The Gospel in Miniature:
Luther called John 3:16 "the heart of the Bible - the Gospel in miniature." It's so simple a child can understand it; yet it condenses the deep and marvelous truths of redemption into these few pungent words:

"God"	The greatest Lover
"So Loved"	The greatest degree
"The world"	The greatest number
"That He gave"	The greatest act
"His only begotten Son"	The greatest Gift
"That whosoever"	The greatest invitation
"Believeth"	The greatest simplicity
"In Him"	The greatest Person
"Should not perish"	The greatest deliverance
"But"	The greatest difference
"Have"	The greatest certainty
"Everlasting Life"	The greatest possession

Billy Sunday Fights Sin:
Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist reformer, never spared himself nor those he wanted to help in vigor of his attacks on sin. He thundered against evil from the Gay Nineties through the Great Depression. He preached Christ as the only answer to man's needs until his death in 1935.

"I'm against sin," he said. "I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I have a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. When I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!"

Those little Hurts:
Termites destroy more property than do earthquakes.
More fires are caused by matches and cigarettes than by volcanoes.
More heartaches and sorrow are caused by little words and deeds of unkindness than by open acts of dislike and enmity.

What Aaron Burr Said To God:
A grand daughter of Aaron Burr gave her heart to Christ in an evangelistic meeting. That evening she said to her grandfather, "I wish you were a Christian, too." He replied, "When I was a young man, I felt my need of God's mercy and forgiveness and knew that I should give my heart to Christ, but I walked out without doing it. I stood under the stars and looked up toward heaven and said, "God, if you don't bother me anymore, I'll never bother You." "Honey, God has kept His part of that bargain. He has never bothered me. Now it is too late for me to bother Him."

A misspent life, filled with chicanery and treason against the United States, followed Aaron Burr's fateful decision. (- Gospel Herald)

People Don't Know Him:
A pious church member, who thought himself to be a great Christian, says Warren W. Weirsbe, visited the Junior Department of the Sunday School. The Superintendent asked him to say a few words to the boys and girls. He stood pompously before them, and asked, "Why do you think people call me a Christian?"

There was an embarrassing silence, then a small voice from the back of the room said, "Because they don't know you." (- Christian Victory)

The Most Beautiful Rose:

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree. Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown, for the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren't enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play. He stood right before me with his head tilted down and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight, with its petals all worn, not enough rain, or to little light. Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I faked a small smile and then shifted away. But instead of retreating he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with overacted surprise, "It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too.

That's why I picked it; here, it's for you." The weed before me was dying or dead. Not vibrant of colors, orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need." But instead of him placing the flower in my hand, He held it midair without reason or plan. It was then that I noticed for the very first time that weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver, tears shone like the sun as I thanked him for picking the very best one. You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, unaware of the impact he'd had on my day. I sat there and wondered how he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he know of my self-indulged plight? Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight. Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see the beauty in life, and appreciate every second that's mine. And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose and smiled as I watched that young boy, another weed in his hand about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man. (-Unknown)