The Good News Blog

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” -Psalm 91:13, KJV

The King James text of Psalm 91 talks about the lion, the adder, and the dragon, over which you as God’s trusting child can triumph. All of the difficulties and challenges that you will ever face in life are represented by one of these three images. Lions are bold. They meet you head on, unplanned and unexpected. The telephone rings and the caller has bad news. You open an envelope to learn that you are being sued by your competitor. A pink slip with your pay envelope tells you that you are unemployed. Like lions, certain difficulties confront you in life, and you cower or feel like running when they confront you. The reality, however, is that there is no escape from some of the difficulties

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33

In retirement, Grace Agar filled notebooks with hand-written quotes and resource materials and gave them to pastors. When one of those notebooks fell into my hands and I looked at the carefully scripted pages, I thought, “What an unusual woman who would take the time to prepare these!” Little did I know that the woman who spent hours crafting these notebooks was a dedicated, focused individual who had confronted Chinese bandits and then gave reason for the devil himself to take note.

If the real heroes of the world are the unknown, unsung little people who do unrecognized valiant deeds, then surely Grace Agar was one of them. In her youth walking to high school one morning, she felt that God was saying, “The

by Dr. Harold Sala

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

A brilliant young Oxford don, H.A. Hodges, was an agnostic, and felt that it was not intellectually honest to profess a belief in God, since he was certain that nobody could really prove His existence. But of course he also acknowledged that the existence of God could not be disproven. He just wasn’t sure and decided to remain neutral.

One day, however, he strolled down Oxford’s main thoroughfare and stopped before a store window. His interest was captured by a painting, a rather simple one done by a Christian artist. The subject: Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Hodges, however, was gripped by the scene, and he said, “If God is like that then that God shall be my God!”

PATIENT IN TRIBULATION
by Dr. Harold Sala

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” -Romans 12:12

If ever a man was patient in tribulation it was William Carey, who as a missionary to India, pioneered the modern missionary movement. Carey was born in England to a modest mother and father, a yeoman, which meant that he probably owned a small piece of ground.

Unable to either send his son away to school or to pass on an inheritance to him, he apprenticed young William to a shoemaker, who died before Carey had finished his apprenticeship.

In the early 1800’s, it was difficult, if not nearly impossible, for someone of such lowly birth and status to ever gain recognition, yet Carey eventually did, being recognized by institutions and even governments for his work as a linguist and a social reformer.

William Carey was an unlikely candidate for success, if ever there was one.

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” -Psalm 32:11

In my file on “happiness” is a yellowed piece of paper, the inexpensive kind of paper which little children use in school. It’s been there now for almost a quarter of a century, and the edges are frayed and soiled.

On the paper is an essay written in a child’s hand by a nine-year-old girl who happened to be my daughter. It reads, “Money can’t buy happiness. Or love. Sometimes money can’t buy the things that you like best. Money can’t buy the kind of things that mother makes. Money can’t buy good friends. Money can’t buy a baby.

Or a pair of pretty eyes. Money can’t buy the moon or the sky. But most of all money can’t buy the love of God for us.”

Talk about wisdom coming from the

by Dr. Harold Sala

Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? -Galatians 5:7

When you are tempted to give up and quit, do you ever consider what might happen if you didn’t quit, if you tried one more time, if someway, somehow God gave you the strength which you lack and you made it to your goal? That we are temped to quit is a given–everybody, at times, hears a quiet voice within saying, “This just isn’t worth it.”

If the test of your character is what it takes to stop you, then whether you grit your teeth and try again or give up may depend on what’s inside, the kind of stuff you are made of.

In his book Endurance Alfred Lansing tells of the incredible journey of Sir Ernest Shackelton in 1915 across 800 miles of an ice-filled ocean where it was bitterly cold

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.” -Psalm 127:4

The world’s greatest mission field is not the Dark Continent of Africa, nor is it the highlands of Papua New Guinea, or the jungles of South America. Are you ready for this?

The greatest mission field today is the hearts of our children. And today forces more sinister and frightening than the vipers of the jungle and more devastating than malaria which no longer responds to medicines are making their bids for the hearts of our children and grandchildren.

Today our children are both our greatest challenge and our greatest mission field. But here is the question: How do we respond to the evil and sinister forces which challenge them? Turn off the TV set. Give them the gift of yourself, and strive to include them in your overloaded schedule. Yes, but even more.

For

by Dr. Harold Sala

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel…” Ezekiel 37:21

For a moment, think about the events that have taken place in our world since I began broadcasting in 1963. Communism collapsed in the former USSR. The Berlin Wall came down, and the two Germanys that were divided by ideology and economy were merged into one very powerful country. Iraq invaded Kuwait, holding the nations of the world as hostage. The US invaded Iraq twice. India and Pakistan both produced nuclear capabilities and Iran is standing on the nuclear threshold.
And now in the 21st century, we have to ask ourselves, “What will happen in the near

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything… and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” -Titus 2:9-10

The great 19th century Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon believed that the gospel is like a caged lion. It doesn’t need to be defended, just turned loose. But turning the gospel loose in a society and culture that draws hard and fast lines between the secular and sacred is not always easy.

The reality is that in the past fifty years the message has been caged and the door to the cage tightly bolted and locked, fearful that if the Good News is turned loose, it will permeate society affecting such radical changes that life will take on a new dimension. No wonder Christians

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9

One of the lessons which we often learn too late is that it is not only hard to keep the peace, but far more difficult to bring peace where there is none, to bring individuals to the conference table who are angry and hostile. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” said Jesus, “for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:8).

Have you discovered that it is far easier to make war than to make peace? Strange, isn’t it? There is something about our natures which makes us want to assert our rights and authority, to stand up for what we think should be ours, whether it is the territory of another’s nation or the toys that children share in a sandbox.

Those who hold to “the spark of divinity” in every person