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To The Randy Roberts' Anecdotes Page

With a small Sampling of his Anecdotes, Edited by Nic Samojluk

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On July 19, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts' pulpit was occupied by Pastor Jacqueline Lynch, the Loma Linda University Community Services & Outreach Director. Her topic was "What Goes Around ...." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas she used on said occasion to illustrate her sermon:

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There is proverbial wisdom contained in sayings like the following: "I'll cross that bridge when I'll come to it," "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," "If you lie down with dogs you'll end with fleas," "There is more than meets the eye," and "What goes around, comer around."

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There is also wisdom in the things we learn from our parents. "I learned from my parents," said Pastor Lynch, "about grace, which is equivalent to unmerited favor, things we experience or receive for which we have done nothing to earn them, things which surprise us and teach us about giving and receiving and about generosity."

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Pastor Lynch dad was a hard worker. He had to travel a lot, and he became ill, and was forced to apply for retirement from the railroad. He became unemployed for months, and her mother had barely a sixth-grade education. She found a job as a servant in a mansion with servant quarters. She applied for AFDC. Then Pastor Lynch's dad found a part-time job shining shoes at a hotel, and he became the best at his menial job. Lynch had the privilege of watching her dad at work, and she had lunch with him. One day a man with some missing teeth approached her dad and asked: "Can you spare a dime?" Her dad pulled a dollar out of his pocket and gave it to the poor man. Jackeline asked her dad why he had given a whole dollar instead of a dime, and her father replied: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

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"After my dad died," said Pastor Lynch, "we were forced to tight our belt. Gone were the 50 cents allowance I used to get. I did miss the bottled milk we used to have, and did not care much for powder milk, and the hand-me-down clothes from the Goodwill Store I was forced to wear. I felt angry, and I resented the ridicule from my fellow classmates at school. One day, our neighbor's kid came asking to borrow a cup of sugar, and our morning newspaper, and my mother gave it to him. I asked: 'Can't they buy their own newspaper? It costs only a dime!' I was surprised by the fact that my mother was hospitable towards others in spite of our own great need. Thus I learned day by day that we live by God's grace."

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God's grace is like the air we breathe. Saint Paul stated that "in him we move and live." From this fact I gather that, since we live by grace, we need to live graciously, both individually, and as a community. In fact, the church is God's repository of grace on earth. As God's children we receive graciously, and we must give to others in need moved by the same grace. No man is an island. We need each other.

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There is a fictional story about a boy who invited a homeless man to his home while his mom was at work. He fed him and let him take a shower. The boy's mother was surprised by the boy's action, since inviting a stranger into one's home is a risky business. This unique action was spread to others, and thus the entire world began to change for the better, one person at a time, as a result of the gracious action of one individual. That is precisely what Jesus did. What goes around, come around."

On July 12, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts' pulpit was occupied by Pastor Dan Matthews, the Loma Linda University Church's Media Ministries Director. His topic was "Jesus Knew. ...." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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A month ago three experienced hikers were exploring Mount Raineer. They were not prepared for a sudden storm and a drastic drop in temperature. The weather forced them to go into an emergency mode of operation. They dug a narrow trench in the snow, and they laid dow in it, the father at the bottom, his wife in the middle, and the son at the top. On repreated instances both the mother and her son offered to trade places with the father, but he kept repeating that he was fine. In the morning when the ranger found them, the woman and her son were still alive, but the man was dead. He had given his life for his wife and their son.

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The Bible tells us that Jesus knew who he was, he knew where he had come from, and he knew where he was going. This knowledge gave him a sense of purpose and mission. He did love his disciples, and was ready to give his life for them, as well as for all those who would believe in him.

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There is a significant detail about the use of the term love in the Gospel written by John. In the first twelve chapters the word love appears six times, but from then onwards the same word shows up 31 times. This love for his disciples was manifested in a special way on the occasion of the celebration of the Passover, now known as the Last Supper.

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It was customary for a slave to wash the feet of the guests, but somehow this detail was omitted in the preparation for the celebration. Of course, none of the disciples wanted to demean himself by offering to provide such needed service. This is understandable, since they had been arguing about which one of them would be greater in the Kingdom of God, which they believed would soon to be established. Given these ackward circumstances, Jesus took off his outward robe, and dressed as a menial servant, began to wash the disciples' feet. He even washed the feet of Judas, who was on the verge of betraying his Master.

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What Jesus did reveals the fact that the Lord delights in being of sevice for his children. Jesus did not come to be ministered to, but to minister to those he loved. When he was done washing the feet of his disciples, he said: If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you need to do likewise. I have given an example to follow.

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If we know that we are God's children, if we know where we came from, and where we are going, we will be glad to be of service to others. Serving the needs of others is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus.

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There is a story of a young girl who became a victim of a napalm attack, and who run naked in order to save her life. She did survive, but her physicians had to submit her to a total of 14 surgical operations. She had dreamed about becoming one day a physician. Now, considering her unfortunate circimstances, there was no chance of this becoming a reality. She was extremely bitter, and she wanted to die. She had plenty of time, which she used to read many books, including the Bible. In 1982, she became a Christian, and she accepted Jesus as her Savior. Her former bitterness dissipated, and a sipirit of forgivenes flooded her soul. Then she stated the following: "I still feel some pain, but I have a clean heart now."

On July 5, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts' pulpit was occupied by Pastor Bernard Taylor, the Loma Linda University Church's Scholar in Residence. His topic was "Lost ... in Church." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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In the book of Chronicles, we find a retelling of the story of God's Covenant with his children. The first reference to a covenant is found in Genesis. Following the flood, God made a covenant with Noah in which the Lord promised that he would never again destroy the earth with another flood, and he placed a sign of said covenent in the sky: a rainbow. That rainbow symbolized a hunting bow, hung in heaven to signify that it would not be used again. Next we find a record of God's Covenant with Abraham and his posterity. Said covenant was renewed at Sinai with the children of Israel.

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When the children of Israel were taken into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar, it seemed that the Lord had abandoned his people. To all appearances, the God of the Babylonians, Marduk, had conquered the God of the Israelites. Nevertheless, the Lord sent one of his prophets, Ezekiel, to show that this was not so. There in Babylon, God's messenger saw a vision of wheels within wheels, reminiscent of the atomic theory with protons and neutrons moving around the nucleus. It was God's way of assuring his rebellious people that he had not abandoned them in exile.

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In chapter 18 of Ezekiel we find a reference to a complaint by the Israelites which went like this: "The parents had eaten sour grapes, and our teeth are set on edge." They felt that they were being punished for the sins of their ancestors. We find here a shift from community to individual responsibility. The Lord reminds his people that it will no longer be said that the children are reaping what their parents have sown.

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Individual responsibility is exemplified by the way the Lord treated each king of Israel. Ezekiah was a good king, and the Lord treated him accordingly, but his son, Manasseh, "did evil in the sight of the Lord," and God, manifested his displeasure towards him. Manasseh's son, Josiah, did what was "right in the sight of the Lord," and the sacred record shows that God blessed him as a result of his faithfulness.

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Thus we see that we find evidence of both, comunity and individual responsibility in the way the Lord treats his children. The actions of an individual affects both his life as an individual, and likewise the life of the community he is a member of. It has been said that when a butterfly flaps its wings in China, the weather on the opposite side of the world is being affected.

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In the book of Chronicles, written probably by Ezra, we do not find a record of David's sin, since the main objective of the book was to encourage God's people in the midst of adversity.

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In the New Testament, we find a New Covenant, symbolized by the New Commandment the Lord gave his followers. What was new about loving our neighbor? Jesus explained this when he stated that they must love their neighbors as "I have loved you." There was a new element in God's covenant with the Christian community, the living example of the way we must love others: the way Jesus loved us.

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Before his death on the cross, Jesus prayed for unity among his followers. This unity would be the most powerful argument on behalf of Christianity. Said unity was illustrated by one Shepherd and one fold. His church would be one building made up of many stones. Our body would be a Temple, but the entire community would be God's Temple on earth. The human body would be an example of unity and diversity. The human body is a useful entity precisely because it is made up of a variety of organs, each one performing its God's ordained function. Each individual member of the church would be endowed with particular gifts which, when properly used, would contribute towards the growth of the entire community. Thousands of individual members do not make up a church. For a church to function according to God's design, each member must contribute to the welfare of the entire community of believers.

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While visiting their children in San Francisco, Pastor Taylor and his wife decided to stop at the Farmer's Market there. Suddenly, they saw a bunch of cyclists swirl past them. The cyclists were moving at great speed as a "peloton," a French word connected with the "Tours de France" signifying that they were acting as a unit for the mutual benefit of everybody. They took turns to be at the head of the group, and moving as a unit, they managed to deflect the wind resistance and thus progress at greater speed. While individual cyclists can move at twenty of twenty-two miles per hour, as a unit, the peloton can move at thirty miles per hour and even more.

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on June 28, 2008 was "The Righteous Foundation." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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It is interesting to notice that when you are at the airport and the airplane is gettin ready to depart, and the flight attendant is giving special instructions that could save your life in the event of an emergency, it is hard to find three people who are paying attention to what is being said.

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It is summer, and your child is getting ready for summer camp. The mother prepares all the things that will make the summer camp experience a pleasure and a delight for hetr child. She is careful to include things like a tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant, sunscream, shampoo, and so on. When the child is back, she discovers that none of those things have been used. Do children listen when the parents talk to them?

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How about hospital patients? Do they listen when their doctor tells them about their need to exercies, to loose weight, to stop smoking, to be careful about their diet, and to develop careful sleeping habits?

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What about church? On one occasion, a small child asked her mother: "If we pay the preacher, will he let us go home early?"

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We read the story of the man who built his house on the rock. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man," and we ask: What is this there for? We fail to take time to consider that there is a chance that both the wise man and the foolish one might have hired the same architect. The builder might have used the same materials to build those homes. One was built on the rock, the other one on the sand. What a contrast between these two homes when the storm and the floods came.

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Note: I will take the liberty of inserting here an anecdote I heard one time from another preacher: A proud engineer, following the completion of a bridge, made the following comment. "Here is the bridge! Where is the rain?" Two weeks later the rain came, and the people said: "Here is the rain. Where is the bridge?"

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"When I was young," said Pastor Roberts, "I remember digging for the house foundation, and I got blisters on my hands. It is hard work. Building on the sand is much easier."

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Following the Andrew hurricane, which left a path of destruction on its way, a television reporter asked a man how come his house did not suffer any significant damage. He replied: "I took care to follow the building code when I built the house." When people build sand castles on the beach, they do not follow building codes, and a single big wave quite often demolishes what may have taken a long time to build.

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There is a famous lighthouse which stands erect in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea. It was built two centuries ago, and it has withstood many storms. The lighthouse foundation is anchored on the solid rock. Contrast this with a house built on the sand. It will collapse like a house of cards when put to the test.

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Suppose you have twins, and you decide that you will be a loving parent and never scold or say anything that might annoy your children. Will you succeed as parents? Jesus gave us a lot of advice to help us succeed in our life. Are we listening? Are we building our spiritual house on solid rock?

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A missionary was engaged in the difficult task of translating Scripture to the local language of the people, and he could find no suitable word for the term "obedience." One day he happened to call his dog, and it came right away to where the man was. One of the natives who was watching what was taking place remarked: "Wow! Your dog has big ears!" Jesus said: "If anyone has ears, let him hear." It is important to listen to what the Lord has told his followers if we want to inherit eternal life, but it is even more important to follow his timely instructions.

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There was a time when it was illegal to read the Scriptures in the English language in England. One man got a hold of the Bible, and after reading it made the following remark: "Either this is not Scripture, or else Christians are not truly Christians, because they are not doing what the good book says"

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on June 21, 2008 was "Righteous Fruit." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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Pastor Randy Roberts started his sermon by asking the following probing question: "Would you buy a Honda car from a salesman who drives a Toyota? Would you trust a Wal-Mart salesman who tells you that you can buy the same merchandize from another store? "

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Sometime ago, Pastor Roberts was visiting the Texas Museum next to the place where President John Kennedy was assassinated. There is a book shop there, and he asked the clerk what book he would recommend for him to buy. The man responded with: "I don't like to read books about murders!"

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A renowned writer once stated that Christians are hypocrites. As evidence, he cited the alleged facts that most Christians behave like everybody else. There is no difference between a born-again Christian and one who is not. Even when you consider sins like lying, vengeance, divorce, and addiction to pornography, all people seem to be rather alike.

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How do we tell the difference between one who is a genuine follower of Jesus and one who is not? In his Sermon on the Mount, the Master told us that we shall know them by their fruits. He also warned us to watch for false prophets, because what looks like a sheep may actually be a wolf.

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Some years ago, there was a man in Hawaii whose behavior was rather suspicious. A church member confronted him, because he was a married man, but was making passess to other women. He left the church, left his wife and family and moved to Waco, Texas. His name was Vernon Howell. This may not sound like a familiar name to some of you, but you probably did hear the name he adopted when he got to Texas: David Koresh.

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Paul Harvey, the celebrated radio commentator reported once the story of a reputable man in his community who one day put a ski mask on his face and went streaking inside a bowling alley. He was sure nobody would recognize his identity. Unfortunately for him, his little daughter followed him, and people had no problem identifying him with the person they trusted to be a decent man.

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Jesus stated that on the last day of reckoning, some of his alleged followers will ask him to consider what they had done for the church, but Jesus will tell them: "Away from me, I never knew you." If we are Jesus' followers, out behavior will reveal this fact by the fruits we bear. We don't get credit for this, because it is he who produces those fruits in us. No human effort will produce genuine Christian fruits, unless his will is rooted in Jesus. No roots, no fruits. Anyone can learn to recite a creed. Love without obedience is an impossibility. True love will produce the fruits of genuine Christ-like behavior. This kind of fruits do not grow up overnight. It takes time. Shouting at the tree will not speed up the process.

Due to the Loma Linda University graduation ceremonies, Pastor Randy Roberts' pulpit was occupied by Carla Gober on June 14, 2008. The title of her sermon was, "Shadows in a Looking Glass: The Paradox of 20/20." Here are some of the anecdotes and ideas she used on said occasion to illustrate her topic:

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A woman one day noticed that one of her green peppers was disappearing into the earth. This was something she had never seen before, so quite alarmed, she called her dad. Well, it was merely the result of the presence of a gopher in her vegetable garden. "What shall I do?" she asked her father. He suggested many alternatives, including water, a pellet gun, and even electrocution. She opted for a pellet gun, but her neighbors saw her wielding the gun and called the police, and she was arrested. As we can see, appearances can sometimes be quite deceptive.

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On graduation day, one of the students was extremely worried and quite frantic and started crying. She had a hard time staying in alphabetical order, as required. "I'm so scared," she confided to another graduate," I am afraid my cap will fall off! They sent the wrong size of gown to me." Her friend tried to reassure her with the following remarks: "It's only a graduation ceremony. There is no reason to be concerned. It's not the real life we will be facing after graduation!" At that precise instant, the cap of another student fell off, and the distraught student's misery increased tenfold: "See? I told you it could happen, and I'll probably be next!" Are these the things we should really worry about in life?

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On a certain occasion a Jewish lawyer went to see Jesus and asked him about what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him he needed to Love both God and his neighbor. Then he asked Jesus to spell out who, in his view, would qualify as one's neighbor. Of course, the Jews excluded non-Jews from the category of neighbors. Jesus then told the story of the good Samaritan, and asked him in turn to determine who had acted in a neighborly fashion. The lawyer was forced to admit that the Samaritan had acted in fact in a neighborly way. This is a sad story, because the lawyer was able to answer his own question, but was excluded from eternal life. This lawyer was a highly educated individual, he had studied hard, and had earned his degree, but he failed in the most important test of life. It is a sad commentary that sometimes, the more education an individual attains, the less connected he becomes with those who are his true neighbors.

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Jesus said to the lawyer after he had admitted that the Samaritan had acted in a neighborly way toward the Jewish victim, "Go and do likewise." "I sometimes wonder," said Carla Gober, " whether I have followed Jesus advice in my daily association with others. On a certain occasion I asked one of my students to define love, and the student froze. He told me, I have been your student all this time and you don't even know my name, but you want me to define "love.? This put me on the spot, and I did realize then and there that I had not acted in a neighborly fashion with those under my care."

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on June 7, 2008 was "The Righteous Path." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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Jesus talked about two roads, a wide one with a wide gate, which is normally chosen by most people, and a narrow one, with a narrow gate, which is chosen by only a few travellers. The Lord explained that those two roads end with totally different destinations. This reminds us of sayings like the following: "If you get to a fork on a road, take it!" "The loss of the road not taken," and "The less travelled road."

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"On my trip from Austin, Texas, to Loma Linda, California," said Pastor Roberts, "I set my car on cruise control, pulled a book out of my briefcase, and started reading. The reason? It's a long, lonely road from Austin, Texas, to Loma Linda, California, and there is hardly any traffic on those Texas roads. Now, kids," added the pastor, "Dont you try this. It is dangerous; especially in California."

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In La Paz, South America, there is a road called "El Camino de la Muerte," The Road of Death. It is a narrow, mountainous road, with thousands of feet drop on the mountain side, which claims the lives of somewhere between 200 and 300 victims every year. Some sections of the road are upaved, and at certain spots the road is so narrow that only one car can pass at a time. You can imagine what happens when two cars coming from opposite directions meet at those spots!

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Thers is a wide gate in front of the wide road, Jesus said, like the gate in front of Disneyland, and bumper to bumper traffic on said wide road, while there are only very few cars on the narrow road, like the road I took in Texas on my trip to Loma Linda, or the narrow road in La Paz I described to you. The wide road leads to destruction, Jesus said, and we can add that there are very few warning signs reminding the traveller regarding its undesirable destination.

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Jesus also stated that he himself is the gate to this narrow road. When compared with the renowned and popular movers and shakers of this world, Jesus looks rather ordinary.

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When a professed follower of Jesus Christ thinks of himself as a good Christian because he--or she--hasn't murdered anybody, Jesus reminds him about those he hates. When another thinks: "I always stayed in my own bed," Jesus asks: "Did your heart stay in your own bed as well?"

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There is a story about Treblinka, one of the Nazi concentration camps in Poland. A long line of Jews were being led towards Treblinka, when suddenly they came to a fork in the road. There were no signs indicating the destination of those two roads. The captives were told to chose one of those two paths. One of them led to Treblinka, while the other away from it. Those who, unawares of the roads' destinations, chose the path to the concentration camp, were destined to perish in the gas chambers and then incinerated.

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It is extremely important to check the correct destination before we take a trip. A woman traveller boarded the airplane and seated herself at the assigned seat. She was confronted by another passenger who claimed to be the owner of the same seat. The woman was startled when she asked about the airplane's destination. She was told the airplane's destination was Ontario, California; and, of course, she was not going to California. She darted out and off the plane as fast as she could. She had boarded the wrong airplane!

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on May 31, 2008 was "Righteous Reciprocity." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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"When I was at the Seminary," said Pastor Randy Roberts, "I was faced with what seemed an impossible academic task: learning Biblical Hebrew, a strange language that forces you to read backwards--right to left--what seemed to be made of a long string of consonants. I realized immediately that I needed help. Without expert assistance, I was doomed to failure. The same feeling of helplessness we humans face whenever we are confronted with the high ethical standard we find in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This is why Jesus stated the following: "Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and it shall be given to you"

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What shall we do if we ask and nothing happens? How shall we deal with what seems like absolute silence coming in response to our prayers? There was a student sometime time ago who needed to sell his car, and he offered the following fervent prayer:

--"Dear Lord, please, help me sell this lemon car." Should the Lord perform a miracle in order to comply with such a request?

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Let's consider this other case: A couple were fighting no end, and in her exaspweration, the woman said to her husband:

--"Perhaps the only solution to this problem is for one of us to die, and then I can go and live with my sister."

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We probably agree that God is much wiser than to grant his children's everything they ask him for regardless of the logical consequences. Jesus portrayed God as a loving father. Would a parent say "Yes" to every whim of his/her children?

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Before his death, Jesus uttered an agonizing prayer to his Father in Heaven asking that the cup of his suffering be removed. He repeated the same request three times, and then added:

--Not my will, but rather your will be done."

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The Apostle Paul, likewise, asked the Lord several times that a "thorn" which made his life miserable be removed from his flesh. Like in the case of Jesus, his request was not granted, and the Lord told him that his Grace should be sufficient for him.

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Not only we need to ask if we want our needs to be met, but we also need to ask for wisdom in order to learn what is best for us, and to find out what is best for us and what is God's will for us. Without this knowledge, we will be asking for what a wise and loving Father would never give us.

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In his sermon, Jesus gave us what is known as the Golden Rule. This rule is truly the Mount of Everest ethical standard of behavior. It requires that we take the initiative and do to others what we would like that others would do to us.

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"When my Austin was much younger," said the pastor, "he had a chance to exhibit his profound understanding of the Golden Rule. We were at a birthday party, and one of the boys aimed a toy gun at his face, and this hurt him pretty bad. No sooner we had arrived back to our home, the boy suddenly blurted out:

--"Dad, we need to go back!

--"Why," asked his dad? "What is wrong?"

--"The Bible says:" responded the boy, 'Do to others as they have done to you.' I need to hit this boy back!"

--"At that point," said the pastor, "I looked at Anita, my wife, and said:

--There's your son!"

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When Jesus was on this earth, righteous ethical behavior was an important topic for the Jewish Rabbis . There were two main schools at the time, led by Shemi and Hillel. Shemi argued that if a person could recite the entire Jewish Law while standing on one foot, he could be considered really morally righteous. Hillel, on the other hand, held that only those capable of not doing to others what they did not want done to them were truly righteous. Jesus came and raised the ante by affirming that the bar should be much higher: Heaven required that we do to others what we would like others to do to us. This represented an ethical impossibility for humans bereft of help from above.

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Once upon a time, a journalist who was in Jerusalem as a visitor, was attacked by a knife wielding terrorist. A strict bystanding Jewish woman was faced with a dilemma: Should she intervene to protect the stranger? Jewish Law forbade Jewish women to touch gentiles, and much less one of the opposite sex. She decided to do what was forbidden by the law under ordinary circumstances. She managed to overpower the man who was stabbing the journalist and held him with her own body until the police arrived.

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Three statisticians decided to go hunting. Each one of them had a chance to shoot at game, but all three of them failed to hit the target. What if someone would require that hunters are not allowed to miss a their target. This is exactly what Jesus requires from us. The end result is that there is no way we can meet this high standard every time. We are bound to miss. That is, unless we can get divine help. This is why Jesus said: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find." Jesus never missed a moral requirement, and he can help us do the same. Without such help, we are doomed to fail. One version of the Bible rendered this verse as follows: "Keep asking, and it shall be given you; keep seeking, and ye shall find."

May 24, 2008 was graduation day at the Loma Linda University Church, and Pastor Randy Robert's pulpit was occupied by Carles Scriven, president of Kettering College Medical Arts in Ohio. His topic was "And Christ is Looking Back at Me." Here are some of the anecdotes and thoughts he used to illustrate his sermon:

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One of the world's best known speeches is President Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." Of course, Lincoln had no idea that what he was about to say would be heard around the globe. In his introduction, he stated that what he was about to say would probably be soon forgotten and that the chances of his words making a difference were not good. He did not say very much, but what a difference they made on the future of this country and the entire world!

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A renowned team leader had a sign in his private office which read: "Cause something to happen." True leaders do not wait for things to happen, but rather cause things to take place.

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The celebrated philosopher Rene Descartes was actually a phisiologist, but he is remembered for his philosophical pronouncements. His best known philosophical discovery was: "I think, therefore I am." This philosophical pronouncement put an end to the protracted speculation about the reality of human existence.

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A woman's only son died of cancer when he was only 40 years old, and then her doctor gave her the news that she also had terminal cancer. This tragic situation made her feel that she was alone in this world. To people like this woman God sent his Only Son as a token of his love and concern for their predicament. When we see Jesus' human face, we realize that no matter how tragic the circumstances surrodunding our life, we are not alone in this world. We do have a compassionate Saviour, well acquainted with our sorrow and pain.

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In his earthly life, Jesus did identify with those who suffer, those who are neglected, and those who are "the least," and he told us that whenever we see the faces of those who are in need, we are in fact seeing the face of Jesus. This illustrates how deeply he identified himself with those who suffer and feel abandoned by society.

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"I can't remember what was said," stated the preacher, "at the many graduation ceremonies I have participated in the past, and very likely, you will soon forget everything I am saying this morning. Nevertheless, I hope you do remember this: The face of Jesus is imprinted on every person in need."

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Paul Harvey, the celebrated radio commentator, stated the following one day: "What matters to the poor is what is really important."

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Upon seeing two country cowboys for the first time, a little boy asked his mother: "Why do these men have bowed legs?" Many years later, fresh from college, he asked his mother the same question, but he now phrased it in a slightly different manner: "What manner of men are these with legs in parenthesis?"

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Albert Schweitzer, the world renowned physician who spent most of his life serving the needs of the world neglected people of Africa, made the following observation: "The happiest people are those who serve the needs of humanity."

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"Before he died," commented Dr. Scriven, "my dad was totally helpless. One of those who cared for his needs was my brother. I have to admit that I did not admire him when we were young. My admiration for my brother's willingness to provide for my dad needs grew as a result of what he did for my father in his time of need."

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on May 17, 2008 was "Relating to the Unrighteous." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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An old man was at the post office with a blank postcard and asked another gentleman for help with filling it with the man's name and destination address. Once this was done, he asked the stranger to please sign the card with the man's name at the botton. Then he added:

--"Would you please write: 'P.S. Forgive the sloppy handwriting!'"

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Jesus said: "Why are you trying to remove the speck out of your neighbor's eye, when you have a plank in your own eye?"

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A young man noticed a pretty woman and introduced himself to her as follows:

--"My name is Dave, and I am about to inherit 20 million dollars." She became his stepmother.

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Pastor Roberts was summoned for jury duty, and while he was waiting for his number to be called, the announcer called number 47. The number 47 man evidently did not want to be on jury duty, so he approached the clerk and said:

--"Excuse me, sir, I can't remember my number."

He was dismissed on the spot, and the announcer called number 48. This individual was actually eager to become a juror, so when asked whether he could be objective, he responded:

--"I sure can, and my employer will pay me for the time employed by jury duty. God bless America." Of course, he was selected for the jury pool.

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There was a time when everybody thought that a woman could never play the horn as well as a male musician. The screening was taking place with the jurors seated behind a screen in order to make sure they would be objective in the task of judging the playing ability of the participants instead of being distracted by their physical presence. One of the participants was a woman, and she played so well that she was chosen as the winner. The jurors were surprised later on when they discovered that they had selected a female as the winner.

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Some individuals have argued that we should abstain from making any judgments regarding morality, since Jesus had stated: "Do not judge." The problem is that his Sermon on the Mount requires making decisions between right and wrong. How do we reconcile this with his injunction not to judge? The answer is: Do not be judgemental, but make sure to make decisions between right and wrong, between good and evil, in your daily conduct.

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A man who condemns a woman for wearing jewelry, but drives an $80,000 luxury car, is being judgemental. If he condemns marriage infidelity, but divorces his wife and marries his young secretary, he is being judgemental.

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Sometime ago Pastor Roberts discovered that his home alarm would go on for no apparent reason. A careful investigation revealed that some balloons they had purchased for a birthday party were responsible for activating the burglar alarm. Is it possible that our moral sensibility is triggered by a false alarm?

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A pastor once asked whether it was possible to build a sinful house. How big a house must be before it would be a sin to build it? A rich man gave the following answer:

--"Any house bigger than mine would be a sin to build it!"

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Once upon a time, a church group were studying the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Upon dismissal, the leader prayed as follows:

--"Thank you, Lord, that we are not like that Pharise we just studied about."

--"After reading this anecdote I thought to myself," said the pastor:

--"Thank you, Lord, I am not like that church leader.!"

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A woman was stopped on a busy highway and blocking the traffic because her car refused to move. A Hell's Angel biker stopped and offered to help. The woman looked apprehensive and rather scared. The man looked under the hood, solved the problem, and then said the following to the now thankful female driver:

--"Do not judge a book by it's cover!"

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on May 10, 2008 was "Righteous Ambition." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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In his diary, John Wesley wrote the following entry in 1776: "I travel 7,000 miles a year. I sleep well. I fret at nothing." We wonder how could a man feel so secure while living in an imperfect world where worry is the number one concern of people.

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There was a man who bragged about his decision to hire a professional worrier. This is the way he explained the incredible benefits of doing so:

--"I lost my job, my home was foreclosed upon and my car was repossessed. Consequently I decided to hire a professional worrier at $50,000 a year."

--"Where are you going to get the money to pay for the professional worrier?" asked his friend.

--"That is not my job. I have determined to be worry free from now on!" responded the man.

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Someone once stated that we tend to agonize about inexistent dangers while neglecting to worry about the real dangers that lurk behind every bent on the road we travel on.

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Kettering once argued that there is a need for us to be concerned about our future, since we are going to spend the rest of our life there.

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Jesus' message for the one who is worried about the next car or mortgage payment is to look at the birds and the lilies who are worry free, and to rather seek the Kingdom of heaven because the Lord can take care of our daily needs.

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Life in the ancient world was not easy. There was a limited supply of water and food. There was no refrigetation, no decent sanitation facilities, there was mud and dust everywhere, and food would spoil pretty fast. To these people Jesus said not to worry about their daily supply of food and clothing.

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Some years ago Pastor Randy Roberts received a T-shirt as a gift from his wife which had the following inscription: "Don't be happy. Worry!" This is a perfect recipe for misery, but it highlights the fact that worry tends to deprive us from the real enjoyment of life. Experts do tell us that most of our health disorders are due to our tendency to worry and to fret about the future.

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A great philanthropist once stated: "Our mission in life is not to do our own thing, but rather to discover what the Lord is already doing in our world and to join him in his project for humanity." If we do this, the Lord will provide for our real needs, which means that our wants may go begging. He will supply our daily need for water, even though it may not be the "Evian" brand.

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Once upon a time, a construction man working on an elevated scaffold on a welding project decided to unclip his security belt for a few seconds and plumetted 110 feet to a soft pile of dirth. The emergency personnel strapped him on a guerney and while they carried him to safety, he said: "Please, do not drop me!"

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on May 3, 2008 was "Righteous Treasure." I want to share with you some of the anecdotes and ideas he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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As an introduction to the sermon's topic, the following quotation from Jim Elliot was flashed on the television screen: "He is no fool the one who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose."

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Politicians are sometimes forced to issue a retraction in order to pacify the demands of their supporters and the media, and Bill Clinton was no exception. At a fundraiser, he once stated that he regretted having raised taxes so much. This created a storm of protests, and he had no choice but issue a retraction. We might wonder whether Jesus had ever done the same. Actually, some Christians wish he had done that!

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Some of the statements Jesus made are hard to understand. For example, he said on one occasion that we should not store earthly treasures. Does this mean that it is wrong to invest into a retirement fund? Doesn't the Bible teach that we should imitate the ant which works hard during the summer and stores food for the winter?

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Donal Trump, the celebrated financial magnate, commented once that those who think that money is not important do not know where to shop. Are both stinginess and thrift wrong? Should Christians give away the riches they have accumulated through hard work and wise investment strategies? Didn't Jesus ask the rich ruler to give away all his fortune and then follow him? Is this required from all of Jesus followers?

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Someone once said that if you get rich overnight, people will start hitting you like a pinata with the hope of cashing in on some of the candies hidden inside.

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Should we store earthly treasures? Jesus argued that we should store up our treasures in heaven, because where our treasure is, our heart will be there as well. What does this mean, and how is this done? Evidently our temporal activities dealing with earthly riches do have eternal consequences.

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Once upon a time, a rich merchant discovered with alarm that his place of business was on fire. He bolted out of his store to avoid being engulfed by the firing inferno, but then thought that he might be able to save his cash register from being burnt. He jumped back into the building and grabbed the red hot metal box where his money was and succeeded in rescuing part of his earthly treasure, but at a price. He suffered severe burns that left him marked for life. His young daughter realized that for his dad, money was more important than life.

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While living in Guatemala, Pastor Randy Roberts was invited for dinner by Juan and Pedro, two local workers who were helping in the building of a radio tower for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their home was was a very humble place, and they ate from missmatched dinner and silver ware. The food was simple, but offered with lots of Christian love. These brothers were storing treasures in heaven with their loving hospitality.

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--"I wish Jesus had said that most people can't serve two masters at the same time," said Pastor Roberts, "instead of "you cannot serve two masters." Two thousand years ago, many workers were regular slaves, and slaves could not be owned by two masters at the same time. It was impossible for them to hold two jobs at the same time!

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Michael Jordon was hired by the Nikki company. He went through all his belongings, selected all the clothing bearing a different brand name, tore them to pieces and threw them into the dumpster. He felt he owed his looyalty to his new master.

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What can we learn from all this? Can we be loyal to God and Money at the same time? Christians can have both God and money, but they cannot serve both. One of them must be the master. God is entitled to be our master. Our first loyalty should be to the Creator. Everything else should occupy a secondary place in our priorities.

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There was a Chicago man who once managed to cross a four lanes highway without being hit by the fast speeding cars. When he was safe on the other side, a strong gust of wind blew his hat, and he attampted to rescue it from bening destroyed by the traffic. Both he and his hat were hit by the traffic and both suffered the same fate.

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on April 26, 2008 was "Learning to Pray Like the Righteous?" I want to share with you some of the anecdotes he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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Skip Johnson felt a little bit aprehensive and wondering what to say to break the ice as he met the girl he liked a lot on his first date with her as they sat in front of the television to watch a popular show. He spotted some brownies on the coffee table and suddently blurted out:

--"These brownies must have been made two or three weeks ago!"

--"I spent the whole afternoon baking them!" responded the girl.

Do we feel aprehensive as we kneel down to pray in the presence of the Lord God Alomighty? We should! Nevertheless, we should at the same time talk to him the way we talk to a trusted friend.

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When Jesus was on this earth, the Jews had three very important religious rituals: Praying, fasting, and alms giving. The Pharisees were very particular about these rituals, and they wanted people to notice how religious they were. Actually, whenever they engaged in any of them they tried to do it in the presence of as many spectators as possible. Jesus knew this. This is why he said: "When you pray, do not be like the Pharisees." He did not want his followers to pray for show, no did he want them to pray like the pagans who thought that they could impress God with their eloquence. For this reason, he gave them a model prayer for them to use. We know it as the "Lords Prayer," but a most appropriate name for it would be "The Disciples Prayer." It is remarkable for its brevity, but it includes all our physical and spiritual needs.

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Abraham Lincoln Gettisburg Address is well known around the world. This famous speech lasted merely two minutes. The introduction to this admired speech was made by one of the most outstanding orators of the time. This introduction to the presidential address lasted more than one hour, and when the speaker was done, there was a thunderous applause. In spite of this, we remember not a word of what he said in this eloquent speech, while we cherish and preserve what Lincoln said in two minutes. There have been many eloquent religious speeches throughout history, and many of them are recorded in Scripture. But none of them have been committed to memory like the Lord's Prayer.

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There was a man who used to play the following game with his children: He would grab a bunch of pennies, hold them in his closed hands, and challenge his kids to try to pry his hands open. When the children managed to succeed in this endeavour, they would take the pennies, and skip happily away. Is God playing such a game with his earthly children? Not so! He is rather eager to grant us what we need in response to our requests.

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There was a little boy who managed to learn to recite the Lord's Prayer by heart without any prompting at an early age, and he would pray as follows: "Our Father who art in heaven, Harold be thy name." He was too small to know the meaning of the term "hollowed," which meant that he concluded that God's name was "Harold." "Hollowed" means sacred. God wants us to show the proper respect for his holy name by the way we talk, and the way we behave. We do not like to see our friend's names drawn through the mud, and the Lord doesn't like his name treated in a profane manner either.

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"When I was young," said the pastor, "I used to think that prayer was the way to get things from God." When I became older I learned that prayer was the way to get close to God and his will for us. A missionary illustrated this as follows: When a fisherman throws a rope towards the shore, and someone standing there ties it to a post, if the fisherman pulls on the rope, does he pull the shore towards the boat, or the boat towards the shoreline? The same principle applies whenever we pray. We do not pray to inform God of our will, but rather to learn about his will for us.

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When someone is granted the privilege of having an audience with the president of the country, would it be proper for said person to ask the president for ten bucks for gas? Is it proper to ask God for our physical needs? Saint Augustine suggested that when Jesus included the phrase "Give us our daily bread," what Jesus probably meant was spiritual food. Does God care for our physical needs? If Jesus performed a miracle to feed five thousand people, he must have cared for their physical needs. Remember that two thousand years ago, there was no refrigeration nor canned foods. Providing for the daily food was quite a task for those people, for which reason Jesus included what was important for their welfare.

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When we offend someone, we expect a willingness on the part of the offended party to forgive us, since we are human and are prone to make mistakes. Likewise, those who offend us expect us to be likewise generous with them and overlook their trespasses. This is why Jesus included in the Lord's Prayer the need to cherish a forgiving attitude towards others, and added that without such a willingness to forgive others, we cannot expect the Lord to forgive our trespasses against him.

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In conclusion, the Lord's Prayer teaches us that we have no need for long, eloquent prayers to get an audience with the Lord God Almighty, but rather a simple attitude of trust like the one we manifest when we encounter a trusted friend. This is the basic essential of true prayer, according to Ellen G. White.

The topic of Pastor Randy Roberts's sermon on April 19, 2008 was "Religious and Righteous?" I want to share with you some of the anecdotes he used on said occasion to illustrate his sermon:

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Babies are often fussy in church and have no interest in the sermon the Pastor is preaching. This is exactly what happened in chuch one day, and as the little boy's mother attempted to leave, he grabbed the hair of the woman sitting next to the woman and wouldn't let go. The mother kept moving while the unfortunate woman was fighting for her hair, and the baby won the fight, while the woman lost her wig. This created quite a commotion in church, the sermon was forgotten by the parishioners, but the incident was remembered for a long time.

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"I have the habit of asking my students," said Pastor Randy Roberts, "whether spirituality can be equated with religiosity. In Jesus time, the Pharisees seemed to be spiritual, they prayed quite often in public, and gave alms in the presence of people. They wanted to make sure that they would be seen as spiritual. Nevertheless, Jesus said: "Don't be like the Pharisees."

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When Jesus was on this earth, the Jews had set times for prayer, and it was expected from people to stop whatever they were doing and pray, even though they might be at the market place or in the presence of other people. The Pharisees, quite often, would schedule their activities in such a way that when it was time to pray, they would be seen by as many people as possible. They wanted people to observe their deep spirituality. Jesus was not impressed, and told his followers to rather pray in private in order that God might reward them in public. He said that those who prayed in order to be seen by men did already enjoy all the reward they would ever receive. There is a place for public prayer, but praying a Magelian prayer, with no end of a port in sight, is not the kind of prayer that impresses the God of heaven!

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Ellen White told us that when we pray, we should talk to God the way we talk to a friend. The Lord already knows all of our needs. There is no need for us to inform him of what we lack for our daily life. He knows it all much better than we could ever know. Angels get weary of long, protracted prayers in which we recite a long list of our needs in the presence of the Almighty, and he will never be impressed by our eloquence either!

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A man who had spent many hours working with a natural disaster relief agency observed the following: "Some churchmen would show up well dressed while we were unloading relief merchandize, pick some of the boxes in front of the television cameras, and leave immediately for other duties after the filming session was over."

These religious leaders did this to be seen by people as religious and spiritual. This kind of spirituality and religiosity would never impress Jesus today! For the son of God, these individuals deserved the label of hypocrites. Of course, the term "hypocrite" today has a special meaning, but in Jesus time it merely meant a "stage actor." God has no interest in spiritual stage acting. Handing a penny out with one hand while holding a trumpet in the other will never impress the Lord!

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Jesus also talked about fasting. In those times religious people used to fast in order to impress the God of heaven. People who fasted then would forego the daily higienic routine, they would appear in public with their hair uncombed and their faces unwashed, and perhaps with some ashes on their heads. They wanted to make sure that the Lord would observe how spiritual they were. Today fasting is rather unpopular. There has not been a book written about fasting in an entire century. Jesus stated that if we fast, we should do this in private instead of doing this in public in order to be seen by men.

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Regarding good deeds, Jesus said that we need to perform them, not to be seen by men, but rather to be seen by God. When we engage in good deeds with the proper motivation, people may see our good deeds, and the result is that people will glorify God instead of praising our good deeds.

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Once upon a time, a pompous teacher asked their students: "Why do you think people call me a Christian?" One of the students blurted out:

--"Because they do not really know you!"

On April 12, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts continued with his sermon series entitled "But I say Unto You." Here are some of the anecdotes he used to illustrate his topic:

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Pastor Roberts related how some years ago he participated in a ten miles fitness run in Austin, Texas, and managed to place first in his category. Are you wondering what his category was? It was bilingual chaplain at the Loma Linda University Medical Center.

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"What would have happened if at that point," asked Elder Roberts, "the organizers has asked me to immediately following the fitness run start a real marathon? Well, that is exactly what Jesus was asking his followers to do! Impossible? True, from the human point of view. But made possible by the power of God. Being a true follower of Jesus is a humanly impossible task. We need the empowering of God right at the begining of conversion, in the middle of the Christian life, and even at the finish line. Jesus told his hearers to be perfect, in their human sphere, like God is perfect in his divine sphere"

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Big Ed was at a revival meeting, and he responded to the altar call following the preacher's eloquent message regarding divine healing. His problem was advanced deafness. The healing preacher asked him whether his hearing had improved.

--"My hearing?" responded Big Ed, "My hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday!"

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There is a book written by a celebrated writer that contains some probing questions. Question number eleven reads as follows:

--"If you had the power to kill or injure someone you hated by merely wishing him dead without raising anybody's suspicion that you had done this, would you do it?

Well, Jesus stated that hate is equivalent to murder.

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Lucy, the Peanuts character, was depicted in one of the comic stript as saying: "I do love humankind. It is only people I cant' stand!

Others say: "Love your neighbor, but do not take down the fence!

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A Spanish conquistador was once asked the question: "Have you forgiven your enemies?" To which he responded by saying:

--"Enemies? I have none! I killed them all.

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"When I was young," said the pastor, "I used to like a girl. Of course, she had given me a tape by Julio Iglesias. I showed the tape to my sister, and she said, 'She must really like you!' My reaction was a natural one. She like me and I in turn liked her. That is not the test of a Christian. Jesus told us that he expects us to love our enemies! This is quite different from loving those who love us! This is why Jesus said that we must be perfect like God is perfect. Only a perfect human being can love his enemies. Such a reaction is impossible from a human point of view, and it is made possible only through the empowering of the Holy Spirit."

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In the original Greek, to be perfect means to be mature. Can I be perfect when someone cuts in front of me on the freeway? Can we be perfect when someone has hurt us?

A man was strugling with forgiveness. He felt that he had been hurt by his uncle when he was a young teenager. He had received a bike as a christmas present, but his uncle had sold his bike for drugs. How could he forgive such an evil action? To forgive is divine, and humans can achieve this only through such a miraculous divine action in us and trhough us.

On April 5, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts continued with his sermon series entitled "But I say Unto You." Here are some of the anecdotes he used to illustrate his topic:

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When Miranda, Elder Roberts daughter, was two and a half years old, one time the Roberts stopped at a McDonalds Restaurant, and the girl went to play at the ball pit. She was having a great time, when all of a sudden she screamed, and her dad rushed to the scene to investigate. An older boy was throwing balls at her to her annoyment. Pastor Roberts shouted at the boy in Spanish: "Se le tiras otra pelota te voy a dar una paliza," (If you throw another ball at her I will spank you.")

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A female member of a congregation noticed her church pastor entering a liquor store, and assuming the worst, spread the news to as many members of her church as she could. When the pastor found out about this, he decided to teach the woman a lesson. He drove to her home, parked his car in front of her house, and walked back home without saying a word. Actually, he left his car parked there all night, and the next morning he went to retrieve his vehicle. The good sister got the message!

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A mother heard his young boy scream. She rushed to where the kids were playing and discovered that the boy's younger sister was pulling her brother's hair. The boy complained loud and clear, but his mother explained that, since the girl was too young, she didn't know what she was doing. A few minutes later, the girl started crying real loud. When the mother went to investigate, the boy explained:

--"She does know now!"

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In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his hearers that Moses had given them the "Eye for an Eye" Talionis lex, which was designed to set a limit on vengeance and retribution. This was not good enough for Jesus. He wanted his followers to turn the other cheek in the event someone slapped them, and to go the second mile if a soldiers forced them to carry a load one mile. Thus The Son of God demanded a higher level of justice based on patience, mercy and forgiveness. When Jesus was on this earth, slapping someone on his cheek was one of the greatest insults, but the Master told his followers that they should not respond in kind. He also stated that if someone was suing another for his tunic, he should let him have his cloak as well. Of course, this was an hyperbole, otherwise, the defendant would end being naked in court.

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Going the "second mile" might mean for you, children, today that if your mother asks you to clean your room, you should also clean the play room as well perhaps.

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Tom Wiles, a university chaplain, discovered one day that his truck had been damaged by his neighbor, who refused to pay for the repairs. Wiles refused to take his neighbor to court, and explained his failure to seek justice with the following reasoning:

--"My neighbor will probably last longer than this truck!"

On March 29, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts continued with his sermon series entitled “But I Say Unto You.” Here are some of the anecdotes he used to illustrate his topic:

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A six-year-old boy was traveling with his mother by train. Children younger than six were exempted from paying for their ticket. The mother told her son to say he was five when the conductor came punching the passengers’ tickets. When the conductor asked about the boy’s age, he stated he was five. The man was rather suspicious, so he made the following observation:

--“You look like a big boy. When will you be six?” To which the boy responded. --“By the time I get off the train!”

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In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus indicated that we need to be truthful in all we do and say. What about when we hear the telephone ring, but we are not in a mood to answer the call, and we let a pre-recorded message play saying:

“Sorry, but we can’t come to the telephone now. Please, leave a message”?

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A man who had been the winner for many years in the “Biggest Liar” contest gave the following explanation for his unwillingness to participate:

“Sorry, I am retired now! I cannot lie anymore!

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What shall we say about those friends who say:

“Can I borrow a ten-dollar bill from you? I forgot to bring my billfold,” when in fact there is no intention to pay back the money?

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Jesus set the bar high when he announced to his followers that if their righteousness did not exceed that of the most moral men of his time, they could not hope to become citizens of his kingdom.

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In Jesus time, the religious leaders taught their followers that when an individual made a promise, if he used God’s name, he was bound to keep his promise, but if he didn’t, he was free to ignore it. Today, some individuals say:

--“I cross my heart,” or “I promise, on my mother’s grave.”

The Lord condemned this kind of behavior. He said our “Yes” should be yes, and our “No” a no! Today we would say: “Say what you mean, and mean what you say.”

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The welfare of our human society is built on trust. Without this there is no community or police force able to preserve the moral health of our society.

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There was a young boy who asked his dad for an ice cream. His dad promised him he would buy one for him. It was a very busy day for the man, and at ten o’clock in the evening, when he entered his boy’s room to say good night to him; the boy, who was already in bed, but still awake, reminded his dad about the ice cream. The man, tired as he was, got into his car, drove to the nearest store, purchased a half gallon of ice cream, came back home, and enjoyed the ice cream with his son. He felt that keeping his word was more important than going to bed on time.

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In the event you have a hard time keeping your promises, then be smart and promise less, but make sure you keep your word! Following a lively sermon by a renowned preacher, one of the parishioners approached the pastor and asked whether he would remember to have her husband in his daily prayers. The man of God replied:

--“Sorry, I must not promise what I won’t be able to fulfill. The number of people who ask me to do this for them is extremely large. Nevertheless, I will do what I can. I will pray for your husband right now!? And this is exactly what he did.

On March 22, 2008, Pastor Randy Roberts’ sermon was entitled “The Flames of Forgiveness.” Here are some of the anecdotes he used to illustrate his topic:

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Jeremy suffered a disability which seriously retarded his progress in school. He was twelve and was still in second grade, and his teacher did not know how to help him to overcome this serious handicap. When Easter season arrived, Jeremy’s teacher distributed to her students plastic eggs and asked them to bring those eggs back with something alive from nature inside them. The kids did their best to carry out their special assignment. Then the teacher asked each child to open their plastic egg and show to their classmates what they had brought back. Some had leaves inside their plastic eggs, some flowers, and some small animals. When Jeremy’s turn came, he opened his plastic egg, but there was nothing inside. The teacher was mildly frustrated, and she asked: --“Jeremy, do you understand the meaning of the Easter celebration?” To which he answered: --“Yes, I do understand: Jesus tomb was empty on Easter Sunday. At his funeral, each child brought an empty plastic egg shell and placed it at his tomb!

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Human beings are prone to fail in their endeavor to be successful. On one occasion a reporter asked Michael Jordan whether he had ever failed, to which he replied: --“Of course I did. Actually I have failed not once, but thousands of times. Were it not for those failures, I would have never been able to succeed the way I did.”

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Winston Churchill made the following comment about one of his greatest failures in life: --“The thing that helped me the most in succeeding is when I had to repeat a grade in elementary school.”

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Everything was set for the four million dominoes Guineas world record setting. Somehow, a sparrow entered the room where the dominoes where set on a huge table, and 23,000 of those dominoes fell down. Fortunately the rest of the dominoes remained standing. The organizers had arranged for a series of gaps throughout the entire set up, and with a little bit of extra effort, they were able to secure the coveted prize.