Author Mark Batterson makes an interesting observation: “There is a pattern I see throughout Scripture: Sometimes God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible.” I think he’s right.
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The coed had two problems common to many college students: low grades and no money. She was forced to communicate both to her parents, whom she knew would have a problem understanding. After considerable thought she decided to use a creative approach to soften the blows of reality. Here’s what she wrote in her letter home:
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The story is told about how a little girl was late walking home from school. Her worried mother, while relieved to finally hear the girl come into the house, spoke sharply to her about her tardiness. “Where have you been? I told you to come home immediately after school,” the mother said.
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I read this story online.
A guy was being tailgated by a stressed out, angry woman on a busy street. Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing. He stopped at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
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I read a phrase recently that stopped me in my tracks. “We have a tendency to freeze people in time.”
The context of the phrase was a discussion about the challenge of forgiveness and the difficulty reconciliation. The point being that, when someone fails, disappoints, or hurts us we let that memory of what they did then define who they are now.
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Buried deep in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel is an obscure passage of Scripture that, I’m guessing, very few of us have ever reflected on. “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel..."
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The writer of Proverbs is right. “The right word at the right time in the right tone to the right person is pure gold.” My guess is you can remember getting a word like that from somebody. And that word you received was powerful. It not only warmed your heart. It boosted your spirit.
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In their never-ending quest to increase market share, advertisers will go to great efforts to get your business. One thing they have concluded is that the most attention-grabbing word potential customers and clients react to is their own name.
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The Apostle Paul offers here one of the classic texts regarding Easter and how Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated that He was bigger than death. It reminds me of a great story I heard some time back about a pastor in Minnesota who enjoyed a working relationship with the local funeral home director.
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The original recipients of this text would have heard these words with an awe and wonder that we could never know. They were very familiar with the curtain of separation described here. Sixty feet tall, thirty feet wide, and six inches thick it hung in the Temple in front of the most sacred of all spaces – the Holy of Holies. This was an area that was completely off-limits. Worshipers in that day were governed by strict rules of access.
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Most of us are familiar with the gospel accounts of the crucifixion on that gray Good Friday afternoon: the brutal nails pounded into Jesus’ hands and feet, the cruel mocking of the onlookers, the callous gambling of the soldiers, and the last words spoken by the dying Savior.
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One of the goals of companies these days is to come up with a high-impact logo that has the potential to get indelibly fixed in people’s minds. A symbol with enough appeal, that when people see it, they will not only think of the company, but will want to buy the company’s product.
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Elephants are powerful creatures, capable of amazing feats of strength, yet trainers can keep them in place with a rope and a small stake in the ground. No chains, no cages. How is this possible? It’s obvious that the huge animals could, at any time, break free. But they don’t. Why is that?
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In his book, If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction.
A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms it’s called a sin of commission. By way of contrast, a regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms it’s known as a sin of omission.
I have my fair share of action regrets.
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I recently came across a great quote from a pastor named Ray Johnston. He wrote: “The road to a better future is never traveled on an empty tank.” I think Ray hits the proverbial nail on the head here.
Think about it. You can have all sorts of dreams regarding your destination. You can make all kinds of plans for how you’re going to make the most of the journey. But if you run out of fuel along the way, none of that will matter.
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My wife loves to watch a television show called “Fixer Upper.” It features a couple from Waco, Texas, Chip and Joanna Gaines, who design and renovate houses. The goal is to build a solid structure on a firm foundation. And great is the joy when that is accomplished.
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I miss my friend, Mark. He passed away suddenly from a deadly heart attack in the fall of 2017. Months have gone by and I still miss him.
I miss him as a dear friend and special fishing buddy. I miss him as a ministry partner who (along with his dear wife, Diane) poured out time and energy for the youth of our church.
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Amazing strength can be found in the most amazing places.
My favorite example of this is a story about a strong man at a circus. At the end of his act, he used to squeeze all the water out of a sponge and then offer $100 to anybody who could squeeze one more drop out of that sponge.
Nobody ever collected, such was his strength, until one day…
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Everyone has their favorite biblical character…My choice is David. Shepherd, musician, giant-killer, faithful friend, fugitive turned Robin Hood, military general, king. David, to my way of thinking, was one of the most incredible individuals who ever lived.
So, what was David’s secret?
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Have you ever noticed that some people have 20/20 vision for the flaws and misdeeds of others but complete myopia when it comes to themselves? They have a keen eye for the faults of others, but a serious case of “I” trouble when it comes to their own.
Jesus recognized this issue and uses this metaphor. "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad…" (In other words, if you cannot see the truth about you) "…your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"
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