Church Life
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Missing the Point of the Gift
In the attic of an English manor, a rare find was recently made. In 1900, Queen Victoria commissioned chocolates to be placed in special tins and sent to troops fighting in the Second Boer War. She insisted that the treats be from their home country, and 100,000 were made and sent. Over the years, many of the tins have been kept (or found), but the find that was made recently was very rare. Why? The chocolate bar was still inside the tin! After 121 years, the candy was still intact and had never been eaten. (One expert said that you wouldn’t exactly want it for your “Easter candy,” but the…
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What’s Up With a Good Relationship?
Hopefully, all of us value the relationships we have with others. Whether we are talking about family, friends, neighbors, people at work, or other kinds of interactions we may have, a good, healthy relationship with others blesses us in so many ways. I’ve been doing some thinking lately about how valuable these relationships are. I’ve also been thinking about how I can do what I can to enhance those relationships. You will probably be able to add to what I’ve come up with, but here are some things that I think are vitally important. Wake up I need to wake up to the value of the people who are dear to me. I…
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Directions Are Important
Several years ago, Jim and I were meeting some friends at a Bed and Breakfast to stay for a few days and enjoy some good laughs and some serious conversation. Our friends were coming from other states, but this particular B&B is located not too far from our home. We, however, had never been to it and it was located on some country roads we had never traveled, so we put the address in our GPS and trusted it to take us to our location. We followed the directions to a T. As we got closer, that lovely GPS lady began to say, “Your destination will be on the right.” “Turn right in…
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Preparing for One Graduation
A young man in North Carolina took the slowness of the covid-19 pandemic in stride. Since his classes were online, he decided to take as many as he could, and also took some online classes from a community college. (If my understanding is correct, some of the classes counted for both his high school and college.) So, on May 21, he will be receiving an associate’s degree from his local community college and seven days later, will receive his high school diploma. Oh, the boy…is twelve years old! [Source] I had a lot of reactions to that story, not the least of which was wondering what I was doing when…
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My (In)famous Church Camp Director’s Cap
For a number of years, I served as the director of one session of a church camp in southeast Missouri (Bootheel Youth Camp). Every once in a while, I’d break out my “official church camp director’s cap.” It was a different color than the one in the picture above, but it contained the same message (“I’m their leader; which way did they go?”). I usually didn’t wear the cap long. I just wore it long enough to get about all of the laughs I thought I could get and then “retired it” until another session of camp. I was very happy when it came time for the “retirement” because I do not like wearing…
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Livestream is a Great Option, But Not “Option A”
We were so thankful for Central livestreaming its worship services this past Sunday. Let me give you the quick backstory. I preached at Central Sunday morning and then our family took off on a trip. Our elders were gracious in giving me a few days off to travel to Texas to meet our new nephew, who was born last week. Our plan was to drive about half-way, go to worship somewhere locally, and then finish our trip Monday morning. However, our “timing” was off in one place to stop for worship (partially because many congregations in that area have not restarted Sunday evening services yet) and, as we continued down…
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When Seeing Red Is A Good Thing
The phrase “seeing red” usually has a negative connotation. If somebody tells you that they are seeing red, it would probably be a good idea to avoid them for a while until they can (to use another well-worn phrase) “cool down.” I would like to suggest that there are some ways to “see red” that might be helpful. They may be helpful as we relate to others and as we consider the most important relationship we need to have. I am writing these words during a time when our country is very divided. I’m old enough to remember other times we were divided by political ideologies, racial tensions, our nation’s involvement in various…
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It’s Always Planting Season
It’s that time of year, isn’t it? It’s Spring! That means it’s planting season. As soon as the weather warms up, we all want to get outside and put some seeds in the ground. Since our vegetable gardening days are over, I want to go to a nursery and pick out some beautiful flowering plants and put them in our yard so as they grow, they become a focal point in our landscape. Now we all know that for plants to thrive, the conditions have to be just right. The temperature has to be warm, the sun has to be shining, the soil has to be prepared, and the seeds or plants have to…
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I’m Still Standin’
Folks, let’s face it … it has been a year! Our entire world has dealt with a pandemic virus that has changed our way of life, potentially forever in some ways. I’ve heard more than one person comment that when they were watching a television show, they wondered why the characters weren’t wearing masks! I think some of the technology that became “necessary” for things to function over this last year might be here to stay. On top of that, some have faced challenges in their jobs due to the virus, if they were fortunate enough to be able to keep working. Still others have been challenged due to preexisting…
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“Fear Always Works”
That line, from near the end of the movie Zootopia, comes to my mind often. When people talk about being fearful or scared of certain things, that line–and a Bible verse I’ll mention in a moment–jump to my mind and cause me to do some thinking. Here are some examples: Fear can work in keeping parents from parenting. They fear that, if they discipline their children (especially in ways that are hard or that the world says are harsh), their children might hate them or not “be friends” with them. Never mind that God has laid our standards for parents that includes harder punishment. We live in fear and, so,…
