Why do some people always want to put Christians into a tight little box? Why should we limit the gospel to people who have heard it all before? Why shouldn’t we take the gospel beyond the four walls of the church to people who don’t look like us, walk like us, talk like us, or share our views? Why must we always talk to the people who think like we think and do as we do? Why doesn’t our conversat...
Professional sports has no
statistic for measuring talking. Yet talking can be an important part of the
game.
We can measure how fast a player pitches or serves. We keep
statistics on batting averages, shooting percentages, and quarterback ratings.
We track yards-after-catch, on-base percentages, and shots on goal. We record
height and weight, wins-and-losses, and times in the 40-yard dash....
I want to go back for a few moments into TV history. Some of you grew up watching the hilarious Roadrunner cartoons. These cartoons featured a character named Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. Coyote’s virtually endless quest in life was to capture his nemesis, the Roadrunner. The coyote was stubbornly persistent in this quest despite the fact that, not only did he fail time after time after time, but meanw...
[Show Cheaper by the Dozen breakfast Clip]
Have you heard about the next Survivor Game show they have planned?
Six men will be dropped off on an island with 1 van and 4 kids for 6 weeks. Each kid plays two sports and takes music or dance lessons. There's no access to fast food. Each man must take care of his 4 kids, keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, ...
At a family gathering, a grandmother was coaxed into doing something she had never done before. After much friendly badgering, she climbed slowly up on an exercise bike. She took her time getting in just the right position. She waited a few moments. Then, nervously, she said, "All right, you can turn it on now."
If only work in the church could be handled like that. If we could magically flip a ...
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a place where the old ways matter. The Amish still ride their buggies up and down the green hills. Most churches have spires, and they frame the landscape with the proclaimed piety of their people. Change comes slowly. Sometimes that's good, especially when we're talking about the basics of the faith.
Sometimes that's bad. Like when people refuse to change the l...
"Jesus Loves Me This I Know, For The Bible Tells Me So." What ever happened to those words in our understanding of sharing God's gift with others? Our society today, much like the society in the time of Peter, has some very strong feelings regarding not only what is right and what is wrong, but who is right and who is wrong. Many of our religious crusades are rooted in a zealous interpretation of ...
The eloquent preacher Tom Long tells the story of a small church-related college that held an annual event called Christian Emphasis Week. It was the task of the Christian club on campus to invite a speaker who would come and lead a college revival. This particular year they invited a preacher who had come highly recommended. They were told of his dynamism and his unique way of communicating the g...
This story about Peter's mission to the Gentiles continues the account that began in 10:1, and it repeats in greater detail the content of Peter's vision that was already mentioned in 10:9-16. It is a remarkable story, because it treats rather lightly a dispute that was widespread in the New Testament church, the dispute over conditions to be laid upon Gentile converts to the faith.
The apostles ...
If I were to start a sentence with the words, “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” how would you finish that sentence? “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” Somebody once said, “There are two types of people in the world—those who divide the world into two types of people and those who do not.” What say you?
I think if I were to divide people into two types, I would s...