Illustrations Archives

• Illustration: Dangers  (April 25, 2011)
  Upon entering a little country store, the stranger noticed a sign saying "DANGER! BEWARE OF DOG!" posted on the glass door. Inside, he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor near the cash register.
• Illustration: Promises, Salvation  (April 25, 2011)
  F. Duane Lindsey writes, ?When Crowfoot, the great chief of the Blackfoot confederacy in southern Alberta, gave the Canadian Pacific Railroad permission to cross the Blackfoot land from Medicine Hat to Calgary, he was given in return a lifetime railroad pass."
• Illustration: Language  (April 18, 2011)
  We take English for granted; but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
• Illustration: Easter  (April 18, 2011)
  An old legend tells of a parish priest who found a branch of a thorn tree twisted around so that it resembled a crown of thorns. Thinking it a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ, he took it to his chapel and placed it on the altar on Good Friday.
• Illustration: Courage  (April 14, 2011)
  The inimitable Dr. Seuss in his book, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sellew, wrote these simple words that can give us courage:
• Illustration: Keeping Watch  (April 11, 2011)
  The crowded cafeteria sported a large sign reading: "Watch Your Hat and Overcoat."
• Illustration: Easter, Cross  (April 11, 2011)
  In a church marketing newsletter just a few years ago, a campaign was suggested to attract people to church during the season of Easter. In this public relations campaign, it was suggested the cross be removed from the altar. According to the author, a survey has revealed the cross is one of those symbols the new generation of churchgoers considered too churchy. One pastor interviewed for the campaign gave his wholehearted endorsement. ?We are going to attempt to concentrate on the resurrection, and not the death of Jesus.?
• Illustration: Easter, Resurrection  (April 4, 2011)
  In his day, Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was one of the most powerful men on earth. Bukharin was a Russian Communist leader who took part in the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda and was a member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science were big sellers.
• Illustration: Heaven  (April 4, 2011)
  The pastor was speaking to the children?s Sunday School class, and asked them: Who wants to go to heaven? All the children raised their hands except one little boy.
• Illustration: Prayer, Faith  (March 28, 2011)
  A pastor had a little kitten stuck up in a tree, and the kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. As he moved just a little too far, the rope broke. The tree snapped upright and the kitten instantly sailed through the air and out of sight.
• Illustration: Easter  (March 28, 2011)
  Don Aycock tells the story of Menelik II, who was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 until 1913: ?News of a successful new means of dispatching criminals reached him. The news was about a device known as an electric chair. The Emperor eagerly ordered one for his country. Unfortunately, no one bothered to warn him that it never would work because Ethiopia at that time had no electricity."
• Illustration: Moms, Graduation  (March 21, 2011)
  The high school valedictorian was required to give a speech. He began by reading from his prepared text. ?I want to talk about my mother and the wonderful influence she has had on my life,? he told the audience.
• Illustration: Lent  (March 21, 2011)
• Illustration: Miracles, Truth  (March 15, 2011)
  Uncle Bill was visiting for Sunday lunch, and he decided to give little Susan a hard time. At the table at dinner, he said to her, ?So what did you study in Sunday School today??
• Illustration: Struggle, Suffering  (March 15, 2011)
  In his Turning Point Daily Devotional for March 9, David Jeremiah says: ?Clayton Christensen is a professor at Harvard Business School and is well-known for articulating his theory of disruptive technology--an unexpected product or service that disrupts an existing market and helps create a new category of customers.
• Illustration: Preachers, Influence  (March 6, 2011)
  Three boys are sitting around the lunch table at school. The first one says, ?My dad's a lawyer. People pay him $200 just to write a letter.?
• Illustration: Divorce  (March 6, 2011)
  Lots of folks are quoting statistics that Christians are more likely than non-Christians to divorce; but those numbers are deceptive, as Glenn Stanton points out in a Focus on the Family report. He writes: ?Couples who regularly practice any combination of serious religious behaviors and attitudes -- attend church nearly every week, read their Bibles and spiritual materials regularly; pray privately and together; generally take their faith seriously, living not as perfect disciples, but serious disciples -- enjoy significantly lower divorce rates than mere church members, the general public and unbelievers."
• Illustration: Leadership, Integrity  (February 28, 2011)
  ?The supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is a section gang, on a football field, in an army or in an office."
• Illustration: Temptation  (February 28, 2011)
  A little boy named Bobby desperately wanted a new bicycle.
• Illustration: Prayer  (February 28, 2011)
  One young girl knew the power of specific prayer when she faced death head-on. In the midst of her sickness, she went to her pastor and asked what more she could do for Jesus in the short time she had to live.