Many of you may remember from your grade school days a novel by Mark Twain titled, The Prince and the Pauper. It has been adapted in various forms of Disney productions and even a few cartoon tales. The Twain story begins with two boys with identical features — one a spoiled royal heir, and the other a street urchin surviving on his wits. By chance they meet. The pauper is enamored with the fineries of the palace, while the prince envies the pauper's freedom to come and go as he chooses. Eventually, they ...
"What hands are too strong for you?" In this past/coming year, what hands have been/will be too strong for you? Are you in God's hands? If so, no hands are stronger than God's hands. The texts this week talk about God's enduring strength and give us reasons for believing in God's absolute ability to take care of us - come what may. If the exponential explosion of self-help groups is any indication, it appears that we have become fascinated by and fixated on defining and exposing the weakened, painful, ...
478. Lost in Translation
Illustration
B. and J. Leslie-Melville
Before movie companies were careful about translations assuming no one in the U.S. would understand a language like Swahili, directors would have someone write something that sounded like it fit the part of the scene. So, in one movie the director needed an African messenger who was to gasp out a sentence to the big chief. The messenger is to be collapsing as he delivers his message, because he had run for days with this vital news. A local Englishman who spoke Swahili was asked to write an urgent-sounding ...
479. Thinking Out of the Elevator Box
Illustration
Brett Blair
When facing a problem, we should try to look outside the box for solutions. We should try "detours and reversals," anything that will give us a different angle from which to ponder solutions. To illustrate, here's a story about a problem faced by executives of a large company. The company had moved into a new skyscraper and discovered that the builder apparently had not put in enough elevators. Employees were disgruntled because there were long waits for the elevators, especially at both ends of the ...
Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back; in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
F. Deauville Walker wrote a biography of William Carey, pioneer missionary to India. Here is the record of one day in India reconstructed from his diary in 1806. He rose at a quarter to six, read a chapter from the Hebrew Bible and spent some time in private devotion. At seven the servants came in for family prayers in Bengali, after which, while waiting for his chota (i.e., little breakfast), he spent some time reading Persian with a munshi and then a portion of Scripture in Hindustani. The moment ...
I am astonished that so many people should care to hear this story over again. Indeed, this lecture has become a study in psychology; it often breaks all rules of oratory, departs from the precepts of rhetoric, and yet remains the most popular of any lecture I have delivered in the fifty-seven years of my public life. I have sometimes studied for a year upon a lecture and made careful research, and then presented the lecture just once -- never delivered it again. I put too much work on it. But this had no ...
Our Creator, how we enjoy the arrival of spring. Lush green grass rises in our lawns decorating our streets with home to home carpeting. Bird songs, silent in winter, now fill the air with enchanting melodies. The brown loam of our gardens and fields warms in preparation for the coming seeds and plants. The brilliant colors of jonquils, tulips, and hyacinths edge our flower beds and ring our trees. Who are we that you lavish upon us such splendor? The air warms as the sun dispatches the winds of winter. ...
Cast of Characters: First Person* Second Person(Female) Third Person* *These parts may be played by either a man or a woman Time: The Present Place: A street corner Setting: A large cardboard box with a false back stands in the center of the playing area. A sign reading MAIN STREET may be hung for effect. Neither costumes nor props are required. [The FIRST PERSON, alone and forlorn, stands inside the box. The SECOND PERSON enters L, and starts briskly across the stage.] FIRST PERSON: Ma'am! [The SECOND ...
“Thus you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:20 In his novel A Painted House, John Grisham describes a pious Sunday school teacher eulogizing a character named Jerry Sisco. He was a mean guy who’d been killed just the night before in a back alley fight after picking on one person too many. In the words of the little boy who’d seen the fight with his friend Dewayne: "She made Jerry sound like a Christian, an innocent victim. I glanced at Dewayne, who had an eye on me. There was something odd about ...
I would like to talk with you about the meaning of Christianity. I took seriously the assignment that was given to me. I studied about Paul’s sermon at Mars Hill where he stood up in the great place of debate and spoke so eloquently that the people said, "Tell us what is the meaning of this Jesus and the resurrection that you proclaim." I have tried to work out this message mindful of what I imagine are your thoughts, my own thoughts, and the troubled thoughts that are characteristic in this modern period ...
Two hundred years ago, banks invented checks so they could transfer money between company accounts and between banks themselves without actually having to risk moving large sums of cash. Eventually, someone came up with the idea of allowing individuals to use checks so they, too, could forego carrying large amounts of cash on their person that they could either lose or someone could rob. People began to learn that you could take a check from one person to a bank and then the bank would redeem the check and ...
The Christian gospel began at Bethlehem one star-kissed night when a baby was born, and angels sang, and shepherds came - when the heavenly Father was so loving the world that he was giving his Son. To most of us the outward signals of the Bethlehem Event are rather well known. We know how shepherds received from heavenly messengers the announcement of the birth of Jesus, and how they said, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened." We know how, having made their journey there, those ...
Napoleon, the man who one time ruled over all of civilized Europe spent his last days exiled on the Rock of St. Helena. He was reflecting on all that he had accomplished in his life. He called a loyal friend, Count Montholon, to his side and said to him, "Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?" The Count refused to respond. Napoleon then said this: Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and, I myself, have found a great empire; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? ...
Listen! Don't miss even the first sentence of this sermon, because it sets the stage for everything I'll be saying today. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. Let me say that again. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. This is our third sermon in the series ...
Five words and regardless of where you are on the political spectrum you would agree they became one of the most famous political slogans of any political candidate in the last 50 years, “Change We Can Believe In.” Regardless of what you think about the slogan or even the man, one thing we all can agree on is that change is difficult. The older you get the harder change is. There are a lot of people I know who are more comfortable with putting up with old problems than they are finding new solutions. They ...
CAST (in order of appearance) Claudia: The wife of Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Palestine. She has been influenced by Jesus. Rachel: A Jewish servant-girl in Pilate’s household. Joanna: Wife of the chief steward in Herod’s household. She is a follower of Jesus. Pilate: Pontius Pilate, the strong-willed Procurator, symbol of the hated Roman conquerors. Sergius: A Roman soldier, personal body-guard of Pontius Pilate. Caiaphas: Chief Priest and leader of the Jewish Sanhedrin, an evil and crafty man - a ...
At first glance, I thought it was a great victory. The past week a Federal Appeals Court ruled that the phrase "In God We Trust" on a government building, does not violate the separation of church and state. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, ruled on May 13th that the national motto may remain on the facade of a county government building in Lexington, North Carolina. Then listen to what the court has to say and I am quoting Judge Robert King. "The Fourth Circuit has ' ...
Today I conclude our series “Pop Verses.” I hope it has been a useful and inspiring series for you. For the last few weeks we have looked closer at some of the most popular Bible verses. We have discovered why they are so popular and how they apply to our lives. If I did not cover your favorite verse or passage, email me and let me know. I have a feeling I will do a sequel to this series. So, if there is a verse you love and you would like to hear a message on it, let me know. It might make the sequel! Our ...
A few years ago there was an eye-catching commercial on television sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. They had one that shows a young man fighting, and then slaying a fire-breathing dragon with an Excalibur-like sword. At the end of that commercial, with that sword gleaming in the light, decked out in that resplendent dress blue uniform, the commercial ends with these words: “The Few-the Proud-the Marines.” Do you know what the Mission Statement of the Marine Corps is? On their Website that I ...
Decisions, decisions. Life is full of decisions. In fact, a number of philosophers and psychologists tell us that the decisions we make (or our behavior) largely make us who we are. Life is nothing but decisions. How do we make them in a Christian manner? We Christians believe that by his resurrection on Easter, Christ has given us new life (1 Peter 1:3). You have been given a new life! Now that we have that new life, how does it affect the way in which we make decisions? At least two of our Bible lessons ...
Paul’s teaching in this part of the letter is vivid and relatively straightforward. He begins by tying together what he has been saying since 1:17. The cardinal idea in these remarks is that the Corinthians are immature. Nevertheless, Paul does at least regard the Corinthians as “infants”; he does not deny they are persons of faith. The statements are insulting, as Paul repeatedly says the Corinthians are worldly (lit. “fleshly”). The Corinthians value wisdom and declare their status as mature believers or ...
It happens to all of us at some point. We can do it in everyday life, or we can plan it meticulously. We can even do it when we walk out of this worship center. What we all do is leave something behind. Many times it’s not on purpose. Today one or more of you might leave a purse, a cell phone, your car keys in your seat. Other times it’s very much on purpose. Many of you have prepared a last will and testament, spelling out in details each and every thing you will leave behind when your life is over. So ...
In America, it is called a dollar. In England, it is called a pound. In Europe, it is called a euro. In Israel, it is called a shekel. In China, it is called a yen. Different countries call it different things, but we all know it is money. It is everywhere. Money has been around forever. Interestingly, we didn’t start using paper money until the mid-1600’s, before that it was gold, silver, and bronze. Before that it was a unit of weight like barley or bread. By itself money really is nothing. It is just ...
Have you done your last will and testament yet? It’s not meant to be a morbid question as we begin today. We all need to plan for the future. One of the things we must plan is how we are going to distribute our estate—our stuff—after we die. When you do your last will and testament, one of the things you will think about is what you will do with your most valuable possessions. What are those to you? Your home and investments, sure. But when you think about what is most valuable to you, maybe you also think ...