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Two Ships In The Night! (07.18.05--Pride--Numbers ... PRO
Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jul 14, 2005 (message contributor)
Two Ships in the Night! (07.18.05--Pride--Numbers 22:29)
There’s a time to be right and a time to be righteous. That’s what the old farmer told me as I hefted the last hay bale into the loft.
I had just had an encounter with a bully at school and I was feeling both peeked and embattled at the same time. Since it was my task to help with the old farmer’s chores after school, I was down in the cattle barn that evening both fighting with the hay bales and my ego. I had related my sad day’s tale to the old man after he had noticed I was hefting those bales with a bit more energy than usual. I had been right and I knew it. Yet, I had stepped aside and let the bully get away with his taunts. Now I felt ashamed as revenge slowly crept from deep within my heart, pouring out of each fingertip as the bales kept getting farther and farther off target.
The old man noticed that my emotions were getting the best of me and, waiting until that last bale was in place, he asked me what was wrong. I told him what had happened to me that day and he smiled, put his hand on my shoulder and gave me this advice. “There’s a time to be right and a time to be righteous. You were with your friends and someone else could have gotten hurt.”
Old D.W., as we called him, is long gone now. Although his words remain with me to this day, so does my pride. Being right still seems like a pretty good alternative at times to being righteous. Stepping aside will always be hard for me.
In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too...
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Ravi Zacharias Tells The Amazing Story Of A ... PRO
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Ravi Zacharias tells the amazing story of a young Christian in Vietnam. He writes, “I was ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of my interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to ...read more
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Fully Committed PRO
Contributed by J Spurling on Jan 29, 2003
FULLY COMMITTED “This is it guys!” he shouted as the Piper bounced onto the beach. They’re on their way!” Lunch over, the men busied themselves fixing up a miniature “jungle” and model house in the sand, with the intention of demonstrating to the savages how to build an airstrip, should they be ...read more
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Many Years Ago A Young Midwestern Lawyer ... PRO
Contributed by Scott Chambers on Jan 29, 2003
Many years ago a young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep depression that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and razors out of his reach. He questioned his life’s calling and the prudence of even attempting to follow it through. During this time he wrote, "I am now the most ...read more
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Alta Vail Of Emporia, Kansas, Tells In Sunshine ...
Contributed by Evie Megginson on Mar 14, 2005
Alta Vail of Emporia, Kansas, tells in Sunshine magazine how she found a new way to pray while ironing. One day she was thinking about the different kinds of lines—bus lines, clothes lines, fishing lines, telephone lines. Why not a prayer line? she asked herself. So she strung a short rope across ...read more
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