Nobody's at fault any more. Everyone's a victim. Isn't that the way you sometimes feel? The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected the petition of William Jefferson Walker, sentenced in 1983 to serve 10 years in an Arizona prison for aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Walker had argued, as he has in four other petitions filed with state and federal courts, that he was deprived of a fair trial because no one in his jury pool had a last name that began with W,X,Y, or Z. ...
If you could accomplish but one significant deed in your life, what would you want it to be? If you wanted to be remembered for one act of your life more than all others, what would that act be? All want to be remembered, all of us. No one wants to be forgotten. Even our Lord Jesus wanted to be remembered. Surely that was one of the reasons he shared bread and wine with his closest friends on the night of his betrayal, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me." That certainly was a beautiful and memorable ...
The poet said it: "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year." And suddenly, it came to us this past week that summer was over. Unbelievably, it was the first day of autumn. Actually, we don’t regret the passing of any other season, but, somehow, it is different with the summer. We all look sadly at each other and ask: "Where did it go to?" We all have the frightening feeling that something precious has slipped through our fingers. Somehow, the days went by and we didn’t savor them like we ...
Believe it or not, in the last several years I have become somewhat of a country music fan, and one of the groups I like is a group called Rascal Flatts. They came out with a song that both haunts me every time I hear it, and yet also brings me a sense of comfort. I want you to listen to just the first verse: Listen to the words one more time: I've dealt with my ghost, and faced all my demons; Finally content with a past I regret; I found you find strength in your moments of weakness; For once I'm at peace ...
I want to begin with a serious question: How accurate would you be if someone asked you to evaluate yourself? For example, if you were asked to describe your athletic ability, or your appearance, or your intellect--how would you rate yourself? I ask that because a survey of nearly two hundred sociologists found that about a hundred of them, about one-half, expected to become one of the ten leading sociologists of their time. Obviously this is a mathematical impossibility for 100 of them to be among the top ...
For everybody who assumed that everybody in the Bible is nice, the message this morning is that everybody in the Bible is real, and God loved them anyway! Our subject this morning is Gomer. Not Gomer, Ohio, but the not-so-nice wife of the Prophet Hosea. I have never preached about Gomer before. And, quite honestly, I probably would not be preaching about her now, except that I have to. The CSS Publishing Company, here in Lima, has asked me to publish a book of sermons next spring on the Old Testament ...
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? Seven times?’ " " ‘No, not seven times,’ answered Jesus, ‘but seventy times seven’ " (Matthew 13:21-22). Big blundering Peter was always blurting out something! Every time he opens his mouth, according to the New Testament, he puts his foot in it. Yet, we can be thankful that Peter was that way. Better an over-enthusiastic Peter, than a cold, conniving Judas. Besides, the words that Jesus ...
Some of you have known me long enough to know that one of my favorite theologians is Charles Schultz, the artist who gave us the wonderful Peanuts cartoons. In one of my favorite cartoons, Lucy comes storming into the room and demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a ...
There is a small poem that is often quoted in Christian Bible studies that goes like this: How odd/ Of God/ To choose/ The Jews. Jews often use the word Goyim to refer to non-Jews. And so an unknown Jew with a biting wit responded to “How odd / Of God/ To choose/ The Jews” by writing these words: “Not odd / Of God / Goyim / Annoy 'im.” I cite these little bits of creative poetry strictly in fun. Our Jewish friends are generally delightful people, and they have contributed to the advance of civilization far ...
One of my favorite musical forms is the spiritual. For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite spirituals has been “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.” I don’t know why, exactly. I like the melody. I like some of the images it calls to mind. It stirs up some deep feelings within me. I don’t know, I just like it. But recently, some of the words have been troubling me. All throughout the song there is the recurring phrase, “We didn’t know who you was,” or, “We didn’t know ‘twas you.” One typical verse says, “The ...
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil which we did to him." So they sent a message to Joseph saying, "Your father gave this command before he died, ‘Say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, we pray you, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also ...
Her name was Vicky Harrison. By all appearances she was a beautiful 21-year-old perky blonde with a sweet personality, great ambition, and a seemingly bright future. Tragically she became another suicide victim. She killed herself after more than 200 unsuccessful job applications. She had dreamed of a career as a teacher or a television producer, but gave up hope for the future. A day after her 200th rejection, she wrote heartbreaking notes to her parents and boyfriend saying 'I don't want to be me any ...
Before we begin this morning, I believe we need a little background on sheep and goats. Sheep are the most profitable animals man has ever domesticated. Catgut comes from sheep, not cats. I'm sure all you cat lovers will find that a blessing. Sheep are good for meat, fur and milk. They outnumber humans in most countries. Then there are goats. More people world-wide drink goat's milk than cow's milk. Moroccan leather, Angola and cashmere sweaters come from goats. And ladies, do you remember those old mohair ...
I don’t know how many foreign films you’ve seen — subtitled in English, so that you hear the foreign language and read the dialogue at the same time. I’ve seen a few, and for the most part I’ve been impressed by how well the English subtitles seem to flow. They must have translators who are pretty good at expressing in English what is being said in another language. But sometimes the subtitles seem stilted, using a phrase in a way that’s not quite right. And sometimes the way things get expressed in ...
Joe Gibbs, the former Head Coach of the Washington Redskins, tells a true story about a friend of his who owned a fine Labrador retriever. The friend, whom we will call John, looked out his window one morning and saw his faithful obedient dog sitting on his haunches near the front porch. John thought he saw something hanging from the dog's jaws. Sure enough, a closer look revealed it was his neighbor's pet rabbit that was now dead. Well, John was not only stunned, he was scared. Not exactly sure what to do ...
I suppose that one of the classic poems on sin is the one titled, "This Side of Calvin" and it goes like this: The Reverend Dr. Harcourt, folk agree, Nodding their heads in solid satisfaction, Is just the man for this community. Tall, young, urbane, but capable of action, He pleases where he serves. He marshals out The younger crowd, lacks trace of clerical unction, Cheers the Kiwanis and the Eagle Scout, Is popular at every public function. And in the pulpit eloquently speaks On diverse matters with both ...
A prominent magazine recently featured a story about a Russian family whose dramatic escape from the Soviet Union attracted world-wide attention. It was not a pretty story. The family’s pentecostal beliefs first brought down hatefully-pronounced warnings from Communist party officials. Soon following, however, the family’s persistent prayer and Bible readings angered the authorities to the point that threats gave way to incidents of violence and persecution. Harassment, repeated interrogations, public ...
The Murders of Abner and Ish-Bosheth: 3:6–11 Although Ish-Bosheth was titular head of the northern tribes and Abner seemingly made no attempt to change that, real power centered around Abner. The fate of the country lay in his hands, and verse 6 implies that he took action to ensure that this remained the case. It is not surprising that Ish-Bosheth, who seems to have left all the decision making to his general (3:8–17), felt threatened by Abner (v. 11). Whether or not Abner had a relationship with Saul’s ...
The Murders of Abner and Ish-Bosheth: 3:6–11 Although Ish-Bosheth was titular head of the northern tribes and Abner seemingly made no attempt to change that, real power centered around Abner. The fate of the country lay in his hands, and verse 6 implies that he took action to ensure that this remained the case. It is not surprising that Ish-Bosheth, who seems to have left all the decision making to his general (3:8–17), felt threatened by Abner (v. 11). Whether or not Abner had a relationship with Saul’s ...
The Murders of Abner and Ish-Bosheth: 3:6–11 Although Ish-Bosheth was titular head of the northern tribes and Abner seemingly made no attempt to change that, real power centered around Abner. The fate of the country lay in his hands, and verse 6 implies that he took action to ensure that this remained the case. It is not surprising that Ish-Bosheth, who seems to have left all the decision making to his general (3:8–17), felt threatened by Abner (v. 11). Whether or not Abner had a relationship with Saul’s ...
And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:75) "You win some and you lose some." This popular saying is a way of admitting that life has its failures. You can't win all the time. A serious failure is often accompanied with tears. One night two men went bowling. One of them was an excellent bowler. He got strike after strike and was headed for the perfect score of 300. On the last frame, something went wrong ...
The pages of the Old and the New Testament are punctuated with promises – all sorts of promises: God’s offer of life and meaning to us. The New Testament is especially packed with promises – many of those promises from Jesus Himself. Listen to Him: “Because I live you will live also. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am come that…. Come unto me all of you that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest…You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” One of the most fantastic ...
The phone rings in the middle of the night. There is only one reason why someone would call you at this time of the night, and it can't be good. The deadpan voice of the police officer tells you the horrible news rather matter-of-factly. Your imagination runs wild. You were not there, but you can hear the tires screeching, the metal smashing, the glass breaking, and the sirens whining. It was not supposed to end this way. She had so much of life yet to live. Your boss calls you into his office. Other ...
Have you ever seen a naked chicken? I haven’t, but I read about one recently. Two poultry researchers, Ralph Somes, Jr. in Connecticut and Max Rubin in Maryland, have produced a new breed of naked chicken. Actually this strange breed was first discovered in 1953 by Ursula Abbott, a researcher at the University of California. Since then, according to the Wall Street Journal, naked chickens have been bred and studied on a wide scale. The advantage of having a naked chicken is this: none of the food intake of ...
Once upon a time two beautiful flowers lived side-by-side in a magnificent garden. One was bright yellow and the other was bright blue. From the first moments of their existence these two flowers received profuse praise from the world for their vigor and beauty. "I love your face," said the sun to the yellow flower. "I love your eyes," said the sky to the blue flower. "I love your overall beauty," said the butterfly. "I love your pollen," said the bee. "And I your nectar," said an ant. "I love the shade ...