Sermon Illustrations: Careers

Management terms: Delegate - pass the buck; Pending - I don't know what to do with this; Delayed - forgotten; Frank and open discussion - flaming row; Analytical projection - guess; Forecast - guess again; Ambitious - ruthless; Shrewd - devious; Deficit - staggering loss; Industrial by-product - our waste; Environmental pollution - other people's waste; Pilfering - theft by an employee; Fringe benefit - theft by the executive.

Far too often we resign the activity of the Holy Spirit to things that we can place under a spiritual heading. But when the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was looking for people to serve in top positions in the palace, this is what he was looking for: (Dan 1:4) "young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans". He found four men among the captives from Israel who fit the description - Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Dan 1:17 tells us: "As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; ..." Their natural abilities, including the ability to study and understand, came from God.

Apparently there are 700 light bulbs changed by technicians every week throughout the Sydney Opera House.