BOUND TO TRADITIONS In a recent issue of U.S. News and World Report there was an interesting story about a British military team trying to cut down on the manpower used in handling a field cannon. Six men had been assigned to each cannon but there were only five jobs. The men studied each job …
THE FIFTH PEW No one ever sat on the fifth pew. Usually this didn’t cause any problems except on Christmas and Mother’s Day when attendance was greater than normal. And on those days, no one seemed to mind sitting on the folding chairs placed in the aisle to leave the fifth pew vacant. If a …
Change | Children | Church | Habits | Humor | Tradition | Understanding Read More »
LIKE MAN, LIKE DOG A man lived in a two-story house with a dog. Every night when he went upstairs to bed, the dog would curl up on the landing to sleep. Each morning, groping his way downstairs seeking his coffee, the man got to the landing, tripped on the dog, and fell the rest …
Change | Choice | Freedom | Guidance | Habits | Perspective | Sin | Tradition Read More »
YOU JUST NEVER KNOW There is a sweet Hasidic story of a rabbi in a small Russian town at the turn of the century who accomplished the “submission to not knowing,” who learned to live in emptiness. For years he had pondered the mysteries of the universe and the deepest religious questions. Finally he concluded …
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
HOW HIGH CAN YOU FLY? Remember the first helium balloon you lost? It slipped out of your hand and up it went… up… up… up… until it was out of sight. A child’s first lesson in physics the hard way! But how high did the balloon really go? The National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, …
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HANGING BY A THREAD There’s an old parable about a spider. He decided one day to move, so he spun a long strand of web up in the barn rafter, and he lowered himself to the next level. He fastened himself to a two-by-four and began to spin a great web. By and by he …
Doctrine | Faith | Perspective | Respect | Tradition | Value | Wisdom Read More »
MONUMENT PARK The Freedom from Religion Foundation of Madison, Wisconsin wants equal access to the religious sentiments of those who visit Lincoln Park which is just west of the Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado. The foundation originally wanted the three feet by four feet Ten Commandments monument removed. Throughout eight years of legal wrangling, the …
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WOMEN TEETH SPEAK LONGER The preacher spoke only for a few minutes and then sat down. After worship, the church leader asked about the short sermon. “My teeth hurt, and so I quit,” said the pastor. The next Sunday, the preacher spoke for only slightly longer than the previous Sunday but not nearly as long …
INDENTIFYING DRIVERS Here is how to identify where a driver is from: 1. One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: Chicago. 2. One hand on wheel, one finger out window: New York. 3. One hand on wheel, one finger out window, cutting across all lanes of traffic: New Jersey. 4. One hand on wheel, …
A COMPLETED CAR A priest and a rabbi operated a church and a synagogue across the street from each other. Since their schedules intertwined, they decided to go in together to buy a car. After the purchase, they drove it home and parked it on the street between them. A few minutes later, the rabbi …
COLSON ON CULTURE During the greatest resurgence of evangelicalism in this century, belief in the Bible has declined and religious influence has been so thoroughly scrubbed from public life that any honest observer would have to regard this as a post- Christian culture. Gallup reports the most bewildering paradox: religion up, morality down. Why have …
COLSON ON THE RESURRECTION If one is to assail the historicity of the resurrection and therefore the deity of Christ, one must conclude that there was a conspiracy–a cover-up if you will– by eleven men with the complicity of up to five hundred others. To subscribe to this argument, one must also be ready to …
BETWEEN TWO OPPOSITES No man is able to progress when he is wavering between opposite things. — Epictetus
SALAD BAR RELIGION “This generation of teens is more spiritual than their parents, but often less conventionally so. Many put together their own religious canon as they would a salad from a salad bar. Yet despite their faith, teens, as well as those who study them, say that “lying and cheating are standard behavior,” as …
CHRISTMAS OUTLAWS When the Puritans landed in America, they disapproved of setting aside any day except the Lord’s Day. By an act of parliament, Christmas was canceled in 1652 . . . even Parliament would sit on that day. Everything else from mince meat pie to church attendance was forbidden. John Evelyn and his wife …
THE CUSTOMS OF HEAVEN There’s an old story, I think Mark Twain told it first, about a rather pompous and self-important man who dies and goes to heaven. He marches up to the Pearly Gates and is met by St. Peter, who reaches out, shakes his hand and says, “Welcome.” Peter politely ushers the man …
A HABIT I S”…a habit is… the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979, pg. 47
PITIFUL SELF PITY The attractiveness of pity and the ugliness of self-pity are unarguable. Yet we live in a society in which self-pity far exceeds pity. The excessively popular genre of literature, the celebrity autobiography, that smothers us in self-pitying subjectivism is the unpleasant evidence that we may be the most self-pitying populace in all …
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MORAL ATTITUDES & PLATITUDES Morality is simply an attitude we adopt toward people whom we personally dislike. — Oscar Wilde