The Reverend A. Henry Orr in The Australian Baptist Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Some years ago, a little old Church that had stood for centuries on the south coast of England, was destroyed in a great storm. The villagers talked about rebuilding it. ... Almost a year passed, and still they had not sufficient funds to start the work.

Then one day the minister had an important visitor—a representative of the British Admiralty! It transpired that the official had come to inquire about the rebuilding of the Church. The minister explained the lack of funds.

"Well," said the representative of the British Navy, "if you don't rebuild that Church, we will! That spire is on all our maps and charts. It is a landmark by which our ships steer their courses. We must have the Church back in its place."

I wonder if the storms of life have taken away your spiritual landmarks? Sometimes that happens. In hours of stress and suffering men often forsake the Church and lose their faith in God. People often say to me, "Well, I suppose suffering is good, it brings you nearer God." With some people that is true. ... But not always so. ... Many a cynic has taken his first steps of bitterness after some personal or domestic tragedy.

The storms of life come to us all, and they never leave us the same as they find us. ... May I ask you, did some sorrow or reverse years ago destroy the ancient landmark? I want to say to you what the man from the Admiralty said to the minister, "We must have the Church back in its place." And you know what I mean by that. The Church is the symbol of faith, the sign of God. Build it again in your life.

The Reverend J. Richard Sneed, D.D. as reported in the Los Angeles [California] Times

Today's tragedy is ... the man who despairs of himself, the man with an "inferiority complex," the Rev. J. Richard Sneed, pastor of the First Methodist Church told a congregation.

Taking as his text, "Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee. ... For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (II Tim. 1:6, 7), Dr. Sneed said that "the New Testament's well-established emphasis on 'love thy neighbour' is also facing an immediate personal application, 'love thyself, or cease, at least, from despising thyself.' "

Dr. Sneed quoted an old preacher who he said was probably nearer the Gospel truth than he realized: "God never made a no-body yet." He said that "that is why the inferiority complex which roots in such profound personal doubt and self-distrust must be the object of Christian concern and cure. The Christian Gospel despairs of no man. ... Let then no man despair of himself.

"The sovereign remedy for inferiority, like all other tensions such as fear, anxiety, insecurity and those things which produce sick minds and bodies, is a living faith in God. .."

Dr. Sneed added that "today's biggest question is how to apply God's gift of power, of love, of a sound mind." He listed some of the ways to accomplish this.

"Cease to be preoccupied with your own thoughts and feelings and interest yourself in the service of others. Save your life, as Jesus suggested, by losing it.

"Quit trying to be someone else. Your own life is a plan of God. So, instead of hero-worshipping another, be yourself at your best, with God's help.

"Refuse to think negatively about yourself, and don't build up obstacles in your imagination."

As a final suggestion Dr. Sneed said to "know that God is with you, that He helps you to win. Know that when your Creator is for you that nothing effectively can prevail against you. God judges you not by what you have, but by what you are doing with what you have. So take heart and live."

The Reverend Wesley Parker in The New Zealand Herald Auckland, New Zealand

The greatest power in the world is the power of the Spirit of God. ... We have failed to take into account the eternal might of an omnipotent God.

Every age has its scoffers who will dismiss the Gospel as "sheer folly." ... "Hath not God," [Paul] said, "made foolish the wisdom of this world? ... God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."

And God is doing it again. We are seeing it in our midst. The Gospel which the world dubs foolishness is the most powerful influence that can be brought to bear upon the lives of men. It is "the power of God unto salvation." It can break through where nothing else can.

The man who turns his life over to God does so in response to an impact of the Spirit of God upon his mind and heart; and in so doing he enters into a new dimension of human experience. He has a newfound joy, a new sense of inward peace, a new sense of power to do what before he could not and a new desire to do what before he would not. ... The Bible says that the "man ... in Christ" is a new man. He is born again. He is "a new creature."