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WITandWISDOM(tm) – October 19, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: “There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.” - Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe Source: Maximum Impact, http://www.maximumimpact.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The years of World War I and shortly after, brought much suffering to the people of God in Europe. Many lost their lives because of their faith. One of the most precious stories of this period comes from Germany. In the outskirts of a small village in south Germany a small group of Christians were gathered for a baptism. They were attacked suddenly by a mob and the candidates ran for their lives. One widow with two children, the oldest a boy of ten years, tried to flee across a bridge. The mother was shot, leaving her two small children with no one to care for them. The children were put into a non-Christian home where the foster parents did their best to make them forsake their beliefs. However, the children could not forget what their mother had taught them. On the first Sabbath after their arrival they hid in the haymow and studied their Bible together and prayed that God would help them to be true and faithful. Finding the children missing, the man of the house went looking for them. At last, finding them in the haymow, he whipped them, and sent them home. The next Sabbath they ran away and hid in the woods to study their Bible together. Again the man found them and flogged them. When this happened the third time, he shouted at them, “I will kill you if you do not give up your religion!” Neighbors knew about the beatings and heard his threats to kill the children for their disobedience. They reported the man to the authorities and he was arrested. At the trial, the judge became angry when he heard the whole story. “Beat this man just as he has beaten these children!” the judge ordered. The ten-year-old boy stood then and said, “Please, Judge, it is true that this man has beaten both me and my little sister very hard, just because we love Jesus and keep His Sabbath day holy as our mother taught us to do. But I do not want him beaten. In our Bible study this week we learned that we must pray for those who hurt us. And so I pray you please forgive him.” The judge was greatly moved. Instead of beating the man, he gave him a stern lecture and warning, and set him free. “You are saved from punishment by the pleas of these little children whom you have so cruelly abused.” As a result of the children’s stand for truth and their love and forgiveness, that man decided to find out more about their religion. As a result he accepted the Bible truth and was baptized. He became a good father to the two children that were in his care, and eventually became a leader in a local church. By Dorothy Eaton Wattts, Faith Triumphant, Pray for Your Enemies, p 294 Submitted by Leora DeWitt ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: How many jugglers does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but you need at least three light bulbs. How many NASA engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None. Changing a light bulb isn't rocket science, y'know? How many graduate students does it take to change a light bulb? One, but it may take five years. How many doctors does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to refer you to a bulb-changing specialist, one to make the change. How many committee meetings does it take to change a light bulb? This item was resumed from last week's discussion, but is incomplete pending resolution of some other action items. It will be tabled until our next meeting. How many contractors does it take to change a light bulb? I'll have an estimate for you on Monday. - Collected from a slew o'websites and the memory of Mark Raymond Source: Mark Mail, http://mrhumor.net/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The day a friend of mine was promoted, he arrived home to be greeted by his wife saying, "Welcome home, Colonel! "My dear, you needn't call me Colonel," he teased, "a simple Sir will do." For quite some time after, she addressed him as Simple Sir. Submitted by Lorraine ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A gang of crooks dug a 60ft tunnel in a daring bid to rob a cashpoint machine. The would-be robbers spent weeks constructing the passage which was complete with lighting, scaffold reinforcements to stop it collapsing and a ventilation system. Police found tools, a wheelbarrow and bags of soil inside, reports the Daily Mirror. The raiders were only 15ft from being able to dig upwards to their target, a cashpoint filled with £70,000 at a Blockbuster video store. But they were foiled when workmen laying electricity cables at the new Fallowfield Retail Park in Manchester smashed through the roof with their JCB. One stunned worker said: "It stretched about 20 metres from a railway embankment, then headed towards the cashpoint. They were almost there. "I wasn't worried about it collapsing while I was down there, they had made a good job of the supports. Even the police were impressed with the workmanship." The tunnel - just like the ones built in war film The Great Escape - was a complicated structure to steal just £70,000. It is thought the "mole in the wall" gang might have planned to use it repeatedly to plunder the machine or believed it contained more cash. Police are still trying to trace the gang. The passage is being filled with concrete. Source: Ananova http://www.ananova.com