Church Life
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It Will Never Cost More (or Less)
A very fun news story is making the rounds, as it does each year at this time. A group that studies economic inflation in the United States comes out with a report each holiday season sharing what it would cost to purchase the items from the twelve verses of the carol “The 12 Days of Christmas.” As with a lot of other things, the price is up. In fact, according to their analysis, if you were to purchase all the items in the song, in 2021 it would cost you $41,206. (I don’t know about you, but we don’t have quite that large of a Christmas budget, so no lords-a-leaping…
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Hero or Celebrity
As I type these words, I am working on a Bible class that I am to begin teaching very soon. I am scheduled to teach seventh through twelfth grade young men some material that has a sort of dual purpose. The text of the class will be the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Since this is a Bible class, we will, of course, study the text itself. There is a second and underlying consideration for this class as well. It is my prayer that the class will prepare them in some way to fulfill their God-given roles as leaders in the Lord’s church and in their homes. We hope to…
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How (Not) to Accept Thanks
Considering the name of tomorrow’s holiday includes the word “giving,” it is only fitting that we spend the vast majority of our time in this season thinking about how we should be giving thanks, ultimately to God, but also to other people. Sometimes we struggle to show gratitude, so these reminders are necessary and helpful. That said, is it not also true that we sometimes struggle to appropriately be the recipient of thanks? When someone gives us a heartfelt “thank you,” we can often respond in ways that do not truly accept the thanks and, if we are not careful, can even be off-putting to the one who has shown…
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An Unusual Thanksgiving Post
The following material may be familiar to some who read it. It is from The Hiding Place, a book written by Corrie Ten Boom. She wrote about some of the experiences that she had while in a Nazi concentration camp. The person identified as Betsie in this material is the sister of Corrie Ten Boom. The material is from a section of the book entitled “Barrack 28.” I’m offering this material at this time for those of us who may be struggling to think of something for which to be thankful at this season of the year or at any time for that matter. It is my conviction that most,…
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Decluttering
For about a month now I have been getting rid of things we don’t need or use. I’ve been cleaning out closets, cabinets, and the garage. The donation center has seen us often and will probably see us a few more times before I’m finished! I asked myself, “Why do we have all of this stuff?” I know the answer – we bought it because we wanted it, but did we really need it?? Did any of it really make our lives better, or were we just filling a perceived need? Were we trying to make others think more highly of us with things, and not with actions? I’ve done…
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Conflicting Signals
Recently, we stayed in a hotel with a little glitch on the TV. The picture was crisp and the screen was quite large. The sound was good and clear. So what was the issue? As we channel surfed one night just to see what was on, we noticed a problem on some of the channels. The sound seemed “off” from the picture at first, which happens sometimes. Then, though, we realized what was going on: the sound from one channel was playing over the picture from another–and, later, we found out that the same happened with the other channel! (And this was with about 6 or 8 channels.) Now, at…
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Pedestal Perils
Pedestals are used for a variety of reasons. We might be talking about the part of a vase that lifts the contents of the vase a little higher than would otherwise be the case. Maybe you have walked into a jewelry store and have noticed a pedestal being used to elevate one particular watch, necklace, or ring above all of the others. It could be a bakery, an art gallery, or a host of other places that make use of pedestals. I think you get the idea. There is a subtle message when a pedestal is used. That message is something like: “Everything you’re looking at is special, but the…
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Clinging to the Right Things?
In Acts 3, Peter and John are on their way to the temple at the hour of prayer. They come into contact with a man who has been lame since birth and who begs daily for his sustenance. When the man asks Peter and John for alms, they both look directly at him and Peter tells him to “Look at us” (verse 4). The miracle that follows is immediate and complete. When the man is told to “rise up and walk,” he goes beyond and leaps! In a recent Bible class, Don Blackwell made note that the tense of this verb in the original language implies that he just kept…
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How Much More Will We Give?
Often, I write (or at least jot down the main ideas for) my posts a few days–or sometimes weeks–in advance. But there are times when that schedule gets changed and I feel as if I need to write something “in the moment,” even if it means I know some people are going to be upset; maybe even angry. Today is one of those days, but first, a couple of “admissions.” Admission #1 is where this post came from. I was saddened Sunday night. As I saw pictures flood in of Christian young people trick-or-treating or having Halloween parties while congregations were meeting for evening worship services across the country, it…
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Mixed Messages
If you are not familiar with some of the rivalries that exist in college football, maybe the following story I read a number of years ago about one of those rivalries may help. As the story goes, the legendary coach of Ohio State, Woody Hayes, and some of his assistants were on a recruiting trip in Michigan. While they were nearing the state line as they were returning to Ohio, one of the assistants noticed that they were very low on gasoline. Coach Hayes’s solution to that dilemma was that they would coast as much as they could and push the car if necessary in order to get it across the state line…
