The young couple sat together and they gazed into each other’s eyes. One leaned toward the other, but the other hesitated and leaned away. “But, I love you,” the first spoke, “C’mon, it’s okay; you know I love you.” The parent looked into the child’s eyes and said, “You understand that I did that because I love you?” The child held their swollen cheek and tried to nod. “And because I love you so much, it is my responsibility to teach you the difference between right and wrong.” The child tried to nod again ...
There once was a king who ruled over a vast empire, but alas, he was rather old and thus decided that he needed to select his successor from his four sons. He called them in, one-by-one, to discuss the inheritance of his kingdom. When the first son entered the king's chamber, the old man sat down and spoke: "Son, I am very old and will not live much longer. I wish to entrust my kingdom to the son best suited to receive it. Tell me, if I leave my kingdom to you, what will you give to the nation?" Now this ...
Thomas Jefferson could truly say, "Been there, done that, now what?" He was Ambassador to France, the first Secretary of State, a Vice President, the President of the United States, founder of a major university, author of the greatest political document in history, a multi-faceted inventor, architect, author, farmer, and scholar. He was perhaps the most brilliant man ever to occupy the White House. He was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence; he attended the second Continental ...
"There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father ...
Some people have a talent for getting to the core of things. Julius Caesar wrote a good-sized book titled On the Gallic War. It is still used as a textbook by students of Latin. However, Caesar was also able to cut through all the details and get to the nub of a matter. He wrote a sentence that has become a classic in condensation: "Veni, Vidi, Vici" — "I came, I saw, I conquered." That sums it all up. In Jesus' day there was a group of people who pored over the ancient writings of Moses to look for every ...
A priest at a parochial school, wanted to point out the proper behavior for church. He was trying to elicit from the youngsters, rules that their parents might give before taking them to a nice restaurant. “Don’t play with your food,” one second grader cited. “Don’t be loud,” said another, and so on . . . “And what rule do your parents give you before you go out to eat?” the priest inquired of one little boy. Without batting an eye, the child replied, “Order something cheap.” (1) Some of you with children ...
An eight-year-old little boy by the name of Arnold wrote a letter to his pastor: "Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody but he never met my little sister."(1) Sometimes kids say the funniest things. And sometimes in the midst of that humor, there's a message from God. I think the message is about love. Love happens to be the most talked about and discussed topic of all time. Not counting songs like, "Beans In Your Ears" or George Thorogood's "Get A Haircut and Get A Real Job" or Johnny Cash's "A Boy ...
Let me ask you a question, and I want you to stand if this applies to you. How many of you are the oldest child in your family? How many first-borns do we have? Would you stand? O.K., thank you. Please be seated. Now, how many of you were the baby in your family? Would you stand, please? Thank you. Now, for those in the first group ” the oldest children. How many of you felt like the baby of the family got away with things you never could have gotten away with? Would you stand, please? Have you ever ...
In escorting the shepherd to her mother’s home the maiden accomplishes two goals: she gains approval from her mother and the brothers of the shepherd, and she fulfills her dream of consummating their vows in the place where she was “schooled” by her mother in the art of romance and lovemaking. “Spiced wine” and mandrake apples were renowned aphrodisiacs in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The phrase “nectar of my pomegranates” (8:2) has distinctly erotic connotations, the woman’s breasts being identified with ...
We are all about family. The truth is, the problem is, we are all about OTHER people’s families. The most popular show on television today? “Duck Dynasty.” After that there are the programs about “The Kardashians,” “Housewives,” of various zip codes, and “Hoarders.” We like to spy-glass at the inner-workings of family relationships that we can keep at arm’s length — or TIVO for a later, more convenient time. Our own family relationships cannot be put on hold. Whether it is a teething infant, a tantrum- ...
Setting: Medical doctor’s examining room Characters: Nurse Nelson Dr. Bone Brake Brother One Brother Two (Nurse Nelson ushers two brothers in for their exam. He/She gives each a sheet to wear.) (As Doctor Bone Brake enters the room Nurse Nelson begins to speak.) NURSE NELSON: Doctor Bone Brake, I have two brothers who have come for their physical. Boys be seated. You over here and you over there. DOC: Hello fellows. It’s good to see you. How are you? BROTHER ONE: I’m fine. Don’t really need this ...
It takes a steady hand to carry a full glass of water. It takes an even steadier heart to carry forgiveness to one who holds you in opposition. In the Old Testament I like the story of Joseph, particularly its outcome. Joseph is the favored one. The older brothers say, "Dad always liked you best." In this case it was true. The brothers go out and fake Joseph's death. They bring back some bloodied clothes and say to their father, "He is dead." In actuality they have sold him into slavery in Egypt. Time ...
The verb or the noun ‘‘love” occurs in twenty-six of the 105 verses of First John. In all cases, it is the familiar root agape. The leading idea is that God is love by nature and that he revealed this by sending Christ into the world. (4:9) We are not love by nature, and therefore God loved us first. The measure of this love was the death of Christ on our behalf (3:16) and therefore the Father could call us children. (3:1) This makes possible our own response of love and so if we abide in love, we abide in ...
Organizing a community effectively can happen in many ways. Rules may be laid down, with the rewarding of the compliant and the punishing of those committing infractions; incentives may be posed as an approach to reinforcing some behaviors and discouraging others; distant goals may be identified with means of attaining them being explored; values may be clarified and extolled as a means of motivating adherence; and leaders may be delegated authority, serving as determiners of standards and arbiters of ...
Sometime ago Ann Landers received the following letter from a woman in Dubuque, Iowa: "Dear Ann, My neighbor considers herself a born-again Christian, yet I know for certain that she cheats on her husband. What do you have to say about this?" Ann Landers replied, "I'd say she was a born-again Christian with birth defects." The fact of the matter is that all of us have birth defects of one sort or another. That is, none of us Christians ceases to be a sinner. We are forgiven sinners, sinners under ...
A long time ago there lived a little boy whose parents had died. He was taken in by an aunt who raised him as her own child. Many years later, after the boy had grown and become successful in business, he received a letter from his aunt. She was terminally ill and from the tone of her letter quite afraid of death. Thus, the man who had been raised and touched by this woman decided to write her a letter in response. He began, “It is now 35 years since I, a little boy of six, was left quite alone in the ...
When our Lord wanted to drive home a truth, he told a story and the greatest story ever told is the story in the Bible of the Prodigal Son. Every preacher has tried to preach it; songs have been written about it; movies have been made of it. There are Prodigal Ministries and Prodigal Magazines, but let not our familiarity with the story blind us to its meaning for our lives. For whoever you are, wherever you came from, however you perceive your future, you are in this story, in every word on every line. “A ...
Call to Worship Leader: This message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another. Don’t be like Cain who murdered his brother because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Congregation: In our weakness, we tend to hate those who are strong. Father, remind us that you will carry us to better deeds and we need not envy those who are farther along. Leader: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our ...
Have you ever noticed that men like to make jokes about marriage? For example, there's a story about a man sitting at the bar in his local tavern, furiously imbibing shots of whiskey. One of his friends happens to come into the bar and sees him. "Lou," says the shocked friend, "what are you doing? I've known you for over fifteen years, and I've never seen you take a drink before. What's going on?" Without even taking his eyes off his newly filled shot glass, the man replies, "My wife just ran off with my ...
In the rock opera Jesus Christ: Superstar, Mary Magdalene sings, "I don't know how to love him." You see, Christ had saved Mary from prostitution and demonic possession, and now she wanted to live to please Jesus, to offer him her lifelong devotion. But how could she express her love? In her earlier years she had easily known how to please men. But Jesus was different. What did he want from her? How could she serve him? Isn't Mary like most of us? Here we are saved and wanting to be devoted to God, but not ...
Two television evangelists were talking. One was explaining how he was seeking to be the ideal shepherd to his television flock. “There are three ways I seek to do that,” he said. “What three ways do you mean?” asked the other evangelist. “Well” he explained, “First, we FIND them. Every year we find new stations to carry our ministry. Then we FEED them. I give them the plain unvarnished word of God.” “But what’s the third thing?” asked the second evangelist. “Well,” he answered, “Once we’ve found them and ...
3:11–17 · The party of Cain—the brother killers—includes the indifferent:Appealing again to the original teachings of Jesus, commanding his followers to love one another (John 13:34–35), the elder leverages the worst of fratricidal archetypes: Cain, the brother killer (3:12; Genesis 4). Would any in his audience relish the idea of being numbered among members of “the Cain Party”? Of course not! The threat of being labeled a brother killer becomes a negative incentive used to motivate the opposite: loving ...
"When Jesus Christ calls a man, he bids him, 'Come and die!' " Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian wrote that sentence in his cell on April 9, 1945. He was within hours of the hangman's rope being placed around his neck in the Flossenburg concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Son of a leading authority on psychology, neurology, and a university professor, as a young man Dietrich had turned away from the life of prestige and privilege that would naturally befall him in order to pursue his ...
You are middle-aged or older if you remember when the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was first released. It was an exuberant, fast-paced musical about seven brothers on the frontier of the United States who were all looking for brides. Such "commodities" were rare in their part of the world. But, of course, in the end each brother got his bride. The story in our lectionary passage for today is about one bride for seven brothers, but the end of the story is not as happy and upbeat as was the movie. ...
On my writing desk at home, I have a framed photo of my husband taken a number of years ago. It’s a simple head and shoulders pose on a plain background in a slender gold-toned frame from a drug store. In other words, objectively speaking, the photo and its frame are really nothing special. They have no particular artistic or monetary value in the marketplace. Yet no matter how full my desk gets with books and files, papers and more papers, there’s always room for that photo too, because I think of it as ...