A ROCKY FOUNDATION

      Don Ratzlaff tells a story of Scottish soldiers who, forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad, had degenerated to barbarous behavior.   But one afternoon something happened, a shovel was missing. The officer in charge became enraged. He demanded that the missing shovel be produced or else. When nobody in the squadron budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot. It was obvious the officer meant what he had said. Then, one man stepped forward. The officer put away his gun, picked up a shovel and beat the man to death. When it was over, the survivors picked up the bloody corpse and carried it with them to the second tool check. This time, no shovel was missing; there had been a miscount at the first check point. The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others!   The incident had a profound effect; the men began to treat each other like br...

    Mountain Deer Kay Warren is the wife of Pastor Rick Warren the author of the one of the best-selling book the purpose driven life .   Their 27 year old son Matthew committed suicide after struggling with mental illness for years. In what would have been Matthew’s 29th birthday Kay wrote, “On July 18, 1985, I gave birth to Matthew; holding him in my arms that morning, I had no idea how dark the journey would get for him and for those who love him. On that bright morning I could see nothing ahead but a mother's dreams of a good life for her son. On Easter 1985 I was sick in bed with the TV remote by my side as my only companion. Somehow I dropped the remote and couldn't retrieve it. Full of anxiety and fear for myself and my unborn child, I painfully reached for my Bible and it fell open to Habakkuk 3: 17-19 (NIV): "Though the fig tree does not bud …I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength." This was a word from the Lord to me and I...

                                                        A birds eye on a beautiful landscape One afternoon a group of friends took a trip to New Yolk.   They got into a cab and headed for the empire state building. To them the ride on the ground seemed chaotic and dangerous. But when they got to the observation deck of the skyscraper and looked down on the city streets, to their amazement they saw order and design. What a difference a change in perspective made! In chapter 1 of the book of Habakkuk, the prophet challenges God’s way of dealing with the wicked. But in chapter 3 he sings joyful praises to God revealing a radical change in his heart. Something very dramatic happens to him in chapter 2. What happened to him? He saw things from Gods perspective and everything made s...