... when the "Super Ego" fails to develop or take charge of the animalism of the "Id" and "Ego." This, surely, is one of the points at which deadness of the spirit can be identified. How else should one describe a condition where there is an absence of compassionate sensitivity and responsibility for values? Have you ever slept too long on a hard floor and had a limb "go to sleep" because circulation of the blood had been hampered? If so, the numbness has given you a hint of what physical death is like. Apply a ...
... be near Him, pushing and shoving and clamoring, reaching out to touch Him… yet out of that mass of humanity Jesus became aware of one person, one need, one touch. He felt something unique and special as that woman tried to secretly touch the hem of His robe… how sensitive He was! To bring this closer to home, let me tell you a true story. I happened on a Father’s Day some years ago. I had preached in the 8:30 a.m. service that morning and then had rushed to teach Sunday School. After Sunday School, I ...
... to the needs of those around us. That's true of husbands and wives as well as parents and children. You have seen that little sign, "The best thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother." That's true, we need sensitivity to one another as husbands and wives and as parents and children. IN THE SECOND PLACE, WE NEED TO DEVELOP A SELFLESS CONCERN. We need to forget the office for a while. We need to forget our personal objectives, however worth they may, be and center our attention ...
... know it. The issue is not that we should become more aggressive about sharing our faith. It is that we should be more sensitive to the needs of the world around us, and more sensitive to the subtle prodding of the Holy Spirit. The two sensitivities are wonderfully intertwined. To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit must mean that we will be more sensitive to people and their pain; to be more sensitive to people ought to make us more open to God and his purposes. Put another way: every human soul is a collection ...
... is an ethical religion. It prompts persons to look with critical evaluation at existing conditions, and beyond them to what ought to be, to what God wants. But sincere Christians are not merely aware of things that are wrong. They hurt with a sensitivity drawn from the love of God revealed in Jesus. The sight of evil pains them; causes them suffering; makes them want to join Jesus in cross-bearing efforts to bring about redemptive change. Regardless of the sincerity of their dedication, however, they are ...
... . I'm glad to meet you. Please take off your robe and I'll check you out." Joe took off the robe and stood there thinking of the awful hump on his back, figuring that the doctor would comment about it. But he didn't. Sometimes physicians can be very sensitive and wise. At one point in the examination the doctor put his hands on either side of Joe's head, looked into his eyes, and asked, "Joe, do you believe in God?" "Yes sir," he answered. "That's good," said the doctor, "because if you believe in God, you ...
... to be baked daily. Like manna, it could grow moldy the next day in arid climates, as well as damp ones. Thus Jesus says to us that we need to depend daily on him.(7) Do you see the wonderful paradoxes? Universal yet personal. Personal and yet communal. Time-sensitive and yet eternal. Jesus says that even though this bread which he gives us is eternal, it must be gathered daily. And this brings us to one final paradox: THE BREAD OF CHRIST IS TO BE KEPT, AND IT IS TO BE GIVEN AWAY. The bread of Christ gives ...
... we need to understand from this parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Love sees. The rich man passed this poor beggar day after day and never really saw him until it was too late. You and I need to train our eyes to see those around us. Being sensitive to others is not something that comes naturally to most of us. It’s something at which we need to work. The wife of English statesman Benjamin Disraeli made a secret arrangement with one of her husband’s associates. He was to inform her at the end of the ...
... to hear a three-year-old in the middle of the night than to hear the silent scream of a 13-year-old whose sense of self-worth has been crushed at school by a catty friend or an unthinking teacher. Good parenting begins with sensitivity; sensitivity and sharing; keeping the lines of communication open and the dialogue flowing. Sometimes we make a mistake of doing all the talking and not really listening. Even more important, of course, is simply being present--taking the time to be available to listen. This ...
... Calvary. We want God’s blessing but we want it without his purging and purifying our lives. The purpose here is not to turn the world into a world of dark gloom, but rather to point out that if we avoid suffering and grief, then we can never be truly sensitive. Some years ago I lost my brother and my father. This was the first real close family loss I had ever experienced, and I don’t mind saying that it hit me hard. To this day I still think of them often. But the truth is that because I experienced ...
... Richard Corcoran, a Glens Falls resident who is equally at home in the world of sound and silence, we found a most sensitive and capable interpreter. How frustrating and lonely it would have been for those deaf individuals had we not made provisions to meet ... to teach me to trust him, to appreciate and understand better what he has done, is doing, and will do, and to be more sensitive to others’ sufferings. This particular crisis was one of temptation, though I did not think of it in that way. Thus in my six ...
... problem lies not in what he does or might do for us, but in our own lack of confidence in what he can do. Fearing his superior holiness, we are often ashamed to come to him in humility and penitence. But our Christ is a sensitive soul. Read again of the lost sheep, the woman pardoned for her indiscretion, the act of forgiveness from the cross. He has demonstrated vividly and magnificently what is personal and theological: "In Love’s service only the wounded soldiers can serve." Yes, "... he was wounded ...
... . She picked up the boy, and took him inside to safety. Sometimes we need to be reminded that when we do it unto the least of these, we do it unto Him. Christian Discipleship is a call to availability. It is also a call to sensitivity. FINALLY IT IS A CALL TO "ACCOUNTABILITY." Daniel Webster once said, "The most important thought I ever had was that of my individual responsibilty to God." The word that we are hearing today is accountability. TV Evangelists find that they need to be accountable to somebody ...
... faintest kind of a voice that said, "Mommy." Like a shot out of a gun, she was out of bed and at the side of her little threeyearold girl. Many of you remember what it was like to have small children. You mothers remember what it was like to be sensitive to the slightest sound of a baby's cry. As children grow, we sleep more soundly; at least until the teenage years. Then we may lie awake a lot. As our children grow we may sleep a little more soundly. We may not hear sounds in the night quite as ...
... teeth, just as alcohol dulls the senses so we feel we are having more fun than we really are, so money deadens our sensitivity to others and to God. There are very few people addicted to the love of money who do not feel that they are ... . The love of money is the scariest drug on the market, by Jesus'' standards. It is addictive. It is deadening. It causes us to lose our sensitivity to others and to God. BESIDES, IT KEEPS US FROM BEING PART OF GOD''S MINISTRY TO THE WORLD. A lady in West Virginia says that ...
... going to be a while. Women say - How much do you love me? Women mean - I did something today that you're really not going to like. Men, let me give you some good news. God has not called us to understand women. He has called us to love them sensitively by listening intently and carefully to what they mean and to what they say and meeting their emotional needs. I've given you some positives, now let me give you men one negative. If you want to love your wives the way that God wants you to love them - always ...
... Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.” (John 1:38-39 R.S.V.). I hope you feel the winsome sensitivity in Jesus. No hard sell here. No buttonholing. No pushing of a formula for salvation. An invitation to a relationship — Come and see, Jesus invites. There’s a beautiful instance of Jesus’ inviting style in the book, The Horse and his Boy (p. 79), one of C ...
... Calvary. We want God’s blessing but we want it without his purging and purifying our lives. The purpose here is not to turn the world into a world of dark gloom, but rather to point out that if we avoid suffering and grief, then we can never be truly sensitive. Some years ago I lost my brother and my father. This was the first real close family loss I had ever experienced, and I don’t mind saying that it hit me hard. To this day I still think of them often. But the truth is that because I experienced ...
... to hospitality: in the custom of the day, she tried to do all she could to make a feast worthy of such a guest; but she failed to realize that Jesus preferred a chance to teach.Mary was sensitive to the word of God. She perceived that Jesus found his plain spiritual truth more important than a fancy meal, but she failed to realize her duty as hostess and her responsibility not to leave the whole burden on her sister Martha. Martha's outburst finally exposed the differences, and ...
... hundred snapshots of young men and women who call her "Mom." The pain of losing her son is still there, but her life is filled with purpose as she continues helping young people. Those who have experienced pain in their lives are able to show a greater sensitivity to others, helping them through some rough times. No one can know the pain of losing a son or daughter like someone who has experienced it. It is a parent's worst nightmare to be told a child has died. David was no different than any other parent ...
... . What do you want to hear? Is it your wish to be congratulated or to be challenged? To be confirmed in your opinions or shocked into new awareness? To be soothed and comforted or aroused to repentance and action? Can you be counted on for a more sensitive response than Micah found in his audience or than Jesus witnessed in the nine lepers? And now to conclude all this let me remind myself and you that I have been speaking, for the most part, from within a limited, segmental view of the ministry. I have ...
... the brightest of God's chosen people, wasn't good enough to gain God's respect. Peter deserted Jesus, cursed and hid. Could it be if Christ's forgiveness of Peter, on Easter, did not return the disciple's pride, at least it did give him a heart sensitive for the shortcomings of others? Could it be this same humiliated saint was the perfect choice to tell the foreigner of God's grace? God is no respecter of persons - he is not partial to one race over another, once class over another, one nation over another ...
... are having marital problems, children from broken homes and those who have financial or mental problems are a few of the people who need the sign, "wide load." In addition there are people who possess religious hang-ups. Now you and I need to be sensitive to the "wide load" people in our lives. We need to cultivate a graceful attitude toward people. In fact, there are times in our lives when we will carry heavier loads than other times. The graceful people will respect that and allow room for our behavior ...
... as can be, "Lend a sharp ear to your parents now." The word spoken to the parents is equally important. The Greek term translated "provoke" is erethizo. Its root meaning is "to stir up," or "to agitate." Its intent is to remind parents that we ought to be sensitive to our children, and not shove, or constantly poke, or rub them raw, with a deadening hand. Even if they are our children, they are people to be lived with, not things to be possessed and used. They must be lived with in light of that fact. If ...
... until he got what he wanted. Jacob was a rascal...like an ancient P. T. Barnum who believed, "There's a sucker born every minute." But there is something else about Jacob. In spite of all his tendencies toward being a scoundrel, he had a certain religious sensitivity. Do you remember the story of the midnight wrestling match between Jacob and the angel?(1) The angel said "Let go," but Jacob said, "No, not until you bless me." The angel replied, "If I bless you, I will have to make you lame," but Jacob said ...