December 2021 Signs of the Times Newsletter!

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December 2021 Signs of the Times Newsletter The Signs of the Times newsletter is a collection of stories and quotes from past issues of Signs and These Times. ***************************      When Turner, the great painter had nearly completed one of his famous pictures, he called his artist friends to view it. It lacked something, but they could not agree on what it lacked. One suggested this and another that. At last they gave up.      Then the master artist himself stepped to the easel and brushed one stroke of crimson in the center of the canvas. Instantly the colors blended in perfect harmony. Perspective appeared. The picture was beautiful, satisfying, understandable.      So it is with the Bible. To understand it we must see Christ in it. The crimson glow of the cross must illuminate it.—By H. M. S. Richards, Signs of the Times, September 15, 1942. Quote: “Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels’ song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.”—By Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, February 10, 1942. *************************** Don't miss the December 2021 issue of Signs of the Times: To order Signs, call: 1-800-765-6955 or order ONLINE. ***************************      Suppose I went to a certain home that was locked—every door, every drawer, every closet locked—and I tried many keys, but none fitted. Then I took my last key, and that opened the front door, the kitchen door, the pantry door, the closet door, the bedroom door, and every other door. How long do you think it would take me to be persuaded that that was the master key?      Take all the problems that you and I face. Then take the key of philosophy, the key of science, the key of psychology, or any of these other keys and try to unlock the doors. Perhaps you will find that a few may open with them, but most will stay tightly closed until you try the Lord Jesus Christ. Then take Him and unlock every door in your house, for you will find that He is the Master Key! I don’t care what the problem is. I don’t care what burden you bear—the Lord Jesus can lift it! Nothing is too hard for our God! Every problem that you face in business, health problems, problems that you face in everyday life, problems in the home, marital problems, problems that are too intimate to discuss with your nearest friend—Jesus has the answer if you try Him.—By Billy Graham, These Times, September 1963. Quote: “Why worry when you can pray?”—By Leland Harris, These Times, April 1981. *************************** NEW from Pacific Press—True Stories of Changed Lives by Dan Serns presents a dozen true stories of real people who chose to fully open their hearts to the powerful truth of Christ’s saving grace. Each one faced incredible obstacles—from physical addictions to spiritual strangleholds—but by surrendering to the powerful promises of the Bible, the way forward became clear: Jesus. Includes Bible Study Questions at the end of each chapter. CLICK HERE to read first chapter online. Also available as an eBook:  Kindle Nook Order online or from your local Adventist Book Center--1-800-765-6955. ***************************      A young telegraph operator had become anxious about his soul. After a sleepless night, he went to his duties the next morning still absorbed in the thought that he was a lost sinner. Soon he heard the click of the instrument. With great astonishment and emotion he spelled out this message: "From H—, M—, Windermere, to J—, B—, Warkworth. 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,' ‘in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.'"      The young operator, in transcribing this message, received a message to his own heart, and was saved.—By Charles G. Bellah, Signs of the Times, November 18, 1941. Quote: “Though our task is not to bring all the world to Christ, our task is unquestionably to bring Christ to all the world.”—By A. J. Gordon, Signs of the Times, October 18, 1955. *************************** Place this in your church bulletin or newsletter: Send a GIFT that helps your friends and neighbors find hope and meaning in these momentous times. Each month Signs of the Times® takes on a broken world and directs hearts to Jesus for relevant answers. The result is changed lives! Order from your Adventist Book Center. Call 800-765-6955 or go online https://adventistbookcenter.com/signs-of-the-times-magazine.html ***************************      There is a touching story told of an old Scottish shepherd and his wandering daughter, Jennie. Her mother had died at Jennie's birth, and the stricken father had lavished all his love and care upon the lassie whose blue eyes and flaxen hair reminded him so poignantly of his wife.      As she grew into sturdy childhood he took her with him, letting her play in the bracken while he watched his flock. When the shades of evening fell, he would call the sheep together with the call of the Highland shepherd, and soon the child would join her girlish voice with his as it rang out over the hills.      The years sped by, and the father, straining all his resources, sent his daughter to finish her education in the great city. At the close of school she returned to the humble cot among the hills; but somehow everything seemed changed. The little home was poor and wretched after the comfortable student quarters in the city. Her father looked old-fashioned and shabby in his faded smock; and his face was prematurely aged with grief, and weather-beaten from exposure to sun and wind. Jennie grew moody and restless. Still, when night fell, the shepherd call, echoing among the lonely hills, as her father gathered his flock together in the dusk of evening, stirred her heart strangely.      As time went on, she felt she could stand the solitude and primitive conditions of her old home no longer, and suddenly she set out with all her little possessions for the city, leaving her father sorrowing, for in young womanhood she reminded him more than ever of her mother.      Her letters home became farther and farther apart, finally ceasing altogether. The only answer to the father's anxious letters were the words, "Address unknown," written across the returned envelope. Then, little by little, ugly rumors began to spread through the little village among the hills. Men, returning from the big city, hinted of seeing Jennie in this and that questionable place. Months passed into years, and still no word came from the shepherd's daughter. Then one day a rough man reported having seen a woman in a certain section, whom he felt sure was the old man's missing child. She had looked ill and wretched; but had stared insolently when he spoke to her, declaring that she had never seen him before.      Immediately the old father, leaving his flock in another's care, started out for the metropolis, dressed in his shepherd's, smock, and with his crook in his hand. Reaching the city, he trudged day after day through the sordid streets where his daughter had last been seen; but his search was in vain. Finally one evening, as darkness drew on and the rain began to fall, he was about to give up in despair when suddenly it flashed through his mind how Jennie had always been affected by the shepherd call. Lifting his voice, he repeated it again and again, as he dragged his weary feet over the stone pavements—the ringing cry of the Highlander when he gathers his scattered sheep at the close of day into the shelter of the fold. Through street after street he went, sending the pleading call out into the darkness, putting into his voice all the pent-up love and longing that was, in his heart for his lost child.      Suddenly a door in a wretched hovel flew open, and a weary, disheveled woman peered eagerly out into the night. She saw, coming down the narrow, ill lighted street, the bent form of an old shepherd, and heard once again, in her father’s well-remembered voice, the appealing shepherd call that had so often thrilled her soul as an innocent girl, and of which she had dreamed again and again in the heartbreaking years since had left the little cottage among the hills.     With a wild storm of weeping, she rushed out into the rain, and threw her arms around her father. Together, clinging to each other, they passed on down the squalid street, away from the sin and sorrow of the great city, into the peace and safety of the father's home and love.      Perhaps we, like the old shepherd's daughter, have wandered far from home. If we have, let us respond to the voice of Jesus, “that Great Shepherd of the sheep," as He sends out the tender shepherd call: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. "Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, by sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee." Isaiah 44:21, 22. I will “seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Ezekiel 34:12. "Return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy; . . . and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7.—By Leonora Lacey Warriner, Signs of the Times, October 21, 1941. Quote: “Little self-denials, little honesties, little passing words of sympathy, little nameless acts of kindness, little silent victories over favorite temptations,— these are the threads of gold, which, when woven together, gleam out so brightly in the pattern of life that God approves.”— F. W. Farrar, The Youth’s Instructor, December 8, 1908. *************************** Looking for just the right gift to give a friend or family member this holiday season? A gift that will help them spiritually all year long? Your Adventist Book Center has many wonderful books. Shop ONLINE or call 1-800-765-6955. “While urging upon all the duty of first bringing their offerings to God, I would not wholly condemn the practice of making Christmas and New Year's gifts to our friends. It is right to bestow upon one another tokens of love and remembrance if we do not in this forget God, our best Friend. We should make our gifts such as will prove a real benefit to the receiver. I would recommend such books as will be an aid in understanding the Word of God, or that will increase our love for its precepts“—By Ellen White, Review and Herald, December 26, 1882. *************************** "Shall We Gather at the River?"      This beautiful hymn was written by Robert Lowry, D. D. He was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 1826,and died at a good old age in 1899. Educated at Lewisburg University in Pennsylvania, he became a  Baptist minister in New York, Brooklyn, and other cities, and professor of belles-lettres in Lewisburg University.      Dr. Lowry was editor of ten or twelve of the most popular Sunday-school song-books ever published, and he contributed to these some of their best hymns and tunes. Among his hymns that are most widely sung are, "My Life Flows on in Endless Song," "One More Day's Work for Jesus," and "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" For all these he also wrote the tunes.      But Dr. Lowry's most famous hymn is "Shall We Gather at the River?" He wrote the words when a pastor in Brooklyn, on a hot July day in 1864. A severe epidemic was raging in Brooklyn, and hundreds were dying. Dr. Lowry was thinking of the sad scenes all around him when the question arose in his mind, “Shall we meet again? We are parting at the river of death; shall we meet at the river of life?"      With his heart full of these thoughts, he seated himself at his parlor organ, and both the words and the music of the famous hymn came to him as if by inspiration. It was published the following year in "Happy Voices," as a hymn of five stanzas and a chorus:—      "Shall we gather at the river,           Where bright angel feet have trod;      With its crystal tide forever           Flowing by the throne of God? CHORUS:      "Yes, we'll gather at the river,           The beautiful, the beautiful river;      Gather with the saints at the river           That flows by the throne of God.      "On the margin of the river,           Washing up its silver spray,      We will walk and worship ever,           All the happy, golden day.      "Ere we reach the shining river,           Lay we every burden down;      Grace our spirits will deliver,           And provide a robe and crown.     "At the smiling of the river,           Mirror of the Saviour's face,      Saints, whom death will never sever,           Lift their songs of saving grace.      "Soon we'll reach the silver river,           Soon our pilgrimage will cease;      Soon our happy hearts will quiver           With the melody of peace." — Amos R. Wells, in Junior Christian Endeavor World, The Youth’s Instructor, December 8, 1908. *************************** Compiled by Dale Galusha. Please pass this newsletter on to others.