MIF 10:3 (May-June 1978)
From the Editor’s Note Book
Answered Prayer
We are grateful to our Lord for His answer to our prayers regarding the need for a replacement typesetter and layout person. Midland Printers Co. Ltd. of Midland, Ontario, our printer from the inception of the magazine in 1955 (then called Food for the Flock), has agreed to take over the entire operation. While they will not do any art work, they will use existing headings and continue to print Focus magazine at not above the cost of what we have been paying for each issue.
As most of our readers probably know, we are unable to pay for the publishing and mailing expenses of Ministry in Focus through subscription moneys alone. Were it not for the gifts of interested and supportive friends, who share the conviction that this avenue of written ministry must continue, we would simply be unable, at least from the human standpoint, to go on.
Thus on behalf of the Board and committee members of the magazine, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to all who, by their prayers and gifts, have again stood with us in a time of testing.
Life’s Greatest Event
According to a brief article in the Prophetic Witness, Arthur Rubenstein, a Jew who is popularly acclaimed as the world’s leading concert pianist, recently visited Israel. In Jerusalem he was interviewed on television by Israel’s former premier, Golda Meir. As they chatted together, she asked him the following question: “What has been the greatest event of your life?” She undoubtedly expected Rubenstein to refer to some moment of triumph in his outstanding musical career. The answer she actually received, which reportedly took her breath away and caused her to lean back in her chair with an expression of surprise, was this: “The greatest moment of my life was when I received Yahshua ha-Mashia (the Lord Jesus Christ) into my heart. That completely changed my life. I have experienced joy and peace ever since.”
We have no way of verifying these statements, although their source is highly reputable. We sincerely hope that the distinguished Arthur Rubenstein is indeed a true believer in Christ. One thing, heaven will hold a great many surprises for us all. Some are going to be there whom we never dreamed would be. Take for example the Old Testament details centering on Lot, and then read 2 Peter 2:7 & 8. And some, whom we thought would be there, will not be. What a sobering thought!
In the light of these things, let us heed Peter’s advice to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10).
How Much Is A Trillion?
A recent pictogram article in U.S. News & World Report asked, “How Much is a Trillion Dollars?” The gist of the article is an attempt to get across to readers just how much one trillion dollars really is, pointing out that the economy of the United States will produce goods and services at the rate of two trillion dollars a year before 1978 is over.
The public debt of the United States is approaching one trillion dollars, and spending by Washington will top 500 billion — a half trillion — during the year that starts October 1st if President Carter’s plans are carried out.
It’s not easy to try and comprehend precisely how much one trillion really is, but here are some things to think about:
A shopper buying goods 24 hours a day, seven days a week, would have to spend $100,000 a minute for 10 years.
End to end, one trillion one-dollar bills would stretch four million miles beyond the sun which is 96,909,000 miles from the earth.
In bundles, one trillion one-dollar bills would fill a warehouse 47 feet high, 20 feet wide, and 8 miles long.
Stacked up, one trillion one-dollar coins would reach as high as 5,661,000 Empire State Buildings.
Who can really comprehend such a staggering figure of even one trillion, let alone ten or a hundred trillion? We find such an exercise rather overwhelming, yet this blessed thought occurred to me. Even after one trillion years in heaven, we shall, in the familiar language of John Newton’s famous hymn, “Amazing Grace,” have “no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we’d first begun.”
Disappointment
There isn’t anyone reading these lines who has not at one time or another experienced disappointment. Disappointment is one of Satan’s greatest tools, and by it he will lead us down the road to discouragement, despair and defeat, that is, if we let him.
Perhaps you have recently experienced disappointment. If so, consider the following chronology of Abraham Lincoln’s career:
1831Failed in business
1832 — Defeated for legislature
1833 — Again failed in business
1834 — Elected to legislature
1835 — Sweetheart died
1836 — Had nervous breakdown
1838 — Defeated for speaker
1840 — Defeated for elector
1843 — Defeated for Congress
1846 — Elected to Congress
1848 — Defeated for Congress
1855 — Defeated for Senate
1856 — Defeated for Vice-President
1858 — Defeated for Senate
1860 — ELECTED PRESIDENT
Said Lincoln: “I do the very best I know how — the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so.”
Really, if we have the conviction that we are moving along in the stream of God’s will marked out for our lives, then there should be no disappointment. After all, are not His appointments infinitely better than anything we might choose for ourselves?
During a time of keen disappointment at the close of my first year at university, my beloved mother wrote to me and enclosed the following quotation (it was the first time I had read it): “Our disappointments are God’s appointments.”
We would do well in all circumstances to remember this choice bit of counsel, and if at any time we think we have it exceptionally tough, let’s try walking in Lincoln’s shoes for a while.
Living For Jesus Christ
The late Paul E. Little said it: “The only day you and I have to live for Jesus Christ is now — today. The Christian Life is not some great, successful exploit out in the future. It is merely an accumulation of days of living for Jesus Christ. Only what you and I put into today will determine the quality and content of our total Christian lives.”