Among other things, Christmas is about memories. My favorite Christmas memory came in a small church in Germany. We joined worshippers in singing “Silent Night” in both German and English, as it snowed lightly outside. While this favorite memory brought tears, my second favorite Christmas memory brought laughter. My granddaughter had given me a tie…
Some jokingly say there were actually four wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus, but the forth was rejected because his gift was a fruitcake. Have you ever had a Christmas gift rejected? The expression on the face of the recipient tells you the gift is not what they wanted, or needed. Maybe it…
Growing up around, then serving among preachers, missionaries, and denominational servants, I was always amazed at what they substituted for genuine cuss words. They couldn’t say “Damn” or “Hell” or any number of worse words, so they made up new words to use when the occasion called for a cuss word. New words, like “Dang…
In response to prominent people saying they were praying for the San Bernardino, CA shooting victims’ families and the survivors, the December 3 headline on the New York Daily News read, “God Isn’t Fixing This.” The article said people offering prayers, “Erred in offering prayers rather than solutions on gun control.” Rather than going down…
Thanksgiving morning came and went. The day was unseasonably warm with just enough wind to keep the air fresh and keep leaves on the ground. The neighborhood was quiet, as some slept in and others left early for the Turkey Trot race. Don’t even ask about the circumstances, but that morning, as I was reflecting…
A recent survey showed Psalm 103 to be the second most favorite Psalm in the Bible (following Psalm 23). Few Psalms are more beautiful; few anticipate the New Testament more. There is no mention in this Psalm of war, illness, calamity, sadness, as in other Psalms. Perhaps there is no purer outburst of praise in…
Early in my attempts to follow God’s will, it seemed to some that I had gotten myself on a dead-end road, in a place that had no future. Looking back, it was a place used by God to prepare me for everything else I was to do in ministry. I learned when you follow God’s…
Last week Billy Graham observed his 97th birthday. He and my Dad were the same age, both born in 1918, only a few weeks apart. Growing up, I had great respect for both men. Both were preachers worth imitating – although it was much easier to imitate my Dad’s Texan than it was for this…
Another saint went home to heaven recently, reminding me again of the quote, “If your loved one is with the Lord, and the Lord is with you, they can never be very far away.” It is this blessed hope, this assurance of reunion that marks the difference in how Christians bury their loved ones and…
I’m hung on a phrase. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his non-Presidential-candidate speech, lifted a line from an earlier Bill Clinton speech, and said we must lead by “the power of example,” not from “the example of power.” Wow! Over the years of my ministry I have seen the power of example lived out…