August 2010 Signs of the Times Email Newsletter

[Stan]

The Signs of the Times newsletter is a collection of stories and quotes from past issues of Signs and These Times.

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We are told of the young soldier who was called to cross the seas to service in the World War. His pious mother packed a small Bible among his belongings and secured from him a somewhat reluctant promise that he would carry it with him on the battlefields and read a Scripture portion every day. Next to his heart he carried the sacred little treasure.

Then came the day when an enemy bullet speeding straight to his breast plowed its way through the Book from Genesis to Revelation, and so spent its force without injury to the young man. Recognizing the Hand that intervened to save his life, the soldier straightway enlisted as a volunteer in the service of his mother’s God.

Another boy in khaki tells this story: Before enlisting, he had been greatly impressed by the lectures of an evangelist on the second coming of Christ, but later cast aside all thought of religion. In 1915, in the Battle of the Somme, he was hit by a piece of shrapnel and fell helpless and bleeding in a hollow place on the field. The continued deadly hum of bullets prevented the ambulance corps from coming to the rescue of the wounded.

The next morning as the soldier was giving himself up to die, a hen came out from a near-by farmhouse and laid an egg at his side. He ate it and was strengthened. On the four succeeding mornings the faithful hen came with her life-sustaining gift. Then the storm of battle passed, the soldier was rescued, and upon his hospital bed thanked God for his remarkable deliverance. When able to return to his home, this soldier became a Christian colporteur.—By Roy F. Cottrell, Signs of the Times, June 13, 1939.

Quote: “Life is made up of little things. It is but once in an age that occasion is offered for doing a great deed. True greatness consists in being great in little things.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, July 4, 1939.

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Don't miss the September 2010 issue of Signs of the Times: “The Good News About Death,” “The Magic of the Mediterranean Diet,” “The Reliability of the Bible,” “Wars and Rumors of Wars” and other important articles. To order Signs, call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at www.pacificpress.com/signs

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An old legend tells of a Portuguese monastery that stood precariously atop a three-hundred-foot cliff. Visitors were strapped in a huge wicker basket, then pulled to the top with an old ragged rope. As one visitor stepped into the basket for the descent, he asked anxiously, “How often do you get a new rope?”

“Whenever the old one breaks,” a monk calmly replied.

Risky. Dangerous. Like hurtling through life on a threadbare rope—ready to break!

Skidding along! Getting by! Getting by with the aid of too many cups of coffee, too many cigarettes, too much wound-up nervous energy—and too little sleep, relaxation, fun, and frolic. Spending five dollars’ worth of energy on a five-cent problem.

In this hurry-scurry, pell-mell atomic age of jets, speed, and spasm, we take too little time to live sanely.—By George E. Vandeman, These Times, January 1972.

Quote: “A living, loving gospel sermon, however unlearned in matter and uncouth in style, is better than the finest discourse devoid of unction and power. A living dog keeps better watch than a dead lion, and is of more service to his master; and so the poorest spiritual preacher is infinitely to be preferred to the exquisite orator who has no wisdom but that of words, no energy but that of sound.”—By Charles H. Spurgeon, These Times, January 1972.

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“Oh, God, don’t let any student graduate from this school who has not read The Scarlet Letter!” This was the startling prayer offered by an eminent educator at the commencement exercises in a certain college.

Regardless of one’s opinion of Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, it is a fact that no one is really ready to face life who does not know and believe in the two great biblical truths set forth in that American literary classic: “Be sure your sin will find you out,” and “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Numbers 32:23; Proverbs 28:13.

Confessing and forsaking sin and seeking God’s forgiveness are an absolute prerequisite not only for a satisfying spiritual experience, but also for the general well-being of the man.—By Paul K. Freiwirth, Signs of the Times, September 15, 1953.

Quote: “Few books can stand three readings. But the Word of God is solid; it will stand a thousand readings. And the man who has gone over it the most frequently and the most carefully is the surest of finding new wonders there.”—By Hamilton, Signs of the Times, March 13, 1923.

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Place this in your church bulletin or newsletter: People you know you are thinking seriously about life and their future. Help them find answers by sending Signs of the Times. Each month Signs takes on current issues and directs people to Jesus for relevant answers. Send a subscription today! Order from your Adventist Book Center. To order call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at: www.pacificpress.com/signs

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Several years ago H. A. Ironside and some friends were returning from a small Western village where he had spoken to a group of native Americans. They had not gone far when they saw a violent storm about to break. Turning to the driver of the wagon in which he was riding, Mr. Ironside said, “We’re certainly going to get soaked.”

“I hope not,” replied the man. “I think we can make that great rock ahead before the storm reaches us. If so, we will be sheltered.”

They hurried rapidly on toward the vast rock, forty or fifty feet high, covering an acre or more of ground in the middle of the prairie. Mr. Ironside wondered what possible help this could be to them. As they drew nearer, he found his answer. In the rock was a great cave. Instead of stopping to unhitch the horses, the driver rode right into the gaping hole just as the storm broke in all its fury. While the storm raged, one native American began singing:

“ ‘Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.’ “

All inside the shelter of the rock were secure. “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:2. “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” Psalm 61:2, 3—By Don Johnson, These Times, June 1959.

Quote: “In the rearing of their children, every generation of mothers must meet additional problems that growing complexities of the world thrust upon them. But their solution does not call for a new formula. It is the same in [both] the ox-cart and the space ages. There is but one solvent—Christian love.”—Mrs. Earl Warren, These Times, August 1959.

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Read articles from back issues of Signs at www.SignsTimes.org

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The Anvil—God’s Word

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor,

Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,

For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.—Author Unknown, These Times, September 1959.

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Compiled by Dale Galusha. Please pass this newsletter on to others. If this FREE newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend, and you would like to receive it directly on a monthly basis, email: join-signsnews@lyra.pacificpress.com

[phkrause]

Excellent articles