just that I disagree with the way she interprets the texts I do, but we are supposed to disagree about such things. I don't entirely buy the implicit assumptions about why Jesus would have told these stories to begin with. Mar 20, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: Appropriately enough, Amy-Jill Levine's look at 11 of Jesus' parables — which she argues were intended to be provocative and challenging — is itself provocative and challenging. With only a couple of exceptions, she dismantles what might be considered the mainstream or popular interpretation of each parable, as well as showing how liberals and conservatives alike have domesticated the parables to better fit inside their respective ideological comfort zones.
The book is most useful in correcting t Appropriately enough, Amy-Jill Levine's look at 11 of Jesus' parables — which she argues were intended to be provocative and challenging — is itself provocative and challenging. The book is most useful in correcting two millennia of anti-Jewish errors and stereotypes; Levine shows time and again how Pharisees, purity laws, the Temple and Torah were misconstrued, if not outright abused, in establishing Judaism as a foil for Jesus' teachings, when in fact the parables largely reinforced, rather than subverted, prevalent Jewish notions of the first century.
Short Stories by Jesus should be required reading for anyone studying the parables, Jesus' life or the New Testament. As usual, Levine's perspective as a Jewish scholar of the New Testament opens up the teachings of Jesus in a way many Christians simply don't have the tools to do, while she also has the quick wit, incisive analysis and cultural background to effectively rebut centuries of poor Christian understanding of the Jewish culture in which the faith was born.
On top of that, she's an excellent writer who can distill scholarship into the common language without speaking over the heads of or down to her audience. Well worth the read! Mar 20, Roy Howard rated it it was amazing. Conventional interpretations have domesticated the parables of Jesus. Nowadays when the parable of the Good Samaritan is read in worship, eyes glaze and minds wander, anticipating the standard bashing of passersby while lifting up the heroic Samaritan outsider for listeners to emulate. Heads nod, slightly bored. More troubling than the implicit supersessionism that permeates conventional Conventional interpretations have domesticated the parables of Jesus.
More troubling than the implicit supersessionism that permeates conventional preaching of the parables which we will get to later , is how they have been stripped of their provocative nature. Originally the stories of Jesus troubled listeners with their enigmatic endings and puzzling characters; often they compelled self-recognition, anger, and occasionally repentance.
Their original capacity to provoke has been replaced with facile caricatures of Jews and banal moral lessons suitable for the Chicken Soup genre. That is the central argument of this book. She brilliantly restores the shocking nature of the original stories of Jesus. As in her previous book, The Misunderstood Jew, Levine is most helpful to Christians who have grown complacent with all scriptures and carry unquestioned biases into every reading.
A Biblical scholar, her range of historical knowledge is astonishing along with the precision of her exegetical skills. Moreover, and importantly for those who may be most challenged by her argument, her attention to facts rather than conventional opinions evokes confidence in the reader. However much you may be provoked by her interpretations, you cannot deny the evidence she brings to her argument.
If the interpretation of the parable provokes no internal shift, no disturbance of some kind, it may be a clever bit in a sermon but is unlikely to be the truth that Jesus offered to his original audience. If we hear it and are not disturbed, there is something seriously amiss with our moral compass. It would be better if we perhaps started by seeing the parable as not about heaven or hell or final judgment, but about kings, politics, violence and the absence of justice.
If we do we may be getting closer to Jesus. Nov 15, June Lee rated it really liked it. Feb 06, James Klagge rated it liked it Shelves: This is the sort of book I love, and for a while I was planning to give it 5 stars. Then it dropped to 3 stars. The author is a Jewish scholar, and reads the parables in light of Jesus' Jewish background and context.
She uses the Hebrew Testament and lots of Jewish literature from the time to suggest what resonances words and story lines would have for Jesus and his listeners. And she emphasizes that much Christian inte This is the sort of book I love, and for a while I was planning to give it 5 stars. And she emphasizes that much Christian interpretation of the parables has been a form of Judaism-bashing, and she reminds us that the gospel writers have often presented the parables in ways that use them for distinctly Christian purposes, and that Jesus and his listeners would not have understood or resonated with that.
So far so good. There was a lot of interesting material. But there was a lot of repetition. I think individual chapters were often originally written or presented to be self-contained, so things get said over and over. This should have been caught at least by an editor, and fixed. I also realized that a lot of what the book provided was simply negative--shooting down interpretations as anti-Jewish or overly Christian. But there really was no positive take as to what Jesus was up to.
After ruling out allegories and numerous over-simplifications, we come back to the stories. They are provocative, but they didn't end up amounting to something interesting. So now I was down to 3 stars. Basically, the book is a good resource--as long as you know what to expect. My favorite book s about the parables is by Robert Farrar Capon: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Oddly, his work is never cited in her extensive endnotes.
Perhaps she sees him as her main enemy--presenting Jesus' radical grace as a huge departure from his Jewish background. Perhaps that is a kind of Jewish-bashing. Maybe I just don't understand the theo-politics of the time. But Capon's work makes we want to go back and read the parables; Levine's does not. And that's a big difference. Sep 28, Paul rated it it was ok. Amy-Jill Levine's books are usually argued very cleanly, straight forward. This reasoning in this, however, is opaque and forced. Still provides some good insights and the characteristic humor that wears pretty thin.
Oct 28, David Campton rated it really liked it Shelves: This look at Jesus' parables through a literary lens is an important corrective to some of the neo-allegorical exegeses offered in the wake of Craig Blomberg's important refutation of the earlier, simplistic "one parable - one point" approach. As a Jewish This look at Jesus' parables through a literary lens is an important corrective to some of the neo-allegorical exegeses offered in the wake of Craig Blomberg's important refutation of the earlier, simplistic "one parable - one point" approach.
As a Jewish scholar she is particularly awake to "ugly supersessionism" and crude anti-Semitism, although I think that at times she misses the point that some expositions that unfairly tarnish all Pharisees with legalism have more to do with a recognition of such traits in modern Christianity than historic Judaism.
But perhaps that is exactly what Jesus the Jew in his day was doing for his audience with these frequently ridiculous short stories. Nov 06, Suzanne McLaughlin rated it really liked it. As a Jewish New Testament scholar, Levine sees the parables from a unique point of view. Brent and I really enjoyed reading this book together.
Amy-Jill Levine is a Jewish scholar who takes the parables of Jesus and puts them into first-century Jewish context, helping us to see how Jesus' audience may have heard them. She also shows how some of the Gospel writers particularly Luke have taken these provocative and challenging stories and "domesticated" them. One disturbingly common aspect of these interpretations is their anti-Jewish slant.
Until Levine pointed this out, I had accepted many of them at face value. These interpretations of the parables tend to use Jewish stereotypes as a negative foil for Jesus, conveniently forgetting that Jesus himself was a Jew, as was his audience. Jews are portrayed as obsessed with purity laws, xenophobic, and without compassion as a contrast to Jesus' Christian teachings. This book made me see the parables in a whole new light and gave me a greater appreciation for the storytelling genius of Jesus of Nazareth. Feb 08, Chris Hokanson rated it it was amazing.
Amy-Jill Levine has become one of my favorite writers. Not because I agree with all her arguments I don't , but because she's challenging, thorough, and unafraid to question assumptions on every side of an argument. Levine's in-depth knowledge of Judaism helps uncover how many traditional and modern mis-readings of the parables contribute to anti-Jewish stereotypes, and how many of those same mis-readings often neuter parables that, when read with their ancient Jewish context in mind, serve to Amy-Jill Levine has become one of my favorite writers.
Levine's in-depth knowledge of Judaism helps uncover how many traditional and modern mis-readings of the parables contribute to anti-Jewish stereotypes, and how many of those same mis-readings often neuter parables that, when read with their ancient Jewish context in mind, serve to challenge the reader and reveal even more than those in the Western church were taught. While she makes some good points, Levine has an agenda highlighting anti-Jewish stereotypes and exploring feminist perspectives that distracted me from her interpretations of the parables and really took over the focus of the book.
Her agenda and her frequent potshots at groups she disagrees with the boy scouts, conservative christians were perplexing as it wasn't what I expected from a scholar. In the end I felt that I would need to read another book on the same topic to form my opinions, a While she makes some good points, Levine has an agenda highlighting anti-Jewish stereotypes and exploring feminist perspectives that distracted me from her interpretations of the parables and really took over the focus of the book. In the end I felt that I would need to read another book on the same topic to form my opinions, as Levine gave me many reasons to question her conclusions.
Nov 15, Naomi rated it it was amazing Shelves: A terrific and important contribution to understanding and appreciating Jesus' parables. Strongly recommended for those interested in scriptural studies, both for the methodology employed and to benefit from Amy-Jill Levine's insights and contextualization.
This book belongs in the hands not only of religious leaders for teaching, but in the hands of those who wrestle and take seriously Jesus' teachings. Sep 19, Maureen rated it it was amazing. The parables are radical, provocative and challenging when read and heard with Jewish eyes and ears.
Levine gives new insights into how the first century audiences would have heard the parables. Oct 26, William Abraham rated it really liked it. Heady discourse punctuated with blips of humor. All-in-all Levine presents a compelling argument for a fresh interpretation of the parables. Her readings of them seems to amplify the subsersive tone of Jesus' teachings. Jul 29, Carole Sparks rated it liked it Recommends it for: Okay, maybe not everyone would think it fun, but I found her writing style interactive and easy to follow. I underlined "We are probably more comfortable proclaiming a creed than prompting a conversation or pursuing a call.
The one drawback to this book is Levine's chip on her shoulder for lack of a better term. She repeatedly argues that Christian interpreters intentionally pursue a "negative caricature of Jewish culture" I have a master's degree in theology, and many of her cited sources espouse views far more extreme than any I was taught in an evangelical seminary or have read on my own.
Many New Testament scholars are more generous toward 1st-century Jewish culture than those presented. I would have appreciated a more balanced representation. At the same time, Levine has a better grasp of Jewish understanding than many scholars. She reveals several plot assumptions sometimes actual mistakes and even grammar mistakes that church-goers have heard for years and never questioned.
In so doing, she clears the fog from our eyes and brings the perspective as much as we can in the 21st century of Jesus' Jewish contemporaries. This is the first step in good hermeneutics. I will return to this book repeatedly as I continue to study the gospels, and I recommend it for other open-minded New Testament students. By open-minded, I mean comfortable reading and learning from those with whom you don't necessarily agree and being willing to adjust your thinking.
Apr 23, Thomas rated it really liked it Shelves: Levine suggests that we listen to the parables the way Jesus' audience might have, from a Jewish perspective devoid of allegory. It's not an easy thing to do, since we have almost two thousand years of accreted interpretations to clear away before we can do this. Most of us come to the parables as allegories, since this is the way they are taught in church. It is also arguable that the gospel writers meant the parables to be read allegorically, but Levine tries to remove this interpretive filter Levine suggests that we listen to the parables the way Jesus' audience might have, from a Jewish perspective devoid of allegory.
It is also arguable that the gospel writers meant the parables to be read allegorically, but Levine tries to remove this interpretive filter and present them as the original words of Jesus. To understand the parables in this way requires historical context, and Levine presents plenty of it. As a result, we learn quite a lot about the Jewish Jesus, and to a lesser extent the anti-Semitic slant that later allegorical readings cast.
So what is left when allegory is removed and historical context rights the ship?