Illustrations that are Too Good To Be True?

Like many of you (all of you?) I get lots of emails from church members and friends which contain inspiring stories or cute illustrations. I am rather skeptical by nature and like to pin things down. I want to use this page as a clearinghouse for questionable preachers' stories. Some of them I have found to be false or at least contrived, and others just sound too good to be true. Please disprove my skepticism...

Kittens from Heaven
God is faithful even when we are not
Churchill saved twice by inventor of penicillin
Has NASA Discovered Joshua's "Lost Day"?       updated January 30, 2003
The missionary who was protected by 26 prayer warriors       updated July 7, 2007
The dynamite dog       added June 15, 2001
Mountain Moving Faith       added July 4, 2001, updated November 12, 2004 and April 4, 2008
Keys in an African Fish       added July 4, 2001
Sacrificed Sons       added July 8, 2002, updated September 5, 2006
Safer in God's Will       added June 16, 2003, updated January 27, 2006 
Bukharin's Easter Greeting       added April 4, 2008
James Bartley, swallowed by a whale      added April 4, 2008
Chalk-dropping professor      added April 4, 2008

I begin with one I received April 18, 2001, which I call Kittens from Heaven:

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about a pastor. The pastor had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and was then afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car he could bend the tree down enough to get the kitten. He did all this, checking his progress frequently. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.

The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He was amazed to see she was buying cat food. Now this woman was a cat-hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?" She replied, "You won't believe this," and told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, "Well if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it." (Can you see where this is heading?)

She told the pastor, "I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."

Never underestimate the Power of God!

I love the "boing!" part. I certainly don't want to underestimate the Power of God but I am not going to believe this one until I find out who this pastor is, where it happened, and when. Can Dwight come forward on this? Right now I have this classified as a probable Christian Urban Legend. [ Update - Dwight turns out to be a well-known Seventh Day Adventist preacher in Michigan. His associate wrote me and says he often uses "internet stories" tongue-in-cheek to make a point. Apparently the "tongue-in-cheek" aspect dropped out and it is circulating as "true." Other preachers have sent comments that this kind of illustration can be effective as long as you hint it could be a tall tale.]

A postscript - on May 18 I touched base with a "super pastor" friend in California. By "super pastor" I mean he had 7,000 out to his Easter service. I asked him if he had come across any great illustrations. He said there was one he had been sitting on for a year. When he finally used it, he got the biggest reaction of anything he has preached in two years. It was about a preacher and this kitten.... I give up. I can't win.

God is faithful even when we are not

Here is a story that is more plausible. It includes specific names and locations, and it fits with Christian experience. However, when I looked up Hanover Enterprises and Roger Sims I came up blank and this gives me pause. The earliest reference to this story seems to be J.Kirk Johnston, "Why Christians Sin," Discovery House, 1992, pp. 39-41. Does anyone have more details? It is #4399 in my database. (further comments follow illustration)

Roger Simms had just left the military and was anxious to take his uniform off once and for all. He was hitchhiking home, and his heavy duffel bag made the trip even more arduous than hitchhiking normally is. Flashing his thumb to an oncoming car, he had just about given up hope when he saw the taillights flash on on a shiny, black, expensive car, so new that it had a temporary license in the back window... hardly the kind of car that would stop for a hitchhiker.

But to his amazement, the car stopped and the passenger door opened. He ran toward the car, placed his duffel carefully in the back, and slid into the leather-covered front seat. He was greeted by the friendly smile of a handsome older gentleman with distinguished gray hair and a deep tan.

"Hello, son. Are you on leave or are you going home for good?"

"I just got out of the army, and I'm going home for the first time in several years," answered Roger.

"Well, you're in luck in if you're going to Chicago."

"Not quite that far," said Roger, "but my home is on the way.

Do you live there, mister?"

"Hanover. Yes, I have a business there."

And with that, they were on their way. After giving each other brief life histories, and talking about everything under the sun, Roger (who was a Christian) felt a strong compulsion to witness to Mr. Hanover about Christ. But witnessing to an older, wealthy businessman who obviously had everything he should ever want was a scary prospect indeed. Roger kept putting if off, but as he neared his destination, he realized that it was now or never.

"Mr. Hanover," began Roger, "I would like to talk to you about something very important." He then proceeded to explain the way of salvation, ultimately asking Mr. Hanover if he would like to receive Christ as his Savior. To Roger's astonishment, the high car pulled over to the side of the road; Roger thought for a moment that Mr. Hanover was about to throw him out. Then a strange and wonderful thing happened: the businessman began to cry while affirming that he did in fact want to accept Christ into his heart. He thanked Roger for talking to him, saying, "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me." He then dropped Roger at his house and traveled on toward Chicago.

Five years went by, and Roger Simms married, had a child, and started a business of his own. One day, while packing for a business trip to Chicago, he came across a small, gold-embossed business card which Mr. Hanover had given him years earlier.

When Roger arrived in Chicago, he looked up Hanover Enterprises, and found it downtown in a very tall and important-looking building. The receptionist told him that it would be impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but that if he was on old friend, he should be able to see Mrs. Hanover. A little disappointed, he was led into a poshly-decorated office where an elegant looking woman was sitting at a huge oak desk.

She extended her hand, "You knew my husband?"

Roger explained how Mr. Hanover had been kind enough to give him a ride back home.

A look of interest passed across her face. "Can you tell what date that was?" "Sure," said Roger, "It was May 7th, five years ago, the day I was discharged from the army."

"And did anything special happen on your ride...anything unusual?" Roger hesitated. Should he mention giving his witness? Had it been a source of contention between the two, which resulted in a marital breakup or separation? But once again, he felt the prompting of the Lord to be truthful. "Mrs. Hanover, your husband accepted the Lord into his heart that day. I explained the gospel message to him, and he pulled to the side of the road and wept, and then he prayed a prayer for salvation."

Suddenly she began to sob uncontrollably. After several minutes, she regained enough control to explain what had happened: "I grew up in a Christian home, but my husband did not. I had prayed for my husband's salvation for many years, and I believed God would save him. But just after he let you out of his car, on May 7th, he passed away in a horrible head-on collision. He never arrived home. I thought God had not kept His promise, and I stopped living for the Lord five years ago because I blamed Him for not keeping His word.

She accused God of not keeping His promises -- of not being faithful. Yet, in the end who proved His faithfulness and who didn't? 2 Timothy 2:13 says in part, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful...." He does not deviate from His faithfulness; He can't. Faithfulness is a very real part of who and what He is! The truth is, Mrs. Hanover quit, God didn't!

Exodus 34:6 "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and FAITHFULNESS....'"

Churchill saved twice by inventor of penicillin

Here is one I am pretty sure is false. It is #4531 in my database as well as several other entries before I erased the duplicates. Here is the original:

A British family journeyed to Scotland for a summer vacation. The mother and father were looking forward to enjoying the beautiful Scottish countryside with their young son. But one day the son wandered off all by himself and got into trouble. As he walked through the woods, he came across an abandoned swimming hole, and as most boys his age do, he took off his clothes and jumped in. He was totally unprepared for what happened next. Before he had time to enjoy the pool of water, he was seized by a vicious attack of cramps. He began calling for help while fighting a losing battle with the cramps to stay afloat.

Luckily, it happened that in a nearby field a farm boy was working. When he heard the frantic cries for help, he brought the English boy to safety. The father whose son had been rescued was of course very grateful. The next day, he went to meet the youth who had saved his son's life. As the two talked, the Englishman asked the brave lad what he planned to do with his future. The boy answered, "Oh I suppose I'll be a farmer like my father." The grateful father said, "Is there something else you'd rather do?" "Oh, yes!" answered the Scottish lad. "I've always wanted to be a doctor. But we are poor people and could never afford to pay for my education." "Never mind that," said the Englishman. "You shall have your heart's desire and study medicine. Make your plans, and I'll take care of the costs." So, the Scottish lad did indeed become a doctor.

There is more. Some years later, in December of 1943, Winston Churchill became very ill with pneumonia while in North Africa. Word was sent to Sir Alexander Fleming, who had discovered the new wonder drug, penicillin, to come immediately. Flying in from England, Dr. Fleming administered his new drug to the ailing prime minister. In doing so, he saved Churchill's life for the second time. For it was the boy Winston Churchill whom Alexander Fleming had rescued from the swimming hole so many years before.

This story has several variations. The following commentary came from the Winston Churchill Homepage (no longer available, but see http://www.snopes.com/glurge/fleming.htm for backup.)

DID SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING SAVE CHURCHILL'S LIFE?

The Churchill-Fleming Non-Connection: The story that Sir Alexander Fleming or his father (the renditions vary) saved Churchill’s life has been roaring around the Internet lately. We must have had fifty emails about it. Charming as it is, it is certainly fiction. The story apparently originated in WORSHIP PROGRAMS FOR JUNIORS, by Alice A. Bays and Elizabeth Jones Oakbery, published ca. 1950 by an American religious house, in a chapter entitled "The Power of Kindness."

According to Bays/Oakbery, Churchill is saved from drowning in a Scottish lake by a farm boy named Alex. A few years later Churchill telephones Alex to say that his parents, in gratitude, will sponsor Alex’s otherwise unaffordable medical school education. Alex graduates with honours and in 1928 discovers that certain bacteria cannot grow in certain vegetable molds. In 1943 when Churchill becomes ill in the Near East, Alex’s invention, penicillin, is flown out to effect his cure. Thus once again Alexander Fleming saves the life of Winston Churchill.

Dr. John Mather writes: "A fundamental problem with the story is that Churchill was treated for this very serious strain of pneumonia not with penicillin but with 'M&B,’ a short name for sulfadiazine produced by May and Baker Pharmaceuticals. Since he was so ill, it was probably a bacterial rather than a viral infection as the M&B was successful.

"Kay Halle, in her charming book IRREPRESSIBLE CHURCHILL (Cleveland: World 1966) comments (p. 196) that Churchill 'delighted in referring to his doctors, Lord Moran and Dr. Bedford, as M&B.' Then, when Churchill found that the most agreeable way of taking the drug was with whisky or brandy, he commented to his nurse: 'Dear nurse, pray remember that man cannot live by M and B alone.' But there is no evidence in the record that he received penicillin for any of his wartime pneumonias. He did have infections in later life, and I suspect he was given penicillin or some other antibiotic that would have by then become available, such as ampicillin. Also, Churchill did consult with Sir Alexander Fleming on 27 June 1946 about a staphylococcal infection which had apparently RESISTED penicillin. See CHURCHILL: TAKEN FROM THE DIARIES OF LORD MORAN (Boston: Houghton Muffin 1966), p. 335."

Official biographer Sir Martin Gilbert adds that the ages of Churchill and Fleming (or Fleming’s father) do not support the various accounts circulated; Alexander Fleming was seven years younger than Churchill. If he was plowing a field at say age 13, Churchill would have been 20. There is no record of Churchill nearly drowning in Scotland at that or any other age; or of Lord Randolph paying for Alexander Fleming’s education. Sir Martin also notes that Lord Moran’s diaries, while mentioning "M&B," say nothing about penicillin, or the need to fly it out to Churchill in the Near East.

Has NASA Discovered Joshua's "Lost Day"?

This has been sent to me by several church members and other friends. It addresses a real concern of Christians - is our faith dumb and unscientific or can it stand up to the toughest scrutiny out there? First the illustration, then a link to an excellent response, then a few of my own observations.

For all the scientists out there and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible...here's something that shows God's awesome creation and shows that He is still in control.

Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called "myth" in the Bible is true? Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program relates the following development.

I think one of the most amazing things that God has for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland. They were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send a satellite up and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite, and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.

They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong either with the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out and they said, "What's wrong?"

Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer. Finally, a Christian man on the team said, "You know, one time I was in Sunday School and they talked about the sun standing still." While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, "Show us."

He got a Bible and went back to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with "common sense." There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, "Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee." Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy and if darkness fell they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right - "The sun stood still and the moon stayed - and hasted not to go down about a whole day!" (Joshua 10:12-13).

The astronauts and scientists said, "There is the missing day!" They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes - not a whole day. They read the Bible and there it was "about (approximately) a day." These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.

As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said, "Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?" Hezekiah said "It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees." Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!"

Isn't it amazing? References: Joshua 10:8 and 12, 13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11. Forward this to as many people who you believe would think this is equally as cool.

The best response I have seen to this illustration is by a conservative Christian, Dr. Bert Thompson. You can read his article at http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/rr1999/r&r9902b.htm.

Now for some of my own comments. I am a serious amateur astronomer who owns three telescopes, and I'm also a conservative Evangelical Christian who owns far more than three Bibles. Joshua's "Longest Day" presents some sticky scientific problems and there are also some Bible interpretation issues involved which I will not go into here. My basic approach is to say God can do anything he wants to do, whether it is "impossible" or not. But this illustration involves some backward reasoning. Note especially paragraph 7. The Bible says "about a day." The illustration says, "The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes - not a whole day." Where do they get the 23 hours and 20 minutes? Not from Joshua, but from the fact that 2 Kings alludes to 40 minutes, so 23 hours and 20 minutes must be left. The Bible never gets specific about the length of Joshua's "day" so the illustration is being disingenuous.

Another factor is how scientists measure time and orbits. When an orbit is irregular a scientist looks for another object that is perturbing it (Neptune was discovered this way) or a special force (Mercury's irregular orbit is explained by Einstein's theory of relativity). They can only tell an orbit is irregular if they can measure a beginning point and a later point. That is not possible for the past unless the event was recorded by ancient people; conjunctions and eclipses can be picked out of historical records and scientists can calculate orbits back to the past to see if they correlate. The only way we could scientifically prove Joshua's day was missing (assuming it requires the solar system to "freeze" for just under 24 hours) is to know the exact location of each of the planets some time before that event. We can calculate where we think they should have been, but we cannot go back in time to see if we are correct. There simply is not sufficient data to prove something like that.

For another detailed review of this illustration, go to http://www.snopes.com/religion/lostday.htm. (Link was suggested by Al Kolff on January 30, 2003)

The Missionary Who Was Protected by 26 Prayer Warriors

I love stories from the mission field. I came across this one while visiting the church webpage of a friend in Ohio. The attribution was to Robert Gary Lee of Maryland and I found another attribution to Murray Moerman, a church planter in Canada. This kind of illustration really brings out the power of prayer. When I used it I noticed some quizzical looks - did this really happen? I think so, but it cries out for more details. What is the missionary's name? What church is it in Michigan? What African nation did it occur in? What year? To a congregation, these are not frivolous questions when they are given a powerful story like this. Can anyone fill in the details?

UPDATE! (June 16, 2003) Cathy Holden of "Truth Miners" sent me information that is the probable source of this illustration, and it appears to be historical, though transmuted. Her site gives this information:

According to Judith Bernicchi, Librarian with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, this story appears in a book titled "Touch the World Through Prayer" by Wesley Duewel (1986). The book refers to an incident during the Mau Mau uprising. Mr. Duewel was President of the Oriental Missionary Society (OMS). Ms. Bernicchi says, "It is easy to see how the source of this story could be heard to be OMF not OMS, particularly if the story was told in a sermon. In this version, the number of guards is 16, not 26, but we are fairly sure that it is the source of the story currently circulating." [http://truthminers.com/truth/26_armed_guards.htm]

A missionary on furlough told of this experience while visiting his home church in Michigan.

While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting; one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known carried money and medicines. He said, "Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that 26 armed guards surrounded you.

"At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, "No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone."

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong; I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?" The men who had met together that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were -- he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

HolwickID #19043

Dear Pastor Holwick,

I can remember attending a church many years ago where a missionary told us the exact same story that you have documented here. The details are exactly as I remember them except that the guards were men in white. The speaker was the actual person with whom it happened. My recollection of the number of men is 26.

It was many years ago and was likely have been about 1986. I cannot remember his name. At that stage I was attending the "Hatfield Baptist Church" in Pretoria, South Africa.

As far as I am concerned, this story is true.

Yours in Christ,
Johan van Reenen
South Africa

The Dynamite Dog

When I came across this illustration I wanted it to be true. Some of my best deacons have NRA stickers all over their pickups and I knew their wives could relate to it:

REAL LIFE STORY FROM MICHIGAN, U.S.A.

A guy buys a brand new Grand Cherokee for 30 some thousand dollars and has $400 monthly payments. He immediately gets ahold of his friend and they go do some male bonding. They go duck hunting, and of course all the lakes are frozen.

These 2 Atomic Brains go to the lake with the guns, the dog, the beer and of course the new vehicle. They drive out onto the lake ice and get ready. Now, they want to make some kind of a natural landing area for the ducks, something for the decoys to float on. Remember, it's all ice and in order to make a hole large enough to look like something a wandering duck wants to fly down and land on, it is going to take a little more effort than a ice hole drill.

Out of the back of the new Grand Cherokee comes a stick of dynamite with a short, 40 second fuse.

Now these two Rocket Scientists DO take into consideration that if they place the stick of dynamite on the ice at a location far from where they are standing (and the new Grand Cherokee), they take the risk of slipping on the ice when they run from the burning fuse and possibly going up in smoke with the resulting blast. So, they decide to light this 40 second fuse and throw the dynamite, which is what they end up doing.

Remember a couple of paragraphs back when I mentioned the vehicle, the beer, the guns AND THE DOG ????

Yes, the dog. A highly trained Black Lab used for retrieving, especially things thrown by the owner.

You guessed it, the dog takes off at a high rate of doggy speed on the ice and gets the stick of dynamite with the burning 40 second fuse about the time it hits the ice, all to the dismay of the 2 idiots yelling, stomping, waving arms and wondering what the hell to do now.

The dog, doing his job, heads back from where it came from moments before, with the stick of dynamite, the 2 bozos are now really going ballistic - waving their arms, yelling even louder and jumping to new heights - all of which seems to encourage the dog.

Now one of the guys decides to think, something that has not been done up to this point in our plot, grabs a shotgun and shoots the dog. The shotgun is loaded with #8 shot, hardly enough to stop a Black Lab on its appointed rounds. Dog stops for a moment, slightly confused and continues on. Another shot, and this time the dog, still standing, becomes really confused & of course scared, thinking these 2 Nobel Prize winners have gone insane, Rover takes off to find cover, with the now really short short fuse burning on this stick of dynamite.

The cover the dogs finds? Underneath the brand new vehicle sitting on the lake ice. Our brave hunters drop their shotguns and run like hell. . .

BOOM !

The dog dies. It and the brand new Grand Cherokee, sink to the bottom of the lake, taking with it all their gear, the discarded shotguns, and the beer, leaving the 2 candidates for Intellectual Co-leaders of the Known Universe standing there with this "I can't believe this happened" look on their faces. And a long walk home.

Later, the owner of the vehicle calls his insurance company which tells him that sinking a vehicle in a lake by illegal use of explosives is not covered, not even in the clauses which normally cover owner stupidity.

All that is left of this memorable hunting trip is the unused payment booklet for the Grand Cherokee.

HolwickID #19234

This story first appeared on the internet in 1997; the best analysis I have found is done by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. In short, you don't hunt ducks in winter and you don't use dynamite to break through ice (you can't trust the edges). This is a great story to use on the idea of "pay back" or "boomerang" behavior. Of course, a truly real-life story would be even better, so keep your eye on the hunters in your congregations.

My reason for this page is two-fold. If some of these incredible illustrations are correct I want to be the first to promote them. If they are phony I want to warn Christian workers not to use them. Too many believers have the attitude that if a story makes a good point it doesn't matter if it is true or not. This might be valid for fiction that is labeled as such, but any illustration that claims to be historical or true, should be. I leave you with 2 Peter 1:16 -

"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

"Pastor Holwick's Sermons"

Copyright © Rev. W. David Holwick, 2007
First Baptist Church; Ledgewood, New Jersey

This document last modified April 4, 2008

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