Yesterday was the last day of a thirteen and a half month Interim Pastorate. What I tried to say to the people about the future of their church, is a good thought today to individuals about their own future. Joshua was forty years old when the Israelites left Egypt. When Moses went up on Mt….
I have a long-time friend whose ideas seldom mesh with mine. In fact, over the years, there have been more subjects on which we disagreed than those on which we agreed. Yet I have learned from him, and I think he has learned from me. What a shame to think that we can only learn…
A young mother and her daughter were sitting nearby in a restaurant where I was eating breakfast. As they waited for their order, the little girl was singing a song – not a recognizable song, but her own song. She would grow up and learn to sing the songs of others, both good and bad,…
Answering the doorbell, I was greeted by total strangers who offered to give me some printed material about their beliefs. When I respectfully declined, they asked if they could come in and talk with me about what they believed. When I again declined, they asked if they could make an appointment to return at a…
This week, I saw a golfer hold up his putter and dangle it downward, lining up a putt. The announcer described it as a “Golfer’s plumb line.” The plumb line, is an instrument that has been used since at least the time of ancient Egypt to ensure that constructions are “plumb”, or vertical. It is…
I wept Thursday night. I’m not sure if it was the little boy in me, or the father in me or the grandfather in me weeping, but I wept. I wept for a little boy named Cooper who I did not know. He went to the ball game with his Dad, like I did so…
As I am writing this there is a storm brewing outside my window. I can hear the thunder. The radar shows wind and rain only a few miles away. Only a few hours ago the sun was shining brightly and the weather was warm and clear. Funny how life is like that. We go from…
Have you ever asked God for something and received no immediate answer? Saul asked God for counsel but God, “did not answer him that day” (1 Samuel 14:37). In many Seminary classrooms and in conferences too numerous to count, I have taught that there is no such thing as unanswered prayer for believers. Sometimes God…
I watched a celebration this week. It happened to be a victory parade for the champion Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. It could have been for any reason. Celebration is celebration, right? Maybe. Maybe not. In the Old Testament, David announced, “I will celebrate before the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:21, NAS). Some translations…
A television talk-show guest was asked to share his thirty-second advice with the audience. “Live the Golden Rule” he said. Then he added (to fill up his thirty seconds), “If everyone just lived the Golden Rule, it’d be a better world.” No doubt. But my question is, can “everyone” live the Golden Rule? For those…