Lonely Ember

A Lonely Ember

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services
regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, one of the elders decided to visit
him. It was a chilly evening. The elder found the man at home alone, sitting
before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the elder’s visit, the man welcomed
him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited.
The elder made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he
contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some
minutes, the elder took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning
ember and place it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his
chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone
ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no
more. Soon it was cold and “dead as a doornail.”
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the elder was
ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle
of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of
the burning coals around it. As the elder reached the door to leave, his host said,
“Thank you for the fiery sermon. I’ll be back next Sunday.”
- Author unknown [ Selected and submitted by Randy Clark ]

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Bigger and Better Rattlesnakes

There was a farmer who had three sons, Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the
family ever attended church or had time for God. The elders and others in the
church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God, but to no avail.
Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called, and he did
all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed.
So, the preacher was called and informed of the situation. The preacher arrived
and began to pray as follows:
“Oh, wise and righteous Father, we thank You that in Your wisdom You sent this
rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church building, and it is
doubtful that he has, in all his time, ever prayed or even acknowledged your
existence. Now, we trust this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will
lead to his genuine repentance.
“And now, Oh Father, will you send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another
to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years, we have
done everything we know to get them to turn to You, but all in vain. It seems,
therefore, that what our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done.
We thus conclude that the only thing that will really do this family any real good
is rattlesnakes. So, Lord, please send us bigger and better rattlesnakes, in
Christ’s name, Amen.
- Author unknown [ Selected and submitted by Randy Clark ]

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Controlling the Untamable

The following was reportedly seen on a tombstone in Hatfield, Massachusetts:

Beneath this stone, a lump of clay
Lies Arabella Young
Who on the 21 st of May
Began to hold her tongue.

How would you like to be remembered in that way? If we would be totally
honest, we would all have to admit that there have been times when we should
have held our tongue, but did not.
In James chapter 3 we are told that our tongue: is a small member of the body,
yet boasts great things / is the very world of iniquity / defiles the entire body /
is set on fire by hell / sets on fire the course of our life / is a restless evil and full
of deadly poison / cannot be tamed.
Consider that last point. Men have been able to tame animals, but they cannot
tame the tongue. However there is hope. In 1:26 James says, “If anyone thinks
he is religious and does not bridle his tongue he deceives his heart.” The tongue
can be bridled, which means restrained or controlled. It is not easy. It requires
spiritual maturity (3:3). But it can be done!
Don’t be like Arabella Young. Don’t wait until they place your body in the grave
to begin controlling your tongue.
- Leonard White

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Troublesome Cobwebs

One brother was frequently called upon to lead prayer. Every time he would
conclude the same way:

“And now, Lord, clean out all the cobwebs from our lives.”

He was no doubt talking about those inappropriate words, deeds and thoughts
that we sometimes allow to accumulate. Well, it got to be too much for another
brother who had heard that same prayer time after time. So the next time he
heard it he jumped to his feet and shouted, “Don’t do it, Lord - kill the spider!”
- Anon.

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