What is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is finished and the adult males pack them off to bed at night.




Boys are found everywhere—on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to.



Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them.



A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket. When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.



A boy is a composite—he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword-swallower, the energy of a pocket-sized atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker, and when he makes something, he has five thumbs on each hand. He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines.



He is not much for, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime. Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Durham sack, two gum drops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of unknown substance, and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.



A boy is a magical creature—you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can’t get him out of your mind. Might as well give up—he is your captor, your jailer, your boss, and your master—a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, "Hi Dad!"

The Legion Dispossessed Author: John Newton

1 Legion was my name, by nature
Satan rag'd within my breast;
Never misery was grater,
Never sinner more possess'd:
Mischievous to all around me,
To myself the greatest foe;
Thus I was when Jesus found me,
Fill'd with madness, sin, and woe.

2 Yet in this forlorn condition
When he came to set me free;
I reply'd to my physician,
"What have I to do with thee?"
But he would not be prevented,
Rescu'd me against my will;
Had he staid 'till I consented,
I had been a captive still.

3 "Satan, tho' thou fain would'st have it,
Know this soul is none of thine;
I have shed my blood to save it,
Now I challenge it for mine;
Tho' it long has thee resembled,
Henceforth it shall me obey;"
Thus he spoke, while Satan trembled,
Gnash'd his teeth, and fled away.

4 Thus my frantic soul he healed,
Bid my sins and sorrows cease;
"Take (said he) my pardon sealed,
I have sav'd thee, go in peace:
Rather take me, Lord to heaven,
Now thy love and grace I know;
Since thou hast my sins forgiven,
Why should I remain below.

5 "Love (he said) will sweeten labours,
Thou hast something yet to do:
Go and tell your friends and neighbours,
What my love has done for you:
Live to manifest my glory;
Wait for heav'n a little space:
Sinners, when they hear thy story,
Will repent and seek my face."
Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians, 1803

8 Ways to share what Christ has done

These practical instructions are just that: instructions. This is not a formula. It is a way of preparing your heart and organizing your life for gospel impact in the life of others.


1. Prepare to Share

Pray, read the Word, study, and get instruction with the intention of sharing it with another. We often read, study, and pray with ourselves in view. That’s appropriate of course, but if it stops there, we fall short of the mission of Christ. When you read, pray, and study with others in view you’ll begin to see how the truth connects with those around you. You can become prayerful for them and relate to them in a way that accords with truth and love.

2. Get Involved

Go to where the people are. Find a way to put yourself in the middle of the action. Volunteer, serve, practice hospitality, introduce yourself to the barista. There’s innumerable ways of making this step, so be intentional in the steps you decide to take. You can’t get involved in everything. But with those things that you are involved with, make it count.

3. Be Attentive

Look for and walk through the open doors God gives. Many times we don’t see the open doors, because we’re not paying attention. Many times we don’t walk through the open doors we see, because we’re afraid. When you are afraid to share Christ, you have yourself in view and not Christ. When your fear keeps you from sharing Christ with someone, you are more in love with yourself than the one who needs Christ. Repent, push through the awkwardness, and trust God.

4. Get Close

Evangelism and discipleship are most effective when it’s a personal relationship. Disciple making is a way of living, not a solitary practice. Share your life with someone else and show Christ to be the centerpiece. Break down your self-protecting barriers, and go deeper than you’re comfortable. Strive to be a person that is easy to get close to. Live the love of Christ before them–toward them.

5. Share Christ

You are to share Christ in words and deeds, and often deeds before words. Consider the best way to love the person that is before you, so that Christ may be known to and experienced by the person you are with. A question you might ask: how might the person before me need to hear and experience the love of Christ? A lot more should be said here, but this is a start.

6. Wait on the Lord

Be patient and persistent. We often approach sharing Christ with another with particular expectations. We think, often subconsciously, “If I do this, this should happen, and it should happen within this time frame.” When it doesn’t happen that way (and it usually doesn’t), we can get discouraged and give up. Remember, you’re the messenger and nothing more. Fruit will come in God’s time and God’s way. Keep the course. God is always at work, even and sometimes especially when you can’t see it.

7. Celebrate

When God works, celebrate it. If it’s a small open door with a neighbor or a good friend that comes to know Christ, celebrate the work of God in others. Make known what Christ is doing, and give him the glory for the way He is showing up in the life of others.

8. Repeat

Don’t stop. Go back and prepare some more, get a little more involved, heighten attentiveness, get closer still, share Christ more, keep waiting on God, and celebrate.

Who are you going to share Christ with this week?

"My Old Man"

My old man!




(Gleanings from the Inner Life of Ruth Bryan)

"that you put off, concerning your former conduct,

the old man which is corrupt according to its deceitful

lusts" Ephesians 4:22

I plainly see that neither my old man nor my new man

can be mended. The one is too bad--the other too good.



There is no patching or painting the old man to advantage;

it will still be "corrupt, according to its deceitful lusts."



The new man needs neither patching nor painting, for it is

"created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephes. 4:24)



What is "born of the flesh is flesh"--and will act after its nature.

What is "born of the Spirit is spirit"--and will aspire to its source!

A Beeline to the Cross

Charles Spurgeon: From the sermon "Christ precious to believers"


The best sermon is that which is fullest of Christ. We never like to hear a sermon unless there is something of Christ in it.


A Welsh minister who was preaching last Sabbath at the chapel of my dear brother, Jonathan George, was saying, that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into this story:—

A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, "What do you think of my sermon?"

"A very poor sermon indeed," said he.

"A poor sermon?" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it."

"Ay, no doubt of it." "Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?"

"Oh, yes," said the old preacher, "very good indeed."

"Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?"

"Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon."

"Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?"

"Because," said he, "there was no Christ in it."

"Well," said the young man, "Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text."

So the old man said, "Don't you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?"

"Yes," said the young man.

"Ah!" said the old divine "and so form every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business in when you get to a text, to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?' and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ. And," said he, "I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it."









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The Simple Gospel/Charles Spurgeon

When I was about fifteen or sixteen years of age, I wanted a Savior, and I heard the gospel preached by a poor man, who said in the name of Jesus—"Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." It was very plain English, and I understood it, and obeyed it and found rest.I owe all my happiness since then to the same plain doctrine.Now, suppose that I were to say, "I have read a great many books, and there are a great many people willing to hear me. I really could not preach such a commonplace gospel as I did at the first. I must put it in a sophisticated way, so that none but the elite can understand me."I should be—what should I be? I should be a fool, writ large.I should be worse than that, I should be a traitor to my God; for if I was saved by a simple gospel, then I am bound to preach that same simple gospel till I die, so that others too may be saved by it.When I cease to preach salvation by faith in Jesus put me into a lunatic asylum, for you may be sure that my mind is gone.

Charles Spurgeon

Good Friday summed up in one verse

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15)