A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  Shortly after Dallas Theological Seminary was founded in 1924, it almost came to the point of bankruptcy. All the creditors were going to foreclose at noon on a particular day. That morning they met in the president’s office for prayer that God would provide. In that prayer meeting was a man by the name of Harry Ironside. When it was his turn to pray, he said, “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are yours. Please sell some of them and send us the money.” While they were praying a tall Texan stepped up to the business office and said, “I just sold two carloads of cattle in Ft. Worth. I’ve been trying to make a business deal but it fell through and I feel compelled to give the money to the seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check!” The secretary took the check and knowing how critical things were financially, went to the door of the prayer meeting and timidly tapped. When she finally got a response, the president took the check out of ...

            William Carey had to overcome many obstacles to take the gospel to India. He finally found himself aboard a ship, bound for Asia. Before the ship lifted anchor, Carey was deposited back on land by the ship’s captain. The captain had received an anonymous letter against Carey. In response, Carey wrote to his friend Andrew Fuller: “All I can say in this affair is that, however mysterious the leadings of Providence are, I have no doubt but they are superintended by an infinitely wise God.” In Exodus 1:1-14,22 we read   about how the descendants of Jacob   went into Egypt and how they multiplied greatly and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us, if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us”. The Egyptians came to dread the Israelites; they made th...

  John Bunyan was born in 1628 at Elstow, England, the oldest son of a tinker. His family was very poor so he had little education. He joined his father’s trade. When he was sixteen, Bunyan was enlisted in the Army. After three years, his company disbanded and he returned to Elstow and continued to work as a tinker. His first discovery of what Christian fellowship might mean came when he overheard four poor but pious happy women sitting at a cottage door in the sunshine, making lace while talking about the things of God. He came closer to hear what they were saying. Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts. “They spoke,” Bunyan wrote, “as if joy did make them speak; they spoke with such pleasantness of Scripture language and with such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as if they had found a new world” . Bunyan found himself drawn into the fellowship of which these poor women were a part. This meeting with the women marked a de...