Most Likely to Fail

When I was in high school, the end of the year brought the superlatives. Someone made a list with, “Most likely to ____.” Generally, they were positive and highlighted positive future accomplishments. Others were just cruel, “Most likely to fail.” Cruel. During Jesus’...

Don’t Shoot the Messenger!

Why do we have that saying? Some news is unwelcome. The Jews didn’t like the message Jesus brought. They didn’t have guns, but they did have stones to silence the messenger. In John 8:39-59, Jesus continues to teach the Jews truth, but an unpopular truth. Rather than...

We Have No King But Caesar

Happy New Year’s Day! Today is a day of thanksgiving that 2020 is behind us. Today is a day of hope that 2021 will be better than the last. Today is a day of promise that many start resolutions. What sort of resolutions are you making this year? In John 19:16, Pilate...

Those Among You Who Fear God

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Without Google, I could not tell you that Shakespeare wrote that in his play, Julius Caesar. I must have read it at some point, probably in high school, and the phrase stuck with me. Why? It uses vocative language to...

Yogi Berra

“Predictions are tough, especially about the future.” Yogi Berra had some great one-liners. This one is particularly appropriate right now. This was/will be a tense week. The election will have come and gone, but we might not have the results when this gets printed....

Grenade!

What do soldiers or Marines do when a grenade lands among them? The most heroic among them might make a split-second decision to jump on top of it. Falling on the grenade usually results in the death of the one in hopes of saving others. That is heroism worthy of the...

Inconceivable

“You keep using that word…” Some can quote The Princess Bride movie. Having seen it once or twice myself, I only remember bits and pieces of a silly dialogue about the word “inconceivable.” Wallace Shawn’s character kept saying it to describe the...

Encouraging Words

We started at oh-dark-thirty. The jungle-like heat gave promise of another 90/90 day – 90% humidity and 90º F. The air was too thin to drink and too thick to breathe, much less run in at such an ungodly hour. Four miles in, staff started showing up like a cloud of...

Down, but Not Out

We lose our job, or we are taken to court, or our character is assassinated by those we trusted most – there are so many ways others might make us feel down. When others hurt us, it is easy to feel down, but it is entirely our choice to feel out. In Acts 8:1-5, we see...

He Goes to Church?!

You don’t expect to see some people in the church building. Maybe they are notorious in town, perhaps they were the school bully, or maybe they stole your date for prom. Think about that person. Now imagine them going to church. What does it tell you if that person is...

New Testament

God Has a Better Plan

God Has a Better Plan

Two thousand years ago, Elizabeth wanted children. In her culture, children were her priority. She didn’t have any, therefore others looked down on her. Her society wrote her off as too old to be a successful Jewish woman. She was too old to have children. She was...

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Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Johnny stood, mouth open in disgust. “It gets stuck between your teeth, is too tough to chew, and tastes like day-old Dr. Pepper. Greek yogurt is yucky!” He wrinkled his nose even thinking about it. Jen paused her spoon an inch from her open mouth. “Have you ever...

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Come and See!

Come and See!

Nurses just know. They’ve been there, done that. They say, “Just slap a bandaid on it and stop complainin’!” But that same gruff nurse who blows off our ouches and owies as an annoyance will soften like butter in the warm, Texas sun when confronted with a patient who...

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Old Testament

Change Is Tough

Change Is Tough

The Air Force provides a lot of training, very little of it on a volunteer basis. One of the trainings I took was in “Change Management.” It may have had a different, more military sounding name, something like “Non-linear Progression of Leadership Requirements” but I...

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The A-Team

The A-Team

When the Air Force stationed my dad overseas, the only real disadvantage of living “on the economy” was a lack of US TV programs. If you lived close enough to base, you could watch the Armed Forces Network, but we lived too far away. Somehow, one of the American...

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