His Offering

Here is a story about a nine-year-old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee. His house was in a poor area of the community. A church there had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon.

The child came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor.

The bus pastor asked if his parents were home and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother. The bus pastor couldn’t believe what the child said and asked him to repeat it. The youngster gave the same answer and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him. They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed. The bus pastor asked the child, “Where do you go to church?”

The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, “I’ve never been to church in my whole life.” The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child’s house.

“Are you sure you have never been to church?” he asked again.

“I’m sure I haven’t,” came his answer.

Then the bus pastor said, “Well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?” and then he proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine-year-old boy.

The young lad’s heart began to be tenderized and at the end of the bus pastor’s story, the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God. The youngster exclaimed, “OF COURSE!”

The child and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation. They both stood up and the bus pastor asked if he could pick the child up for church the next morning.

“Sure,” the nine-year-old replied.

The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off. He let himself in and snaked his way through the house and found the little boy asleep in his bed. He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed. They got on the bus and ate a doughnut for breakfast on their way to church.

Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before.

The church was a real big one. The little child just sat there, clueless of what was going on. A few minutes into the service, these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates. One of the men prayed and the child, with utter fascination, watched them walk up and down the aisles. He still didn’t know what was going on. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, it hit the child what was taking place.

These people must be giving money to Jesus. He then reflected on the free gift of life he had received just twenty-four hours earlier. He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn’t find a thing to give Jesus.

By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and, with a broken heart, he just grabbed the plate and held on to it. He finally let go and watched it pass on down the aisle. He turned around to see it passed down the aisle behind him.

And then his eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, back and forth all the way to the rear of the sanctuary.

Then he had an idea. This little nine-year-old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat. He walked about eight rows back, grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time. Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of. He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it.

As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, “Jesus, I don’t have anything to give you today, but just me. I give you me!”

— Author Unknown

Meditation: …Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 18:3

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Quality and Quantity

Inasmuch as I discourage and sanction late coming, I also do not pay bonus for punctuality because you can come early and achieve nothing. What I reward is the quality and quantity of your output in an 8-hour workday.

-Babatunde Oladele

What Is The Financial Value?

Always ask yourself the financial value of the tasks you occupy yourself with. If you are working for yourself and you do these activities all day long during the month, will you make money? Will your business survive? That is the litmus test to determine your productivity ratio as well as prioritize your activities.

-Babatunde Oladele

The Operation

Having lunch with a group of people, I fell to talking with a surgeon, a very interesting man. “Doctor,” I asked, “what was the greatest operation you ever performed?”

“Well,” he said, “I really don’t know. Many operations I have performed required all my skills. But perhaps the one that meant the most to me was the time I operated on a little girl who was given only a ten percent chance of survival. She was such a little thing, and so pale when they brought her into the operating room.

“At that time, I was having a great deal of trouble, myself. I had a son who was a real problem and there were other things as well. I had allowed myself to become an unhappy man. As the nurses were preparing to administer the anaesthetic to this little girl, she asked, ‘Doctor, may I say something?’

‘Yes, honey,’ I replied. ‘What is it?’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘every night when I go to bed I say my prayers, and I’d like to say a prayer now.’

‘That’s all right, honey, please say your prayer, and think of me, too, won’t you?’

“In a sweet voice she prayed:

Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me, Bless thy little lamb tonight; through the darkness be thou near me: Keep me safe till morning light.

“And, dear God, please bless the doctor.’ Then she added brightly, ‘I’m ready now. And I’m not afraid, because Jesus loves me and He is right here with me and is going to bring me through okay.’

“I was blinded by tears,” confessed the surgeon. “I had to turn away and occupy myself with another wash-up before I could start the operation. And I said, ‘Dear God, if You never help me save another human being, help me save this little girl.’

I operated on her and the miracle happened. She lived! Leaving the hospital that day, I realized that I was the one who had been operated on, not the girl. She taught me that if I take all my problems and put them in the hands of Jesus, He will see me through.”

By Norman Vincent Peale

Meditation: For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” – Romans 10:11

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Meeting

The Meeting

Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York’s Grand Central Station. The tall young Army officer lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that choked him. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 18 months, the woman he had never seen yet whose words had sustained him unfailingly.

Lt. Blandford remembered one day, in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes.

In one of those letters, he had confessed to her that often he felt fear, and only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer: ”Of course you fear…all brave men do.” Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of Death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me…’ He had remembered that and it renewed his strength.

He was going to hear her voice now. Four minutes to six.

A girl passed closer to him, and Lt. Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about eighteen, and Hollis Maynel had told him she was 30.

“What of it?” he had answered, “I’m 32.” He was 29.

His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. “Of Human Bondage” it was, and throughout the book were notes in a woman’s handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man’s heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Maynell. He got a hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written, she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing. For thirteen months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him.

But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained: “If your feeling for me had no reality, what I look like won’t matter. Suppose I am beautiful. I’d always be haunted that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose that I’m plain, (and you must admit that this is more likely), then I’d always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don’t ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your own decision.”

One minute to six…he flipped the pages of the book he held. Then Lt. Blandford’s heart leapt.

A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls from delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime come alive.

He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.

“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured.

He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Maynell.

She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump. Her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose on her rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.

Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, “so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own”, and there she stood. He could see her pale face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a warm twinkle.

Lt. Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of “Of Human Bondage” which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something special, a friendship for which he had been and must be ever grateful…

He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment.

“I’m Lt. Blandford, and you’re Miss Maynell. I’m so glad you could meet me. May–may I take you to dinner?”

The woman’s face broadened in a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is all about, son,” she answered. “That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you she’s waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test.”

by S.I.Kishor

Meditation: Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. – 2 Corinthians 5:16

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Lily and the Bluebird

Once upon a time there was a beautiful lily. This lily had a bluebird friend who used to perch on a nearby fencepost and visit with her nearly every day. Together they enjoyed observing the rancher and his family who owned the place where they lived. They watched as, day after day, the rancher and his family worked tirelessly. Though their ranch was profitable and their hard work admirable, the conversation the friends overheard and the things they observed were curious to the pair. It seemed the more profitable the ranch became, the more the family thought they needed.

The bluebird made an observational flight over the rancher’s domain, “You know, Lily,” he said upon his return, “All their hard work is really paying off. They have increased and improved this place substantially in the last few years.”

“I know,” replied the lily, “But have you also noticed that along with their increase they have less and less time for each other. They have all but quit going to church, and I hear them arguing more and more. And come to think of it,” she observed, “I used to see the farmer and his wife taking long walks. Sometimes they walked together, hand in hand and at other times I used to see each of them taking time out of their busy days for a stroll alone in the woods, talking with the Lord. Nowadays, however, they are too busy for that.”

The bluebird chimed in, “Now they’ve turned the management of the farm over to the farmhands and have both taken jobs in the city in order to earn even more money so they can keep up the possessions they already have.”

“Yes, and they’ve also bought a second home in Florida so they can have a nice warm place to live when it gets too cold here,” said the lily.

The bluebird heaved a mournful sigh, “Lily,” he said, “When the rancher and his family went to church, do you think they heard how the Heavenly Father told them to take a close look at you and me and to observe the secret of simplicity in how He takes care of His creatures? It seems to me they are complicating their lives instead of making them better.

To all this, the beautiful lily replied, “Why is it that people go to school and study textbooks and learn many great things, yet they aren’t smart enough to read God’s textbook on life and apply it?”

“Yeah,” said the bluebird, “Then they too could fly and be free.”

by Daphne Harrington

Meditation: How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. – Psalm 119:9

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Credibility and Authority

Public speaking offers you leadership platforms, but writing gives you authority and credibility.

-Babatunde Oladele