My friend and preaching colleague Ken Green recently shared this touching story on facebook.
It was the closing night of a summer VBS. The teacher of one of the classes had missed one night and hadn’t encountered a boy who had come that night and who was there that Friday. He only had one hand. It shook her a little and she began to be afraid that the others might make fun of him. But things went smoothly and she soon put the boy’s handicap out of her mind. Continue reading
Filed under Church
For some reason I’ve more recently grown to appreciate people telling stories about their grandchildren. One of my favorites is told by the preacher Lynn Anderson about his grandson, Conner. This happened in his Bible class when Conner was four years old.
The teacher said, “Today we are going to talk about Jesus.”
Where upon little Conner stood up and, thrust his hand onto his hips, and authoritatively confronted the teacher. Continue reading
Filed under Jesus
Norman Vincent Peale relates this story from his book, Power of the Plus Factor:
”Once walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong, I came upon a tattoo studio. In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available.”
“On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever. But what struck me with force were three words that could be tattooed on one’s flesh, ‘Born to Lose’.”
“I entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, “Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to Lose, tattooed on his body?” Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
The expression “fake news” has been in the news a lot lately.
Hillary Clinton recently gave a speech calling fake news “an epidemic” with “real world consequences.” No doubt she’s alluding to the so-called “Pizzagate” where a false news report spread an online rumor that her campaign had run a child sex ring at a pizza shop. The story led to a man with an assault rifle firing a shot into the Comet Ping Pong, the Washington shop falsely accused in the fake story. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
“How then can we deal with our tendency toward worldliness?” asks author Jerry Bridges in his book The Practice of Godliness. It is an intriguing question as we often struggle to live righteously in a wicked world. His answer might surprise you. Continue reading
Filed under Godliness, Word of the Week
In the 2007 movie The Bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman meet in a hospital as roommates where they both learn they are terminally ill.
Nicholson is wealthy, but spoiled. Miserable. And soured on life. Freeman, however, is a middle class auto mechanic who can answer every question on the game show Jeopardy. Continue reading
Filed under Sunday Seed Thoughts
On November 23rd a fire started in the Chimney Tops area of the Smoky Mountains and spread throughout the area into Sevier county and Gatlinburg. As a result 14 people have died. 145 were injured. 1753 homes and buildings were destroyed. And over 17,000 acres of forest were burned.
On Wednesday, authorities announced the arrest of two juveniles that will be charged with aggravated arson, but more charges could come later. According to various news sources they are currently being held at the Sevier County Juvenile Detention Center. Continue reading
Filed under Sin, Uncategorized
Why are some people peaceful, tranquil and calm? And others are constantly disquieted, distressed, and frustrated? Why do some folks seem happy all the time and others unhappy? Why does one person wear a perpetual smile, and another an incessant frown?
Several years ago the Sociology Department at Duke University did a study on “Peace of Mind.” After studying hundreds of people, both happy and unhappy, 9 factors were found to contribute to emotional and mental stability. Continue reading
Filed under peace
It was 75 years ago today at 7:55 am on a Sunday morning that a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings suddenly appeared out of the clouds above the Hawaiian Island of Oahu.
What followed was 360 Japanese war planes that attacked our naval and air base at Pearl Harbor. When the raid was completed our Pacific fleet was devastated. 2400 Americans were killed. 1200 were wounded. More than 200 of our aircraft were destroyed. 5 battleships, 3 destroyers and 8 other ships were either sunk or severely damaged. Continue reading
Filed under Devil
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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