William McPherson--the man who read the Bible with his tongue

   I. How much do you value a Bible?

      A. This man made an effort.

William McPherson was severely injured when a charge of dynamite exploded in front of his face. Although he survived the blast, he lost both hands, both eyes, and the feeling in parts of his face. He was a new Christian and he realized how much the Bible meant to him. He needed its strength now more than ever, but he couldn't read it. William heard that a woman in Britain had learned to read Braille with her lips, so he ordered portions of the Bible in Braille. When it arrived, he was dismayed to discover that the explosion had deadened the nerves in his lips so that no sense of touch remained. But then he found his tongue was able to feel the raised dots. Although the metal left his lips and tongue bleeding and very sore, he prayed to God to help him continue to learn just one letter of the alphabet.  A teacher was able to help him learn the Moon Type system of Braille, which uses simplified figures instead of dots. In the 65 years that followed, this Kansas City man read the Bible through four times with his tongue. How much effort do you put into reading God's Word?

from Holwick's 1500+ Sermon Archive

In Solitude We Allow God to Help Us

 It reminds me of a story about a priest who observed a woman sitting in the empty church with her head in her hands. An hour passed, then two. She was still there. Judging her to be a soul in distress and eager to be of assistance, at last the priest approached the woman and said, “Is there any way I can be of help?” “No thank you, Father,” she said, “I’ve been getting all the help I need until you interrupted!” In solitude we allow God to help us.

Barton, R.Ruth. Sacred Rhythms : Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. IVP Books, 2006.

Power of the Appointment Book

“Early in my ministry I discovered the power of the appointment book for setting apart time for our family. If a church committee proposed meeting on a given night, or if someone called asking if they could see me at a certain time, I would say, 'Let me check my appointment book.' After doing so, if I simply said, 'I’m sorry, we can’t meet then; I already have an appointment,' they accepted it without question. It was as if what was in my appointment book was sacrosanct, something they dared not question or intrude upon. Having learned about the power of the appointment book (for you it may be a Palm Pilot), I began to use it to my advantage by writing down regular appointments with my family in it. This simple practice helped me protect my time with the family and make it a priority.”

quotation from p.51 Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-