Signs of the Times Email Newsletter

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July 2005 Signs of the Times Email Newsletter

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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A grandfather found his grandson, jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, “Out, Gramp, out.”

It was only natural for Grandfather to reach down to lift the little fellow out of his predicament; but as he did, the mother of the child stepped up and said, “No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you must stay in.”

The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart, but the mother’s firmness in correcting her son for misbehavior must not be lightly taken. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found a way. The grandfather could not take the youngster out of the playpen, so he crawled in with him.

God did not spare Paul and Silas the suffering and imprisonment, but He did come down into the prison with them.

God did not keep the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace, but He went into the furnace with them.

God will not always deliver us from trouble and heartache, but He has promised grace for every situation of life.—By Fred W. Parsons, These Times, March 1969.

Quote: “It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the friction. Fear secretes acids; but love and trust are sweet juices.”—By Henry Ward Beecher, These Times, May 1951.

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Don't miss the August 2005 issue of Signs of the Times: “Armageddon, Is It About to Happen?” “Understanding God’s Love,” “The Hidden Dangers In Harry Potter,” “The Good News About the Judgment,” “The Man of Revelation” and other important articles. To order Signs, call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at http://www.AdventistBookCenter.com

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During the War Between the States, President Lincoln was often asked “When the fighting ends and the Southern States are forced to return to the Union, how are you going to treat those rebels?”

Without hesitation Lincoln replied, “I am going to treat them as if they had never been away.”—By Raymond L. Cox, Signs of the Times, June 1969.

Quote: “Prayer has divided seas, rolled up flowing rivers, made flinty rocks gush into fountains, quenched flames of fire, muzzled lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, marshaled the stars against the wicked, stopped the course of the moon, arrested the sun in its rapid race, burst open iron gates, recalled souls from eternity, conquered the strongest devils, commanded legions of angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled and chained the raging passions of man, and routed and destroyed vast armies of proud, daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has brought one man from the bottom of the sea, and carried another in a chariot of fire to heaven.”—By Dr. Ryland, Signs of the Times, July 8, 1913.

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Just released from Pacific Press—A classic collection of tales from the land of tigers and elephants, riverboats and oxcarts, and witch doctors and true heroes is back in print. “Jungle Heroes” by Eric B. Hare is full of adventure stories about faith, the power of prayer, and inspiration that makes kids want to be a hero for God no matter where they live. Ideal for ages 8-12. (But parents and grandparents will love it too.)

Read the first chapter of this book online at http://www.AdventistBookCenter.com Order online or from your local Adventist Book Center--1-800-765-6955.

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The western heavens were alight with the soft afterglow of the long summer day. The last stirrings of the afternoon sea wind murmured drowsily in the moss-hung maples along the drive. Inside the old house, a small fire burned slowly on the stone hearth, while above it, comfortably set on the wide mantel, the family clock pointed to ten minutes to bedtime.

At his grandmother’s knee, the little man of four was enjoying his evening adventure with pencil and paper. For half an hour the two of them had been drawing figures, letters, numbers, and words. Finally grandmother took the pencil and paper. Carefully she spelled out and wrote down the letters of her grandson’s name—Floyd.

Then, turning the pad, she handed the pencil back to the boy and said, “There! That’s your name. Now you write it. Make each letter just like the one above it. Go ahead. Try.”

The brown-eyed lad looked up into his grandmother’s face with childish perplexity and hesitancy. His eager face twisted into a lovable pattern of self-distrust.

“N-o-o-o-o,” he confessed innocently. “N-o-o-o-o, grandma. I can’t. I can’t do it. My pencil goes wrong. I can’t make it go where it’s supposed to go.”

Lovingly, grandma drew him close. Patiently she put the pencil between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. Then, placing her own right hand over his, she drew out the letters, line by line, curve by curve, naming each of the letters in turn.

“There!” she exclaimed when she had finished. “You wrote your name. F-l-o-y-d.”

A look of wonder and joy came into the lad’s face. “I did, grandma? I did? Did I write my name?”

Then the full truth burst upon him and he became exuberant. “I did it! You held my hand and I wrote my name!”

Across the room grandpa had laid his paper aside and was watching and listening. The scene before him was so simple, the lesson it illustrated so profound. Weeks later it was still in his mind.

How like the little boys we are, each and every one of us! Little boys of four, standing as it were at our grandmother’s knee, fascinated with the letters and figures of life. Fascinated and inept and just a bit afraid.

We have the pattern before us. We take the pencil in our hands. We make our marks on the clean page. But, alas! How poorly they resembled the neat letters above! How uncontrolled our “a’s”! How misshapen our “b’s”! How unintelligible our “c’s”! What scrawlings we make at best, when we make them ourselves. How unlike the divine Pattern we are when we attempt to live His life in our own strength and wisdom!

What we need—indeed, what we must have—is a hand to hold ours as we work out our lines and curves on the page of life.

It is our fingers that hold the pencil. But it is the hand of Christ, holding our hands, that directs the making of the letters. How simple! How wonderful! How utterly, imperatively necessary!

Are you having trouble with your letters? There is only One who can help you. Why not yield yourself in full surrender to Him today?—By Sanford T. Whitman, Signs of the Times, December 19, 1956.

Quote: “Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”—By Augustine, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1956.

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Place this in your church bulletin or newsletter: Signs of the Times is still one of the best soul-winning investments you can make. Order from your Adventist Book Center. To order call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at: http://www.AdventistBookCenter.com

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On a blustery, stormy, winter day, at the broad intersection on a busy trunk highway, I noticed a man standing near the side of the road. I was on my way home for lunch. The next day he was there again at the same place, and the next day, and for days following. Blizzards came, with cold weather, sleet, and snow, but he was there. In the pouring rain, I saw him there with his raincoat and umbrella. On days when the skies were clear and the sun shining, he kept his vigil there on the busy highway at noon hour. I wondered just why he might be there.

Then one day my curiosity was satisfied—I found out why he waited there by the busy thoroughfare in all kinds of weather, at midday. He had a little daughter about seven years old who was going to school. She had to cross this highway just at the brow of a hill. There was a constant stream of cars, trucks, and busses going both ways. The father knew of the perils there. He loved that little girl enough to be there to help her safely through the dangers in all kinds of weather.

A number of times after my curiosity had been satisfied, I saw him take her by the hand and help her to safety on the other side of the busy thoroughfare. She did not seem to be concerned. This danger caused her no fears. She accepted her father’s kind attentions with no apparent thought. As soon as he let loose her hand, she skipped of toward home, or to play with some other children. She was unconscious of her danger or of her father’s concern. It seemed a matter of little consequence to her that he had stood in the blizzard or the pouring rain in order to protect her.

This is a busy old world. Traffic is hurried and heavy. There are many danger spots along life’s highway. Absorbed in the duties and pleasures of life, we are not always conscious of the dangers lurking about us—dangers threatening our physical being or our spiritual lives.

At the busy intersection a loving heavenly Father stands to help us past the dangers of today and tomorrow and other days to come. From dangers and from temptations and trials, He shields and protects, if we are willing to accept His care and guidance. We should be willing to place our hand in His and accept His guidance and protection.—By Charles L. Paddock, Our Times, February 1946.

Quote: “Saints are the sinners who keep on going.”—By Robert Louis Stevenson, These Times, November 1980.

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JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS, DVD—First released as a CBS television special, “Journey to Forgiveness” examines the true stories of people who have experienced deep anger in the face of violence, injustice, and terminal illness. You’ll recognize some of the events from news headlines, and you’ll hear from some of the individuals about how the healing power of forgiveness brought them spiritual peace. Available from your Adventist Book Center—1-800-765-6955 or online at: http://www.AdventistBookCenter.com

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It is said that Mr. Moody, in his early days in Chicago, was a regular attendant on the noonday prayer meeting. At one of these meetings a rich brother rose and told those present of an opportunity to do a certain good thing if only three or four hundred dollars could be raised for the purpose, and asked them to pray earnestly that it might be done.

In an instant Mr. Moody sprang to his feet, and said, “Brother, I wouldn’t trouble the Lord with a little thing like that; I would do it myself.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, December 10, 1885.

Quote: “The bigger the work, the greater the joy in doing it.”—By Henry M. Stanley, Signs of the Times, December 1, 1942.

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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[/]