Job 23 :10

Good verse for the day:  Job 23:10 ---"HE knows the way I take ---when He has tried me I will come forth as gold”!!!!!  Amen

Hidden Hand and Sir Knight

Dear Mr. Hamby,

Hello! I just wanted to say thank you so much for your life-changing ministry. The Hidden Hand and Sir Knight of the Splendid Way have got to be the two best books I've ever read. Sir Knight is like a breath of fresh air. When I first got it I read it four times in one week--I never re-read books that soon! I can honestly say it's changed my life. And The Hidden Hand is godly and inspiring yet so exciting and well-written. Not many books make me laugh aloud, but I was laughing and crying at various scenes throughout the book.

Also, House of Love was just amazing. I learned a lot from it. Doris was my favorite role model--she wasn't perfect, but she gave God any bad thought she started to have. The "house of love" idea is incredible. I love to think that, like Doris, nothing can really hurt me if I am inside the house of love, which is every good thing to every Christian. What an inspiration!

I could go on and on. I love every single book I have ever ordered from you, and I can't wait to order more. We need books like these in our culture today. Thanks again for helping to rebuild our families and Christian heritage!

In Christ,

Megan (age 14)

More from John Ploughman

Two entries today since the first one is rather short:

• On Seizing Opportunities: Take-it-easy and Live-long are first cousins, they say, and the more’s the pity. A little too late is much too late, and a miss is as good as a mile. Nothing is to be got without pains except poverty and dirt! Hares never run into the mouths of sleeping dogs.
• On Keeping One’s Eyes Open: Don’t believe in the man who talks most; for mewing cats are very seldom good mousers. Never put yourself in another person’s power; if you put your thumb between two grinders, they are very apt to bite. Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it, and make sure that it means no more than it says. Don’t go to law unless you have nothing to lose: lawyers’ houses are built on fools’ heads. In any business, never wade into water where you cannot see the bottom. See the sack open before you buy what is in it; for he who trades in the dark, asks to be cheated. Keep clear of the man who does not value his own character. Beware of those who swear and blaspheme his Maker, he would make no bones of lying and cheating. Beware of no man more than of yourself: we carry our worst enemies within us. The trader who has once been a fraudulent bankrupt is not the man for you to deal with. A rickety chair is a dangerous seat. Be shy of people who are over polite, and don’t be too fast with those who are forward and rough. Have very little to do with a boaster, for a boaster and a liar are first cousins. Be not evermore suspicious, for suspicion is a cowardly virtue at best.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

Domestic Violence

The following is a transcript of a brief email counseling session that was directed to a wife who believed her provoking words caused a fight between her and her husband that resulted in him going to jail:

 

Dear Desperate:     

 It sounds like you need a third party to help you both sort this out.  Do you have a pastor? Possibly your counselor...someone strong enough to hold you both accountable.

      If you feel that you provoked this situation, then you need to take responsibility for your words and actions, that will evidence itself in genuine humility. Obedience is not an option...and Hebrews 12 will clearly teach you that if you are a genuine child of God, then you are, and should be experiencing God's discipline...otherwise, if there isn't discipline, there isn't genuine spiritual life. If genuine, then the next step is to begin substituting the old for the new. Did you read Let Go by Fenelon as I suggested? How to Act Right When My Spouse Acts Wrong? True Faced? The Heart of the Problem? Let’s start here and see what you have learned so far, so I will know how to guide you in this. It sounds like a classic case of just not willing to die to self…and as a result we resist the crosses God sends us and make our dying to self that much more difficult.  “Only by pride comes contentions.” Proverbs 13:10  Lastly, God answers prayer…Psalm 34 is a beautiful promise that God delivers the person who cries out to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit…in fact, 4 times it mentions that the Lord delivers us out of all our fear and all our troubles.  Test God and see.

Let me know what you learn from Let Go.

Sincerely

Mark

 

John Ploughman's Talk

Continued from Wednesday...

On Gossips: What a pity there is not a tax upon words, and if lies paid double, the government might pay off the National Debt. As a snowball grows by rolling, so does a story. They who talk much lie much. Silence seldom makes mischief. Still waters are the deepest; but the shallowest brooks brawl the most; this shows how plentiful fools must be. Talking comes by nature, but it needs a good deal of training to learn to be quiet; If we must talk, at least let us be free from slander. If all men's sins were divided into two bundles, half of them would be sins of the tongue. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." Think much, but say little: be quick to work and slow to talk; and, above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

More from Spurgeon

Continuing from yesterday's post...

On Good Nature and Firmness: A man must have a backbone, or how is he to hold his head up? But that backbone must bend, or he will knock his brow against the beam. There is a time to do as others wish, and a time to refuse. We may make ourselves asses, and then everybody will ride us; but, if we would be respected, we must be our own masters, and not let others saddle us as they think fit. He who lies on the ground must expect to be trodden on. He who makes himself a mouse, the cats will eat him. If you let your neighbors put the calf on your shoulder, they will soon clap on the cow. We are to please our neighbor for his good to edification, but this is quite another matter. Go with your neighbor as far as your conscience will go with you, but part company where the shoe of conscience begins to pinch your foot. Don’t be ashamed to walk down Turnagain Lane. Never mind being called a turncoat when you turn from bad courses: better to turn than to burn. When we are injured, we are bound as Christians to bear it without malice; but we are not to pretend that we do not feel it, for this will but encourage our enemies to kick us again. He who is cheated twice by the same man is half as bad as the rogue. Paul was willing to bear stripes for his Master’s sake, but he did not forget to tell the magistrates that he was a Roman; and when those gentlemen wished to put him out of prison privately, he said, “Nay, verily, let them come themselves and fetch us out.” When a man is right, this sticking to the text is a grand thing; our minister says, “it is the stuff that martyrs are made of;” but when an ignorant, wrongheaded fellow gets this hard grit into him, he makes martyrs of those who have to put up with him. In a towering rage, a father turned his daughter out and I believe he is sorry for it, yet will not yield and inch; but stands to it he will never speak to her so long as he lives; meanwhile the dear girl is dying through his unkindness. Rash vows are much better broken than kept. He who never changes never mends; he who never yields, never conquers. With children you must mix gentleness with firmness; they must not always have their way, but they must not always be thwarted. Give to a pig when it grunts, and to a child when it cries, and you will have a fine pig and a spoiled child. A petted child will be as nuisance to others and a torment to ourselves. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” If we never have headaches through rebuking our little children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up. Strict truthfulness must rule all our dealings with the young; our yea must be yea, and our nay nay, and that of the letter and the moment. Never promise a child and then fail to perform, whether you promise him a bun or a beating. (I would question this in light of rash threats coming from an unwise parent.) Be obeyed at all costs—disobedient children are unhappy children; for their own sakes make them mind you. If you yield up your authority once, you will hardly ever get it again; we must not provoke our children to anger, lest they be discouraged, but we must rule our household in the fear of the Lord, and in so doing may expect a blessing.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

John Ploughman’s Talk

Recently I found a book written by Charles Spurgeon, titled, John Ploughman’s Talk. It was filled with tid bits of wisdom that I found quite filling. I will be able to use these choice morsels throughout my life-time of ministry, family life, friendships, and business. Here are few examples of the wisdom insights found on its pages (I will add one each day):

a. On Patience: The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman. Hard work brings health and an ounce of health is worth a sack of diamonds. It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. The best remedy for affliction is submitting to Providence. What can’t be cured must be endured. Losses and crosses are heavy to bear, but when our hearts are right with God it is wonderful how easy the yoke becomes.

“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.” - Friedrich Nietzche

I would have to agree with Nietzche in his view of hope and what it can do to someone. I believe this is exactly what the preacher was saying in Ecclesiastes, for those who were not connected to God. But for those who are connected to God, hope never disappoints. (Romans 5)

Candle in the Window

If you are looking for a Christmas story that will place a smile on the face of your whole family then you must read the Candle in the Window. When a little boy is lost in the snow storm, only a rare Christmas present that was given to the poor can ignite a miracle!

When Not to Throw to First.

This morning I received this story about Shay…have some tissues ready.
When Not to Throw to First
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued, "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child." Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning." Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay". Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world". Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
May your day, be a Shay Day.