Church Life
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The Proper Order
Many who read this will be familiar with a man who began his life being known as Saul. The Bible informs us, among other things, of his early religious training as a Jew. There can be no doubt about his devotion and zeal to a cause he believed to be pleasing to God. However, we also see this same man being referred to later as Paul. Something besides his name had changed. His purpose in life had changed. People were saying of him that he was now “…preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal. 1:23). His zeal for the cause of Christ eclipsed the zeal he had as a Jew. The transformation from “Saul…
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Any Length to Save a Lamb
In Scripture, the imagery of sheep and shepherding is found over and over. One of Jesus’s beloved parables is about a man who lost one sheep out of 100, but who went out to find that one lost sheep, celebrating upon the rescue of that one (Luke 15:3-7). Recently in England, a real-life example of that was lived out. A lamb was reported to be in a difficult position in Durham, England. It had fallen down a drain pipe and was finally located about 50 feet down the pipe. So, was the lamb just left there to be frightened and, likely, to die? Of course not. A crew of workers,…
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No Human Contact
As I type these words, we are about a month or so into what is a new experience for us. It might not even be an exaggeration to suggest that we are experiencing a new way of life. Among other things, our language and our actions have changed. Just a few weeks ago, I don’t think I’d ever heard the phrase “social distancing.” Now, we are not only using that phrase regularly, we are practicing it. Somewhere recently I heard about a woman who carries a tape measure with her wherever she goes in order to make sure that there is at least a distance of six feet between her and the people…
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In Times Like These
I am writing these words from our house. Donna and I left Kentucky a few days ago because we were needed elsewhere and have returned. Our governor has those who leave the state and return to “self quarantine” for fourteen days. We are doing our best to comply. As has been the case with almost everybody else, we have heard and read multiple reports, discussions, etc. about the CoronaVirus. What some have called “an unseen enemy” has had a major impact on the whole world. It has had an impact on how we worship, purchase products, socialize, travel, and a host of other things. I remember hearing one of the discussions about this pandemic…
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What I’ve Learned About Myself While I’ve Been Quarantined
This has been one of the most interesting (and often unpleasant) times in my life. I have no memory of ever living through a pandemic. From what the news says, maybe I have and just didn’t know it because we weren’t directed to “shelter in place” like we have been for the last four to five weeks. I’ve learned some things about myself and thought they might be interesting to share. You might like to make a list of your own. When these restrictions are lifted, I plan to look at my list on occasion to see how well I am doing with remembering what I learned. Here are just five of the…
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Critical Thinking
I am typing these words not long after sending a text to somebody who “got slammed” by some people because of a Facebook post. To be fair, some people were complementary of what was posted, but some were not. Some were even, in my opinion, very unkind. The response I received to my text indicated the motive behind the original post. In part, the text read: I was trying to invoke critical thinking. I’m not really sure where my response to that text came from. It just kind of popped into my mind. For what it’s worth, here it is: Some should do a lot more thinking before – or instead of – being critical.…
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All We Like Sheep…
There’s an old comedy bit that has been used countless times. A person says something like, “I broke my arm twice in the same place,” and the other responds, “Quit going to that place.” Sometimes that joke hits close to home with how we live our spiritual lives, but the actions of some sheep in England may hit even closer to home. A fire and rescue service near Coates was recently called to save a sheep that had wandered into a muddy low-lying area near a river and become stuck late one evening. The workers did the necessary work and the sheep was brought out. However, the very next afternoon,…
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Somebody Else May Be Struggling During the Funeral
Who do you try to comfort when you visit a funeral home or attend a funeral service? For whom do you pray? I’m sure that most of us would say that we pray for the spouse, the parents, the children, other family members, and very close friends of the deceased. We know that they are hurting. We know that they are going through a very difficult time. We search for the right words. We certainly do not want to say the wrong thing. We try to think of ways to help. We absolutely do not want to do something that would make matters worse for them. Even if we cannot come up with what…
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The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow
“The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.” Annie, an orphan, sang these words in the 1982 movie by the same name – Annie. She sang them while she was living in an orphanage with a monster of a head mistress – Miss Hannigan. What prompted her sunny attitude was the belief that she had been left at the orphanage by mistake. It’s a great movie about a little girl with a positive attitude and how deeply ingrained her belief is that better days are ahead. Many of us have been quarantined for quite a number of days and some of those days have been cloudy and rainy…
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The Only Place for Put-Downs
A little good natured ribbing is just part of life. We do dumb things sometimes, and we need to learn to laugh at ourselves when we do. And, if we’re honest, we have people close to us who we love, in part, because they make us laugh at ourselves. But we also know that there is a difference between a good natured ribbing and a true put-down. When we put someone down, well, just look at the word. We are making ourselves seem superior and the other person inferior just because. We are making them feel dumb or ugly or uncool for no real reason, or for a reason that…
