In high school I played tight end on the football team. When I scored a touchdown, my mother started praying that I would get to handle the ball more often. And that’s about the time the coach called me and moved me to center. When you’re a center you touch the ball on every play. I told Mom that she overdid it. After the quarterback called the play in the huddle, I trotted to the line and my first job was to see that the football was laces up. If any laces were broken, I knew I had to … [Read more...]
Amidst the fire, fury, our hope is in the Savior
KANSAS CITY (BP) – This morning started with an uncomfortable conversation with my son. On the second day of school, his personal clothing choice was a bit sloppy and involved a hoodie. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. But it is. My son is an African-American young man. We talked about the tragedy over the weekend. A young black man died. Now Michael Brown’s name joins others like Trayvon Martin. We don’t know what led up to the shooting. We might question why the officer … [Read more...]
Unforgetting the glorious things God has done
Have I ever mentioned that I have a terrible memory? Maybe I did. Or maybe it slipped my mind. But hey, I remembered to buy all those vitamins that are supposed to help with memory. I’m pretty sure I’ve been forgetting to take them though. In the old days, people tied a string around their finger to help them remember. Guess I could try that. I’ve always wished I had a photographic memory. Someone told me I actually do have one – it’s just not developed. That’s probably it. I always seem … [Read more...]
The reality of sin and Christian journalism
A colleague recently called The Pathway office after seeing the story on the president of Windermere being arrested. He expressed surprise that we would publish such a story. His observation set my mind to thinking: Should we have run such a story? One of the responsibilities of any Christian journalist – and especially those in leadership like editors – is that we accurately and fully document reality. Not a reality as we wish things should – or will – be, but as they are. For if we … [Read more...]
Was that a miracle or a counterfeit?
An elderly woman tosses aside her walker and sprints around a crowded auditorium amidst thunderous applause. Hundreds of congregants gasp as a faith healer lengthens a man’s shortened leg in the name of Jesus. Throngs of worshipers fall backward, seemingly lifeless, as an evangelist breathes the Holy Spirit on them. These are common sights on Christian television, meant to convince us that God continues to perform signs, wonders and miracles through His anointed servants. But are … [Read more...]
God works in us, therefore we work
From the earliest days of the church Christians have been debating the relationship between the power of God and our responsibilities as human beings in living the Christian life. Is the Christian life essentially a matter of passive trust, of getting out of the driver’s seat and letting Jesus take the wheel, or is it active obedience, just applying more discipline and effort to spiritual matters? Is living the Christian life all of God, all up to us, or some combination of both? This isn’t … [Read more...]
Christians in Iraq ‘facing extinction’
WASHINGTON (BP) – Islamic militants have eradicated virtually every trace of Christianity from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, said July 23. “There are no Christians left in Mosul,” Shea told CBN News. “They have all been driven out. They have been told to convert to Islam or die, or to leave.” Mosul has been the center of Iraq’s Christian community for two millennia, but it is also a site with a … [Read more...]
When to stand, when to flamin-go
Have you ever awakened in a morning to find that an entire flock of pink plastic flamingos migrated into your yard in the night? Weird nesting behavior, right? It makes me sound old when I say it, but when I was a teenager, all we knew how to do was TP. I respect the creativity that rules the pranks of the day – those that are truly non-vandalous, of course. In the past few years, our property has not only been toilet-papered, but we’ve been plastic forked, we’ve been feathered, we’ve … [Read more...]
Why are there two Qur’ans?
The Qur’an is Islam’s most holy book. While Muslims believe Allah has revealed many written works, including the Old and New Testaments, these revelations ended with the Qur’an, which supersedes all others. For all practical purposes, Muslims accept only the Qur’an as the Word of God. They believe Jews and Christians have corrupted Allah’s earlier revelations in the Bible, although they honor the writings of Moses, who was given the Tawrat (Torah); David, the Zabur (his Psalms); and … [Read more...]
Living a Christian life marked by contentment
I have been a baseball fan all my life. Growing up for many years on the Middle Tennessee farm owned by Uncle Paul and Aunt Janie Benton, there were no friends within miles. So my days were filled with playing make believe games in which I fantasied being a Major League Baseball player – an Atlanta Brave to be precise. All day long I would throw a bald tennis ball against the side of our brick home, fielding grounders by the hundreds. I had an old infielder’s glove made in the 1950s that I … [Read more...]
What does God bring into focus?
In the third grade, my buddy Jimmy let me borrow his new glasses. I shouted, “Hey Mom, when you wear these glasses you can see every leaf and every blade of grass!” Mom said, “And you can’t?” Let’s just say that I had my first pair of glasses within a couple of weeks! We sometimes need to borrow others’ glasses to help us focus. In International Mission Board missionary Nik Ripken’s book, The Insanity of Obedience, there were a few pages that addressed the focus of mission work. He … [Read more...]
To the finish due to Christ’s finished work
Ever had one of those days? I had several in a row. And by “several,” I mean at least 10 years’ worth. They were days of never feeling quite … finished. I would get to the end of the day and think, what did I actually get done? It wasn’t that I hadn’t accomplished anything. But when you have five children in seven years, there will no doubt be days when, while you’re trying to salvage the toaster (the one someone used to try to toast Milk Duds), one of the other kids tells you your toddler … [Read more...]
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