DESTINY IN THE SLUMS
Kevin and Karen Miller write of the power of a Cod-given vision: One couple lived in London 130 years ago. For the first 10 years of their marriage, William Booth, especially, was in a quandary: What was God calling him to do? Then his wife, Catherine, a skillful Bible teacher, was invited to preach in London. While they were there, William took a late-night walk through the slums of London's East End. Every fifth building was a pub. Most had steps at the counter so little children could climb up and order gin. That night he told Catherine, "I seemed to hear a voice sounding in my ears, 'Where can you go and find such heathen as these, and where is there so great a need for your labors?' Darling, I have found my destiny!"
Later that year, 1865, the couple opened the "Christian Mission" in London's slums. Their life vision: to reach the "down and outers" that other Christians ignored. That simple vision of two people grew into the Salvation Army, which now ministers through 3 million members in 91 countries.
See: Mark 13:34; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Timothy 4:5.
SAVED BY AN UNKNOWN LAYMAN
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in the minds of some of us, was the greatest preacher since the apostle Paul. When he was 22 years of age, he preached sermons that some of us hope we may preach before we die.
We won't, but we can dream. Until his death, he preached to five thousand people morning and evening in London in the days before you had great big crowds, before transportation was like what we know today.
When Spurgeon was 15 years of age, he had not come to a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. On a blustery, snowy Sunday morning, he decided to go to church. He couldn't get to his planned destination because the weather was so bad. So he turned into a side street, and went into a Methodist church. The preacher didn't even get there. Only fifteen people had come to the church. A layman decided worship ought to take place, so he got up to preach. He used (Isaiah 45:22), "Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." In ten minutes he had exhausted all that he could think to say.
Then he noticed a boy in the back, under the balcony. He said, "Young man, you look like you're in trouble. Look unto Jesus and be saved." That's exactly what happened that morning. Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave his life to Christ. That troubled young man became the mightiest preacher of the last century. He was led to faith in Christ by a man nobody knows an obscure layman.
—Gordon Johnson.
See: Isaiah 12:2; 45:22; Mark 13:22; 1 Corinthians 3:9.
EVERY INSTRUMENT IS NECESSARY
A conductor was rehearsing his great orchestra. The organ was rolling, giving beautiful melody. The drums were thundering. The trumpets were blaring out. The violins were singing beautifully.
Suddenly something seemed wrong. Someone in the orchestra had thought, (with all that is going on, I can rest a while. This is a rehearsal anyway).
The conductor threw up his arms and said, "Where's the piccolo?" The piccolo player said, "I'm obscure. I don't amount to much. With all of this going on, I don't have to keep playing." But the one with the trained ear said, "Every one of us is necessary." When you and I feel obscure, we must remember God has something significant for our lives, and we need to respond.
—Gordon Johnson.
See: Mark 10:43-44; Mark 13:34; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.
EVERY GENERATION IS STRATEGIC
Every generation is strategic. We are not responsible for the past generation, and we cannot bear full responsibility for the next one; but we do have our generation. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and take advantage of our opportunities.
—Billy Graham.
See: Matthew 9:37; John 4:35; Philippians 2:12; 2 Timothy 4:5.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSPECTIVE
A man came to a construction site where stonemasons were working. The man said to one, "What are you doing?" The stonemason said, "You can see, I'm chipping a stone."
The man walked over to another mason and said, "What are you doing?" He answered, "I'm building a wall."
The man walked over to a third mason and said, "What are you doing?" This mason answered, "I am building a cathedral." Ha! All three were doing the same thing, but what a difference perspective makes!
—Gordon Johnson.
See: Zechariah 4:9; Mark 13:34; Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Timothy 4:7.
THE WORLD IS MINE
I was coming back from Ridgecrest a few years ago, and there had been three thousand students or so. They show up everywhere in your bath, in your shower for a whole week. Finally you're on the plane, and you think, "O Lord, thank you that I'm moving away from this place." And because the Bible is the last desperate defense, you pull it up around your face. When you have your Bible around your face, everybody will leave you alone. It's a frightening specter. Even the stewardess won't ask you if you want peanuts. I said to the Lord, North Carolina, the day before while on vacation. Suddenly, my heart grew very still and silent. Then I felt the pain, or tried to. I turned to him and said, "I don't know what you must be feeling. I can't imagine this, but I know Someone who understands it perfectly." I took the Bible and shared with him about Jesus Christ and was able to lead him to Christ. But it was not my last act. I got off the plane there, and I called someone I knew and asked him to meet him at the plane where he was going to be landing. He needed help that day.
You see, the world is mine. I can't brush off somebody because I happen to sit by him and don't know him. Yes, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." If he is a servant, then we are servants.
—Calvin Miller. See:
Mark 10:44; Ga/af/ans 6:70; Philippians 2:5; 1 Timothy 6:18.
Henry Feyerabend writes from Waldheim, Saskatchewan, Canada.
