How is a person to be known? Various quotes indicate they are known by their silence, deeds, the company they keep, friends, books they read, tastes/distastes, and thanks to Jesus, “by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). May I add another, or perhaps an application of Jesus’ term “fruits”? A person is known by their office. Early…
Last Friday, as a Citizen of Patrol (COPS), I drove through my neighborhood, and noticed a small American flag on the curb of every home. It was, after all, the 4th of July. So, you ask, “Do you live in a neighborhood of all red-blooded Americans?” No, actually we have neighbors who were born in…
A Zulu proverb says when a thorn pierces the foot the whole body must bend over to pull it out. I was reminded again this week of the diversity within the Body of Christ and how, in our diversity, we must ever be one body with many members, working together to fulfill the plans of…
There is a popular acronym that some use to assist them in the content of their prayers. The origin of ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) as a prayer outline is unknown, although some believe it is displayed in and derived from The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Spiritual leaders, from Christians to Catholics, including such well-known…
The church seemed to always be fighting someone – city zoning office, neighborhood association, building contractors, other churches, etc. Once I asked the pastor about such fights and his reply was to the effect that if he could keep his church members busy fighting an outside entity, they wouldn’t turn on him. One day they…
“The long and short of it” is an American idiom, said when one wants to get directly to the point of something without giving details. I’d like to do that with the idea of separation. When he was alive, my father and I attended a host of athletic events together. Occasionally, when an athletic event…
Some years ago I read in a psychology journal of a wide-spread, rather expensive survey that determined that man needed to rest one day in every seven. The Tokyo City Zoo discovered the animals were showing signs of stress until they let them have a day of rest from human interaction. Amazing how humans discover…
I finally bought a Global Positioning System (GPS) but the pronunciation was so poor, I could hardly find my way out of my own neighborhood. And when it told me to exit on Azle Ave., but pronounced it “Ah-zel-avie” I gave it to my granddaughter and went back to a map. I do understand the…
“Putting on the uniform never gets old.” Those were the words of the new Manager of the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team, but with an adjustment or two, they could have been my words. I feel that way about my academic regalia. Long ago I lost count of the graduations and convocations in…
It was break time during the Prayer Conference when a participant said to me, “I like everything you are teaching us, but sometimes I just don’t feel like praying.” Do you ever refrain from praying because you just don’t feel like it? It’s Ok to pray because you feel like it, but not OK to…