Jesus often used a parable to illustrate a point. These stories were meant to make it easier for the people to whom He was speaking to understand and remember the point he was trying to make. Pastors today sometimes have differing opinions about what some of those stories really mean. In Matthew 13:45-46 we read…
When a reporter asked August Turak what was in his wallet, the well-known entrepreneur and award-winning author replied, “Expired driver’s licenses.” He said, “I keep several in my wallet. Occasionally looking at how I’ve aged in my license photos reminds me to make every day count.” Reader’s Digest, October 2013 Most of us don’t like our…
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau In other words, looking gives the brain an impression of the scene, but seeing requires interpretation. Knowing what we have seen involves bringing our own point of view and experience into play. This is why eyewitnesses often have very different stories…
A little boy was afraid of the dark. His mother asked him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his mother and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark!” The mother smiled and said, “You don’t have to be afraid of…
Not everyone has a bucket list naming the things they most want to do before they die, but maybe we should. In the movie “Bucket List” a band of old friends decided to get together and do all of the stuff they had on their list. Their list was: To witness something truly majestic; Help…
“A German high school teacher was struggling to rewind a DVD for her class, and in frustration she blurted out, ‘Where’s the fast backwards button?!’ We’ve all had moments where we wish that button existed.” Reader’s Digest, November 2014. Some of us would like a fast backward button to return us to an earlier time…
The cartoon character Charlie Brown always seems to be concerned about something. In one comic strip in the series Charlie comes up with a new idea for dealing with life. Charlie explained, “I’ve developed a new philosophy: I will dread only one day at a time.”: Reader’s Digest, November 2014, p.28 This begs the question,…
In the 1983 movie “Trading Places”, a snobbish businessman, played by Dan Aykroyd, is forced by his boss, who had made a bet with his brother, to trade places with a homeless man played by Eddy Murphy. The film touched on a variety of social issues such as stereotypes about race, homelessness, and materialism. In…
Two little boys were known “troublemakers” who were stealing everything they could get their hands on, even stealing from a church. One day the pastor stopped one of the boys and asked, “Where is God?” expecting him to know that God is everywhere. Instead, the boy shrugged and the pastor repeated, “Where is God?” The…
Joe picked Jake up for church one Sunday morning. It was a sunny winter day and Joe suggested that instead of going to church maybe they should go ice fishing instead. Jake thought they should go to church first, and then go fishing, but Joe rationalized that Jesus had a soft spot for fishermen, and…