knocked DOWN

There was a woman who was going through some very difficult and trying circumstances. She was experiencing major distress in her marriage, her job was very unfulfilling and was causing her heartache. She became so distraught over her circumstances that she felt like just giving up. She felt lonely, dejected and very isolated. She had tried everything she could to better herself, her marriage, things at work but it seemed everything turned out horrible for her. Finally she came to the point of exhaustion and felt there was no way out of her terrible circumstances and there would never be any more joy in her life. One day she was sitting in her kitchen very frustrated and lonely. She sat there for a long time and just wept. Then she noticed a small sparrow had somehow gotten into her kitchen, so she opened the door thinking the sparrow would simply fly out the door. To her surprise the sparrow kept flying into the closed window that was just above the door. This distraught woman noticed several times that the sparrow would fly directly into the top of the window thinking it was an opening to freedom and each time colliding into glass of the window. This small sparrow after each time hitting the window would become weaker and weaker. The woman also noticed the sparrow hitting the window lower and lower each time he flew into the window until he got so weak that he couldn’t even fly, all he could to was walk. Then she noticed this little sparrow very slowly, simply walked through the door to freedom. As she observed this little bird walk through the door, the sparrow began to regain his strength and he flew off into the air free again. It was as though God literally opened her spiritual eyes. She realized in just about every area of her life she was behaving just like this sparrow. She was trying in her own way to get out of the confining situations she was in, each time being knocked down in defeat. In reacting harshly to her family members - knocked down! Not giving her best at work - knocked down! Paying back evil for evil done to her - knocked down! Saying and doing things she knew were wrong - knocked down! She finally realized that all she had to do was do just like this sparrow - to very humbly walk in the power of God’s grace and mercy and allow Him to work out all her heartaches and difficulties.

The cause of Crime

In the 1950s a psychologist, Stanton Samenow, and a psychiatrist, Samuel Yochelson, sharing the conventional wisdom that crime is caused by environment, set out to prove their point. They began a 17-year study involving thousands of hours of clinical testing of 250 inmates here in the District of Columbia.

To their astonishment, they discovered that the cause of crime cannot be traced to environment, poverty, or oppression. Instead, crime is the result of individuals making, as they put it, wrong moral choices. In their 1977 work The Criminal Personality, they concluded that the answer to crime is a “conversion of the wrong-doer to a more responsible lifestyle.”

In 1987, Harvard professors James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein came to similar conclusions in their book Crime and Human Nature. They determined that the cause of crime is a lack of proper moral training among young people during the morally formative years, particularly ages one to six.

Christianity Today, August 16, 1993, p. 30

Failing to Give Him the Key

The early years of the 19th century were troubled times in the German confederation. Rumors of revolution and rioting had the federated government in panic. Klemens von Metternich, the chief statesman of the confederation, ordered thousands of young men drafted into the army to guard the borders and put down internal revolts. Across the countryside, young men in uniform tramped off to an unknown destiny. In one German village stood a grand old stone-walled church with an ornately carved facade, beautiful stained glass, and a stately pipe organ. The organ was famed throughout the region for its beautiful, rich tone.


One day the aged caretaker of the church was interrupted during his chores by a knock on the great oak door of the sanctuary. He opened the door to find a young man in uniform on the steps. "Sir, I have a favor to ask," the young soldier began. "Would you please permit me to play the organ for one hour?" "I'm sorry, young man," the caretaker replied. "No one but our own organist is permitted to play the organ." "But sir, I've heard so much about the organ of this church, and I've walked so many miles just to see it, just to play it for a single hour!" The aged man paused, then shook his head sadly. "Please," the soldier pleaded. "My commander gave me a 24-hour leave. In a few more days we move to another province where the fighting is expected to be heavy. This may be the last chance in my life to play the organ." The caretaker reluctantly nodded. He swung the door open and beckoned the soldier inside. Then he took a key from his pocket and held it out to the soldier. "The organ is locked," he said. "Here is the key." The soldier took the key and unlocked the ornate cabinet of the organ. Then he began to play. A billow of majestic chords rolled from the great golden pipes of the organ. The caretaker stood transfixed as the glorious music washed over him, bringing tears to his eyes. He moved to one of the pews and sat down, as if entranced.

Within minutes, people from the village gathered at the church doorway and peered in. Removing their hats, the villagers stepped into the sanctuary and sat down to listen. Streams of beautiful music filled the sanctuary for one hour. Then the gifted fingers of the organist struck a final chord and lifted from the keyboard. The young man closed and locked the keyboard cabinet. As he stood and turned, he was surprised to see that the church had nearly filled with parishioners who had laid aside their chores to listen to his music. Humbly receiving their compliments, the young soldier walked down the center aisle to return the key to the caretaker. "Thank you," the young man whispered. The old man rose to his feet and took the key. "Thank you," he answered, grasping the young soldier's gifted hands. "Young man, that was the most beautiful music these old ears have ever heard. What is your name?" "My name is Felix," replied the solder. "Felix Mendelssohn." The old caretaker's eyes widened as he realize whose hands he grasped--the hands of the young man who, before he was 20 years old, had become one of the most celebrated composers on the European continent.

The old man's gaze followed the young soldier as he left the church and disappeared into the village street. "To think," the old man wondered aloud, "the master was here and I almost failed to give him the key!" So it is with us.

The Master is here. God is with us. His grace envelops us. If you give him the key to your heart, he can make unimaginably beautiful music in your life--music that will make the world stop, listen, and wonder. The Master is here and he is ready to transform us by his grace. He is ready to give us a new beginning. It is not only our duty, but our joy to give him the key to all that we are and have.

(Ron Lee Davis, Courage to Begin Again, (Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR; 1978), pp. 184-186.)

The power of commitment

Our commitment in the service of Lord in very important in building the body of Christ. And I challenge you to commit your life in the ministry: Confidently, wholeheartedly and absolutely for the glory of God. Illustrations. In Yorkshire, England, during the early 1800s, two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for himself by entering Parliament and gaining public prestige. But the younger son chose to give his life to Christ. He committed his life in serving God: Confidently, unconditionally and wholeheartedly. With that commitment, Hudson Taylor turned his face toward China and obscurity. As a result, he is known and honored on every continent as a faithful missionary and the founder of the China Inland Mission (now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship). For the other son, however, there is no lasting monument. When you look in the encyclopedia to see what the other son has done, you find these words, "the brother of Hudson Taylor." If you want to succeed in life, commit your life in serving God. From Joel Santos' Sermon "A Committed Christian"

Finding my son

One Sunday night D. L. Moody preached in a big circus tent near the Columbian Exposition in Chicago from the text, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost." After he had finished, a little boy was brought to the platform by an officer who had found the child wandering in the crowd, lost. Mr. Moody took him in his arms and asked the crowd to look at the lost child.
Mr. Moody said, "The father is more anxious to find the boy than the boy is to be found. It is just so with our Heavenly Father, for long years He has been following you, oh, sinner. He is following you still!"
At that very moment a man with a pale and anxious face elbowed his way to the platform. When the boy saw him he broke free from the preacher and ran as fast he could to the edge of the stage where he launched himself into space , threw himself into his father's outstretched arms. The multitude that witnessed the scene, broke into a mighty cheer. "Thus," cried Mr. Moody, "will God receive you if you will only run to Him today."
--King's Business

From Rick Stacy's Sermon "Find the Way-Our Purpose"