WEBVTT

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I read something the other day that I thought

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was one of the best things that I have read for

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a long, long time. The writer was telling of

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an incident that happened years ago. And as I

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read it, I thought how well it might have happened

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in Concordia, Missouri, my own little hometown.

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Through the little town every day at exactly

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the same time roared the great Golden State Limited

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train at a terrific rate of speed. Every day

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at exactly the same time, every afternoon, this

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great Golden State Limited just roared through

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this little town. And every day. At exactly the

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same time, the same moment. And old farmer used

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to go down the station to watch the train go

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through the little town. Of course, this was

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the chief item of excitement in that community.

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And he'd lean against the corner of the building,

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his dog beside him. And the little old dog needed

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no telegraph instrument to tell him when the

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train was approaching. The dog knew. And he'd

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go to the end of the platform and stand poised,

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his ears cocked, every muscle of his body tense.

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A beautiful picture of aliveness. And then, as

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the engine drew abreast of him, he'd turn and

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he'd race beside it just as hard as he could

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go. Can't you just see a little old puppy doggy?

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That little... puppy, racing with every ounce

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of strength in his little body, racing abreast

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of that great locomotive. He'd race beside it,

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ears back, barking defiantly until it disappeared

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in a cloud of dust around the curve. One day...

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The old station agent said, say, you know something?

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That's a crazy dog you've got there. Does he

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think he can catch the Golden State Limited?

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Do you think he actually thinks he can catch

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the Golden State Limited? That ain't the craziest

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thing about him, drawled the old farmer. The

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craziest thing about him is what? What would

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he do with it if he did catch it? You want to

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know something? We are all about as foolish as

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that dog. We have caught it. We've caught everything.

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This is a very curious generation. We have practically

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everything. We've got radios. We've got television.

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We've got air conditioning. We've got pensions.

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We've got Social Security. We've got Blue Cross.

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We've got Blue Shield. All of our food is cooked

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for us. All we have to do is to chew it and swallow

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it. And as sure as you're alive today, soon somebody

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will figure out how to do that for us. We've

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got everything. I mean literally everything.

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You want to know something? Last week, a businessman

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showed me the model of the perfect office today.

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It was right here in Pittsburgh. It was all run

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by pressing a button. He sat at the desk. I watched

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him. As he pressed one button, never moved. All

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he had to move was just that one little finger

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of his right hand. He pressed the button. The

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doors opened. He pressed another button. The

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draperies moved. He pressed another button. The

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lights dimmed, exactly as he wished them to be

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dimmed. The whole conversation of anyone in the

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office would be recorded just by pressing a button.

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I am telling you something. You... Never saw

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anything like it in your life. About 20 buttons

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pushed or removed or put back 20 different things.

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And then he got up and said, now I'm going to

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show you something that's very marvelous about

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this perfect office. And he took me to a room

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next to the office. It was a recreation room.

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Bicycles, reducing machines. Massage tables.

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Gadgets galore to take off the fat that you put

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on by doing nothing when you should have been

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doing something. Oh, I don't understand. It's

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a crazy world. It's a crazy people. We have everything.

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And yet, do you want to know something? In the

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final analysis, we have nothing. I can tell you

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one thing. We've never had it so good. We've

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caught it all right. We have everything. Yet,

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we have more heart attacks, more high blood pressure,

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more nervous breakdowns. There are more suicides

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per hundred of population than ever before in

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the history of the world. Our science is superb.

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We have it. We've caught it. And yet, the very

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thing we have caught is the very thing that one

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day will destroy us. God will not have to destroy

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man. God will not destroy man. God will not destroy

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this generation. Man will destroy himself. We

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have gotten so smart. That one of these days

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we're going to wake up to find out that we have

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outsmarted ourselves. Sure. We're scared stiff.

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We have power. We have the atomic power. We've

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caught it. We're not like the little puppy dog

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still running along beside the great locomotive.

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No, ma 'am. We have conquered the locomotive.

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We have it. But now since we have it, what are

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we going to do with it? We're scared stiff that

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this marvelous power will destroy us. We know

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everything, this intelligent generation, except

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one thing, and that is how to live. We have everything

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but one thing, the most important thing. That's

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peace of mind. and peace in the human heart.

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Pause with me just a few minutes. Let's consider

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something. Man must have a faith in and a loyalty

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to something beyond himself. A something that

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gives ultimate meaning, coherence, and a goal

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to life. Without it, man is lost. Without it,

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man has nothing. Without it, he may have everything

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and yet have nothing. Life gives no real meaning

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unless he has God. Believe me, in order to be

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well, in order to be the kind of person you ought

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to be, you must believe in something beyond yourself

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and be loyal to it. Why? Answer is that you were

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made that way. Man was made like that. Structurally

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made that way. That way is stamped on your very

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being. Life needs something beyond itself. Something

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outside oneself to fasten its love and loyalty

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to. Or it will break down. We, of course, believe

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that that someone, that something is God. In

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him, all things cohere. Everything less than

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God will let you down. We must get God back.

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For when God goes, then the basis of our moral

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universe is gone. Today we as a people, today

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we as a nation, everything, you name it, we have

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it. We have everything but God. We have our minds

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on everything. We're working toward everything

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but God. No nation is stronger than her spiritual

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forces. No individual is stronger than his faith

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in God. And when God goes, then the basis of

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our moral universe is gone. That's the reason

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I've said over and over again, the future of

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the world is in the hands of believers. For the

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non -believers cannot act. They're suffering

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from the paralysis of analysis. They can only

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deny. We need to get to know Him as a person.

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We need to put our faith in a person. The person

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of Jesus Christ, God's son. A person. Knowing

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that he is there loving us. Protecting us. Asking

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him for guidance. Asking him for wisdom. When

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the night is dark, you know he's there. And you

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can talk with him. He is the only one who'll

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give peace. He's the only one who is the very

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prince of peace. For the individual and for the

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world. We need to know him. in the same way that

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David knew him, when he said, The Lord is my

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shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie

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down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside

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the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth

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me in the paths of righteousness for his name's

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sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of

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the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for

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thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they

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comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me

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in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest

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my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely

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goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days

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of my life and I will dwell in the house of the

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Lord forever. Do you really want to know the

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meaning of life? Do you really want to know how

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to live? Do you want peace of mind? Deep, settled

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peace on the inside. There's only one who can

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give it to you. That one is Jesus Christ, the

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very son of the living God. Make your power and

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person real for Jesus' sake. Amen.