The TALE
of the
TARDY
OXCART
PUBLICATIONS BY CHARLES R. SWINDOLL
BOOKS
Active Spirituality
The Bride
Come Before Winter
Compassion: Showing We Care in a
Careless World
David: A Man of Passion and Destiny
Dear Graduate
Dropping Your Guard
Encourage Me
Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity
The Finishing Touch
Flying Closer to the Flame
For Those Who Hurt
Gods Provision in Time of Need
The Grace Awakening
Growing Deep in the Christian Life
Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life
Growing Wise in Family Life
Hand Me Another Brick
Home: Where Life Makes Up Its Mind
Hope Again
Improving Your Serve
Intimacy with the Almighty
Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness
Killing Giants, Pulling Thorns
Laugh Again
Leadership: Influence that Inspires
Living Above the Level of Mediocrity
Living Beyond the Daily Grind, Books I and II
The Living Insights Study Bible, General
Editor
Living on the Ragged Edge
Make Up Your Mind
Man to Man
Paw Paw Chucks Big Ideas on the Bible
The Quest for Character
Recovery: When Healing Takes Time
Sanctity of Life
Simple Faith
Starting Over
Strengthening Your Grip
Stress Fractures
Strike the Original Match
The Strong Family
Suddenly One Morning
Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back
Victory: A Winning Game Plan for Life
You and Your Child
MINIBOOKS
Abraham: A Model of Pioneer Faith
David: A Model of Pioneer Courage
Esther: A Model of Pioneer Independence
Moses: A Model of Pioneer Vision
Nehemiah: A Model of Pioneer
Determination
BOOKLETS
Anger
Attitudes
Commitment
Dealing with Defiance
Demonism
Destiny
Divorce
Eternal Security
Forgiving and Forgetting
Fun Is Contagious!
Gods Will
Hope
Impossibilities
Integrity
Leisure
The Lonely Whine of the Top Dog
Make Your Dream Come True
Making the Weak Family Strong
Moral Purity
Our Mediator
Praise... In Spite of Panic
Portrait of a Faithful Father
The Power of a Promise
Prayer
Reflections from the Heart: A Prayer Journal
Seeking the Shepherds Heart
Sensuality
Stress
This is No Time for Wimps
Tongues
When Your Comfort Zone Gets the Squeeze
Woman
SWINDOLL
LEADERSHIP
LIBRARY
The TALE
of the
TARDY
OXCART
and 1,600 Other Stories
CHARLES R.
SWINDOLL
Swindolls Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes
Copyright 1998 by Charles R. Swindoll
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy,
recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed
reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.,
P.O. Box 14100, Nashville, Tennessee 37214.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from
the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV).
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Published in association with Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS):
General Editor: Charles Swindoll
Managing Editor: Roy B. Zuck
The theological opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily
the official position of Dallas Theological Seminary.
The author expresses gratitude to all the copyright holders for permission
to include their works. For a complete listing of acknowledgments, see pg. 633
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Swindoll, Charles R.
Swindolls ultimate book of illustrations & quotes
(formerly Tale of the tardy oxcart and 1501 other stories: a collection of
stories, anecdotes, illustrations, and quotes / Charles R. Swindoll
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-7852-5025-5
1. Christian lifeAnecdotes. 2. Christian lifeQuotations, maxims, etc.
I. Title. II. Series
1998
BV4517.S95
251'.08dc21
98-15088
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
01 02 03 04 05 0607 06 05 04 03
Dedication
This book is dedicated,
with great admiration,
to all my colleagues in ministry,
especially those who work hard at
communicating Gods truth
with accuracy, clarity, and practicality,
and therefore are in constant pursuit of
just the right illustration
to get the message across,
lest they clothe the
riches of Christ
in rags.
Alphabetical List of Topics
Introduction
I AM A PREACHER. I have been standing before congregations and various other audiences in and around America for more than thirty-five years. I have served in pastorates in Massachusetts, California, and Texas. My travels have also taken me up into Canada, down through Mexico and Central America, and beyond the great oceans of this world, from Alaska to Australia, from Maui to Mannheim, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. What an invigorating journey! Through all these experiences, nothing has given me greater satisfaction and fulfillment than communicating on my feet, regardless of the place I stood, as people listened to Gods truth from His life-giving Word.
God gets all the praise and glory for this. After all, He is the One who distributes the gifts and the One who provides the insights, energy, and results. What a privilege it is to continue serving as a messenger of the King! I freely confess, my heart still skips a beat or two when I anticipate preparing and proclaiming His message. To this day, Ive not lost the joy or the excitement connected with being one of His voices. I love the challenges as well as the changes preaching requires. To tell you the truth, I enjoy the whole experience, including all that goes into the preparation process. I do my own research, I dig into the Scriptures on my own, and I read widely on a regular basis. Those disciplines provide a major source of my enthusiasm; thats how the fire starts to build within me. But admittedly the crowning moment occurs when I have the privilege of standing and delivering. When the Spirit of God takes charge and honors the hard work of study and prayer and planning and thinking, it is rewarding beyond description. Nothing compares to that!
Through all the years and in all the places I have been engaged in this calling, I have learned the value of good illustrations. Interesting illustrations. Illustrations that grab the attention and clear the minds of those listening. Illustrations that open the windows, bringing light to truth. Under the general heading of illustrations, I would include stories, anecdotes, quotations, analogies, incidents, experiences, poems, songs, delightful moments, struggles Ive endured, as well as humorous situations Ive been in that, when later told, help make the truth come alive. More times than I can count, I remember using such illustrations and watching God pry open the eyes and unstop the ears (not to mention soften the hearts) of others, many of whom were bound and determined not to give me even the time of day... until they were stabbed awake and compelled to listen. Those experiences have always thrilled me and sometimes amazed me. A well-chosen illustration can transform a hostile skeptic into an interested participant. I know; Ive seen it happen.