Funerals were held for two men last week. One was a common man, who for many years worked with children at his church on Sundays and assisted with the meal on Wednesday evenings. The other was a well-known dignitary, a public servant, a man of great prestige. Mr. Harold, as he was affectionately known, had…
Long ago I stopped making New Year’s resolutions, serious ones at least. Then two years ago, my teenage granddaughter challenged me to “get with it and get on Facebook.” I saw little value in some toy created by a Harvard Sophomore, but I agreed to do so as a New Year’s resolution. I had also…
The key to happiness among religious people is close friendships with fellow church-goers. That was the conclusion of a recent study led by a professor from the University of Wisconsin and a researcher from Harvard University and released in the recent issue of the “American Sociological Review.” I never cease to be amazed at how…
The web site was entitled, “Top Five Christmas Gifts 2010.” Being a sucker for top ten and top five type lists, I quickly opened the site only to discover that it listed sixteen items and then asked me to vote on which five I wanted. I quickly ruled out the wedding dress, women’s jewelry, the…
In his attempt to convince the graduates that there was more to life than attaining an academic degree the commencement speaker quoted a tombstone inscription, “Here lies Flow. G.P.A. 4.0.” After congratulating the graduates with high Grade Point Averages, the speaker shared how tragic it would be to get to the end of life with…
It was in a tiny church in a tiny German town. Thirty-five tourists happened upon a small group of German Christians rehearsing their Christmas music. Seated on hard wood pews, in a chapel that seated maybe fifty worshippers, we listened, few of us understanding the words, but all of us recognizing the tunes. Christmas tunes…
Listening to a so-called “football commentator” describe an explosive running back, I was surprised to hear a new word – “explosivity.” Actually, it was not a real word, but an attempt to find a new way of describing a powerful running back. It reminded me of a Greek word – dunamis (from dunamai). It refers…
While not a biblical word, “travail” is a biblical idea. The first known usage of the word was in the 13th century and it described work of a painful or laborious nature. Synonyms were agony, torment, distress, tribulation, woe. Some modern translations of Gal.4:19 and Rom 8:22 describe “the pains of childbirth” by using the…
Have you been to a progressive dinner lately? You remember – appetizers are at the first house, salad at the second house, the main course at the third house, and desert at the fourth house. For the believer the progressive dinner began in the Upper Room when Jesus, “Took bread, gave thanks and broke it,…
“Your sermons have meant so much to my husband since he lost his mind.” Those words were shared with a former Seminary student of mine from one of his church members. In my laughter, I remembered a statement shared with me in the early days of my ministry. Following the morning worship service, I was…