Children’s Story

Children’s Story – Rescue at Night, Part II

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Joan closed the door to the back bedroom to keep out the smoke. There was not too much in there, yet, but smoke was beginning to creep through the closed vent from the basement.

The children were coughing and crying, as Joan led them to the window. “Hold on to me,” she cautioned, and they clutched her skirt as she reached up to open the window. She took a deep breath of fresh night air and looked outside for Bill. “Sh-h-h!” she said to the children. “You’ll be outside in a minute.” It was hard to be calm, with smoke rapidly filling the room.

Bill finally appeared under the window, and Joan first picked up little two-year-old Johnny and reached far out of the window to hand him to Bill. Then came three-year-old Betsy. Joan was coughing from the smoke now, and her eyes were smarting so that she could hardly see. She turned back inside and felt for five-year-old Ralph and lifted him out the window. Then the next was seven-year-old Jane, who was able to help herself through the window, and Joan held her arms while Bill set her on the ground.

Smoke was everywhere, even pouring out the window, and Joan was choked by it. Tears filled her burning eyes, and she doubled over in a fit of coughing. She heard Bill’s voice calling, “Come on, Joan! Get out!” It seemed that he sounded so far away, as she groped to find the window again. But, oh, the smoke was choking her, and her eyes were smarting so! Then she felt herself falling, falling, down, down.

“Joan! Joan!” It was Bill’s voice again, much closer this time. “Can you hear me, Sis?” he said urgently.

Then Joan heard another voice, a deeper, stronger voice. “She’s all right, Son. Just a little too much smoke.” It was Dad’s voice! Joan opened her eyes and looked up to see her father leaning over her. She could see Mother there, too, standing behind him. And there were all sorts of shouts and strange noises. They were coming from the men of the fire department, trying to save the burning house. Joan then realized that she was lying on a blanket on the ground, under the cold night sky, with Dad’s overcoat covering her.

“What happened?” she asked groggily, trying to sit up.

“You didn’t come out after handing me the children,” said Bill, “and just then Mother and Dad came home. Dad put a wet handkerchief over his face and went into the house and got you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Joan said to her father, smiling weakly.

“I’m so glad we came home right then,” Dad said, laying his hand gently on her shoulder. “We think you were very brave to stay inside to help the little ones out.”

Joan looked to see Mother standing close by, holding little Johnny and with the other three children clinging to her. “I’m so glad they’re safe,” Joan said. Then she looked past her father to the burning house, which was still smoking and smoldering. “Can they save our house?” she asked, with tears in her eyes.

“Not completely,” Dad answered, “but we do have some fire insurance. And even if our home was burned, God was still good to us, because all of our family is safe. We must be thankful for that.” Dad put his arm around Bill and said, “We’re proud of you both for your bravery and quick thinking. We’ll go to Aunt Jane’s house till we decide what to do about our house.”

Then Bill and Joan looked straight at each other and said a silent prayer of thanks that God had helped them save their brothers and sisters from the fire.

Taken from Lost in the Desert and Other Stories, Pacific Press Publishing Assoc., 1972.

False Revivals – Angels of Light Personated

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The enemy is preparing to deceive the whole world by his miracle-working power. He will assume to personate the angels of light, to personate Jesus Christ.” Maranatha, 207.

“Satan…comes as an angel of light…by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.”
Early Writings, 261.

“God’s people will not endure the test unless there is a revival and a reformation.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 285. “The Lord calls for a revival among His people, an acknowledgment of the peculiar obligations He places upon them.” Review and Herald, August 5, 1909.

“Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the Word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts. . . . God calls for a revival and a reformation.” Prophets and Kings, 626.

God sends a Revival of Primitive Godliness The Holy Spirit is Poured Out

“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children.” Maranatha, 33. “The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to a revival of true religion and to the performance of many wonderful works.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 57.

The Old Truths, the Law of God is Restored

“God’s remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform.…” Conflict and Courage, 269. “It is only as the law of God is restored to its rightful position that there can be a revival of primitive faith and godliness among His professed people. ‘Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein…’ Jeremiah 6:16.” The Faith I Live By, 326. “In the last days knowledge shall be increased. There are new truths to be revealed to the humble seeker. The teachings of God’s Word are to be freed from the errors and superstition with which they have been encumbered.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 186. “Great reforms are to be made. Many changes will be required as we strive to advance the cause of reform.” The Health Food Ministry, 50.

True Worship is Restored

“A great religious awakening…is foretold in the prophecy of the First Angel’s Message of Revelation 14.” The Great Controversy, 355. “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7.

“The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” John 4:23. “Unless correct ideas of true worship and true reverence are impressed upon the people, there will be a growing tendency to place the sacred and eternal on a level with common things, and those professing the truth will be an offense to God and a disgrace to religion.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 500.

“[After] the Babylonish captivity the Israelites…gave much attention to religious instruction and to the study of that which had been written in the book of the law and in the prophets concerning the worship of the true God.” Prophets and Kings, 705.

Satan Counterfeits the “Work” of Christ

“Whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 142.

“Satan has ever been ambitious to counterfeit the work of Christ, and establish his own power and claims. He does not generally do this openly and boldly. He is artful, and knows that the most effectual way for him to accomplish his work is to come to poor fallen man in the form of an angel of light.” Messages to Young People, 57. “The devil has as much power to imitate and counterfeit the work of God as he did in Moses’ time.…” Ellen G. White: The Early Years, vol. 1, 77.

“…pray for divine enlightenment …that when the wonderful miracle-working power of Satan shall be displayed, and the enemy shall come as an angel of light, you may distinguish between the genuine work of God and the imitative work of the powers of darkness.” Review and Herald, December 24, 1889.

A False (Counterfeit) Revival Comes First

“At every revival of God’s work the prince of evil is aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and His followers. The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.” The Great Controversy, 593.

“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.…The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing [Holy Spirit] is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest.…There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God’s Word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements.” Ibid., 464.

False Revival—Reforms of Error not Truth

“I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations would increase, and spread. The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse.…” Review and Herald, August 1, 1849.

“In many of the revivals…There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived.…Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God’s blessing
is not bestowed.” The Great Controversy, 464.

False Revival (Celebration)—Counterfeits True Worship

“An enemy has been at work to destroy our faith in the sacredness of Christian worship.” Child Guidance, 541. “Whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God. Therefore we need to be exceedingly careful, and walk humbly before God, that we may have spiritual eyesalve that we may distinguish the working of the Holy Spirit of God from the working of that spirit that would bring in wild license and fanaticism.” Review and Herald, February 6, 1894.

False Excitement, Strange Forms of Worship

“New and strange things will continually arise to lead God’s people into false excitement, religious revivals, and curious developments.…Fanaticism will take the place of well-regulated, well-disciplined, heaven-ordained efforts to carry forward the work to its completion.…” “People should not be educated to think that religion of an emotional order, bordering on fanaticism, is the only pure religion.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 17, 21.

Strange Performances—Drama, Theatrics

“I am instructed that we shall meet with all kinds of experiences and that men will try to bring strange performances into the work of God.…In my very first labors the message was given that all theatrical performances in connection with the preaching of present truth were to be discouraged and forbidden.…The light given me was, ‘Give this no sanction.’ These performances, which savored of the theatrical, were to have no place in the proclamation of the solemn messages entrusted to us.” Evangelism, 137.

Satan (Counterfeits) Personates the Holy Spirit

“I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son.…Before the throne I saw the Advent people—the church and the world. I saw two companies, one bowed down before the throne, deeply interested, while the other stood uninterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him.…I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and most of those who were bowed down arose with Him. I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after He arose, and they were left in perfect darkness.…I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us Thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace.” Early Writings, 55, 56.

They Believe the Holy Spirit is Blessing Them

“The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing.…And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.…the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 36, 37.

Signs and Lying Wonders

“Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, [they who reject the First Angel’s Message] offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.…He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.” Early Writings, 261.

“I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches…and before the loud cry of the Third Angel is given, he [Satan] raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those who have rejected the truth may think that God is with them. He hopes to deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for the churches.” Ibid.

Rejecting the Cleansing (Sanctuary) Message Prepares the Way for the False Revival

“Those who rejected the first [angel’s] message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the Third Angel’s Message, which shows the way into the most holy place.…Therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.…He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.” Early Writings, 260, 261.

“If we are firmly fixed upon the present truth, and have our hope, like an anchor of the soul, cast within the second veil, the various winds of false doctrine and error cannot move us. The excitements and false reformations of this day do not move us, for we know that the Master of the house rose up in 1844, and shut the door of the first apartment of the heavenly tabernacle; and now we certainly expect that they will ‘go with their flocks,’ ‘to seek the Lord; but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself (within the second veil) from them.’ The Lord has shown me that the power which is with them is a mere human influence, and not the power of God” The Present Truth, March 1, 1850.

False Revival—Moves the Emotions Not the Heart

“The character and tendency of modern revivals…have given no evidence of the work of the Spirit of God.…Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to the imagination, by exciting the emotions, by pandering to the love for what is new and startling. Converts thus gained have no more desire to listen to Bible truths, no more interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles, than has the novel-reader. Unless a religious service has something of a sensational character, it has no attractions for them.” Spirit of Prophecy, Book 4, 294.

“There are two extremes to be avoided: one is the shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, and running into the spirit of revivalists in this age…and weaving into the labors an element which moves the feelings but leaves the heart unchanged. A sensational religion is to be dreaded, for it is hard work…to ever make the individuals feel that they must go deeper than mere emotional exercise; that they must practice true godliness.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 101.

False Revivals—Produce False Conversions

“How much I have thought upon the popular revivals.…Advantage is taken of the impulses of the moment…Reformation in life is needed, but the reformation made under excitement will seldom outlast the excitement in which it originated. Conversions made by moving the feelings by the relation of anecdotes and sensational stories, do not bear the impress of Heaven. Heart work is needed. The sinner needs to have a clearly defined understanding of what sin is, and that he must repent of sin, which is the transgression of the law of God. When this is understood the seed is sown for a true and thorough conversion.” Signs of the Times, August 12, 1875.

“Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 27.

“The reason there are so many spurious conversions in these days is that there is so low an appreciation of the law of God. Instead of God’s standard of righteousness, men have erected a standard of their own by which to measure character.…The kindest thing that can be preached to the sinner is the truth of the binding claims of the law of God.” Faith and Works, 96.

True Success is in Preaching the Word of God

“‘Preach the word.’ Compared with the Word, everything else is weakness itself. The Word of God is the weapon of our warfare. Educate, train the people to be doers of the Word.…” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 188. “In the truth there is a power which no outward appearance or display can give, which no worldly suppositions or opinions can change or alter.” Medical Ministry, 161. “We do not want a sensational religion; but we want a religion founded on intelligent faith. This faith plants its feet on the eternal rock of God’s word.” Review and Herald, April 9, 1889. “We must not have a sensational religion, which has no root in truth.” Gospel Workers, 228.

Those Who Feed on the Sensational are Led Away by Satan’s Temptations

“Educate the people to have a sound, solid experience, and do not create in them an appetite for something new and strange and startling. These are the very things which those who are weak in moral power crave as the liquor drinker craves liquor, and the result is that they are not sound in the understanding of the Word. They have not root in themselves, and when the masterly working of Satan shall be made manifest, and he shall perform miracles to testify that he is Christ, those who have been controlled by feeling, who have fed on the sensational, and have been seeking for strange things, will be carried away, because they are not feeding on Christ.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 188.

“The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to false worship. To the loyal heart.…truth will be obeyed though the result be imprisonment or exile or death.” Prophets and Kings, 512.

[All emphasis supplied.]

Children’s Story – The Birthday Card, Part I

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Pam pushed her chair back from the table. She was glad it was Helen’s turn to help with the dishes. But Helen stood up and said, “Come on, Mother. We have to go or we will be late.”

“Go where?” Daddy asked.

“It’s Helen’s orchestra practice tonight,” Mother told him.

Mr. Young looked at his wife with concern. “You’re tired enough now to call it a day,” he said. “If I didn’t have that man coming—”

Mother got up from the table and picked up a few of the dishes. “No, I can take her,” she said. “I’ll go on to Aunt Nona’s and wait there until Helen is through.”

Pam slipped out of her chair and went quickly to her room while the rest of the family was talking.

The next day was Mother’s birthday, and Pam was painting a card for her. She had finished the design in art class at school. It was a picture of a vase of beautiful red roses, Mother’s favorite flower. Tonight Pam must do the gold lettering.

As Pam worked in her room, she heard the car go out of the driveway. Mother must have stacked the dishes in the sink. She and Helen hadn’t had time to wash them. Pam shrugged and turned to her painting. The dishes were not her responsibility for that night. It was Helen’s turn to help with them. “I LOVE” painted slowly and carefully.

A tapping on the window startled her. But it was only her girl friend, Leslie, who lived across the driveway.

“Come on out,” she urged when Pam opened the window. “I have something to show you.”

“I can’t. I have to finish the card I’m painting for my mother’s birthday tomorrow.”

“Please, Pam. Just for a minute,” Leslie pleaded.

“W–well—just for a minute,” Pam finally consented.

Leslie had a new bike. She let Pam ride it to the end of the block. When Pam came back, they sat on the front steps and talked until Pam said she must go in and finish her card.

She was settled at her desk again when the doorbell rang. “Not another interruption,” she thought impatiently. “I’ll never get this card finished.”

But this time it was only the man who had come to see her father.

“YOU” she painted. Then she held the card at arm’s length from her to be sure it looked right. She wished the man visiting her father would go home so she could show the card to her father. She had to sign her name, and then the card would be finished. She shouldn’t have talked to Leslie so long. She was really getting tired and sleepy. Maybe a glass of orange juice would wake her up.

Pam went to the kitchen. In the sink and on the stove were the unwashed dishes and pans. She really had forgotten about them. Of course Mother would do them when she got home, for she would not leave them until morning. There was always too much of a rush then. Instead of getting the orange juice, Pam turned and went slowly back to her room.

At her desk she picked up the card for her mother and read the words she had painted, “I LOVE YOU.” Her mouth drew into a troubled pucker, and she frowned as she read the words again, aloud, “I LOVE YOU.”

To be continued…

Children’s Story – The Birthday Card, Part II

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In our story last month, we read about Pam making a birthday card for her mother. She had just finished putting the final touches of “I LOVE YOU” on her Mother’s card when she saw the stack of dirty dishes
in the kitchen.

Suddenly Pam put down the card and started back to the kitchen. Glasses first, then silverware, then china; that’s the way Mother liked to have it done. Pam washed and rinsed them carefully but quickly. Finally she had the last pan dried and put away, with only the sink left to clean.

The visitor left and Dad came to the kitchen.

“What are you doing up so late, Pam?” he asked.

“I washed the dishes for Mother,” she told him as she made a last clean-up swirl of the dishcloth on the sink.

“Good girl. Tomorrow is Mother’s birthday, you know,” Father said.

“I know. Wait a minute,” said Pam as she hurried out of the kitchen. She flew to her room and came back with the birthday card.

“That’s lovely,” her father told her. “You mean you did the roses and everything?”

“Sure. But I still have to put my name on it,” Pam replied.

Her father looked at the kitchen clock and said, “Not tonight, Pam. It’s much too late. If you don’t get it signed at all, Mother will know it’s from you.”

In her room, Pam stood by her desk. She was really very sleepy. Maybe her father was right. Maybe the card didn’t need to be signed. She would put it at Mother’s place at the table right now, she suddenly decided. Her mother would see it the first thing in the morning.

She was half-asleep when Mother and Helen came home. She heard Helen go to her room. Then Mother came to Pam’s bedroom door.

“Pammie,” she said softly. “Are you awake?”

“Yes,” Pam answered sleepily.

Her mother came in and stood by her bed. “It’s wonderful to come home and find all those dishes washed,” she said.

Pam wondered if Mother had seen the birthday card on the table.

“And the card is beautiful, just beautiful, Pammie,” Mother continued. The words came in jerks as if it might not be easy for Mother to talk.

“I didn’t get it signed.” Pam apologized.

“It didn’t need to be,” Mother said, and she leaned over and kissed Pam’s forehead. “Even the ‘I LOVE YOU’ wasn’t really necessary, though it’s beautifully done. You see, the dishes had already told me that.”

Pam giggled happily and snuggled into her pillow. “As if dishes could talk,” she said. But she knew what Mother meant. The best way to tell people you love them is to do something that will help them, like washing a stack of dirty dishes.

Children’s Story – The Big Six

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Bill pounced on his friend the minute he stepped into the yard. “Hi, Jack,” he said. “You got my test ready?” Bill’s face was red, and his heart was thumping like the bass drum in the school band. This was the day he had been waiting for.

The Big Six were about the best group of boys in Grant School. They had finally asked him to join them. Now, if he passed the “test” that the fellows had decided on, he would be a member in good standing of the Big Six.

Jack leaned lazily against the garage wall and grinned at him. “Sure, I’ve got your test ready, but let me give you a word of advice. Use your head, Bill. The test isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

“What do I have to do?” Bill gulped.

“See that basket?” Jack said as he pointed to a picnic basket swinging from the handlebars of his bike. “We’re going to Mrs. Barker’s house, down the street. You are to catch her small cat, Tiger, put him in the basket, and take him out on Willow Road and dump him.”

“Dump the cat?” Bill thought he had heard wrong.

“What did you think you would dump? The basket?” Jack frowned at him. “You’ve heard that old saying, ‘A cat always comes back,’ haven’t you? We want to prove it one way or the other today.”

Bill pedaled along to Mrs. Barker’s, feeling as if he were in a bad dream. He had thought of lots of tests, but nothing like this. Climbing a tree, or doing a lot of push-ups—that was the sort of test he’d been expecting.

Outside the neat, white fence that enclosed Mrs. Barker’s house and garden, Jack stopped and shoved the basket at Bill. “Go on,” he ordered. “You’re on your own now.”

With dragging feet, Bill crept along behind the tall bushes of lilacs that shut off the view of anyone in the house. When he reached the last clump of shrubbery, he was still several feet from the small, striped kitten. Tiger was curled up in a tight little ball under a big rose bush.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” he called softly, but in his heart he was begging the kitten to run away. Tiger pricked up his sharp black ears and stared at Bill with eyes as yellow as the roses on the bush over his head. He must have liked what he saw, for he began walking daintily across the grass to Bill.

Bill wiped the sweat from his forehead and groaned. His stomach felt sick. This little kitten would never find his way home from Willow Road! Never!

But if Bill failed his “test” the Big Six would ask some other boy to join them. He wouldn’t get to go camping with them next summer. He wouldn’t get to play in the big tree house in Jack’s backyard. Bill’s thoughts raced like the horses on a merry-go-round. With a quick grab he picked up Tiger and popped him into the basket. “Shame on you,” a little voice seemed to say. “That kitten trusted you.”

It was awfully still in the basket. Could Tiger be smothered? Bill pressed his ear to the side of the basket and listened. What he heard made him feel worse yet. The kitten was purring happily.

“Come on! Hurry up!” Jack was impatient.

Bill didn’t even answer. He lifted the lid of the basket and set Tiger gently on the grass. “I’d never have any fun with the Big Six, remembering what I had done to you,” he told the kitten.

Slowly Bill plodded out to the alley where Jack was waiting. What a day this had turned out to be!

“Why did you take the kitten out of the basket?” Jack asked, with a funny smile on his face.

Bill’s face burned with anger. “I don’t treat animals that way,” he shouted. “I don’t care if I did fail the test! I don’t want to belong to a group with boys like you in it!”

“Atta boy, Bill!” Jack began slapping him on the back. And then they were all there, all the members of the Big Six, tumbling out from behind the garage where they had been hiding.

“Good old Bill,” they were shouting. “We knew you’d pass the test!”

“What’s going on?” Bill asked. “I flunked the test, didn’t I?”

“You passed with flying colors,” Jack told him. “If you had taken the kitten, then you’d have failed! Don’t you remember my telling you to be sure to use your head?”

“You didn’t want me to dump Tiger?” Bill still couldn’t understand what had happened.

“Of course not,” said Jack. “If you had taken Tiger out of the yard, I would have taken him away from you and told you that you failed the test.”

Bill smiled slowly into the five faces beaming at him. He felt good. His friends were the kind of boys he had thought they were, and he had passed his test.

Children’s Story – The Littlest Firefighter

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In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of leukemia. (That is a cancer in the blood.) Her heart was filled with sadness; like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and to fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son’s dreams to come true.

She took his little hand into hers, and asked, “Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be when you grew up?”

“Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.”

Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can make that happen now.”

Later that day she went to her local fire department where she met Fireman Bob. She explained her six-year-old son’s wish and asked if it might be possible to give him a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, “Look, we can do better than that. If you’ll have your son ready at seven o’clock Wednesday morning, we’ll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls—the whole nine yards! And if you’ll give us his sizes, we’ll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat—not a toy one, but one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it—a yellow slicker like we wear, and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast.”

Three days later Fireman Bob escorted Billy, dressed in his fire uniform, from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was thrilled!

There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day, and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, in the paramedic’s van, and even in the fire chief’s car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.

One night, several weeks later, all of Billy’s vital signs began to drop dramatically, and the head nurse, who believed that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the fire chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he died.

The chief replied, “We can do better than that. We’ll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, announce over the PA system that there is no fire, it’s just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?”

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy’s third floor open window. Sixteen firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy’s room. With his mother’s permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and asked, “Chief, am I really a fireman now?”

“Billy, you are,” the chief said.

I believe that friends are like angels who lift us to our feet when we have trouble. We can be that kind of friend. Even though you might be young, you can do a good deed for someone. Put your arm around a friend who feels bad, and let them know that you love them.

In God’s law there are ten commands. The first four commands tell us how to love and worship God, but the last six tell us how to love and care for each other.

It is very important to Jesus that we be kind to each other and love each other—then, He says, people will really know that we are His children.

Children’s Story – Baby Duck

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Margaret was sure she had noticed something as she walked through her parent’s garden—it was something unusual, and she was sure she had not seen it there before. She called her son Neil, and together they looked under the bushes and around the plants. Yes, there it was—a baby duckling! It was a fluffy, black duckling, which looked very lost. There were no ponds or lakes nearby, not even a river, so where had it come from?

Margaret asked all the neighbors, but no one had lost a little duckling. So the family adopted it and took it to the bottom of the garden where they made a safe, fenced-in cage for it so that the cats, foxes and other animals could not get at it. Inside they put a bowl of water, big enough so the baby duck could paddle in safety, and another, smaller bowl of water where they could put the duckling’s food. They had noticed it did not like to eat its food from a dry bowl. They watched to see which food it liked the best, and everyone in the family loved spending time feeding “Duck,” as they named it.

Every night Duck was carefully put into the garden shed where the family had made a nest of straw and where it could move around and be safe from owls and other night creatures. Truly no duck was ever cared for more than Duck.

One day when Granddad was digging the garden he thought Duck might like to wander in the garden—maybe Duck would like to eat the garden insects. So it proved, for Duck would follow Granddad around, as he worked in the garden, and Duck just loved the worms and other things that Granddad dug up.

Granddad grew quite fond of Duck, and the two of them would often be seen at the bottom of the garden—Duck eagerly waiting for a tasty treat, or waddling behind Granddad as he walked down the rows. Grand-dad even talked to Duck! Always, though, Duck would be put in the garden shed at night, where it was safe.

As Duck grew, it lost its fluffiness, its feathers grew, and it learned that it had wings! It would flap them sometimes, and as more feathers grew it would flap its wings more often. Then came the day that Duck actually flew—only a few feet at first, but then more and more. Finally, one day Duck flapped its wings and flew right over the fence and hedge and out of sight. The family members were heartbroken. They left the cage door open and the shed door, too. Maybe Duck would fly back, but it never did. The family was very sad, because they had tried hard to make Duck’s life a very happy one. They had catered to its every need.

This story reminds me of Jesus and of what He does for us. Each day He shows us how much He loves us by sending our guardian angels to protect us, by giving us our mommies and daddies to love us and to care for us. He gives us wonderful food to eat and the beauties of nature to enjoy. He has made mansions in heaven for us where there will be no more sadness, no more illness, and we will be with Him forevermore. Are we happy with His gifts, or are we tempted, by all the earthly pleasures with which Satan tries to tempt us, to wander away from Him? Let us strive to be like Jesus and to help finish the work He has asked us to do, so we may soon go to live with Him in heaven.

Children’s Story – Two Trees

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On a day when the spring blossoms scented the air and soft breezes came as from heaven, two saplings were planted on the side of a lovely hill. Being nothing more than twigs, they needed to be nurtured and to be protected from many things.

The man who planted them was very wise. He was diligent and faithful in caring for these baby trees. He had chosen a location on the hill where the sky expanded in glory above them.

The saplings longed to reach the heights of the sky and to be in the freedom of its atmosphere. They longed to be as strong and majestic as the older trees higher up on the hill. They both wanted to be as great as a tree could be.

The man wanted the same for them, so with twine he tied each sapling to a stake, which he had driven into the ground next to them. This would prevent a strong wind from blowing them over and possibly uprooting them.

The first sapling understood its restraint and support and was grateful to have a caring man watch over it. The second sapling wanted no such discipline and struggled to free itself by bending and twisting this way and that as it grew.

The seasons changed—spring to summer to fall to winter. Round and round the seasons went, until years had passed. The young trees had been tenderly watered, pruned, and protected. However, while the first tree allowed the man to direct its growth, the second tree fought all the time against everything the man tried to do for it. It attempted to become great and mighty on its own.

The day at long last came when it was time to remove the stakes and twine. The man examined the trees. The first tree gave great pleasure to the man. It was full of fine, colored leaves and sturdy, thick branches. It waved in the breeze, tall and proud. It gave glory to its kind. It surpassed the height of the older trees and was admired by all that saw it. Birds had deemed it one of the finest trees around, and the many, different nests among the branches testified to that.

The second tree baffled the man. It was in the same soil as the first tree, and it had received the same care, yet it looked sickly. Only half the size of the first tree, its branches were bent and weak. The trunk looked as though it had been pushed over. It lived in the shadow of the first tree, and it sadly had lost its desire to reach the sky.

By obeying Jesus, we can grow to be like the first tree, strong and firm. (See Psalms 1:3; 92:12; Jeremiah 17:8.) However, when we choose our own way, we can become weak and twisted like the second tree. (See Matthew 3:10; 7:19.) Jesus wants to make you mighty. Will you let Him?

Children’s Story – To Be Caught Was to Die

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This story is about Amanda, a young Waldensian girl living in one of the Piedmont valleys of northern Italy. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, as it had been for centuries, it was a death penalty to own or to read a Bible.

For hundreds of years, through ages of persecution, the Waldenses secretly had Bibles hidden. They read and memorized them, and secretly distributed them to those who could read throughout all of Europe. Many of the Waldenses were caught and martyred. At times, crusades [papal armies] were sent out to destroy all the Waldenses, but God always preserved a remnant. It was the seeds from their witness and from the Bibles they distributed that eventually helped to bring about a reformation and religious freedom throughout Europe.

As Amanda grew, her mother carefully instilled within her the treasures of the Bible that she herself had learned at her mother’s knee. When very young, she had already memorized large portions of Scripture. She was also drilled in the importance of secrecy and of the danger of owning such a Book. To be caught was to die, but to read it and obey it was to have eternal life.

One day, suddenly and unexpectedly, it happened. Father was gone, and Mother was kneading the bread dough, getting ready to put it into pans for the oven. Mother, as usual when no one was around, had her Bible open upon the table. This was a time when she often memorized. It was at that instant that Amanda heard hoof beats coming around the trail to their valley home at the foot of the mountains. They were almost upon them before she heard the sound. She just had time to peek out to see two soldiers jumping off their horses in front of the door!

“Mother!” she gasped, “Mother, they are soldiers!” That is all she needed to say. She knew they were caught, for the soldiers did not wait to knock; they simply kicked the door open and walked in, looking for the Book. To be caught was to die, and Amanda knew they were caught! The Bible was right there, and there had been no time to hide it!

“Where is the Book!” they demanded. “You have been reported as having a Bible. Turn it over to us now.” Amanda was shocked. Surely they could see the Bible lying open right there upon the table. She looked at her mother, but the Bible was not there! Where was it? All she saw was Mother calmly putting the last pan of bread into the oven as though this was an every day occurrence, and she could not be bothered until her bread was safely baking.

Then turning around, Mother simply said, “I do not know who could have reported such a thing. You will not find a Bible in this house. You can search if you like.”

“Why, Mother!” Amanda thought to herself, for she had been taught never to lie. Now, of course, if the soldiers could not find the Bible, her mother had not lied, but how could she be so sure they would not? How could her mother be so calm, Amanda wondered. How could Mother have hidden it so quickly? and where? She had not moved from where she had been standing while kneading the bread. It was a mystery too great for her to ponder.

To be continued…

Children’s Story – To Be Caught Was to Die, Part II

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In Part 1 of our story, the home where Amanda, a young Waldensian girl, lived with her parents was being searched by soldiers who had been told the family had a Bible. To be caught with a Bible was to die!

One soldier kept a careful eye on Amanda and her mother, while the other began to ransack the house.

Amanda watched with amazement as he went from corner to corner, not missing a nook or cranny. He tested all the boards of the floor and the timber of the walls to see if there might be a secret hiding place. Obviously he had done this before.

He came to where Mother had been making her bread. Surely he would find it now! He opened the firebox to see if there were any remnants of a burnt book inside. Where could Mother have hidden it, and how could she maintain such calmness and composure? The soldier opened the cupboards and emptied them. He opened the oven door, but all that was there were loaves of bread baking.

“I told you that you would not find a Bible in this house,” Mother reminded them. Amanda was beginning to believe her. Finally, in frustration, they left, thinking they had received a false report.

Amanda held her breath until they could no longer hear the horses. Then, still whispering from fear, Amanda asked, “Mother, wherever did you put the Bible?”

“Let me take the bread out of the oven first; I was afraid it might get too done before they left. . . . There now, doesn’t that look fine?” Mother said, holding up the first loaf. “Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord always provides for our needs? Dear, we must thank the Lord for protecting us, for surely if He had not sent His angel we would have been caught.”

“But, Mother, where is the Bible? Did an angel really take it?”

“Not exactly, my dear,” Mother answered. “But an angel did tell me what to do. Come, let us kneel and thank God for His protection.”

“Now, dear,” said Mother upon rising from her knees, “We will have some fresh bread for supper when Father comes. He should be here shortly.” Then, as though remembering Amanda’s question, she said, “You will find out about the Bible then.”

Now Amanda watched the path for Father. Upon seeing him, she ran to give him the exciting details of the day. “Wherever Mother put the Bible I do not know,” Amanda said breathlessly.

The house was still a wreck, but the table was set, and there in the middle of it was a loaf of bread. It was not the prettiest loaf of bread, as Mother had evidently not had time to smooth it out when the soldiers came. After grace, Mother cut the bread. Usually Father cut it, but this time Mother insisted. How carefully, almost reverently, she cut through the crust, as though this loaf of bread was the most precious thing on earth.

“Mother! There is the Bible!” Amanda exclaimed. Cautiously, Mother peeled the bread away from the precious Book. It seemed undamaged, as though miraculously preserved.

“So that is what happened to the Bible!” said Amanda in wonder. “You wrapped it in the bread dough and stuck it in the oven. Surely, if you had not been studying the Bible while making your bread you could not have hidden it, and the soldiers would have found it.”

“That is right,” said Mother. “When the soldiers came, I did not have time to even think. It was as if an angel spoke to me, and my hands immediately complied. I wrapped the Bible in the bread dough, put it in the last loaf pan, and put it into the oven. I would never have been able to think of it so quickly. Surely the Lord has protected us.”

Reprinted from https://www.StepstoLife.org (cited June 7, 2002).