Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, I officiated at a wedding this past Saturday. In the message I spoke about 6 necessary ingredients for a healthy marriage, the 4th being, "Laugh & Do Fun Things Together.” Yet, as I shared that point, I mentioned I have not always been very good at that, since I tend to take life seriously. I even mentioned how I still need to work on that – a point on which my wife Nancy agreed! So, today I decided to do something I’ve never done since I started sending out these thoughts out 16 years ago today (the first was sent out on June 25, 2008, making about 800 to date)! I’m going to try my hand at humor. If it’s a disaster, please let me know and I will avoid any forays into it again! I have tried telling jokes from the pulpit, but usually no one laughs until I tell them it was a joke – then they laugh! I’ve selected some I hope will bring a smile to your face. If not, please forgive me! Enjoy. “In the 1800’s a Presbyterian minister in Scotland was...

Dear Friends, I can remember the very first time I was asked to get up and share a message at church. I was so nervous I passed on the invitation. Therefore, I have much respect for people who get up to preach, but especially for people who street-preach! It is a gift I wish I had! So, when I got an update from a friend in England (who was formerly a missionary in Honduras where I met him) I wanted to share it. It’s about a recent day when he went to the town square in Oswestry, England, and preached to whoever would stop to listen. I found it very encouraging. I hope you do as well. His name is Peter Bellingham and he has a church called, “The Well” in Oswestry. Should you want to see more about his ministry here is the link: www.thewelloswestry.uk He gave me permission to share this. Pray for him and his church. This update is entitled: “May Words be Given.” Enjoy. “When I preached on the streets of Oswestry today, I lost count of the number of p...

Dear Friends, I was looking through a book this morning which changed my mind! I was going to send out some thoughts in regard to fear and how we can overcome it. But instead, I decided to send out thoughts regarding gladness, cheerfulness, joy, or happiness in the Christian life. Some may be surprised, since it is a book full of quotes by the Puritans! After all, isn't the commonly heard saying by H. L. Mencken: “Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.” But as one who did my doctoral dissertation on the Puritans, I have to wonder if Mencken ever read anything written by the Puritans, or whether he simply parroted falsehoods which others who have never read the Puritans continue to parrot. Because people who have actually read the Puritan’s will know they nearly uniformly encouraged people not to be judgmental, critical, dour, sullen, gloomy, or mean-spirited. In fact, ALL the following quotes on cheerfulness, and the need for it i...

Dear Friends, Last week I stopped in at a discount store and found a book on sale for 75% off. I’m a sucker for a good deal, but even more so, I’m drawn to interesting titles, like: “The Mercy Prayer – The One Prayer Jesus Always Answers.” The author’s name is Robert Gelinas. I had never heard of him, but I thought I’d risk the $3.99! The premise of the book is that four times in the gospels people in great need cried out to Jesus, “Lord have mercy” (Mt. 9:27, Mt. 15:22, Mt. 20:30, Lk. 17:13). Not only does that make it the most prayed prayer in the Bible, but one that is answered each time it was prayed! And, yes, it is a good book! So today I thought I would offer you a selection entitled, “Mercy Assumes We Are Sinners.” If you happen to carry guilt or shame, you will (I believe) find comfort in his words. Enjoy. “Many times, those who prayed the mercy prayer didn’t just say, “Lord have mercy.” No. They ended the most prayed prayer recognizing ...

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” is actually a list of nineteen individual 'thoughts' having to do with anger - an emotion we all wrestle with. In fact, my adult class in Honduras (filled with mostly 20-30 year olds) listed anger as their biggest struggle next to lust. So, I did a 4 month class on each! At one point I was even asked by the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa to share some of that material there (the material on anger and not lust)! Therefore, I simply offer you some thoughts on anger that I use, since the topic came up again this week in my adult class on Spiritual Warfare, where we considered how harboring anger “gives a foothold to the devil.” (Eph. 4:26). Enjoy. “Anger is never without reason, but seldom with a good one.” Benjamin Franklin “God is not sinful. God is sometimes angry. Therefore, anger cannot always be sinful.” Garret Keizer “We must always be careful when as sinners we just...

Dear Friends, If there is anything I have discovered in my years as a pastor, it is that as sinners we love to receive grace from God, but we struggle big-time to extend that same type of grace to others. We want it, but we don’t want to give it. In this regard, today’s entry challenges us. Books have been written about it. Movies were made about it – because true acts of grace (that reflect God’s grace to us) really are that rare (Romans 5:1-11). This story comes from the book, “Fifty Miracles of Grace” and is actually taken from the foreword written by Donald B. Kraybill. I can’t wait to read the 50 stories in the book, “many stemming from the same Anabaptist stream of faith birthed in the 1500s in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation.” The anabaptist tradition is known for taking the sayings of Jesus literally (some have said too literally). Anabaptists are prone to believe Jesus really meant is when He said, "Love your enemies,” and “turn the other cheek,” and ...

Dear Friends, At a breakfast gathering this morning one of those present spoke of how he sought to live out his faith before others rather than be really vocal about it. His comment made me think of a poem I have taped on the inside cover of my Bible by Edgar Guest entitled, “Sermons We See.” So, using Google on my phone I pulled up a copy and showed it to him. He smiled and nodded in agreement! Guest, its author, was born in England in 1881 and died in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959. In his lifetime he wrote over 11,000 poems! He was very popular among the ‘common people’ who loved the simple manner of his poetry, and dubbed him, ‘The People’s Poet.” Yet, others found his work a bit sentimental, and his style too simplistic, including a contemporary poet, screenwriter, and literary critic, Dorothy (Rothschild) Parker who said tongue-in-cheek of his work, “I’d rather flunk my Wassermann test (ie: a test for sexually transmitted diseases) than read a poem by Edgar Guest.” I leav...