Spiritual
Spiritual Do We Really Love Heaven?
Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery, an Englishman who was not ashamed to assert his faith in God, was invited to speak at the opening of a hymn book publisher's new printing plant. He urged rewriting some of the hymns which he found dismally at odds with man's true nature.
Montgomery said, "We sing, 'O Paradise, O Paradise, How I long for Thee.'But we do not really long for that. We long to stay on here a bit longer."
Then he added, "I would like to see an author write 'O Paradise, O Paradise, I have a little shop, and just as long as profits last, here I mean to stop.'"
Ready To Perish
The man huddled on the cabin floor was slowly freezing to death. It was high in the Rockies in southwestern Alberta, and outside a blizzard raged. John Elliot had logged miles that day through the deep snows of the mountain passes. As he checked for avalanches, and as dusk and exhaustion overcame him, he had decided to "hole up." He made it wearily to his cabin but somewhat dazed with fatigue, he did not light a fire or remove his wet clothing.
As the blizzard blasted through the cracks in the old cabin walls, the sleeping forest ranger sank into oblivion, paralyzed by the pleasure of the storm's icy caress. Suddenly, however, his dog sprang into action, and with unrelenting whines, finally managed to rouse his near-comatose friend.
The dog was John's constant companion, a St. Bernard, one of a long line of dogs famous for their heroics in times of crisis. "If that dog had not been with me, I would be dead today," John Elliott says. "When you are freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and do not wake up because it feels too good."
Political or Spiritual Liberty
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress declared the 13 American colonies free and independent from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence is the only major national document of the United States that actually mentions the name of God. He is called "Nature's God," "The Creator," and "The Supreme Judge of the World." The fathers of our American freedom recognized that God's hand was at work in the affairs of the new nation. But far more important than the political liberty that we enjoy is the spiritual liberty we have in Christ. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).