THE ONE YEAR ILLUSTRATIONS CLUB

While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland , called to his wife and said, "Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor." After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray: ·          Interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. ·          He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel ·          He pleaded in behalf of people who had been recently converted ·          And he requested protection for the Lord's servants, many of whom were facing persecution. As Knox prayed, his spirit went Home to be with the Lord. John Know died praying.  This man John Knox, probably not known to many or any that would be reading this today, but of whom “The Queen of Scotland, at the time, Queen Mary a...

"We don't want to be out of touch with the way society is going," says NBC's Angela Bromstad. "At the same time, you have to be careful what you put on air."  Says Doug Herzog , president of MTV Networks entertainment group: "The line moves every day, so you got to move with it. You can't put the genie back in the bottle."

The George Washington University Hospital offers some of the most technologically advanced patient care equipment in the country, including neonatal incubators designed to improve the physical and neurological development of premature infants. The incubators in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit are technologically superior and designed to mimic life in the womb. By keeping noise and light to a minimum, the child continues to develop as it would undisturbed in the womb. The incubator provides caregivers an opportunity to access the infant for procedures without modifying their position, by utilizing a “baby-susan,” which rotates the baby without disrupting their normal sleep patterns. An x-ray tray is built into the unit so that the infant can be x-rayed if necessary, without being re-positioned. In addition the incubator has superior capabilities for regulation of the temperature and humidity within the incubator, protecting the child’s fragile paper-thin skin....

As the story goes…..Tom turned to Mark and asked, “hey Mark, what on earth did you say to Paul yesterday, I saw him the day before and he was really down in the dumps, he said he spoke with you and Paul says you really helped him.  I tried talking to Paul too, but I didn't help him, apparently. I’m just wondering, what did you say that I didn't? I can’t think of anything you would have told him that I didn't, I mean I gave him every speech I knew, so what did you say, that I could not have already told him, I’m really curious to know?!! Mark turned around and said, “Actually, I didn't say anything, I just listened, that made all the difference. All Paul needed was someone…to listen.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, is the most famous CEO that ever lived; he was also married/divorced 3 times, he said. In life there is a sacrifice for everything. Jack Welch said it best when he stated that you can have everything, but you can’t have it all at the same time. Be thankful for what you have, because there is a price for everything you do and if you don’t pay for it via time and energy, your kids will.

The Rev. Ted Haggard took his leave of New Life Church  acknowledging that his conduct had led him to be “appropriately and lovingly removed from ministry” at one of evangelical Christianity’s biggest and most powerful churches. In a letter read at two services — the first at the Colorado Springs mega-church in the five days since a Denver man came forward to say he and Haggard had a long term sexual relationship — Haggard apologized profusely, saying he alone was responsible. “I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem,” Haggard wrote. “I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life.”

Actor Jack Klugman recalls being devastated at age 12 when his father died. Struggling for decades with depression over that loss, Klugman finally sought counseling. “It was then that I remembered that my father was the only one in my family who ever hugged me. The rest of my family stayed away from touching or hugging—especially my mother. Only my father was unashamed to show affection. My father taught me that showing your affection was not a sign of weakness but instead a sign of love.” Klugman says he passed his father's legacy on to his own two sons as well as his granddaughters. “Whenever I see them, we kiss and hug and show how fond we are of each other. I love it!”

In recent years, politicians and pundits, professors and even Pulitzer Prize-winners have been caught dealing in deceit. One of the nation's most respected historians, Stephen Ambrose, plagiarized portions of other historians' works and—notwithstanding his public apology—seemed hardly disturbed by the resulting controversy. Historian Joseph Ellis, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his book,~Founding Brothers, was caught inventing a Vietnam War record for himself. Ex-conservative writer David Brock admitted he'd made up sordid details about Anita Hill.  Gloria Steinem's claim about the number of women who die of eating disorders—supposedly 150,000 a year—turned out to be a huge feminist hoax. James Patterson and Peter Kim, authors of~The Day America Told the Truth, estimate that 91 percent of us regularly embroider the truth. "We lie and don't even think about it," Patterson and Kim write.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters." The boy had not considered this, that his father could see him, at that point he put his faith in his father and the fear left him and the boy jumped and was caught by the net the fireman had set beneath him.

Who are the mediocre? They are they that know neither the woes of defeat; neither the joy of victory, they just dwell in a perpetual state of mediocrity.

Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV. And that's just on pay-cable "You need to get eyeballs. You need to be loud," says Spike programming chief Kevin Kay, who is pairing Blue Mountain with reruns of HBO 's sex-centric Entourage . "Our viewers are experiencing content on other cable channels or the Web. Movies and video games are going after this audience, too." TV's latest sexually charged offerings add to the current wave of attention-seeking — if less visually explicit — reality and scripted programs filled with frank themes and content, such as MTV's hookup-focused reality hit Jersey Shore Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl returns Monday with hooker Belle ( Billie Piper ) looking for source material for another book through new sexual experiences with clients. Showtime's aptly titled Californication recently end...

Garry Hoy was a Canadian lawyer that worked out of the 24th-floor story office in the Toronto Dominion Centre. From what we can ascertain, Hoy was pretty taken by his office views and window durability. So taken, in fact, that he claimed the windows were “unbreakable” – can you guess where this is going? Hoy then took a few seconds before rushing towards the aforementioned window at full pelt and slammed his body against the glass as hard as he could. Amazingly, the lawyer had proved his point and survived. There is a reason why Hoy is JOE’s number one dumbest death though – in his mind, he hadn’t quite proven his point. Perhaps not fully appreciative of the onlooking staff’s applause, or perhaps trying to impress a hot intern, Hoy took another run-up, safe in the integrity of his incomporable super-windows. On his second attempt, Hoy’s window finally gave way, hurling the lawyer through the air and causing him to plummet to his death. However, Hoy’s cause of death was not from crashi...

Paul Chudnow, 71 and Phyllis Chudnow, also 71 decide after 50 years to get hitched for another 50. The mood was lighthearted before the 7:30 p.m. service. "I figured if you can last 50 years, you might as well look for another [50 years]," said Phyllis Chudnow, 71, who will be married to Paul Chudnow, 71, for 51 years in June. "It's something to celebrate," Paul said. The couple lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. What happened 50 years ago I’m sure is very special to this couple, but even more special, even more meaningful, is that 51 years later, whatever they felt, whatever moment they had, 51 years ago, it’s still going on 51 years later! This couple, “has it going on” beyond what any deluded teenager thinks about “how they have it going on”, this is the real deal!

Richard Evan in his book, “Bits & Pieces” writes, “The tragedy of life is not that it’s too short, but that we wait too long to start living it”

Ohtaj Makhmudov was a 45-year old MAN enjoying a day out at the Kiev Zoo in 2006 when he felt a sudden compulsion to remove his shoes and socks, and lower himself via rope into the lion pit. The unhappy lions were all, like, “psh, whatever” at the sight of him, Ohtaj approached the animals, began waving his arms around, and according to eyewitnesses, shouted “Because God loves me, the lions will not harm me!” It would appear that, sadly, God did not love this show-off and who could blame him? Ohtaj died instantly after one of the zoo’s lionesses, Veronica, seized his throat and crushed his carotid artery, leaving ten puncture wounds in the deceased’s neck. 

What is the end conclusion of a Church, when it has given up on sowing seed and fishing for men? When a Church loses it’s vision for the lost and it’s desire to grow out; then the Church has no choice but to begin to grow inward instead; and that hurts, just ask your toe! 

Sociologist and Historian Carle Zimmerman wrote a book titled “Family and Civilization” based on his observations that the disintegration of various cultures directly paralleled the decline of family life in those cultures. The eight common threads that Zimmerman identified as running through each documented civilization that has come to ruin thus far include: 1. Marriage loses it’s sacredness and divorce become common. 2. The traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony is lost. 3. Feminist movements abound. 4. Public disrespect for parents and authority increase. 5. Juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion accelerate. 6. People with traditional marriages refuse to accept family responsibilities 7. Desire for and acceptance of adultery grow 8. Interest in sexual perversions and sex related crimes increase. While you may think that based on the current ills of our society, Zimmerman wrote this book recently, he actually published this in 1947! Do these commo...

William Phelps taught English literature at Yale for forty-one years until his retirement in 1933. Professor Phelps was known for his very hard examination papers. How could anyone know the answers to the questions he was proposing? Marking an examination paper shortly before Christmas one year, Phelps came across the note: "God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas." Phelps returned the paper to the student with this note: "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year."  For sure there are questions that only God knows the answers too. Answers we’ll never get on this side of eternity and I hope and believe that we do on the other side, but nonetheless, God is a mystery and He will always remain a sort of enigma to us and He will challenge any human who attempts to figure him out, put Him in a box and try to dissect him. Deut. 29.29 “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God”.

Women are complex creatures….. If you kiss her, you are not a gentleman If you don’t, you are not a man If you compliment her, she thinks you are lying If you don’t, you think she’s ugly If you agree to all her likes, you are a wimp If you don’t, you are not understanding If you visit her often, she thinks it is boring If you don’t , she accuses you of double-crossing If you are well dressed, she accuses you of trying to attract other women If you don’t , you’ re a  slob If you act jealous, she says it’s bad If you don’t jealous, she thinks you do not love her If you attempt a romance, she says you didn’t respect her If you don’t, she thinks you do not like her If you are a minute late, she complains it’s hard to wait If she is late, she says that’s a girl’s way… If you kiss her once in a while, she professes you are cold If you kiss her often, she tells you to give her some space If you stare at another woman, she accuses you of flirting If...

The first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380's AD by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian. Wycliffe, was well-known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible. With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!

As I watched them tear a building down A gang of men in a busy town With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell They swung a beam and the side wall fell I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled, And the men you'd hire if you wanted to build?" He gave a laugh and said, "No, indeed, Just common labor is all I need." "I can easily wreck in a day or two, What builders have taken years to do." And I thought to myself, as I went my way Which of these roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by rule and square? Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan Patiently doing the best I can? Or am I a wrecker who walks to town Content with the labor of tearing down? "O Lord let my life and my labors be That which will build for eternity!" Author Unknown, The Increase, 35th Anniversary Issue, 1993, p. 9.

When I was in the Marine Corps, I had duty on Christmas day and the other Marine I was on duty with was the Sergeant Major of the base (Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Az). He volunteered for duty every Christmas because he didn’t have a family and he figured it was one less person, that does have a family that would be dragged away on Christmas day. Being on duty for 24hrs, we had many hours to talk and it came up that I was a Christian. That’s when he began to tell me he wasn't impressed with Christians. He admitted he wasn't a Christian and didn’t believe in religion and God much, but said he believed in the Marine Corps; and because he believed in the Marine Corps he gave his life to the Marines and because of that he excelled through the ranks when those around him didn't. He showed meet all his uniforms and medallions that he had been awarded over a very long and illustrious career in the Corps. He had each of his uniforms mounted on a manikin, with the medals he earn...

Hugh Latimer was famous as a preacher. He was Bishop of Worcester in the time of King Henry, but resigned in protest against the King's refusal to allow the Protestant reforms that Latimer desired. Latimer's sermons speak little of doctrine; he preferred to urge men to upright living and devoutness in prayer. But when Mary came to the throne, he was arrested, tried for heresy for his Protestant teachings, and burned together with his friend Nicholas Ridley. His last words at the stake are well known: "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God' grace shall never be put out."

   Achilles was a powerful hero in Homer's Iliad, and undoubtedly the greatest warrior on the battlefield at Troy . When Achilles was just an infant, his mother immersed him in the river Styx , which separates the land of the living from the land of the dead, to confer on him immortality, and to make him invincible in battle!! But when doing this, she committed a grave error. Through her oversight and negligence, she held Achilles by his left heel when immersing him in the river Styx , and forgot to immerse his heel as well. And so, in spite of his great power and strength, and unsurpassed skill and prowess in battle, Achilles remained with one weak or vulnerable spot, his left heel which was ultimately to prove fatal. In the final battle of the Trojan War, as Troy was being sacked and burned by marauding Greek soldiers, Achilles was shot in his left heel with a poisoned arrow, which finally killed him.

For the few that step out to believe even fewer actually attain or press through to get the coveted name of NAVY SEAL. Most “ring the bell”.  “Ring the Bell ” is a term from the training and recruitment phase during the Navy Seal training. At any point during the training, especially during what they call “Hell Week”, the recruits may at any time go and “ring the bell” and it all stops, the pain, the angst, the stress, the coldness, fatigue, “just ring the bell” and you will be released, no questions asked. And many do exactly that! The temptation is that every day, in their daily routines, they pass by “the bell”  and every day, somebody gives in and “rings the bell”. That bell calls out to them every day, “just ring me and all the Hell can stop” and you can go back to your regular life”. This reminds me of the journey a faith, so few Christians believe God to venture out of the “comfort zone” out of the shallow waters. Most Christians just want to live nice, comfortable liv...

Many years ago my mother had mailed me a package filled with some old memorabilia. In the package was some of my old school report cards and as I read through them there was a common theme in all of them that my teachers would write under the comment section of my report. Almost all would say...."Richard is doing okay, put he has so much more potential then what he is doing, if Richard applied himself and gave his all, he could be one of the best” My eyes began to swell up with tears when I read that, the Holy Spirit came down and I heard that still small voice saying, "amen, I can totally relate to what your teachers are saying and you've done the same in your Christianity; and I echo the same, Jesus!" And it dawned on me that I never really put my all into anything I ever did and I had taken that same approach to my Christianity, always reserved, never giving my all and then this thought came to me, “what if, just like my report card said, God inscribed on my to...