The term “signs of life” means different things to different groups of people. To an astrophysicist, it means the possibility of life on another planet. To a sports team beginning to rise up and make a comeback, it means there is a renewed effort of effectiveness just recently. To a financial agent, those words might …
Formidophobia
Certain aspects of culture develop over time and find their way into the collective consciousness of a given people. For instance, it seems that in the last several decades, clowns have become more of a symbol of terror than of tee-heeing. Clowns once were universally depicted and accepted as those harmless and funny characters that …
No Right Answer Left
We have come to the point in our society, where many times now, circumstances from personal decisions, behavior, technology, and ideologies render certain situations with no “right answer left”. I recall visiting with a couple back in the early 90’s when I pastored at Lakes Baptist. They had been cohabiting without benefit of marriage and …
I’ll Fly Away
There is an old gospel song named “I’ll Fly Away” recorded and made famous by (among others) Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis (who, interestingly enough, is the cousin of TV Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart both of whom, it might be said, went into the entertainment business!). The lyrics (written by Alison Krauss) go like this: …
I Couldn’t Lose
March Madness (the annual NCAA Championship basketball tournament) has always been a delight to me. I played basketball (and football) at tiny Maranatha Baptist Bible College (now Maranatha Baptist University… I like to chide my brother-in-law who is the current president at Maranatha that when they went to university status, they threw out the Bible …
Eternal Toddler
Most of you know how much I revel in being a grandfather (Apa). In less than eight years, we have gone from 0 grands to 11, with our latest, Wyldenn Merit, being born just a few weeks ago. The oldest is now 7 ¾ and we hit most ages in between. I’m not expert yet …
Bendable Science
We just passed the one-year anniversary of COVID. There have been many news articles marking that event. Most of the articles have been a review of the havoc and trauma the virus has inflicted from death, to sickness, to divisions in families, to the politicization of the virus, to the shutdowns, to the …you fill …
Only Today’s Obedience Will Do
This is a sad story. The Kingdom of Israel had been divided in 1 Kings 12. Rehoboam, son of King Solomon, had inherited rule of the entire kingdom. Alas, because of Solomon’s late life disobedience and idolatry, God promised to wrest part of the kingdom from his son, Rehoboam, and give it to Jeroboam son …
Once Is Enough
Often, debaters of scriptural issues like to play the card that “The Bible only says, (fill in the blank) three times”. Or “God only addressed this subject once in Scripture”, trying to undermine a teaching that they either do not like or want to deemphasize. One glaring example of this is a premise upon which …
The Worst of Times
In 1859, Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities. It is a novel set in London and Paris just before and during the French revolution wherein multiple thousands literally lost their heads in France. It places in juxtaposition the two cities; London enjoying peace, safety, and prosperity, and Paris in which overthrow and anarchy …
