We have a skillet with a removeable rubber grip on the handle so you can use the skillet in the oven. This week we cooked some garden fresh yellow squash with slices of onion sprinkled in olive oil in that skillet. Shortly after it was removed from the oven, I was going to move it and without thinking I grabbed the hot handle without a pot holder. Ouch! It took a nano-second for me to let go. I put my hand under tap water and I was fine. Pain hurts but it helped me to let go!
Continue reading “Pain Hurts!!!”Root Causes
Philosophers, sociologists, theologians, and politicians have had their turn at explaining why we have problems and how to fix them. It is ironic that simultaneously some want to blame one problem on root causes while avoiding the root causes of others. Many problems have a beginning with some standard that was either twisted, ignored, or outright transgressed.
Continue reading “Root Causes”Some “Speckulation”
Do you have a speck in your eye? My eye is feeling a little scratchy! Jesus talked about people having specks and planks in their eyes. These specks and planks can cause a lot of “speckulation” about other people.
Continue reading “Some “Speckulation””Don’t Let Them Divide Us!
I remember watching action-hero cartoons as a child and the general theme would be a bad guy wanting control over the world and a super-hero good guy would save the day. The same plot repeated itself in every show; the bad guy almost prevailed but in the end the good guy saves the world. What works in the fantasy world does not always play out in the real world. Most of us are apprehensive about the future.
Continue reading “Don’t Let Them Divide Us!”Is Equality a Myth?
A friend once asked me why as a Christian, I was against gambling. I told him that the Bible did not directly address gambling as, “Thou shalt not gamble.” My answer was one he did not expect. I referred to the words of Jesus as found in Matthew 22:39 (NKJV), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In gambling, my neighbor must lose for me to gain; am I being Christlike if I want my neighbor to lose money for me to gain money?
Continue reading “Is Equality a Myth?”Keeping Our Sanity and Soul in Times of Trouble
The first half of 2020 seems to many like the beginning of the Seven Years of Tribulation. It is not, but a year for the record books for sure. How do we keep our sanity and soul in times of trouble???
Continue reading “Keeping Our Sanity and Soul in Times of Trouble”Anyone is Redeemable
I was somewhat amused by the various reactions to Kanye West’s conversion. There were skeptics from the religious world and the secular world. The woke are in the dark when someone else has seen the light. They are as confused concerning someone’s turn-around as they are to the meaning and purpose of life.
Making Sense of Rain (and Life)
This morning, I was holding my little one-year old granddaughter on the front porch while it was raining. She was looking so inquisitively at the rain. She was watching the rain, I was watching her, and just thinking, “What is she thinking?” She was trying to figure out all the sights and sounds in her little world and I was her observer.
I still have memories of being a small boy and trying to make sense of the world. A child’s brain runs on overload to keep track and process all the new stimuli it receives. Have you ever wondered why a small child asks so many “Why?” questions?
Continue reading “Making Sense of Rain (and Life)”
Hate is Bloodless Murder
How you ever said with clenched teeth, “Awh, I could just kill him!” Yep, just about ninety-nine percent of us has said something like that. Thankfully, we probably didn’t mean it. There are millions of good, godly people who get angry but do not hate and they get over their flareups.
Be Comfortable, Being Uncomfortable
I remember climbing into my mosquito-net-covered-bed while in Haiti and lying down to sleep just sweltering in the 85 degree heat even at 10:00 pm. It was June, we had no electricity, and my only relief from the heat was a little battery operated six inch fan positioned to blow a little relief over my torso and face. In that moment, I remembered a phrase I had heard or read but no longer remembered the source; it was something like, “Be comfortable, being uncomfortable”. So in my mind, I surrendered to the state of contentment; being comfortable with my uncomfortable situation and went to sleep in my sweat.