Yesterday Norma Jean and I spent the morning touring the area of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, where the virgin goddess Athena was worshiped. Previously, I had only seen pictures and visited the Athens of the South in Nashville, Tennessee, and seen its replica.
It is amazing to see the actual Parthenon, built between 447 and 438 B.C. As I looked across to Areopagus Hill, I thought about the apostle Paul’s visit to this same city as recorded by Luke in Acts 17. Continue reading
Filed under God
Stephen Hawking, the renown physicist, and avowed atheist died Wednesday.
Hawking, who was 76, wasn’t expected to live past age 25. When he was 21 he was diagnosed with ALS, the incurable neurodegenerative disease. Although he beat the odds for more than 50 years he once said that he “lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years,” Continue reading
Filed under 2013 Top Posts, Creation, God
My Bible reading this morning in Ephesians 3 reminds me of a story once told about the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer.
Palmer once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The King was so impressed with Palmer both as an athlete and a person than he proposed to give him a gift. One of Palmer’s choosing. Continue reading
Filed under God
New Yorker Roger Pasquier has an unusual hobby. The retired ornithologist has a keen eye for spotting dropped coins.
Since he began this strange hobby late in 1980’s Pasquier has found almost $2,000 worth of coins dropped on the New York City’s sidewalks.
In recent years he has developed some specific strategies to help him find and keep track of the coins he collects. He avoids eye contact with other pedestrians. He hovers outside of bars where careless drunk people drop money. Continue reading
Filed under God
As Houstonians and South Texans are in recovery mode from the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, Irma is barrelling through the Carribean taking lives and leaving destruction in her wake. And now she’s taking aim at Florida
Following Irma is Hurricane Jose that is predicted to reek future destruction on some of the same islands in just a few days. Continue reading
Filed under God, Providence
H.G. Wells was never particularly religious, but after he had studied the history of the human race and had observed human life, he came to an interesting conclusion:
“Religion is the first thing and the last thing, and until a man has found God and been found by God, he begins at no beginning, he works to no end. He may have his friendships, his partial loyalties, his scraps of honor. But all these things fall into place and life falls into place only with God.” Continue reading
Last night I closed a meeting with the Eastside Church in Denton, Texas. At their request, I spoke on a series called, “Experiencing Intimacy with God.” The lessons were well received by the brethren as well as the guests who attended. However, I may have received the greatest benefit of all by visiting again this vital theme and reflecting on my personal relationship with the Lord. Continue reading
There’s an ancient fable about an African King who had a close friend. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation in his life, positive or negative, and saying, “This is good! God knows best!” Continue reading
Filed under God
Alan Smith tells a story about a lady who had just moved from an apartment to a house in the same small town. One day at the grocery store, she used the last of her personalized checks bearing her old address. The cashier examined the check and asked if all the information on it was correct. The shopper assured her that it was correct, and the cashier started to put the check in the cash drawer. But then she inquired again if everything was accurate.
“Why do you ask?” the shopper responded. Continue reading
Filed under Commitment, God
This quarter where I preach at the West Main Church in Lewisville we are studying the Old Testament period of the Judges. It was a time described this way. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Following the death of Joshua “another generation arose who did not know the Lord nor the work which he had done for Israel.” Soon they sinned, falling prey to the idol worship of their heathen neighbors. To punish them for their disobedience, God sent a foreign foe to oppress Israel. Finally, they would cry for deliverance. Then God would raise up a Judge to deliver them from their oppressor. This cycle is repeated again. And again. And again. Continue reading
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