learning humility
Last month, as my wife was using our riding lawn mower, she accidentally hooked the bottom of the mower on one of the swings of our swing set. It dangerously lifted the front tires off the ground! So, as I was recently cutting the grass, her scare reminded me to slow down to first gear. I confidently maneuvered around the swing on my left—but I failed to see the one on the right. Suddenly, the mower reared up on its rear wheels and then tipped backwards. After hitting the ground and rolling clear of the blades, I realized that my mower now lay upside down on its crushed steering wheel.
rabble babble
Many years ago, I was counseling at a Christian camp when the program staff began to struggle. Why? Some of the counselors didn’t appreciate the way the director was leading, so they started to complain. As the complaints spread, more people joined in. By the end of the week, the staff had become polarized and the whole camp had been affected by the tempestuous situation.
the shrinking self
My boys like to play tag. For the moment I can still outrun them. One of our favorite spots to play is a green space in our neighborhood. It’s an odd-shaped, grassy lot that narrows on both ends. My boys have the habit of running to one of the corners at the field’s edge. They think they’re creating distance from me, but they’re really only painting themselves into a corner. I give them room to roam; and then when they think they’re safe and far away, I close in. Rather than escaping, they realize that their world has shrunk.
not listening
God, I’m not listening. I’m not going to read the Bible because I know You’ll speak, and I don’t like what I hear. I’ve been turning away the godly people You’ve sent my way, and I’m going to sleep in late and skip church.
Sound familiar? Yes, sometimes we would rather not hear God—especially when we find our sinful indulgence…
being salt and light
Tehal Dosanjh was walking by a bank late one evening, when he found $16,000 in cash outside the bank’s dropbox. The bank was closed, so Dosanjh picked up the pile of bills. “I was shocked,” he said. “I knew what I had to do the next morning, which was to return it.”
Remarkably, he did just that. The next day,…
sin's receipt
I was walking through a museum exhibit about the American Civil War when I came across a chilling item. It was a receipt, like what you might get from a shop. But this was for a slave named Sally, who had been received in good health from a slave trader. We’re horrified by the buying and selling of human beings,…
excuses
Cyclist Tyler Hamilton had steadily advanced through the ranks of the US Postal Service team, and now he was on the verge of being included on the squad that would race in the Tour de France. All he had to do was take EPO, an illegal drug that boosted endurance for the grueling mountain climbs. Hamilton told the team doctor…
reversal
The Erie County Correctional Facility recently experienced a role reversal in guard-inmate relations. It took place when an inmate broke up a fight between two correctional officers who were fighting over a bag of potato chips!
For many years, storytellers and audiences have enjoyed stories that include reversals—tales that follow characters from one extreme to the other. The Bible is…
disobedient doubt
What do these famous men have in common: Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, Pablo Picasso, and Aldous Huxley? They all declared that they did not believe in God, and all were sexually promiscuous. Coincidence?
In The Making of an Atheist, James Spiegel explains that many modern thinkers expressed doubts about God, at least in part, because it made…
one lost son
This story of the prodigal son is one of the most famous and familiar of Jesus’ parables. And the most personal. For it touches an area that is often the most painful—our children.
In the parables of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7) and lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), the emphasis is on the lostness and the relentless efforts of the owners to…
not my fault
1 Samuel 15:8-12: He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. Then the Lord said to Samuel,…
love and magic
When an atheist online reader of ODJ submitted a comment that called religion “anti-science” and Christianity “magic,” a fascinating online dialog ensued. I thought of the books authored by brilliant minds—articulating a reasoned and logical case for belief in God. I pondered the complexity of the human eye, the intricate design of a giraffe’s neck, and the oddity of the duckbilled…
temper, temper!
It was the first month of the 40th year of wandering in the wilderness. Still grieving over the death of his beloved sister Miriam (Numbers 20:1), Moses had to cope with the rebellion of his people. The second generation of Israelites who had been freed from captivity was about to enter the Promised Land.
But they were committing the same…
slightly off?
Argh . . . I’m no longer perfect.” I groaned inwardly. The realization struck me when we replaced our home television with a 42-inch set. The color was good, the sound perfect, but what happened to the subtitles? Why were they so blurry? I had lost my 20-20 vision! My doctor informed me that my left-eye vision is slightly off…
