Barnabas Ministries UK

Rev. E. Anderson
ONCE IN A MILLION

Frank Tripp

A judge without judgement.

Judge Fennell, one of the finest men I ever knew, was walking along the street one ‘day near Central Station. His big, athletic hulk bumped into a man who was milling about among the horde of hurried subway moles en route to their respective homes.

The man, dazed by the impact, staggered backwards as if to fall. Tom, as everyone called the judge, caught him by the shoulders and held him up. The man was well dressed and sober but his eyes were wild and bloodshot. ‘Let me go, I’m all right,’ he said; but Tom saw that he wasn’t, and held on to him.

Judge Fennell, tired from a long day on the bench, took the bewildered stranger into the nearby Commodore Hotel and induced him to stay for dinner. When the man talked, the judge learned that I knew him.

That very afternoon the same man had come to me in distraction. He was a well-known newspaper salesman who used to call on me. He had a good job then and earned good money. Everybody liked to have him around.

When he was about thirty five he met a girl. She wasn’t the right girl for him but he worshipped her. The home and family he wanted never came about. She was out too many nights with other men for that. He began to drink away his troubles, first now and then, but eventually too much. His work slipped. His friends avoided him, his contacts dwindled, and he lost his job. When he came to me, he borrowed two dollars and wanted no more. The judge now found out why: the poor man only wanted to repay a loan he’d had from a friend. Then he was going to kill himself.

When Tom bumped into him, the salesman had just decided it should be the river, rather than the subway tracks he’d first selected. Tom Fennell, after verifying the story, went to work on him in earnest. Tom won. The man reclaimed his wrecked life.

Judge Fennel has since passed on, but I often think of him warmly and wonder how many of us, after bumping into a stranger as did Tom, would merely say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and go on.

And I wonder if it was just coincidence that in the great, heartless city of New York, this man who never had heard of Tom Fennell, happened to go straight from me into the arms of this grand fellow? Somehow I don’t think it was just coincidence.

Rev. E. Anderson
A LESSON TO BE LEARNED
Taken from Word for Today

‘when he finally came to his senses…’ – Luke 15: 17

THE PRODIGAL Son’s journey to ruin didn’t happen overnight It was a slow, steady build-up, like cholesterol in your arteries. He took his father’s blessings for granted and stopped being grateful.

No wonder David wrote, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities… heals all your diseases…redeems your life from destruction…crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies…who satisfies your mouth with good things…’ (Psalms 103:1-5 NKJ\/).

The Prodigal Son was from one of the best families in town, yet he ended up penniless, friendless, eating with pigs, trying to satisfy a legitimate hunger in an illegitimate way. Why do we get involved in extramarital affairs, go on drinking and drug binges, or work ourselves to death and sacrifice our families in the process?

Because Luke 15:17 NLT inside each of us is an emptiness that nothing and no one but God can fill. Jesus said, ‘When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself . . . . I will go home to my father and say, “Father, l have sinned…”’ (Luke 15:17-18 NLT).

If you let Him, God will stop you in the nick of time. He will remind you of who you are and where you belong. You will start seeing the mud you’re wallowing in, the false friends, the empty achievements the people around you who are no happier than you.
lf that’s where you are right now, come home. Your Father is waiting to wipe your slate clean. He still loves you. Tell the devil, ‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m going home.’