Cruel Indifference

It’s Christmas Day! What are you thinking about today? Hopefully, you spend time with family. Maybe you will have a good meal (or 5 or 6 with leftovers to spare…). Perhaps presents will be opened. Don’t forget to call your mom! Maybe cheer on your favorite team in...

“Did you dunk the cats yet?”

How would I answer that question? On the one hand, I didn’t dip the cats for fleas, but on the other hand, the cats would object. Violently. Hopefully, I misheard the question. Hopefully, I would make sure of what was said before I needlessly treat the cats...

Stoplights Are Not Suggestions

They have a purpose. Stoplights exist so that there will be fewer accidents. They tell us when we can safely go through an intersection and when we can’t. Imagine a world where people regularly ignored stoplights. Stoplights have a purpose. In John 15:17, Jesus gives...

“So I Prayed to the God of Heaven”

Nehemiah was sad, and that was an occupational hazard. He was the scribe of the king, a king who could kill on whim. Anyone in service of the king was well advised to appear loyal, devoted, and sublimely joyful before the king — but Nehemiah was sad. Nehemiah must...

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...

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...

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...

I Am a Vegan, Except When I Eat Steak

That is a silly statement isn’t it? The vegans I know tend to be committed to the lifestyle. No one can honestly call themselves “vegan” and plan to eat steak every Thursday. In the same way, it makes no sense to say, “I am a Christian, except when I am a...

Legacy

“The one good thing this man did in his life was to die.” No preacher anywhere would actually say this at a funeral, and even fewer people would want to be remembered that way. So, what will people remember about us when we are dead? Hopefully, we will leave a...

Sweat the Small Stuff

Rich Carlson has a book titled, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff. Sometimes we need to sweat the small stuff because it is big stuff. What might appear to be a pebble in our lives is a boulder in someone else’s. In Acts 6:1-7, we read of a...

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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