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Beauty for Ashes

March 24, 2008

When Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary The story of Dr. Richard A. and Evelyn Forrest’s lives had an ordinary beginning. They had parents who loved them. They dedicated their lives to Christ, and committed themselves to a life of His service. They fell in love. They had hopes and dreams. There were disappointments, too. Evelyn had asthma-related health problems that would derail her dream of doing God’s work on the mission field. They began their work at Toccoa Falls, but a devastating fire threatened to put an end to it. But these two ordinary people continued to follow God’s leading, no matter

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March 17, 2008

A Miracle of God “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Faith changes the way you view life’s problems, challenges, and difficulties. Have you ever thought about your life and wondered how you would finish the course you are running? At times, your days seem earmarked with thoughts of fear, stress, doubt, worry, and even dread. But God challenges you to trust Him and allow Him to demonstrate His faithfulness to you. When you trust Him, He will do the impossible on your behalf. In 1953, Dr. Forrest wrote, “It

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March 10, 2008

No Obstacle Too Great No matter how hard the enemy may try to derail God’s plan for your life, his best efforts never succeed when the focus of your heart is set on Jesus Christ. Thoughtless words spoken to you or careless deeds done may leave you feeling deeply wounded. However, you do not have to yield to discouragement’s voice. God is omniscient—He knows what He has called you to do, and He will give fresh hope and the ability to accomplish it. One of Richard Forrest’s greatest tests of faith came just before he graduated from The Bible Institute

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March 3, 2008

Claiming God’s Promise Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. Joshua 1:3 God commanded Israel to walk through the Promised Land and claim it as theirs, but they never did it. They went so far and stopped. Consequently, they never gained more than a third of the promise. Have you ever done the same thing? You sense God directing you to take full advantage of His blessings, but you stopped short. Disappointment, discouragement, pride, anger, or any number of imposing enemies battled against you and

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February 18, 2008

The Thing That Really Counts After Mrs. Forrest fell in 1935, her life changed dramatically. She had been accustomed to traveling to cities such as Atlanta, Greenville, Anderson, and Ashville to conduct weekly Bible studies. For years, she had maintained a full class load at Toccoa Falls College teaching the students and helping to oversee the daily operations of the institute. In addition to these duties, she also had a weekly radio program and taught Sunday School in the Toccoa community. But a well-polished floor and a cotton throw rug altered her life in ways that she never expected. In

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February 11, 2008

All Is Well! When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he . . . threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. (Acts 16:23-26) The apostle Paul and Silas had been

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February 4, 2008

Attempt Great Things for God NOT EVERYONE CAN SAY they have held a world record. But in April 1975, the TFC soccer team set a record for the world’s longest soccer game: 37 hours! Dividing up into two teams, we began on Friday morning at 3:00 a.m. and continued until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, playing two-hour periods with 10-minute rests between periods. Final score: Blue Team-164 / Gold Team-104. During the entire contest a banner hung from the scoreboard that read, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” By God’s grace and strength, 22 committed players—with

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January 28, 2008

Mixed Messages HAVE YOU EVER noticed what a noisy world we live in? Thousands of messages are being sent our way through radio, television, the Internet, friends, family, etc. Even in the Toccoa Falls College library it is sometimes difficult to concentrate. We are so busy taking in the many distractions in life that we often neglect to hear the most important sound of all—God’s voice. Those of us working in a Christian atmosphere such as Toccoa Falls College often become so accustomed to spiritual messages that we neglect to spend important time in real one-on-one fellowship with our Savior.

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January 21, 2008

Perfect Peace “JESUS GAVE ME PEACE in place of my chaos!” said Maria, a new believer who was going through a very difficult time with her family. She learned to lean hard on God in the good times as well as the bad. She began to read God’s word and to pray for the very first time, focusing her mind on God instead of her problems. She learned to trust that God was in control, even though it didn’t always feel like it. While at Toccoa Falls College, I remember meeting with other students on Wednesday evenings for Student Missions

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January 7, 2008

All things new With the trappings of Christmas neatly packed away, thoughts turn to a new year—one that promises new beginnings, new challenges, and new opportunities. Leo, the guy that takes care of the yard, recently went through a list of things that he planned to do while the weather was still cold. He would clean up any stray leaves; trim the hedge that was growing out of control; and cut back the wild honeysuckle bushes in the backyard. Then he would turn his attention to the liriope that borders the driveway. “We’ll cut that back by the first week

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March 12 & 13, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Wednesday, March 12, 1930 4:00 a.m. called – Breakfast and prayers over started 6:00 a.m. from Divo.

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March 10 & 11, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Monday, March 10, 1930 On the way to the Ivory Coast. Did not sleep very well the

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March 8 & 9, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Saturday, March 8, 1930 Kaukau, Africa 7:30 a.m. This was a good opportunity to sleep a little

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March 6 & 7, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Thursday, March 6, 1930 Mamow, Africa 5:30 a.m. Breakfast at 5:45 a.m. so as to get an

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March 4 & 5, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Tuesday, March 4, 1930 Conakry, Africa 5:00 a.m. We are up dressing ready for our trip up

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March 2 & 3, 1930

The Diary of Evelyn Forrest’s Trip to Palestine Sunday, March 2 After breakfast served in our room, the day was spent in quiet meditation. This

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