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A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts.

(I heard Smith share this funny quip when he preached at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the early 1980’s. I was an aspiring theology student at the time and was listening to the message in the overflow area since the Southwestern Chapel was at full capacity. I loved that quote then and I love it to this day!)

The feather flies in the wind, but it has no inherent power to move. Consequently, when the gale is over it falls to the ground. Such is the religion of excitement. But the eagle has life within itself, and its wings bear it aloft and onward whether the breeze favors it or not—such is religion when sustained…

If you have visited the picture galleries at Versailles, where you see the wars of France from the earliest ages set forth in glowing colors upon the canvas, you cannot but have been struck with the pictures and interested in the terrible scenes. Upstairs in the same palace there is a vast collection…

When people rail at creeds as having no vitality, I suppose that I hear them say that there is no life in eggshells. Just so; there is no life in eggshells. “My dear sir, do not put yourself out to defend a mere shell.” Truly, I am no trifler, nor so litigious as to fight for a mere shell. But listen!…

EXPLANATION OF GOD: (Written by an 8-year-old in California)

Obedience has to be learned experimentally. If a man is to learn a trade thoroughly, he must be apprenticed to it. A soldier, sitting at home and reading books, will not learn the deadly art of war. He must go to the barracks, and the camp, and the field of battle if he is to win victories and become…

I was noticing, in the life of that man of God the Earl of Shaftesbury, that his first religious impressions were produced by a humble woman. The impressions that made him Shaftesbury—the man of God and the friend of man—were received in the nursery. Little Lord Ashley had a godly nurse who spoke to…

Bubba and Earl were out hunting, and as they were walking along they came upon a huge hole in the ground. They approached it and were amazed by the size of it. Bubba says "Wow, that's some hole; I can't even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is?" Earl says "I don't know, let's throw something down…

Getting into fights A young couple drove several miles down a country road, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument, and neither wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules and pigs, the husband sarcastically asked, "Are they relatives of yours?" "Yes,"…

5/2/2004 A 70-year-old grandfather was asked by his young grandson how things have changed since he was a kid. His reply is worth reading. "Well, let me think a minute. I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There weren't things…

When a young man comes to college he usually has much to unlearn. If his education has been neglected, a sort of instinctive ignorance covers his mind with briars and brambles. If he has gone to some faulty school where the teaching is flimsy, his tutor has first of all to fetch out of him what he has…

Have you never noticed how men get their senses clear through affliction? I read in the life of good Dr. Brown that when he first preached he heard two women at the door talking to one another about his sermon. One of them said to the other, “Ah! It was very well, but it was almost all tinsel.” A short…

I have heard of a naturalist who thought himself exceedingly wise with regard to the natural history of birds. Yet he had learned all he knew in his study, and had never so much as seen a bird either flying through the air or sitting upon its perch. He was a fool, although he thought himself exceedingly…

Some of our teachers wanted us to learn the big doctrines first, and they did not like it because we could not at once see all the sublime truths of election and predestination. Certain of the old standards who are very orthodox expect all newborn babes to eat meat at once; as soon as ever a person is…

Illustration from Dr. James Merritt