Nelson’s Complete Book Of

Stories,
Illustrations,
& Quotes

Robert J. Morgan

THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS
NASHVILLE

The Author and the Publisher sincerely appreciate all those whose stories are retold or quoted in this book. We have made every effort to footnote and document each story. If we have inadvertently left anyone out, please let us know.

Copyright © 2000 by Robert J. Morgan.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morgan, Robert J., 1952–

Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes / Robert J. Morgan.

p. cm.

ISBN 0–7852-4479–4

1. Christian life—Anecdotes. 2. Conduct of life—Anecdotes. I. Title.

BV4517.M675 2000

248.4—dc21 99–052810

CIP

Preface

Someone Once Said …

• Don’t forget to give them a few anecdotes. Anecdotes are very much objected to by critics of sermons, who say they ought not be used in the pulpit. But some of us know better than that; we know what will wake a congregation up; we can speak from experience, that a few anecdotes here and there are first-rate things to get the attention of persons who won’t listen to dry doctrine. Do try and learn as many anecdotes as possible.—Charles Haddon Spurgeon*

Three short phrases have guided my pulpit ministry for nearly thirty years. They were spoken by Ruth Bell Graham in her log home astride a North Carolina mountain on May 13, 1972. I was a wide-eyed student visiting from Columbia Bible College with my friend Joe Medina. “Ruth,” I asked, “I want to be a preacher one day, and your husband is one of the best-known in the world. What advice can you give me about pulpit ministry?”

Her simple reply has stayed with me ever since: Preach expository sermons, keep them short, and use a lot of illustrations.

It’s too bad William Carey didn’t have the opportunity to visit Ruth Graham. Though he eventually became the “Father of Modern Missions,” he got off to a rough start. Seeking ordination from the Baptist Church in Olney, England, in 1785, he was turned down after the members heard him preach. They decided he needed a period of probation. Why?

Mr. Hall of Arnsby, criticising the attempt, said, “Brother Carey, you have no likes in your sermons. Christ taught that the Kingdom of Heaven was like to leaven hid in meal, like to a grain of mustard, and etc. You tell us what things are, but never what they are like.”*

This book is intended to give you some likes, to provide a lot of illustrations. The right story, illustration, or quote, after all, is worth its weight in platinum. According to the Wall Street Journal, comedian Bob Hope has a walk-in vault located in an office compound on his estate which contains scores of large file drawers. The walls are cinder blocks, and the door is six-inch-thick steel with three one-inch ...