A husband and wife were on the way home from worship one Sunday morning. As they rode along, the wife asked her husband, “Did you see that woman in the front row showing off her Liz Claiborne suit?”
He said, “No.”
Well, “Did you see that man on our left–the one wearing that gaudy sport jacket that clashed with his slacks?”
“No, I didn’t” her husband replied. Continue reading
Filed under It's Friday. But Sunday's Coming!
“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”
Sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it? Who would think it’s good thing to sin? I mean sin a lot! So, when you sin God gives you more grace.
It is actually a serious question raised by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans. And he gives a serious answer. Continue reading
Filed under Sin
Several months after moving to Kansas City my friend, Dick Harmon, gave me an autographed copy of Dr. Karl Menninger’s classic book, “Whatever Became of Sin?”
Dr. Menninger, a well-known and highly respected Psychiatrist, wrote that “The very word ’sin,’ which seems to have disappeared, was a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word. It described a central point in every civilized human being’s life plan and lifestyle. But the word went away. It has almost disappeared—the word, along with the notion.”
“Why?” asks Dr. Menninger. “Doesn’t anyone sin any more? Doesn’t anyone believe in sin?” Continue reading
Filed under Sin
“I recently became gay affirming after a 15-year journey,” said Danny Cortez, a preacher for the New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, California.
In a letter to blogger John Shore, founder of “Unfundamentalist Christians,” Cortez said he “realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality.” The Baptist trained preacher said after reading many of Shore’s posts his “eyes became open to the injustice that the church had wrought.” Continue reading
Filed under Homosexuality
“I think I’ll just say I don’t agree with judging fellow human beings like this and leave it that!”
This was the response from one of my readers regarding a recent post on America’s Abortion Culture.
After replying to her objections, she did respond again saying, “ I don’t think Jesus (as far as I remember from childhood teaching) ever tried to change things by judging others. Compassion might change things. Helping people overcome bad circumstances might change things. But not judgment.” Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
Auguste Bartholdi was discouraged. Ten years of his life. Wasted!
The year was 1856. Barthold had traveled to Egypt and was captivated by the magnificence of the pyramids. The magical Nile. And the mysterious Sphinx. There he met Ferdinand de Lesseps who began a ten-year project of cutting a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. He succeeded. And the Suez Canal began a reality.
Bartholdi was inspired to design a grand lighthouse to adorn the entrance of the canal. His ten years of work, planning and designing did not produce the same results. No one was interested in financing the statue. Continue reading
Filed under It's Friday. But Sunday's Coming!
On this day in history, 50 years ago, Jim Ryun became the first High School athlete to run a sub-4 minute mile. I wrote about it Monday in my “Word of the Week” column on endurance. It occurred to me, however, that I might be in the minority that finds his feat very important!
So, I wondered what else happened on this day in history. Events that other people believe are significant and note worthy. Here are a few published on history web-sites.
On this day in history….. Continue reading
Filed under Today
Poet Laureate Maya Angelou passed away last week at age 86. Active in the civil rights movement, she became a celebrated poet, novelist, educator, dramatist, and producer,
The list of her published works included over 30 best-selling titles including her internationally acclimated auto-biographical book, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Continue reading
Filed under Relationships
Hey baseball fans, ready for a trivia question? Who was Clint Courtney?
Don’t bother checking Cooperstown. He never made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never became a baseball legend. He wasn’t a great player. He didn’t break any records–only bones. He wasn’t a power hitter. He only hit 38 home runs in his entire career. He had little speed on the base paths. And to quote one sports writer, “ As for grace and style, he made the easiest play look rather difficult!” Continue reading
Filed under Discipleship
This Thursday, June 5, 2014, one of the most significant athletic accomplishments of the 20th century will be celebrated in San Diego at Balboa Stadium: the 50th anniversary of Jim Ryun’s sub-4 minute. He was the first High School athlete to achieve that extraordinary feat.
While Ryun never won an Olympic gold metal–his best finish was silver in the 1968 Mexico games–he did hold world records in the half-mile, 1500m and mile. In the ensuing years Ryun served five terms as a Congressman from his home state of Kansas. Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
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