There once was a boss who wrote this memo to his personnel director: “Search the company for an alert, talented young man who can step into my shoes. When you find him – fire him!” That boss was insecure and jealous, and the potential for growth in his business was stunted because of it.
When Adolf Hitler was looking for a chauffeur he selected the shortest man he could find and kept him as his driver for the rest of his life. This man was so short that he needed special blocks under the driver’s seat just to see over the steering wheel. Hitler used other people to make himself look bigger than he really was. Have you ever done that?
Paul told us, “Take delight in honoring each other” (Romans 12:10 TLB). Whose life are you making a difference in today?
Tags: honor, World War II
Once, in what my dad considered to be a highlight of his life during World War 2, while stationed in Attu , Alaska, he was assigned to a guard detail when Joe Louis came to visit. Joe Louis was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 until he retired in 1949. In 1946 Louis prepared to defend his title against a skilled fighter named Billy Conn. Louis was warned to watch out for Conn’s great speed and his tactic of darting in to attack and then moving quickly out of his opponent’s range. In a famous display of confidence, Louis replied, “He can run, but he can’t hide!”
How’s your confidence? Do you see yourself on a mission for God that cannot be stopped? If so, no amount of intimidation should be able to deter you from your mission. The devil can cause a ruckus in our lives, but we will not be sidelined. He can run, but he can’t hide. Be encouraged today!
Tags: confidence, hiding, Joe Louis, World War II
Over the Christmas season my brothers and sisters and their families got together. My brother brought over a box of memorabilia he had gathered from Mom & Dad’s old house. Included in the box was a stack of old letters my grandmother (who died in 1956) wrote to my Dad when he was away in the US Navy during World War 2. This stack of hand-written letters was a treasure-trove of family history information. She tried to keep him up to speed on everything back home from his “kittie”, to his cousin, Ralph Diehl, serving in India, to the 1944 death of her brother-in-law, Charley Aldrich.
Among her lamentations in those letters, written from 1943-1945, was her request to receive a letter from him. “Why don’t you write?” she asked often. In one 1944 letter, she noted that it had been three months since she had heard from her son, in spite of the fact that she sent a letter to him every Monday that he was gone.
Perhaps that question remains for us today. In spite of God’s efforts to reach out to you and I daily, how often do we respond to Him? Perhaps you, like my father, have gotten wrapped up in important business, and just forgot. But He sends us regular reminders. Maybe God is speaking to your heart right now: “Why don’t you…”.
Of Samuel’s parents, it is recorded, “And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah” (1 Samuel 1:19).
Tags: fellowship, relationship, World War II
Back during the days of the Cold War following World War II, victorious Russia, not trusting anybody, blockaded the capitol city of Berlin between West Berlin, under the control of the American Army, and East Berlin, under the control of the Russian Army. There was tense hostility between the two cities and the now-infamous Berlin Wall was soon to be constructed. To demonstrate their dislike of the free West, the communists in East Berlin one day took a truck load of garbage and dumped it across the line into West Berlin.
The people of the West could have retaliated, but instead dumped a truckload of valuable food supplies over onto the East Berlin side. Above it they placed a sign: ‘EACH GIVES WHAT HE HAS’.
What do you have to give your enemy? Bitterness and resentment, or grace and blessing. The choice will be determined by what’s really in our heart. Think about it.
Tags: blessings, forgiveness, mercy, World War II
Roy Robertson recounted the following true story: “My ship, the West Virginia, docked at Pearl Harbor on the evening on December 6, 1941. A couple of the fellows and I left the ship that night and attended a Bible study. About 15 sailors sat in a circle on the floor. The leader asked us to each recite our favorite Scripture verse. In turn each sailor shared a verse and briefly commented on it. I sat there in terror. I couldn’t recall a single verse. I grew up in a Christian home, went to church three times a week, but I sat there terrified. I couldn’t recall a single verse. Finally, I remembered one verse – John 3:16. I silently rehearsed it in my mind.
“The spotlight of attention grew closer as each sailor took his turn. It was up to the fellow next to me. He recited John 3:16. He took my verse! As he commented on it I sat there in stunned humiliation. In a few minutes everyone would know that I could not recall from memory even a single verse. Later that night I went to bed thinking, “Robertson, you’re a fake!”
“At 7:55 the next morning I was awakened by the ship alarm ordering us to battle stations. 360 planes of the Japanese Imperial Fleet were attacking our ship and the other military installations. My crew and I raced to our machine gun emplacement, but all we had was practice ammunition. So for the first fifteen minutes of the two hour battle, we only fired blanks hoping to scare the Japanese airplanes. As I stood there firing fake ammunition I thought, “Robertson, this is how your whole life has been – firing blanks for Christ.” I made up my mind as Japanese bullets slammed into our ship, “If I escape with my life, I will get serious about following Jesus.”
Roy Robertson went on to help Dawson Trotman found the Navigators. Robertson led the follow-up ministry for the 1990 Billy Graham Crusade in Hong Kong. That Crusade saw more people hearing the Gospel at one time than any other meeting in history.
Tags: fake, World War II
Al Mazerolle was fighting for the Allies in Normandy in France on D-day, the historic turning point in World War II that led to the defeat of the Nazis. A little girl, Edith Bodin, had been shot by the fleeing Nazis and dropped in a ditch for dead. The bullet, perilously close to her heart, likely would have killed her had it not been for Mazerolle. He made a daring dash through bullets and exploding shells to rescue Edith. Doctors operated on her. She survived.
Decades later, when a D-day anniversary was being observed in Normandy, Mazerolle went to France from his home in British Columbia. Edith Bodin, now middle-aged and having never seen him since she was a girl, had tears streaming down her cheeks when she saw Mazerolle. Throwing her arms around the old man, she exclaimed, “Savior!”
Who was teh person instrumental in telling you about Jesus? They were a part of your salvation. Perhaps today would be a good day to send them a thank you.
Tags: courage, risk, salvation, World War II
In 1943 the Allies wanted Adolph Hitler to believe they were going to invade Sardinia and the Greek Peloponnesus, not Sicily as was actually planned. The British came up with an ingenious scheme: float a dead man, carrying phony letters concerning invasion plans, off the coast of Spain, where German operatives were active. If all went well, the body would be recovered and its false secrets would fool the enemy.
Scrupulous attention was devoted to detail. The body had to look as though it had been in an airplane crash and then drowned. After an exhaustive search, the British discovered the perfect corpse: that of a man who had died of pneumonia following exposure. They called him Maj. William Martin.
The British conspirators stuffed the corpse’s pockets with theater ticket stubs, an “overdrawn” notice from his bank, love letters from his fiance, a cranky letter from his father about fuel rationing. And of course, the secret invasion plans. The body was placed strategically where currents would deposit it where desired.
The entire deception worked marvellously and the Germans were caught off guard. Satan is the master deceiver. He knows how to work events around to make us think we’re safe when we’re about to be destroyed.
When was the last time you were deceived?
Tags: deception, Satan, World War II