Category: Stories with a Lesson

As a boy my church gave me a small book on prayer, and I remember that it started “ Kneel down and say….”and a number of printed prayers followed for me to say.Perhaps it was helpful at my young age, and it was certainly a step forward to my Mother’s instruction of “God Bless Daddy, Mummy and… “ the family list followed.

When I was grown up and a Minister of the church, one of my congregation said to me “I cannot remember ever hearing a sermon on how to pray” and I had to say “no I cannot remember one either”. Perhaps the church presumes we all know how to pray, and forgets that it should be part of our church teaching. Continue reading “Thoughts on Prayer”

John Ch 4 v24. God is Spirit and only by the power of God’s Spirit can people worship Him as He really is.

I wandered lowly as a cloud that floats on high over hill and dale, and all at once I saw a crowd, a host of people worshipping God. Please forgive my miss- quotation, but I am aware that I am communicating with those who would call themselves “fellow Christians”. As such, you probably attend a place of worship at least every Sunday if not during the week as well.

We all must realize that there are many people who do not, or cannot worship with others, elderly in old folks homes, some in hospital, and many housebound, Sadly there is not much on radio or television these days as once there was, as helps to worship .So how do we worship ? Continue reading “Worship in Spirit”

George was 12 years old and rather shy, and he was a bit scared of Mr Franks so it took him a couple of weeks before he could get up the courage to go and speak to him.

Mr Franks saw George standing in his shed doorway; “What do you want boy” he said peering over the top of his glasses.. “I wondered whether you might lend me your Brace and Bit” asked George. “What do you want it for”? . “I want to put up a shelf I’ve got in my shed” George replied. Continue reading “Do It To Others And You Do It To God.”

I have no idea of the authenticity of this story, but it seems that a couple were seated in a restaurant and could not fail to hear the conversation at the next table, as two people were describing their holiday to their friends..

The Cathedral was wonderful, they said, but the thing that took our eye was the main stained glass window, it was more beautiful than we had ever seen before and our guide told us a wonderful story of how it came to be built. Continue reading “Tales of a Master Craftsman”

A true story that I shared a few years ago. He was a pick-pocket, and worked mainly in Hyde Park, London. Each day he would stroll through the park looking for an opportunity to steal from someone.

His hands were well experienced at removing the contents of pockets and bags and slipping what ever he found into his own pocket or bag. Every so often he would return to his rented room and throw all he had taken into a draw, and then go out for more pickings. At the end of the day after a meal he would take the contents of the draw and sort things into little heaps according to the value of what he thought he could make on each item.

One day he looked at a little book he had stolen; it didn’t seem to have any value at all, it was a pocket size New Testament, he threw it against the wall in disgust, and worked on the other things. During the night, unknown to him the little book slipped down between the wall and the bed. Continue reading “Courage to Ask”