Issue 33

Living Water Newsletter for July 7, 2008

QUOTES & STUFF

John Newton, author of Amazing Grace
I compare the adversities that we have to undergo in the course of the year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on.

This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day. But we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday's stick over again today, and adding tomorrow's burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.

George MacDonald
No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were born in a wilderness. Most of the Epistles were written in a prison. The greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers have all passed through fire. The greatest poets have "learned in suffering what they taught in song." In bonds Bunyan lived the allegory that he afterwards indited [wrote], and we may thank Bedford Jail for the Pilgrim's Progress. Take comfort, afflicted Christian! When God is about to make pre-eminent use of a person, He puts him in the fire.

Our Best-Selling DVD

Dry Land, Living Waters

Our Best-Selling Book

Glimpse Into Glory

And Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me every day. Now I don’t see you anymore. I’m lonesome here, and it is difficult for me to remember how much You love me."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of My love for you, so that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see Me."

God waved His hand over the dust of the earth and said, "Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself."

And so God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam, and he wagged his tail.

And Adam said, "But Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom, and all the good names are taken, and I cannot think of a name for this new animal."

And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of My love for you, his name will be a reflection of the name by which you know Me, and so you shall call him DOG."

And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and to Eve, and he loved them both. And Adam and Eve were comforted. And God was pleased.

And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After awhile, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility."

And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know he is not worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion for Adam. And Cat would not obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the Supreme Being. And Adam learned humility. And God was pleased.

And Cat did not care one way or the other.

They say that beginning with the story of Noah and woven throughout the pages of the Bible is a thread that ties together our past, present, and future—a series of supernatural messages that carries the keys to life, death, and eternity. Considering their credentials—they're producers of the TV specials The Search for Heaven, Faith in the White House, Breaking the Da Vinci Code, and The Quest for Noah's Ark—they may well be right. The book alone sells for $6.99; our price is $5.59. With a bonus DVD the book sells for $19.99; our price is $15.99 (some places on the Internet the DVD alone is selling for this price). The combination of book and DVD is great for individual studies, but also has a Pastor's Sermon Outline, a Noah’s Ark PowerPoint Presentation, and a FaithGrowers (TM) Bible Study.

Beverlee is still working on an author's book and revising R. A. Torrey's The Power of Prayer and Praying With Power. That book is scheduled for January publication. As for me, I haven't yet been able to get a handle on the John G. Lake book I'm supposed to be writing. But I'll break through with it at some point.

As always, Beverlee and I would appreciate your prayers for us and our work.

Harold J. Chadwick