Glyme’s Formula The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made. –Michael Meaney The Big Secret J. Paul Getty’s formula: “Rise early, work late, and strike oil!” The Man We Want When Mile Kollin was a linebacker for the Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University, his former college…
Author: Alan Holden
Stubbornness
Too Late Sign on the desk of an airline executive in Chicago: “Don’t bother to agree with me. I’ve already changed my mind.” You Can’t Get Here from There A summer visitor was asking a local farmer how to get off Southport Island in Maine and find his way back to Boothbay Harbor. The farmer…
Stewardship
Radical Giving At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first…
Sin
The Ravaged Life When Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece, The Last Supper, he selected as the person to sit for the character of the Christ a young man, Pietri Bandinelli by name, connected with the Milan Cathedral as chorister. Years passed before the great picture was completed, and when one character only—that of…
Servanthood
The Servant Heart Arnold Billie is a rural mail carrier in southern New Jersey. For the last quarter century, his daily route has taken him sixty-three miles through two counties and five municipalities. Mr. Billie not only delivers mail, he brings personal service. Anything you can get at the post office, you can get from…
Self-Centeredness
Ego Perspective Conversation between a six-year-old and a five-year-old: “Are you in Linda’s room at school?” “No, I’m not. But she’s in my room!” Real Consolation A woman was heartbroken when her dog disappeared. She put an ad in the paper offering a reward for its return. The next morning the phone rang. It was…
Secular World & Christian
Christians Contra Mundum Thus it was from the beginning and it is today. Yet the early Christians had one great advantage over us; then it was clear that the surrounding culture was groping in the darkness of paganism, and thus it was clear that the culture should have no hand in defining the role of…
Sacrifice
The Surrendered Self E. Stanley Jones, well-known Christian missionary to India, tells of a situation where the fellow members of his ashram helped him in a problem regarding his spiritual reputation. It seems that for a number of years, Jones had supported a prominent man financially. And when the time came that he could no…
Role Models
Irritating but Good Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. –Mark Twain Passing It On Small boys learn to be large men in the presence of large men who care about small boys. Amazing but True Professor Lowell of Harvard University was speaking many years ago to…
Responsibility
Blame Wives feel resentment when it is assumed that they are responsible for everything that goes wrong around the house. This is epitomized in the television ad in which the husband is upset because there’s a “ring around the collar.” The wife breaks into tears because her detergent has not removed the dirt from her…