Weekly Thought – October 7, 2025

Fred lived a life of intentionality. He believed in the value of time and energy. Yet he chose to avoid a driven lifestyle. He encouraged others to enjoy seeing God’s plan unfold without trying to force His hand.

The Providence of Coincidence

I got a call from a men’s retreat I had led for several years on the West Coast. My physical condition kept me from being there in person, so they wanted to set up a phone call allowing me to say a few words and stay connected to the group. Over the many years this group and I had established a close relationship.

However, because the location was in the mountains there was serious difficulty with the phone connection. Even though they had one of the top professional soundmen working on the project, they were unable to access the venue’s phone lines. Without that they couldn’t set up the system to make the call go through.

Just as the technician was saying it was impossible to make the connection a man and his son walked in the door to attend the retreat. The man was there as a participant, but in his business life he was with the telephone company. They “happened” to drive up in his telephone truck and had all the tools and equipment needed to make this work. He even had the spurs in the truck which he needed to climb the telephone pole!

The next step was to talk with the next door neighbor asking for her patience and permission to disrupt her TV service during the phone call. She graciously invited the man and his son, offered them homemade lemonade – and even hugged them after hearing the story and wishing them well at the front door. Mission accomplished!

When they called me it was clear as a bell from both sides. So many things continued to happen that night “against all odds.” If you looked at the evening the numbers just didn’t add up. Even skeptics would have difficulty attributing it all to coincidence. I have seen them admit that certainly something greater than chance was at work. Years ago in looking at these situations I decided to coin a phrase “beyond arithmetic.” I used it to point to times when random and haphazard just don’t fit. When God connects the dots we can smile and simply say, “I knew that was you!”

This week consider: 1) How quickly do I recognize providence? 2) Where has God connected the dots in my life? 3) How can I train my family to look for God’s hand in their lives?

Words of Wisdom: “When God connects the dots we can smile and simply say, ‘I knew that was you!’”

Wisdom from the Word: “But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – September 2, 2025

(On September 1, 1915 Fred was born to Mathew Bunyan and Amye Smith 110 years ago.)

Fred demonstrated the power of prayer. He believed in it and practiced it diligently. Prayer was also very private for him. A lifetime memory for his children is seeing him on his knees beside their bed before sleep. He faithfully followed the habit taught by his parents. The image of humility was permanently affixed. Mary Alice carefully noted her earnest requests for her family, their safety, their security, and their “sanctification.”

Entering the Throne Room

Prayer is both marvelous and mysterious. How marvelous hat a sinner saved by grace can at any time commune with the Lord Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. In the night when I awake and am tempted by frustration, it is so comforting to be able to talk to the Lord about it.

I am not alone in my experience. One of the psychiatrists who helped select the first astronauts told me how they tested them in total isolation seeing how much they could withstand. He said some could go indefinitely, and when they examined them, they found that they were the ones who could pray. If we would only realize our opportunity for direct communication with the Lord, how much more we would do it.

I have found expressing gratitude to God gives me great satisfaction. Surprisingly, I have also found it has increased my self-respect. It is so much easier to live with myself as a person who is grateful, rather than a complainer and whiner.

Mysterious is the nature of intercessory prayer. How can my request impact God’s love for others? Yet we are instructed to pray for one another. Realistically, I would be frustrated if I could not pray for others when I feel there is nothing else I can do for them. Often people will say, “At least I can pray for you.” I always want to remind them praying is the most they can do for me.

I have never felt that the number of people praying for a person or situation is the vital point. I do not think God is a politician who is swayed by numbers or polls. And I definitely do not believe God is impressed with celebrity. Thinking getting famous Christians on your prayer team doesn’t get your request moved to the top of the pile. I remember the widow whose life was terrifically limited, but all of us wanted her to pray because we knew she had suffered hardship, and deprivation while trusting wholly in God.

When we say, “I will be praying for you” it is a serious commitment. Promising to join the company and community of the committed through prayer is entering into the mystery of the faith. Voicing the willingness to join with others around the throne is speaking the intention of sharing the marvelous and mysterious presence on behalf of another.

This week carefully consider: 1) How real is prayer for me? 2) Who has asked me to pray for them? 3) What does my prayer list look like?

Words of Wisdom: “I have found expressing gratitude to God gives me great satisfaction.”

Wisdom from the Word: “When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul.” (Jeremiah 29:13 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – August 19, 2025

Fred spent his last years immobilized by physical incapacity. For over 7 years he underwent dialysis treatment three times weekly. Until the last months he continued to speak, mentor, and develop while seated in his wheelchair. Even in the last week of his life he hosted dozens in his Saturday morning “Fred in the Bed” sessions. This excerpt from a Sunday School lesson was delivered before his Saturday events took place.

Tribulation Payday

Until I spent several months on my back, unable to move I didn’t really appreciate the development of patience through tribulation. Perhaps I could have given you “three points of managing a patient attitude,” but I didn’t come with three points and a poem about patience. I do want you to know what I learned (and am still learning). Now I know that true patience reduces unhealthy distress without diminishing healthy stress. Patience brings poise to our life, enabling us to discern between important and unimportant. Tribulation is the soil in which patience flowers.

The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome and reminds them: “Tribulation brings about perseverance; perseverance, proven character’ and proven character, hope.” In his epistle we see the direct line between tribulation and hope – and the blessings in the process as character is developed.

Brother Lawrence prayed for tribulation in order to become stronger so that he might endure even more tribulation. He saw suffering as “God’s gymnasium.” My Type A friends always demand results – and quickly. Tribulation has no regard for personality types! It has its own rhythm and pace. Personally, I found patience to be the only answer to the frustration in these months. And, if honest, I recognized much of that restlessness and aggravation was related to the attack on my ego through dependence on others and extreme physical limitations. I wanted my own way; I wanted my own independence.

I know the response to tribulation can be a choice. We may not control the circumstances, but we can manage our attitude as Dr. Frankl taught us in “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

Patience, like most of our highly valued qualities, is slow growing. It is an oak tree, not a cornstalk. It is available to all of us when we are willing to pay the price. Our decision to face tribulation in faith and fortitude makes the difference.

In times of tribulation we must always remember sweating it out in God’s gymnasium is hard work, but we know our Coach has the plan for our maturity and transformed character.

This week think about: 1) Where is tribulation serving as gym time? 2) How can I practice spiritual discipline in troubled times? 3) Who can I encourage with Fred’s words this week?

Words of Wisdom: “Patience, like most of our highly valued qualities, is slow growing.”

Wisdom from the Word: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” (Colossians 5:22 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – August 12, 2025

Fred believed God had a purpose for his life. Knowing he didn’t start out with a privileged background (in socio-economic terms), he became acutely aware of God’s plan for his usefulness. He spent time developing his gifts and making sure they were properly employed.

Being Used By God

I met Torrey Johnson when he was a young man first starting Youth For Christ. At that time I was asking certain people I admired for their photo and autograph. He gave me his with the inscription: “To Fred Smith, God’s man in God’s place.” I never felt I could hang that on the wall. I kept it in my desk drawer. I felt condemned by how seldom I felt that I was truly God’s man in God’s place.

During the times I felt that God was using me, I felt extremely small and extremely secure. When I felt big I felt insecure because I was depending on my own strength.

Recently when I asked a friend the usual question, “How’s it going?” he answered in the best possible way. He said, “Fred, I feel God is using me as I use my time to do the things that He wants done. It doesn’t get any better than this!” What a wonderful feeling to realize God is using us rather our using God. So long as we keep that spiritual dimension in our leadership, people will see God in us.

A great many people want to use God as a credit reference. They include their church work on their resume. They mention it in their bio so people will think them honest or reliable. They put fish symbols on their business cards, and car decals hoping others will believe they are more trustworthy than most others. Unfortunately, they can be relied upon to use God, but can God rely on them to be used?

An international evangelist once commented, “Everybody wants to be used by God but very few want to be prepared to be used.” The old gospel song line accurately describes the process: Melt me, Mold me, Fill me, Use me.

When I was growing up in a Southern Baptist pastor’s family we sang a hymn with this line: “I am satisfied with Jesus. But the question comes to me as I think of Calvary. Is Jesus satisfied with me?” Wanting to be God’s man in God’s place is the desire to satisfy Him.

This week carefully consider: 1) When do I feel God’s pleasure? 2) What can I do this week to bring beauty to my purpose? 3) What words comes to mind when I know I am being used by God?

Words of Wisdom: “Most Christians want to be used by God, but considerably fewer want to be prepared for His use.”

Wisdom from the Word: “But I am full of the courage that the LORD’s Spirit gives and have a strong commitment to justice.“ (Micah 3:8(a) NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – July 22, 2025

Fred held the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the most high God. He always spoke in the most respectful language, never using flippant phrases. He taught his family to worship.

Responding to the Almighty

Someone asked me to define “joy of the Lord.” I think of it in four words: “awe, praise, thanksgiving, and obedience.”

When I sense the awe of God, I feel His reality. For example, when I read about DNA, the mind that created it evokes awe. Watson and Crick received the Nobel Prize for identifying God’s work. Think of the intellect that created all that is. When I consider He numbered and named each and every star, I am astounded.

He is worthy of our praise. When I lift up His name I am acknowledging His worthiness. When I think of His common grace, I praise Him for who He is and what He has done. When I praise I experience His presence.

Thanksgiving, to me, is more personal. It is not just giving assent to His worthiness but also giving an offering for His manifold blessings. I magnify His name for all He has done for me as an individual. Through our personal relationship, I feel His presence.

Certainly, in obedience I acknowledge His authority. In this area I truly experience His presence. When I respect the traffic laws, I recognize the presence of civil authority. In the same way, when I obey scriptural mandates I am recognizing I am in the presence of genuine authority. When I bow my knee to Him I am saying “You are sovereign and I am in your presence.”

When I think of understanding the joy of the Lord and what it means to be in His presence I go to Brother Lawrence: “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice it and experience it.”

This week think about: 1) How would I answer, “what is the joy of the Lord?” 2) Which of Fred’s four words has the greatest meaning for me? 3) Who needs to hear about His presence?

Words of Wisdom: “He is worthy of our praise. When I lift up His name I am acknowledging His worthiness.”

Wisdom from the Word: “The LORD strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.” (Psalm 28:7 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – July 8, 2025

Fred grew up during the depression, the son of a Baptist pastor. The small southern churches offered very little hope beyond the faith that formed the foundation of the Smith family. This hope, grounded in the gospel provided lifelong values which formed his character.

Prepared By Hope

The three important words at the close of 1 Corinthians 13 are “faith, hope, and love.” Is Paul making a climactic statement that hope is more than faith and love is more than hope? I don’t know. But I do know hope is one of the great controlling emotions in our life. Faith is largely present, hope is largely future, and love is ultimate and everlasting. Hope is our belief in the future based on Christ, who holds it. Hope is not about the seen, but about the unseen.

As the philosopher said, “A man or woman can stand almost anything as long as there is hope.” When hope goes, desperation and despair soon follow. The Scripture says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Proverbs 13:12 NIV).

I have a Polish physical therapist whose job is to stretch my muscles back into usefulness after months and months in bed. I find when he counts out loud, I have hope of his quitting. When he doesn’t, I miss knowing when the end is coming. Hope energizes patience. It gives reason for tenacity. It promotes discipline in accomplishment.

The source of hope is not random hoping, but in hoping specifically in someone or something. We hope in Christ; we hope in our spiritual experience, or belief that life has a purpose even when we don’t see it. Hope requires a definable object. That hope can be eternity – “the blessed hope” or the assurance that hope gives us here on Earth pointing to everlasting life.

My wife’s favorite hymn was “Take the Name of Jesus With You.” The chorus has a phrase which aptly describes that precious name… “Hope of earth and joy of heaven.” I grew up leading singing in Dad’s churches and revivals. One of the favorites had another great line: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.”

Our hope has substance because we are grounded in a changeless God who is the same as He was in the past, is not in the present, and will be forevermore.

This week think about: 1) In what is my hope grounded? 2) How do I daily remind myself of my hope in a changeless God? 3) What allows me to encourage others to hope?

Words of Wisdom: “Hope energizes patience.”

Wisdom from the Word: “I desperately long for your deliverance. I find hope in your word.” (Psalms 119:81 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – June 24, 2025

Fred truly bore the label “lifelong learner.” A scholarly scientific researcher once told him, “Fred. always go to bed more ignorant than you woke up. Always be amazed at God’s world and how much you don’t know.” His faith walk was part of that challenge. He consistently gravitated toward those who taught him more about the living God.

A Faithful Follower

In our lives “faith” is both a noun and a verb. My friend Dr. Ramesh Richard is the founder and president of RREACH, an international proclamation ministry. He serves as a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary developing men and women in the tenets of the Christian faith. He introduced me to the “Five Solas” or the five alones of salvation: 1)by grace alone; 2) by faith alone; 3)by scripture alone; 4) through Christ alone; and 5) for glory alone. Faith is an outstanding noun.

Faith, as a verb, is the working out of our relationship through the application of the principles and disciplines. Scripture’s promises and directives set the ground rules for the life of faith. Scripture is the key element.

May I share a personal, though unusual, experience? Years ago I was in negotiations with the steelworkers’ union. Our attorney was convinced they were going to strike so he advised us against putting an offer on the table thinking it would be used against us in negotiations. As I left for home I did something I never did… I opened my Bible reading the first verse I saw: “Do not withhold from workers money that is due them.” (James 5:4) I was convinced of my decision. Opting against the attorney’s recommendation I made a reasonable offer. To our amazement the union workers readily accepted it. We avoided a strike. Even though I don’t support that method of scriptural leadership as the model for study and meditation, I felt firmly that day I had received divine guidance on walking in faith.

I believe in the principle that anytime I make a decision which does not conflict with scripture, and is supported by the desire to do right we are operating from faith. There is an old hymn which affirms the fact that “He Leadeth Me.” The hymnist prays, “His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand, He leadeth me.”

This week carefully consider: 1) Who is leading me this week?2) How can I apply the Five Solas?3) When have I experienced the guiding hand of God?

Words of Wisdom: “Faith, as a verb, is the working out of our relationship through the application of the principles and disciplines.”

Wisdom from the Word: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my faith.” (James 2:18 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – May 6, 2025

Fred saw life through the filter of principles and illustrations. He observed that the principles never change – just the illustrations. His great friend Jack Modesett, Jr. commented: “Looking for principles is fun and rewarding. And with a little practice, it becomes a way of seeing God at work in His creation. Thanks, Fred, for launching me on that road.”

Divine Principles

While Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” it does not give us a clear and succinct definition of wisdom. Personally, I define it as the knowledge and us of divine principles. As Einstein says, “I want to think God’s thoughts after Him.” To me, that is wisdom. Too many people move from data to information to knowledge, but never get to wisdom.

The wisdom of divine principles is often conceptual, not just in explicit chapter and verse. For example, the love of God that so few people really understand was perfectly stated by Ray Stedman in these words: “My life changed when I realized God was for me.”

The gaining of knowledge is the first step toward wisdom. For example, my good friend Jack Modesett, Jr. said “My time at Princeton became enjoyable and profitable when I discovered that learning was fun.” He has carried this over into his Bible studies and teaching. Exploring divine mysteries is exciting.

Another helpful divine principle is “God will not do for you what you can do for yourself, but He will not let you do for yourself what only He can do.” Often we must take the first step, like the priests who had to step into the Red Sea before the waters parted.

A principle that has been sustaining to me during these years of disability is one that Oswald Chambers has helped me see: “God will not give you strength to overcome, but will give you strength as you overcome.”

What a treasury of wisdom we have in the saints who have gone before us, and when we accept Scripture as God’s word and the authority for life.

In it we learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

This week carefully consider: 1) What divine principles are part of my daily thinking? 2) How can I sharpen my ability to see and use these principles? 3) Who models this practice for me?

Words of Wisdom: “The wisdom of divine principles is often conceptual, not just in explicit chapter and verse.”

Wisdom from the Word: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7a NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – October 29, 2024

Fred tells the story of leading a men’s retreat near Fresno, California. It was scheduled from Friday evening through Sunday at noon. As he tells it “when I arrived I found out there was one speaker for the entire weekend – and I was it! That was the first time I knew. On the plane flying back to Dallas on Sunday I realized the exhaustion I expected wasn’t there.” This week’s post is about the lesson he learned.

Am I the pump or the pipe?

From that experience I learned with God’s presence permeating the meetings, he was the source: I was only the spokesman. In other words, God was the pump and I was the pipe. The pipe never gets tired. When I attempt to be the pump as well as the pipe, that takes more than I have. When I try to substitute my power for God’s I become powerless, dissatisfied, even frantic, and even defeated.

A few years back, Mary Alice and I were listening to a series of sermons by a well-known young preacher (who has since left his ministry). When she asked me what I thought of him I told her that I greatly admired his technical ability, his research, his eloquence, and delivery, but I never sensed spiritual power in his sermons. I felt he was spiritually impotent. I kept wanting to feel the presence of the Spirit, but I never dd. He later divorced his wife, and deserted the ministry. None of this was due to lack of talent, with which he was greatly blessed, but from lack of spiritual power. The Apostle Paul said, “I came not in excellence of words, but in power.”

In Jim May’s book he asks the question, “Are you working for God or is he working through you?” The times when I fully realize that God is using me, that what I am doing is his working through me rather than my working for him are special.

Those who become Christian celebrities must be careful that they don’t cross over the line from realizing that God is using them to thinking they are being recognized by God for their great potential contribution. We are not be volunteers, selectin our service for God, but dedicates, letting God select our service. When God selects, He sends power. When we volunteer, we keep control, even while attempting worthwhile work.

The pipe or the pump? A critical question for each of us.

This week carefully consider: 1) How do I keep my eye on my role as pipe, not pump? 2) What can I do to pray for my pastor? 3) Who do I know that would be helped by Fred’s words?

Words of Wisdom: “God is the pump and I am the pipe.”

Wisdom from the Word: “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10 NET BIBLE)

Weekly Thought – July 9, 2024

Fred lived out the principles of scripture… exhibiting wisdom, integrity, and trust. He wanted to be a man whose decisions reflected the reality of God. The nature of God and the nature of man were constantly on his mind as he viewed life through a filter based on the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

Evidences of God

I was invited to attend a luncheon of 17 leading pastors, including Stephen Olford. Billy Graham called him the man who had most influenced his ministry. During the table conversation he said, “My brothers, I am weary of celebrity religion. You know I have received my share of honors. But when I die if my family does not say, “There is something of God in the man, I will have failed.”

A holy hush came over the group. Each attendee thoughtfully considered his own personal situation. As that day comes to mind I think about the evidences of God in a man.

First, I would suggest a quiet center that cannot be panicked. The Quaker theologian Thomas Kelly called it making a “mental habit of internal orientation.” I just call it cultivating a quiet space that cannot be disturbed.

I think of Christ asleep in the boat when the storm was raging. Or, the eye of a hurricane when all about is roiling, the very center is peaceful – almost eerily quiet.

Second, God is evidenced in the way we speak. I think of my friend Bob, raised on the streets of a big city saying, “When I came to Christ He cleaned up my dirty mouth and tongue.” Vulgarity gave him a bad taste in his mouth. His profanity habit turned into “praying without ceasing.” Prayer came as readily as the swear words did before.

Third, our quality and breadth of love is another evidence. Unconditional love comes from Christ and when demonstrated, it is from a divine source. We are a conduit – we are the pipe. This love is more than tolerance. My saintly friend, Orene Howard told me, “Fred, there is not a sin which I cannot commit. If I thought there were I couldn’t love the one who did commit it.”

Fourth, the last one I will mention is our attitude toward death. One of the most important decisions in life concerns dying. The assurance of heaven gives us a peaceful acceptance of life with its variety of conditions. The Apostle Paul said “I know how to be brought low, and how to abound. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” The ups and downs remind us that this life is the practice – the real game comes later. I am glad!

This week consider: 1) How would you ascertain the evidence of God in another’s life? 2) How would others see evidence in your life? 3) When you think about death how certain are you about your relationship with God through Jesus?

Words of Wisdom: “Our quality and breadth of love is an evidence of God.”

Wisdom from the Word: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Philippians 4:11b ESV)