As we enter into a new year it might be wise to read the following on a daily basis:

What if . . . God couldn’t take the time to bless us today because we could not take the time to thank Him yesterday . . .

What if . . . God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we didn’t follow Him today . . .

What if . . . God didn’t walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as His day . . .

What if . . . We never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain . . .

What if . . . God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others . . .

What if . . . God took away the Bible tomorrow because we would not read it today . . .

What if . . . God took away His message because we failed to listen to His messenger . . .

What if . . . God didn’t send His only begotten Son because He wanted us to prepare to pay the price of sin . . .

What if . . . The door to the church was closed because we did not open the door of our hearts . . .

What if . . . God would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him yesterday . . .

What if . . . God answered our prayers the way we answer His call to service . . .

What if . . . God met our needs the way we give Him our lives . . .

—CC—

Speaking of the new year, one of our readers shared the following. If we followed these we might enjoy the next twelve months a lot more --

The Second Ten Commandments

1. Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

2. Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

3. Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

4. Thou shall face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway.

5. Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

6. Thou shall not borrow other people’s problems. They can better care for them than you can.

7. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!

8. Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.

9. Thou shall not become “bogged down” by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

10. Thou shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.

—CC—

Chicago video fans watching station WBKB’s “Curbstone Cutup” program usually see half a dozen people interviewed under the marquee of the State-Lake Theater. But one night the entire 15 minutes of the program was devoted to an interview with two little girls, Beverly and Janice Fetzer, aged 13 and 11.

How had the girls spent their summer? How were they getting on in school?

Television fans couldn’t understand why the youngsters were allowed to monopolize the program. A few impatient viewers even called WBKB. What the people of Chicago did not know on that warm summer’s night was that for 14 months, Joseph Fetzer, father of the girls, had been dying of tuberculosis in an isolation ward of Chicago’s Municipal Tuberculosis sanatorium. And for 14 months he had been prevented from seeing his children by a rigid rule that denied children under 16 entry into an isolation ward.

When Joseph Fetzer knew the end was near he made one last request—that he see his children. He himself suggested television as the only possible way. Officials of Station WBKB agreed at once. And so that was how Joseph Fetzer had one last and loving look at Beverly and Janice—the night before he died.

—CC—

Attending church this new year should be a top priority for all of us. With that in mind, Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz share some very helpful tips on “How to Stay Awake During A Boring Sermon.”

Most preachers deliver a sermon that is worth staying awake for. But every once in a while, even the best pulpit pounder has an off day. To preserve the dignity of our pastor, and to avoid your own embarrassment, you need to develop techniques for staying awake on those rare Sundays when the sermon is a dud.

1. Doodling. This is a traditional technique. It was this very method that prompted the invention of the church bulletin. People needed a place to make their doodle drawings (someplace other than on the inside cover of their Bibles). If the preacher in a church is consistently boring, then the church might even provide little pencils in the hymnal rack. Church officials will insist that those stubby pencils are for visitors to fill out a registration card, but now you know the real reason.

2. Mental Games. You aren’t likely to fall asleep if you keep your mind stimulated. We suggest trying to remember the names of all fifty states. For people who are more spiritual, attempt to mentally recite the names of all sixtysix books of the Bible.

3. List Making. This is a combination of both the “doodling” and the “mental games” techniques. In addition to keeping you alert, with this strategy other people in the church will consider you to be deeply spiritual if you can extract noteworthy insights from a sermon that they consider to be boring. (Caution: Make sure that you write your list discreetly. They won’t think you are very spiritual if they can look over your shoulder and see the words Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri on your paper.)

4. Visual Hypotheticals. There may be times when you might be stranded in church without paper or a writing implement. (Sometimes those little pew pencils are worn down and it isn’t from being overused by visitors filling out registration cards.) If you can’t doodle and are too groggy to make lists or play mental games, try to stay awake by stimulating your ocular muscles and your 6. Discreet Sleeping. Sometimes you might be tired and drowsy when you walk into the sanctuary. When this happens, you already know that you are probably going to fall asleep during the sermon (even if it is a really great one). In such cases, you can’t fight the urge to sleep,