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Showing posts from October, 2024

My Hiding Place

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  Two Americans who were crossing the Atlantic met on a Sunday night to sing hymns in the cabin. As they sang the hymn, "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," one of them heard an exceedingly rich and beautiful voice behind him. He looked around and although he did not know the face, he thought that he recognized the voice. So when the music ceased he turned around and asked the man if he had been in the Civil War. The man replied that he had been a Confederate soldier. "Were you at such a place on such a night?" asked the first. "Yes," he said, "and a curious thing happened that night; this hymn recalled it to my mind. I was on sentry duty on the edge of a wood. It was a dark night and very cold and I was a little frightened because the enemy was supposed to be very near at hand. I felt very homesick and miserable and about midnight, when everything was very still, I thought that I would comfort myself by praying and singing a hymn. I remember singing the ...

Why do the Wicked Flourish

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           In the closing days of World War II in Europe, many high ranking Nazi officials were able to slip away in the confusion and escape the justice of the world for their heinous crimes against humanity. The paths of their escapes came to be known as rat lines, as though they were rats escaping. Many of them were able to escape to South American nations and other places around the world. They made a new life for themselves, often using the much money they had stolen from their victims when they were in power. In subsequent years, a few of them got caught but others did manage to live out the rest of their lives in obscurity. Many of them lived in luxury and died of old age. In the years following their peaceful deaths, their stories were uncovered and told to the world. The sense of outrage was palpable not only from Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, but from all who may question the existence of God. The stories say that Hitler committed suici...

Disturbing Things are Temporary

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  There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan. Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says, “The things that please are temporary.” Over the second gate there is a cross with this inscription: “The things that disturb us are temporary.” However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying, “Eternal are the important ones.” ( Source unknown ). One of the greatest issues that continually trouble the hearts of all people who believe in a sovereign God is this, “what about the prosperity of the wicked?” Why does it seem that the wicked always win? The corrupt in business overwhelm their honest competitors and drive them out of business. Why do communist governments succeed for decades in crushing Christian house churches? The subject of Psalm 37 is the way and end of the righteous and the wicked. David wrote “ wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wic...