INTRODUCTION (pp.2-12)

         Welcome to the GOOD THOTS book! To have a copy of this book is to have a rare treasure in your possession.--For there is probably not another volume in existence anywhere which contains the same wealth of true stories, inspiring poems, proverbs, quotations of great men and women of God, wit, wisdom and interesting incidents from the lives of the famous, as well as the unknown, as you will find within these pages!
         GOOD THOTS contains a priceless heritage of lessons and true-life experiences from many generations of dedicated Christians of the past. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the World are come."--1Corinthians 10:11.

WHAT IS AN ANECDOTE?

         GOOD THOTS is an Anecdote Book.--And what is an Anecdote? An Anecdote is a brief story describing an incident or event of unusual interest. It is told expressly to help illustrate a spiritual principle or truth, and therefore brings out a moral or a point. Anecdotes are much like the parables of the Bible, the short vivid stories that Jesus Himself frequently used when teaching.
         The parables that Jesus told were all true stories which really happened, and likewise, so are the vast majority of the Anecdotes in the GOOD THOTS book; they are accounts of actual incidents that happened to men & women of all nationalities & from all walks of life, with the exception of a few what you might call moralistic "fables", which have also been included because they humorously bring out some very important truth.--Such as the Anecdote about the frog and the two ducks. (See "Humility/Pride" #19.)
         Most of the stories, anecdotes and poems in this book have their roots in the Bible, and many strive to give modern examples or applications of Biblical truths with which we are all familiar. It is, after all, the Bible which contains the most powerful and thought-provoking observations about human nature and life, and is therefore a constant source of fresh inspiration!--And it is God's Word from which all great Godly men and women have drawn their strength and inspiration in the first place.

THE POWER OF A STORY!

         Everybody loves a story! Jesus Himself knew that it is just human nature to want to hear stories about real experiences, so He often told parables to illustrate His messages. His stories and graphic examples were usually simple, but very powerful and effective in bringing spiritual principles down to earth, showing people how they could apply them in their everyday lives.
         Are stories effective?--Obviously, yes! Just look at Jesus' example! Matthew 13:34 says, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them." Jesus was the greatest Story-teller of all! Dad is another tremendous example of this, and has used stories extensively throughout the years to teach us lessons, principles & to really drive a point home.
         "I'd rather see a sermon, than hear one any day!" also applies to spicing up our conversation with Anecdotes and stories! The more you can paint a word-picture and help someone to visualise the truth you are trying to tell them with a story which illustrates the point--the better they will understand it. Abraham Lincoln is remembered as a master story-teller, and this was one of the secrets of his popularity with many. He said, "They say I tell a great many stories; I reckon I do, but I have found in the course of long experience that common people are more easily informed through the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way." The famous preacher, Spurgeon, once said that illustrations are like windows, letting the light stream in!
         There is great appeal in using Anecdotes to illustrate a point; people are almost always interested in a true story about a real person.--Especially about a well-known personality. Truth is stranger than fiction, and carries a lot more weight with most people because they know that it actually happened!--Therefore, they usually realise that the spiritual principle that a true story illustrates is also true, and can work in their own lives as well.
         The wealth of Anecdotes and stories in this book should prove to be an invaluable aid to everyone in our Family--teachers, parents, speakers, performers, writers--anyone who witnesses to friends, contacts or the public. Whether we read them, retell them or include them in our letters, these Anecdotes should be a help to each of us in our witness to others. If you can give a real-life example of someone who lived a particular truth, it helps to convince your audience that they can do it too. These Anecdotes should also be a real blessing to our converts & new disciples, to help them grasp the important truths of the Christian life, giving them a deeper insight into how to apply God's Word to their individual situations and circumstances.

TELLING ANECDOTES

         Story-telling is a talent that all of us, as witnesses for the Lord, should possess. We know that in our personal witnessing, the most powerful thing we can give others--something which they cannot deny the truth of--is our own personal testimony, how the Lord changed us. So, true-life stories are very powerful.
         A pointer about telling Anecdotes is: Always be sure you have a story or Anecdote clearly in mind before you try to share it with others. You will only embarrass yourself and your audience if you have to say, "I'm not sure how it goes, but..." or "No, that wasn't it...There was something I missed. But anyway, you get the idea of the story." If you do not clearly remember the story, you may waste both yours and the listener's time, and if you do it often enough, you may get the reputation of being a bore. "Get so full of your subject ahead of time, that when you open your mouth, it just flows out of the fullness of your heart!"

ADAPTING ANECDOTES

         You may notice from time to time that certain Anecdotes will be attributed to someone, or a specific incident will be said to have happened to them, whereas you may have heard that someone else before them was the one who coined the phrase, or to whom the incident actually happened. Well, this is understandable because it is often impossible to definitely trace some of these oft-repeated stories & well-used phrases back to their original sources. What was originally said by a statesman of the 1800s may end up being attributed to a modern politician. Countless instances could be cited of an Anecdote said to have originated with several different people, but the important thing is that the moral and the point are there, even though we don't really know to whom they happened.
         In fact, as you use this book, you may also find it helpful at times to change the names, locations, time periods or other details of the Anecdotes to help personalise them & drive the point home to your audience. In some instances you might feel led to bring it up-to-date by re-setting it in modern times to help your listeners better relate to it. However, most Anecdotes can be retold just as is, without changes, especially if you are quoting famous historical figures. So although you may adapt some of them if so led, it would be wise to do so only when absolutely necessary.
         There are occasions, however, when certain details of the original story could offend or stumble your audience, & thus adaptations would be necessary. For example, you might want to somewhat change or edit the setting and characters of "Old Black Sam" if you were relating it to the President of a black African nation.--Or telling an Anecdote about American Christians fighting the Japanese during WW2 might go over better with an elderly Japanese friend--who fought in that war--if you "re-set" it in another country or time period. The important factor when sharing Anecdotes is that the moral of the story is preserved, not that it is told with absolute unbending accuracy in every tiny detail.
         Though you should not, of course, do this with Bible stories or verses, a story about Napoleon and one of his soldiers may be more applicable to a businessman if retold as a story about a boss & one of his employees. So why quibble over a few helpful changes?--The point of the original story will be loud & clear, & will be all the more understandable to your modern-day audience because of your adaptations. Just be prayerful as to when it is wise to vary an Anecdote to meet a local need, and when it is best to let it stand as is.

GOOD THOTS: WHO THEY'RE FROM AND WHO THEY'RE FOR

         Whereas the MOP consisted almost entirely of quotes by Dad, THOTS represents more what others, both Christians and non-Christians, had to say. There are quite a few quotations or stories by Dad here as well, but the reason there are not more is because the MOP covered nearly every subject with quotes pretty thoroughly already, and we didn't want to repeat quotes that have already been pubbed.
         Please understand, however, that the inclusion of a quote from someone does not necessarily mean that we agree with the author's stand on every other issue, nor does it mean that we approve of all his writings or actions. In fact, many of the authors quoted in THOTS are not even Christian, as even Worldly people at times have made profound statements from which we can learn. Acts 17:28, where the Apostle Paul recited unsaved Greek poets, gives a good Scriptural precedent for quoting secular sources. Our concern with the quotations in the THOTS book is with their relevance, truth & usefulness, rather than the spiritual or doctrinal position of the author.
         You may even find that every detail of every single story does not completely agree with all of our doctrines in every single aspect, but we believe that the principles are clear & that you will understand and be able to draw the main lessons from them anyway. It's a sign of spiritual maturity and Christian charity to be able to learn from even the faulted and imperfect examples of others.
         When reading through some of these stories, be careful not to slip into a condescending attitude toward some of the churchy terms or expressions that certain authors have used, lest you "strain at a gnat" & miss the whole point! We do have a lot of truth and light, but this should not cause you to look down on some of the religious language or morals brought out and make you feel that they don't apply to you. If you find that you have a problem getting over this language or phraseology barrier, or are hindered by self-righteous feelings towards the authors quoted, perhaps it would be good to ask the Lord to help you along this line, so you won't miss out on the very beautiful and meaningful lessons contained in this book.
         Also, there are bound to be a few stories that you won't understand, or that you may think are unclear. But often the problem may not be with the story itself, it could be that you have just missed the point of it! So if you don't understand an Anecdote, or if you think the moral or point that it makes is trivial or vague, try just letting it sit for awhile. You may find that it will become more meaningful & relevant to you at some later date.
         Another point is regarding some Anecdotes which may seem more like efficient business practices than commendable spiritual principles. In "Relations With People", for example, much of the advice is taken from secular and business sources and is on a very practical level. The reasons they give for getting things done often sound very self-serving, & in advising you on how to relate to people, it may sometimes seem like their only motive is personal gain. Here is where you have to be able to adapt and apply these lessons and principles to your own life.
         The difference is in the motive that something is done for! You've got to think about some of their advice on good business practices and better human relations in relation to how you can apply them with love, how you can learn from some of these basic principles and use them in the Lord's Work. We can certainly benefit from the wisdom of the "children of this World" (Luke 16:8) if we are willing to overlook the selfish motives behind their good, practical advice.
         These Anecdotes were taken from many different books, so not all the punctuation or capitalisation conforms exactly to the way we do it in our pubs. For example, we always capitalise the words "Lord", "Angel", "the Word" and "He", "Him", etc. when referring to the Lord; but many of these old writers went by the KJV Bible's lack of capitalisation; and as it would have taken a very long time to retype a whole Anecdote just to correct such minor details, we left them as they were.
         Another point is that not all quotes and stories are entirely positive. Some stories are serious warnings or dandy bad examples! Certain Anecdotes in the "Giving" section, for example, are on the negative consequences of not giving. But these have their place also. Jesus Himself, in Luke 16:19-31, told a very negative story about the consequences of living selfishly and not giving, and it certainly drove the point home!
         You may find in some sections, that some of the poems or stories may sound quite similar, and although they are actually different, there is a certain amount of repetition or duplication of an idea. The reason for this is that we felt it best to keep a story if it had a good point or a praiseworthy or appropriate moral in it, even if another Anecdote brought out the same lesson in a similar way. Sometimes a certain principle may not strike you so much, yet the same principle, illustrated or told from a new angle, will have real meaning for you and relate to you better.
         Actually, the reason for publishing THOTS is not merely to give us interesting and enjoyable reading, or just to feed us spiritually and stuff ourselves even fuller, but it is to have something that can be used with outside friends and contacts. They haven't had nearly as much light and truth, and aren't as spiritually "full" as we are, so they will certainly appreciate these little stories and Anecdotes! (See Proverbs 27:7.) So please bear this in mind. Though we hope, of course, that you will be fed and inspired by reading it also, GOOD THOTS has been designed primarily as a tool to help you in your outreach to the GP, as its many stories and jewels are presented in a form that they can easily absorb, understand and relate to.
         For this reason, some Anecdotes may not apply so much to you in your service for the Lord, but have been included specifically to feed outsiders and the GP instead! Some subjects, like "Old Age" and "Death," for example, are not so much for us, because most of us are not that old. But the main reason that these Sections have been included is to comfort your outside friends.

FAMOUS CHARACTERS!

         This is a section of short thumbnail sketches of some of the famous men mentioned in THOTS, listing the most important details of their lives, as well as what Dad has said about them. Following each biography you'll find the references in brackets [ ] of the places where they may be found in the book. We're sure you'll be thrilled to read some of the exploits of these great Christians of the past, & what Dad had to say about both "heroes & heels"!

GLOSSARY!

         In a separate 100-page "Glossary" section we've listed the meanings of some of the more difficult words used in THOTS.--Words which you & your children or non-English speakers might not be familiar with. The meaning that you will find is the meaning as it was used in the text. Since the average word can have around 30 meanings, we've had to limit each definition to only the one or sometimes two used in the text, even though it might not be the most common meaning. We've tried to make them as simple as possible, but be sure to use a dictionary if necessary!

SIDE-BINDING

         The reason for binding the THOTS books on the end (the side) is because most of the material included in it was not retyped, but simply photocopied.--And by laying out these stories and Anecdotes sideways, we were able to fit more of them on each page. Had we laid them out like the MOP, we could not have printed two columns of Anecdotes per page unless we had drastically reduced the text size.
         We took the quotes, poems and stories from such a variety of different books and sources with all different kinds of margin widths, that it would have meant months of extra work to retype everything to a standard width. But it would have also been a colossal amount of work to have reduced or enlarged all the quotes to fit a standard margin width, and even then the text of some of them would have been too large or small. So we found that the simplest solution was to use side-binding and put two columns side-by-side on a 13.5 cm. page width.
         Sometimes two columns of quotes were wide enough to completely fill up a page, and other times there was a space left over. As we don't believe in leaving blank spaces and wasting paper, we decided to use this space to put in extra quotes sideways. You will have to turn the book sideways to read these few extra quotes, but we trust it will be worth the effort, if the quotes that you find there help turn you right-side up!

NEW IMPROVED INDEX

         In the MOP, we combined the Table of Contents together with the Subject Index to create a comprehensive "Table of Subjects," and this proved to be a big help in locating the quotes you needed. In the THOTS book, we have improved the Table of Subjects by making it more detailed. The result is that it is more complete and the Index is more accurate, helping you to find the right story or Anecdote as rapidly as possible. We realise this different arrangement will take a little getting used to, as you have probably become familiar with the way the different subjects were indexed in the MOP, but this shifting of gears was necessary to help you find everything, as there is a much greater volume of material in many of the THOTS topics than there are in the same topics in the MOP.
         In many ways, we have designed the THOTS to be a companion volume to the MOP, and you should be able to use it in much the same way as the MOP. Many of the main Categories are the same in both volumes. But even though many Categories are the same or similar, the setup is slightly different, so don't expect it to be exactly like the MOP. You will notice, for example, that some Categories that were in the MOP do not appear in the THOTS. On the other hand, some Categories are there, but have been combined with other Categories to form a larger, more general section.
         In the MOP, there was a Category called "Trials and Tests"; in the THOTS booklet it is called "Trials and Triumphs" and is a much broader Category, including other Categories such as "Comfort", "Fight" and "Romans 8:28".
         The quotes and Anecdotes having to do with the subject "Fight", for example, are not in a separate little Category on their own like the ones in "Fight the Good Fight" were in the MOP, but have been combined together with other related subjects like "Resisting the Devil" and put under the Category "Trials & Triumphs." We could have had them all in distinct, separate Categories--like we had in the MOP--but to show that they're all related subjects, different aspects of one big Category, we combined them together. Though they have been combined in the Category "Tests & Triumphs" in the THOTS book itself, they have been indexed separately as individual subjects in the Index. This will make it easy, if, for example, you want to look up just the quotes on "Fight".
         Some Anecdotes in certain Categories are not listed in the Index, as you can find them easily right in the particular Category that they belong to. For example, in the Category "Trials and Triumphs", the quotes which deal just generally with "Trials and Triumphs"--and do not contain any points relating to another subject--are not indexed in any other Category. In fact, they are not even indexed specifically under the heading "Trials and Triumphs" because they belong so obviously to "Trials and Triumphs" that you can just look in that particular Category and find them. So the Anecdotes dealing with the general subject of "Trials and Triumphs" are in the Category "Trials and Triumphs", but for further, more specific kinds of tests, like death, sickness or sacrifice, they are all indexed under more specific titles.
         If, for example, the Anecdote talks about a trial regarding the death of a loved one, then not only will it be found in the "Trials and Triumphs" Category, but it will also be specifically indexed under "Death". So you can either find it by reading through "Trials and Triumphs" or you can find it even more quickly and specifically by looking in the Index under "Death".
         Stories often cover more than one subject.--They tell a story from beginning to end and deal with both the trial and the triumph, so they can't really be separated. That's another reason for having broader Categories. In the MOP, it was mostly single one-sentence quotes dealing with a specific aspect only, but these are stories covering subjects from beginning to end in many cases. This is why, though the MOP could be neatly divided into different, distinct Categories, in many cases this was not exactly possible with THOTS. Depending on what the story or Anecdote is about, it may appear in several different Categories in the Index. Here are some examples of combined Categories to give you the idea:

         EDUCATION--GOOD & BAD: This Category includes "wisdom" and "knowledge", because, after all, what is a good Godly education unless it's getting wisdom and knowledge and learning how to use it! "Education--Good & Bad" also includes mistakes, because certainly mistakes are part of the learning and education process. When we make mistakes, hopefully the mistakes will teach us not to make the same mistakes next time! So all these things come under the one Category of "Education--Good & Bad". That's why we tried to make some of these Categories broader.--To show you that they included more than one aspect.

         COMMITMENT: In the MOP, this Category was called "Discipleship", but in THOTS it was changed to "Commitment". Several different Categories have been combined into one larger Category because we wanted to show that faithfulness, loyalty, yieldedness and forsaking all are all a part of commitment. We could have had them separate (as we did in the MOP), but we wanted to give you the idea that they're all part of commitment, of discipleship and following Jesus. In other words, forsaking all is not enough in itself.--Nor is loyalty. You need all these things!
         Also, for some of these subjects, like "Discipleship" or "Forsaking All", we didn't have very many stories, as there weren't many examples of this in the religious World's Anecdote books.--They didn't talk too much about that! So we thought, "Why not put them together?--As it will also give a broader view of things!" So that's another reason that we combined certain subjects. Also, it is less time-consuming to glance through one major Category than to look for similar topics spread throughout a large book.

         COMMUNION WITH GOD includes "Prayer", "Praise and Thankfulness" and "The Word" because they're all part of communing with God. In actual practice, you can't separate them, because prayer is a two-way communication. "Communion with God" is more than just you praying to the Lord, it's also you praising Him, and it also includes Him speaking to you, which He usually does through His written Word.
         For this reason we have grouped them together under the general title "Communion with God".--But you will notice that rather than totally integrating these three Categories--which would have made it harder for you to find specific Anecdotes on "The Word", for example--we listed them in their separate Categories like this: "Communion with God: Prayer", "Communion with God: Praise and Thankfulness" and "Communion with God: Word". This way they are still together in one place as they should be, yet separated enough that you can easily find, for example, Anecdotes specifically on the subject of "Prayer".
         There are other Anecdotes having to do with "Communion with God" which are not about either "Prayer" or "Praise and Thankfulness" or "The Word", so these have been included in a general Category simply called "Communion with God".
         When you're going through trials, having problems, or need to brush up on or grasp an entire subject, it's good to read over a whole spectrum to be really fed. However, when you need specific counsel or are looking for one particular story, look in the INDEX.
         On the first page of each Category, under the Category (Topic) heading, you will find a line saying "Related Index Topics". This line refers you to other Categories in the THOTS book or Index where you can read on related topics. In some cases, on the first page of a few of the Categories, in this same space under the Category heading, you will also find the word in italics: "Includes". This refers to topics which are combined within this Category. For example, the Category "Trials and Triumphs" includes Comfort, Death, etc., so in the Category "Trials & Triumphs", these sub-topics would all be listed in the "Includes".

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         God bless you! We love you! We pray that the truths of these anecdotes, quotes, proverbs and poems will find a place in your hearts and lives, & that you in turn will be able to use them in your witness to others to enrich their lives with these true-life samples of living for the Lord!

         The MOP's terrific for moving quotes,
         And now for stories, we've Anecdotes!
         Hand-in-hand the two books go;
         Packed with wisdom, they overflow
         On those who read these tomes of gold:
         Hidden treasures new and old!

         Convicting, addicting beyond my dreams,
         They move me, touch me, always seem
         To make me laugh, to make me cry--
         These Christian tales of days gone by!
         Such powerful truths are clearly told,
         Like parables of days of old!

         When reading through this book at length,
         I grow in wisdom, trust and strength!
         But THOTS, for all its pleasant reading,
         Is not just for my private feeding.
         To feed ourselves is not the end;
         GOOD THOTS was made to feed our friends!

         And here at last, one parting thought:
         By true examples are men taught!
         So study these stories, read them well;
         And you'll be full of truths to tell!
         "Feed My sheep!" was Christ's commission,
         GOOD THOTS will help you in that mission!