Has
Everything Been Invented? |
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January, 2001
Dear Ministry
Friends,
In 1899, Charles
Duell, the Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents, said,
"Everything that can been invented, has been invented."
How could an expert on inventions think everything had been
invented by 1899? Because people tend to think that whatever
they know is all there is to know. It is an interesting truth
that we don't know what we don't know. And as everyone has discovered
when they tried to present new truth, "people are down
on what they are not up on." There is a tendency to doubt
some new idea and be negative about it when we are first presented
with it. Consider some of these true statements by people who
were first confronted with a new idea in an area they were already
familiar with:
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"Drill
for oil? You mean drill into the ground and try to find oil?
You're crazy." replied some well drillers in 1859
when Edwin Drake tried to hire them for a first-time attempt
to drill for oil.
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"Louis
Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
said Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at the University
of Toulouse in France in 1872.
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"The
abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from
the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." according
to Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, who was appointed
Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1873.
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"This
telephone has too many short-comings to be seriously considered
as a means of communication." was concluded in a
Western Union internal memo in 1876.
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"Heavier-than-air
flying machines are impossible." said Lord Kelvin,
president, Royal Society of England, in 1895.
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"Airplanes
are interesting toys but of no military value."
stated Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole
Superieure de Guerre military school in Paris.
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"Professor
Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction...
He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high
schools." wrote a 1921 New York Times editorial
about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.
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"The
wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value."
replied David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urging
for their investment in the radio in the 1920's.
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"Who
the heck wants to hear actors talk?" said H.M. Warner,
of Warner Brothers, in 1927.
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"Stocks
have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
stated Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, at Yale University,
in 1929.
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"I
think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
replied Thomas Watson, who was chairman of IBM, in 1943.
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"We
don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
commented Decca Recording Company on why they were rejecting
the Beatles in 1962.
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"There
is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
stated Ken Olson in 1977, who is president, chairman, and
founder of Digital Equipment Corporation.
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"$100
million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft."
according to IBM, in 1982.
Many American Christians
are like these "experts." They think all that can
be discovered in God's Word has been found, and they must already
know it. And many think that miracles and healing stopped with
the death of the last of the 12 Apostles, when people are receiving
medically documented healings all around America and the world
each week! (I have "before and after" medical test
results of a healing of one of my sons mounted on the wall of
his room as an on-going testimony of God.)
Too many Christians
are content to keep hearing worn-out sermons and misconceptions
about God repeated Sunday after Sunday. They are afraid to find
out something new perhaps because it might require some
kind of change. Perhaps it's because it might imply they were
somehow "wrong" for a period of time. But just when
does any Christian finally know everything perfectly? It will
only be when we get to Heaven! So we should never stop learning
in this life.
Americans are spiritually
hungry, but too many times the "spiritual bread" is
"stale." People have gone to church, but fell away
because they were not "getting anything out of it."
There was no revelation, only religion. In Matthew
16:17-18, Jesus said His church would be built on this "rock"
petra in the Greek language which in context was
the principle that His disciples would get revelation from God.
They would get something "solid" as they got revelation
from the Spirit of God, and the gates of Hell would not prevail
against it. Too many times the messages from American pulpits
are wet noodles that would not prevail against even the competition
from Hollywood. People have gotten bored in church, sometimes
fallen asleep, and couldn't wait to get home to their television,
computer, or CD player. There are entire denominations in America
that are growing smaller each year. This is not God's will
He wants vibrant, alive, Spirit-filled congregations feasting
and growing each week on His Word.
In the Old Testament
tabernacle and temple, the priests were supposed to bring in
fresh bread every day! They were not to bring in leftovers that
had been served over and over. We have stores and restaurants
in America that stay open 24 hours a day because of demand for
their product, but many churches have trouble attracting people
for one hour a week. Why aren't churches needing to stay open
more hours of the week to minister to the spiritually hungry?
Too many times it is because we haven't been truly serving the
Bread of Life only stale leftovers from previous days
when God's revelation was fresh. A minister said that sometimes
all we have is crumbs left in the carpet. He said our churches
are like bakeries that are open but have no bread inside! There
has been a famine of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos
8:11). Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means "house
of bread." When churches minister "fresh bread"
more often, people will be attracted, born-again regularly,
and nourished to grow up spiritually.
It is not surprising
that the 50 largest churches in the world are outside of America.
I know of a pastor that went to an international minister's
conference. They had a workshop for pastors of churches with
congregations of over 100,000 members! This American pastor
I know of stuck his head in the door, and saw 20 or 30 pastors
in there! (But of course, none of them were American.)
And
concerning an individual's desire for God's Word, people often
lose their "appetite" when they are ill. Too many
believers are "spiritually ill" and have lost their
appetite for God's Word! Some of them have been "spiritually
burned" by a person in spiritual leadership. We need to
realize that we need to keep "eating" to keep our
strength up even if we do not have any taste or appetite
left. A great medical discovery was that burn victims need twice
the calories of a normal person! If people will recognize their
spiritual hunger, and once again seek God in His Word, He will
again give them "manna" daily from Heaven to supply
their spiritual calories. Resolve to grow spiritually this year,
expand your intellectual and spiritual horizons, and increase
in the wisdom and knowledge of God through His Word!
Serving fresh Bread,
Dale Leander
P.S. If
you have not used our Daily Bible Reading Guide,
it would be a great tool to help you keep getting "fresh
bread" each day. Also, the tapes that are offered are full
of fresh revelation, information, and application to help you
keep overcoming in life. Why not order them today?
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AGREEMENT: Paper duplication or electronic forwarding
of this teaching is permitted for non-commercial purposes provided
that the complete message and contact information for Words of Life
is included. Thank you. Copyright 2002 - 2006,
Dale W. Leander. |
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