A ROCKY FOUNDATION

           John Wycliffe was born around 1330. He received his Bachelor of Divinity in 1369 and his doctorate in 1372. Wycliffe clashed with the traditional teaching of the Church. As a scholar he began to attack what he considered to be the abuses in the Church. Although some of his friends sought to dissuade him from this clear challenge to the Church, their attempts were unsuccessful. Wycliffe was influenced early in his career by the importance of Scripture and at the twilight of his career he came to a fully developed position on the authority of the Scriptures. He declared the right of every Christian to know the Bible. Had the clergy of his day desired to use the Scriptures, they were only written in Latin. This moved him inexorably to a logical outcome-translation of the Bible into English. Serving as the inspiration of the activity, Wycliffe lived to see the first complete English translation of the Bible. He spent the last two years of his life unhindered in the parish

                         An American whale ship was out in the South Seas when a huge leviathan hit it with an incredible force.   The ship instantly began to fill with water. The sea was calm but there was no time for delay. They were not only far from land, but far from the usual track of ships on the sea. In the dreary region of the Antarctic Circle, they might wander a whole year and see no sail on the desolate horizon. There was little probability of rescue until they regain ship track latitudes. All hands went to work and soon all the boats were loaded with the prime necessaries of life. The deck was now nearly level with the water and the boats shoved off for safety. After they had pulled a hundred yards away, two resolute men leaped from the boats into the sea and swam towards the ship. They reach it while still afloat and disappear down a hatchway. In a minute they emerge again, bearing something in their hands. As they leap into the water the ship goes down; the men are

            Campbell Morgan wrote “that there was a time in my evangelistic work when I was always afraid if a man of position and culture came into the inquiry room. But the Lord gave me one of the wonderful illustrations of the absurdity of my fear. I was conducting special services in a town when there came into the room an old rag-picker. God had shown him his sins; I felt at home when I knelt by that man and spoke to him of the blood that cleanses from all sin. At that same moment someone touched me on the shoulder and said, ‘will you speak to this man.’ I turned and there kneeling next to me was the mayor of the city. Six weeks before, the mayor had sentenced this rag-picker to a month’s hard labor. He had been out for two weeks and here they were kneeling side by side. I found that when God calls to save and when he calls to serve, he is no respecter of persons. Nobody ever faced a more formidable task in preaching his first sermon than the Apostle Peter did on the day of

           Mutsuko became a Christian as a child. One day she told God that she was willing to serve him as a missionary. That day seemed very distant on the morning the despondent widow with her three little girls received official notification of husband’s death at war, from the Hiroshima municipal officer. There was no ray of hope as the four boarded the train home. Mutsuko saw no way out except suicide. The train would cross a river and from that bridge she would jump with the children firmly in her grip. However, God intervened and spoke to her just as the train approached the bridge. Had she not given her life to Him? Had she not promised to serve Him? Had he ever let her down? Could he not provide what she needed to feed three hungry mouths? “Entrust them to me; one day they shall be missionaries and go where you couldn’t go and do what you couldn’t do”. Clearly it was God’s voice. In tears Mutsuko repented of her selfish ways and committed her little children into God’s h