Category Archives: Character

Are You One of the Walking Dead?  Or Maybe the Limping Living? 

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When I was in Creteil, France I decided to talk about zombies in a sermon. I don’t remember the spiritual application, all I remember is zombies. So, in order to be really cool I searched for a funny clip on You Tube about zombies.

Zombies aren’t very funny, did you know that? I found out. They are macabre, scary and weird. I decided that if I showed one of those film clips some of the ladies might me into a zombie.

You know what, though? I found something in the Bible that’s kind of zombie-like.

Do you remember when Jesus raised Lazyrus from the dead and the former cadaver shuffled out of the tomb? Graveclothes still bound him.

If I had been there I would have been torn between praising the Lord Jesus and streaking away faster than a jackrabbit on steroids.

Lazyrus wasn’t a zombie, though. He was very much alive again. He just needed to get rid of those grave clothes. Once he got back into his blue jeans and tee-shirt, he was just a normal guy who had been dead.

Christian Zombies Continue reading →

How To Stop Dropping the Ball

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photo: https://www.facebook.com/utfootball/?nr

Some friends invited me to accompany them to the “Red River Shootout”—the Texas-Oklahoma college football game (thanks Kevin, Nathan and Jonathan).

Now my football allegiance goes to another team in red (which doesn’t win as often as Oklahoma) but Texas-Oklahoma is a classic. And it was a great chance to spend time with friends I don’t see often.

We were seated with Oklahoma’s fans on their end of the field. I discovered that they aren’t particularly fond of Texas, and I was glad my friends in their orange shirts and caps were big enough to defend us all.

Actually, the fans in front of us were super nice and we chatted during the game. The ladies behind us, though, had evidently been raised by wolves or drunken sailors. That’s another Coffee Stain for some other day.

I was amazed to watch Oklahoma’s team in warm-ups. When the quarterbacks threw to their receivers I didn’t see one dropped ball. I wasn’t always paying attention, of course, but the quarterbacks were sharp and the receivers outstanding.

When the game started, though, it wasn’t always like that. On one play, I think the Texas defensive back was off somewhere eating a hamburger because the Oklahoma receiver was all by himself. He might have caught cold, he was so open. Continue reading →

Does God Make You Happy? Not Necessarily

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It Depends On Your Definition of Happiness

“We equate comfort with happiness. And now we’re so comfortable we’re miserable.”

Sometimes I hear sweet little people say naïve little things like, “Oh, just do God’s will and you’ll be so haaapppy!”

I say to myself, “There’s someone who has never tried to do God’s will.”

I don’t think we should seek sufferings. We should seek to do God’s will. But, that will complicate our lives, yes it will. Read Paul’s testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:22-29 to see if “happy in God’s will” means a sweet, easy life.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18, NKJV)

Obeying God will complicate your life. Yes, you’ll be happy as you obey Him in faith, but there’s nothing easy about it. His will is well worth it, though. That’s where the richness hides, serving Him with your whole heart.

An easy life is rarely a really happy life. We’re made for the arena, not the sofa.

I love (and fear) this quote by Dean Karnazes, an ultra-runner. Continue reading →

Is That Smell You?

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Is That Smell You?
Once I was preaching in the Alsatian region of France. After the service I ate with some people in the church and the conversation turned to cheese.

Now I love French cheese, but I said that there was one which was a bit too strong for me—Munster.

The taste is okay but the smell, especially when it’s overripe, will stop a charging rhinoceros in its tracks.

Surprise Gift

The following Thursday I was preaching in the same church. When I stood behind the pulpit I noticed a small gift-wrapped package with the notice “Pour David”(for David). I just left it there because I thought there might be another David in the church.

There were a couple of times when I was preaching, though, when I got a whiff of something disagreeable. “What is that?” I thought. “I know I washed my feet before I came.”

It wasn’t my dirty feet though, because my young friends came after the service and told me to open my gift. It was a gift-wrapped Munster cheese, which explained a lot.

Later on the pastor Ringenbach and I put that cheese into the ministry. It’s surprising how good anything tastes with a tasty French baguette to accompany it. Continue reading →

A Petit Primer for Pouters

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C’mon now, admit it. You like it. A virtuous pout from time to time really feels good doesn’t it?

You get a wounded look on your face; you say, “No! There’s nothing wrong. Leave me alone.” You go to the other room. You replay all the ways that someone has not noticed you, or not helped you, or hasn’t done what they should.

So, you get revenge. You pout!

According to the Merriam-webster.com dictionary, to pout means: “to push out your lips to show that you are angry or annoyed or to look sexually attractive: to refuse to talk to people because you are angry or annoyed about something.”

It’s this last part of the definition that interests me. I’ve been pouting from time to time for many years now. I can remember a pout from my early childhood. It was lunchtime but I was upset about something and I needed attention. So, I went and lay on the bed and pouted while the others ate.

I was inconsolable. I would teach them to ignore me. Etc.

Let me give you a bit of advice. If you’re going to pout, do it after lunch. The joy you get from a good pout isn’t close to the joy you get from a good meal.

Here are some reasons to pout: Continue reading →