A Tale of Two Missiles Posted: 23 Jun 2014 02:58 AM PDT Ballistic missiles know their target and they never change course. Once a ballistic missile leaves the ground, it’s going to hit the spot in which it is aimed, no matter what. The problem, however, is that the targets got smart. The targets learned to move while the missile didn’t. For this reason, cybernetic missiles were invented. A cybernetic missile, once programmed, changes course with the target. The cybernetic missile constantly calculates and re-calculates, changing course to stay with the target, no matter what. A cybernetic missile knows its ultimate goal. It has no idea what it must go through, what twists and turns it must take, or what obstacles it must encounter to reach its goal. All it knows is that it’s committed to make whatever adjustments necessary to reach its object. Last week, I wrote about my friend who was stricken with the insidious disease of Alzheimer’s. My friend has changed. Radically so. But I’m just as committed to him and our friendship as I was 22 years ago when we first forged our relationship. Throughout this whole shooting-match called “life,” God has called you to be like a cybernetic missile in many situations. So no matter what changes in the lives or attitudes of others, remember to always Keep the Love On. Source: Frank Viola

7 illustrations from Casey Graham of the Rocket Company

Here are seven interesting stories to save in your files, along with a quick thought on how you could leverage the story in a message.

1. A Texas police officer writes a ticket, but folded a $100 bill inside the citation.  Read the story about grace.  God gives us a great gift, even though we are guilty.
2. Wikepedia, the free encyclopedia that everyone writes, put the mega-staffed, super-popular Microsoft Encarta out of business.  Read the Wikepedia article about Wikepedia and remind your congregation that everybody is better than somebody.
3. Chinese bamboo produces little outward growth for the first four years of its life. Though it’s puny and pitiful, there’s something powerful happening underground.  In the fifth year, the tree grows eighty feet!  We must cultivate our soul and understand that the root comes before the fruit.
4. Starbucks reclaimed four shipping containers and made a pretty cool store.  They say the containers are “reclaimed, refurnished, renewed and revived.” Sounds like what God does in our hearts.
5. There’s a 99.99% soundproof room in Minneapolis that holds the Guinness World’s Record for being the quietest place on earth.  NASA rents it to train astronauts.  Reminds me of what could happen when we heed the words of Psalm 46:10 and be still.
6. Duffy Daughtery was the football coach for the Michigan State Spartans from 1954 to 1972.  At the end of one game, Daughtery sent in his kicker to win the game.  As the kick sailed through the uprights, the kicker looked at the referee.  Why?  Because he had forgotten his contact lens and couldn’t see!  Though he couldn’t see the goalposts, he’d practiced the kick so many times, it was routine.  This story might work great in a message on spiritual disciplines, Bible reading, consistent community or parenting.
7. A famous violinist named Joshua Bell once played for 45 minutes in a Washington DC Metro station. Though he paid a $3 Million violin and had sold out a Boston theater just two nights before, only six people stopped to listen to his music.  What a great story to illustrate that we should never take people for granted.