The God of the Towel

Summary

Since childhood, you've sung the words, "Jesus loves me, this I know." The tune is as familiar as your own mirrored reflection. But sometimes we have difficulty believe that the creator and sustainer of the universe could be bothered with people like you

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Never Underestimate the Power of Good
The Power ofAggressive Good
An Inspirational Message from
Good Thinking !
The Power of Good Thoughts
An Inspirational Message from
It's a Great Day to Be Alive!
The Power of Good Healthand Habits
An Inspirational Message from
What's the Good Word?
The Power of Good inCommunication
An Inspirational Message from
Making Good Grades
The Power of Good in Education
An Inspirational Message from
Good Morning, Darling
The Power of Good in Your Family
An Inspirational Message from
As Good As Gold
The Power of Money Used for Good
An Inspirational Message from
Good News, Bad News
The Power of Good in the Media
An Inspirational Message from
The Good-Neighbor Policy
The Power of Good in theCommunity
An Inspirational Message from
For God Alone Is Good
The Powerful Source of All Good
An Inspirational Message from
Mouw Benediction Resources and Opportunities Top Ten Television Advertisers
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Excerpts

From Chapter Two Allowances How does God view the weak? He loves them and gave his Son todie for them. How does he view weakness--moral and spiritual weakness, Imean? He tolerates it. He labors to free us from weakness andbring us to maturity, but he doesn't view weakness asintolerable. How does God view the weak? The answer to this question isimportant, because it determines how God feels toward us all. Itis true to say that some are "weak" and others"strong," but it is also true to say that we are allweak. If God is against the weak, he is against us all. God doesn't extol weakness, but does allow it--he makesallowances for it. He takes into account the background,heritage, environment, and limitations of people. His Servantknows their weak frame and is merciful. He seeks to bring theweak into strength, but he adores them while they're weak. Hechallenges them to better and higher things, but he understandswhen they show vulnerability. William Lyon Phelps was once askedabout the nature of friendship. He replied: What is friendship? Alas, I am able to give you an example. Anumber of years ago a very intimate friend of my college days,whom everyone had regarded as a perfect example of integrity, wasaccused in the newspapers of a crime. I could not believe it. Iwas so certain of his virtue that I wrote him a letter in which Isaid that I and all his friends were certain that he had not doneanything wrong, that he had been slandered, and that he must notfeel too bad about the attack, because as long as he had theinner certainty that he had done nothing wrong, he could remaincalm and serene. I received a very affectionate letter in return,and then a few days later he committed suicide. Of course I can'tbe certain whether I was in any way responsible for this tragedy;but what I am certain of is that I wrote him a very bad letterand that I was untrue in friendship. Some years after this I was the subject of an attack because apress dispatch quoted me as having said something I really hadnot said. I received a letter from one of my former pupils. Thisis what he wrote to me: "I do not believe the report of yourremarks is true. I do not see how you could have said that; but Iwant you to know that even if you did say it, my friendship andaffection for you will always remain the same." That is agood letter. That is friendship. Good for the former pupil! He made it clear to Phelps that heexpected lovely things of him, but he refused to put Phelps in amoral straightjacket. He expected lovely things and called Phelpsto lovely things, but he allowed for failure! He learned thisspirit from Jesus Christ. Words like "weak" and "weakness" occurabout eighty-seven times in the New Testament. Eighteen of themare of interest to us. Listen, there is not a word ofcondemnation in a single mention of weakness. There is noextolling of weakness, and there is no promoting of it; but thereisn't a word of condemnation connected with it. People who saythey will not grow aren't weak, they're rebels! "Weak"(in our discussion) doesn't mean impenitent or callously wicked.It means without strength, infirm. And God is for the weak. Heeven makes some people strong that they might bear theinfirmities of the weak. Our God doesn't patronize the weak. And he doesn't just keepthem around only as long as they show potential for becomingstrong. Our