Dr. Tony Campolo of Eastern College once told a delightful story concerning his friend's daughter. This girl had an incredible outlook on life. Tony tells: A friend of mine has an adorable four-year-old daughter. She is bright and talkative. If tryouts were being held for a modern-day Shirley Temple, I think she would win hands down. One night there was a violent thunderstorm. The lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled. It was one of those terrifying storms that forces everyone to stop and tremble a bit ...
The urge to be a part of what is going on is very powerful. Or to say it differently, to be on the outside looking in can be unsettling at best. Just remember the last time you came into a room and found a group of people talking excitedly about a news event or something that happened to someone else in the office. You probably went right up to those assembled and in some way signaled your interest in their conversation. Or think of it this way. Whenever you have been part of a group of three -- perhaps at ...
In the Gardener Museum in Boston hangs Rembrandt's painting of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. The artist recreates the scene so powerfully that a viewer can sense the danger the small craft is in and the panic of those who are on board. The small boat is being lifted on the crest of a giant wave; sail and lines are torn loose from the riggings and flailing wildly in the gale. Five disciples are struggling to reef the sail while they hold on desperately to the mast. The rest are in the stern of the boat, ...
The torches burned long into the night in the banquet hall. Their flickering light cast grotesque shadows across the huge table. Most of the seated revelers were slumped in their places sleeping off the effects of food and grog. There were a few murmured conversations, occasional outbursts of ribald laughter. Few but the king noticed when a tiny sparrow flew in the open window, pecked at a table scrap, circled the hall several times, then winged through another open window into the remaining night. The ...
A friend tells of his son who asked for a globe of the world as one of his Christmas gifts last year. Of course his parents were pleased to purchase something so useful for their child. So many Christmas lists leave much to be desired! The boy thoroughly enjoyed his gift and kept it on a small table in his bedroom. One evening his parents were discussing the fact that so many of our clothing items are imported from foreign countries. The wife recalled that a recently purchased scarf had come from Sri Lanka ...
A number of years ago some Christians placed bumper stickers on their vehicles stating, "Christ is the answer." After some time a wiseacre started displaying a sticker that read, "If Christ is the answer, what is the question?" Of course this made a hilarious impression on those who seem to have "three sneers for everything and three cheers for nothing." As we consider our text for today we discover God telling us that "Christ is the answer"; he is the eternal "yes" to all the promises of God, and the ...
Submarine accidents are rare. Successful submarine rescues, unfortunately, are rarer still. The complex variables of depth, pressure, temperature, and time conspire to doom most trapped sailors. During one celebrated rescue attempt a message could be heard reverberating through the hull of a downed sub. It was tapped out in code from the inside, metal clanging against metal: Is there any hope? At the beginning of the twenty-first century the world is waiting for an answer to that question. Opinion guru ...
In the 1960s a favorite weekend night of entertainment for many was to attend events titled "The Battle of the Bands." One entered an auditorium packed to the gills with other raucous teenagers. One by one, equally loud and excited teenage bands would be paraded across the stage to display their wares. This meant that each band had an opportunity to play and sing three or four songs to the accompaniment of the screaming crowd. The cacophony of sound would permeate a three-block area. The band judged by the ...
For a period of time there was an emphasis on good news/bad news stories. In good news/bad news stories, details keep turning from triumph to tragedy and back again. One such story which was related quite frequently was about two friends who were avid baseball fans. These two friends made a pact that whoever died first would come back and let the other know if there was baseball in heaven. The first one died and came back and contacted his friend and said, "Hey, man, I have great news for you! The good ...
Many years ago a teacher was asking the kids in her fourth grade class to name the person whom they considered the greatest human being alive in the world today and the responses were quick in forthcoming and also quite varied too. A little boy spoke up and said, "I think it's Tiger Woods. He’s the greatest golfer in the world, ever" A little girl said, "I think it's the Pope because he cares for people and doesn't get paid for it at all." Another little girl said, "I think it's President Bush because he's ...
Forty years ago, in 1948, two of our nation's outstanding educators entered into a debate which was printed. These outstanding educators were Robert Hutchins, then Chancellor of the University of Chicago, and James B. Connant, then President of Harvard. The discussion dealt with the structure of a university curriculum. The basis for the debate was the recognition that persons in leadership must determine what ideals they would like for their country to adhere to. Human values must be ordered so that some ...
I have a friend who is a Benedictine monk. The way we live out our lives is vastly different, but I feel a real kinship, a oneness of spirit with Brother Sam. One of the most memorable evenings, one to which I return often in my mind, is the time he and I spent together alone in our home in Nashville, sharing our Christian pilgrimages. The vivid highlight of that evening still alive in my mind was his sharing with me the occasion of his solemn vows, the service when he made his life commitment to the ...
Our scripture lesson for the message today comes from the 45th chapter of the Book of Genesis. I’m beginning with the 4th and ready through the 20th verses. Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me I pray you, and they came near. And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life, for the famine has been in the land these two years and there are yet five years in ...
The text for our message this morning comes from the 4th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi, the 4th chapter, the 4th through the 7th verses. Hear the word of the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. "Again I say, rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance, the Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the piece of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your ...
The Emmaus walk is one of the most significant, spiritual renewal experiences in which I have ever participated. You may have heard something about this experience, perhaps you read about it in The Courier a few weeks ago. Almost 100 membership of Christ Church have shared in it, and at the end of April, members of our church and other churches in Memphis will lead the first Memphis Emmaus for men. And then toward the end of May, we will have an Emmaus experience for women. The pivotal event in this ...
Our scripture lesson is taken from the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, beginning with the 7th and reading through the 18th verses. I’m reading from the Revised Standard Version. This is the word of the Lord. “So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and ...
I was with Bishop Bevel Jones recently, and he told me about a funny experience that happened to him recently. He was preaching at a camp meeting down in South Georgia. The tabernacle was packed with people and Bev was really getting with it. He had preached longer than normal – but still had about 10 minutes to go. He was in the midst of a dramatic point of sharing, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a little boy get up from the front row and start toward him. Well he didn't know what was going on. ...
Forty years ago, in 1948, two of our nation's outstanding educators entered into a debate which was printed. These outstanding educators were Robert Hutchins, then Chancellor of the University of Chicago, and James B. Connant, then President of Harvard. The discussion dealt with the structure of a university curriculum. The basis for the debate was the recognition that persons in leadership must determine what ideals they would like for their country to adhere to. Human values must be ordered so that some ...
A cartoon pictured a man in a doctor's office receiving a physical examination. The doctor came out of his private office with a series of papers and a chart to give the patient the results of all the tests. These were the doctor's words: "Well, I see no reason why you can't live a perfectly normal life as long as you don't try to enjoy it." Then there's the story of a teenager who was overheard to say to a donkey out in the country, "Why, you must be a Christian. You have a long face like Grandpa." All of ...
Inside all of us there is a subconscious mind. It's a storage box into which people and events are constantly putting ideas. I heard a cute story the other day about how we "program" the minds of our children. The pastor was at the front of the church giving a children's sermon. "Now, children," he said, "what has a bushy tail and likes to climb in trees, and hide nuts?" There was a total silence. The pastor tried again: "You know, children: He's sometimes gray with little ears, and he runs in trees, ...
Harold and Maud is a fascinatingly different, but warmly convincing novel. It's by Colin Higgins, and is the story of two persons who not only affirm each other's existence, but also cherish the mutual meanings they share. A young man in his 20's and an enchanting woman in her 70's become real friends. Maud cares for Harold, not because he is useful or ornamental. He is neither. Not because of anything he does or has, but just because he is himself. Harold is thus better able, when he is with Maud, to ...
Elie Wiesel is one of the great story-tellers of our time. He is a Jew who has a passionate memory of the Holocaust. He tells stories with a clarity and a passion that sets your soul on fire. In fact, a collection of his Hasidic stories is entitled "Souls on Fire". Let me read you the introduction to that book: "My father, an enlightened spirit, believed in man, My grandfather, a fervent Hasid, believed in God. The one taught me to speak, the other to sing. Both loved stories. And when I tell mine, I hear ...
A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day and said, "Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person." The boy answered, "I disagree." And the father replied, "That’s the privilege." Tuesday we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a day we celebrate our freedom. But there is a different kind of freedom that we need to talk about today. Freedom that only Christ can bring. Jesus had attained celebrity status. People were coming from all around ...
It's funny what experiences and phrases will stay with you from childhood. I still remember a line from a song which apparently was popular, for at least a short period of time, in my early childhood. It was a half-funny, half-pathetic little lament from someone who felt rejected and unsuccessful. As I recall, each verse ended with the phrase, "I guess I'll go eat worms." Most of us can understand the mood of the song, if not the dietary remedy. Every one of us feels like a failure at one time or another. ...
Nome, Alaska, on the edge of the Bering Sea, is like many villages of the Arctic. The ground on which the community sits is frozen tundra. Burying the dead is a real challenge. Sanitation landfills are unheard of. Garbage trucks do not haul off the kind of refuse we leave curbside in the “lower 48.” Instead, a typical front yard displays broken washing machines, junked cars, old toilets, scrap wood, and piles of non-degradable refuse. Tourists who visit Nome in the summer are amazed at the debris and shake ...