Phillips Brooks possessed the gift...
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Phillips Brooks possessed the gift of putting things in proper perspective. He said, "Do not make heaven attractive merely by deposing earth. A cheap expedient. Make earth its richest and best, and then be able to make heaven still higher." Another time, another place, he remarked, "Heaven is not only real because His humanity is there, not merely glorious because His greatness is there. It is dear because His love is there."
A man once wrote Henry Ward Beecher a letter requesting him to preach, the following Sunday, on the horrors of hell. The writer explained that he wanted to be reminded of the terror and eternal suffering which awaits sinners in the afterlife, so he would not be tempted to sin. Beecher preached, instead, on "In my Father's house are many mansions," saying that if that verse did not save the man, nothing would. In essence, he chose to emphasize inheritance rather than disinheritance.
A man once wrote Henry Ward Beecher a letter requesting him to preach, the following Sunday, on the horrors of hell. The writer explained that he wanted to be reminded of the terror and eternal suffering which awaits sinners in the afterlife, so he would not be tempted to sin. Beecher preached, instead, on "In my Father's house are many mansions," saying that if that verse did not save the man, nothing would. In essence, he chose to emphasize inheritance rather than disinheritance.
