I remember hearing the late entertainer Merv Griffin joke that he was going to put these words on his tombstone. “I will not be right back after this message” I happened upon a story recently about humorous tombstone messages and I found out that Merv kept his word. There have been some brave souls over the years when it came to tombstone epitaphs. Like this apparently long suffering husband who paid less than his respects to his departed bride. John Dryden (1631-1700): Here lies my wife: here let her lie!Now she’s at rest, and so am I. On Margaret Daniels’ grave at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia: She always said her feet were killing her but nobody believed her. On the grave of Ezekial Aikle in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia: Here liesEzekial AikleAge 102The GoodDie Young And he had so much to live for! From a cemetery in Ruidoso, New Mexico: Here liesJohnny YeastPardon meFor not rising. I started
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Warning: The following post may contain humor. This blog was produced in a program where irony and satire are processed. May contain sarcasm fragments. If you have negative reactions to sarcasm or satire please avoid this product. Thank you.   If you read When Bad Christians Happen to Good People  you know that I am not a fan of “Jesus Junk”. That is a term for the often tacky, sometimes offensive and generally puzzling ways that we try to merge Christianity and our culture. The products range from the Jesus bobble head dolls to Christian breath mints. I had never considered bad breath to be a spiritual battle but I am still learning in my journey.   People now send me links to this stuff just to annoy me. I found out about a new Talking Jesus action figure. Herobuilders.com of Connecticut, USA, added a new hero to their ranks of action dolls – “the ONLY real hero,” in fact. Standing fully 12″ tall, the Jesus Christ
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The opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics were truly spectacular. The creative genius of the program and disciplined performers left me awestruck. But a news story the next day left me a little angry. The beautiful little girl singing during the telecast was actually lip syncing. Was it because she was too nervous or too young to perform live in such a pressure packed environment? Nope. It was because the actual voice belonged to a singer dubbed not “cute” enough to represent the country. The Los Angeles Times reported the story. The child in question was 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, who was seen belting out “Ode to the Motherland” as the Chinese flag entered the National Stadium. She became an instant celebrity and was quickly christened a “smiling angel.” The image of her in a pretty red dress appeared around the world. But it wasn’t Miaoke who was singing. Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s music director, told state broadcaster Beijing Radio that the
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Today I took a walk through Boston. The Boston Common is a beautiful and peaceful oasis to walk and pray. On my way back to the hotel I noticed a man on a motorized scooter. He was severely physically challenged. It appeared he was dealing with advanced Cerebral Palsy. The man was unable to communicate beyond noises and grunts. I have learned a lot about dealing with physically challenged people from my wife’s years of serving special needs kids. She has taught me to just treat them like anyone else. No need to look with pity or speak louder. The man was selling water and soft drinks from his scooter. He had a little cooler and a money box with a slot. There was a sign that listed the prices. Another sign noted a box to make change because he was unable to execute even that simple task. So I went up to the man, smiled at him, told him I wanted a
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The last two articles have given me spiritual tired head. So today is a gently read post from the past. (WARNING TO THE HUMOR IMPAIRED –  The following article may offend some. If you are easily irritated or have a tendency to e-mail nasty comments to blog writers please do not continue. Thank you). Recently God has been sending me a consistent message. Get out of your comfort bunker. Quit flailing away in your own strength and trust Me. I happened to stumble onto a parody of a beloved poem called “Footprints in the Sand”. The original poem was written in the 1930’s. It told a beautiful story of how God carries you through the hard times. If you somehow missed the original version you can click here to read it (be warned that there are annoying surf sound effects at the site). But a guy named Sam Glen did a little rewrite of the beloved poem reminding all of us that just leaving a “mark” is not good enough.
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Jerry Seinfeld has a bit about trying to select an appropriate greeting card. They have the greeting cards with the couples on the front. They photograph them. These hazy focus people. They’re always having picnics. There’s always a tree, a pond… who are these people? I don’t know them. I don’t want them on my card either. What am I going to write inside there anyway? “Here’s another couple having a better relationship than us.” Who are these people? That question has been going through my mind as I read the angry comments about the airplane incident with the Osteens. I have been deeply disappointed by the comments posted on my site. I know that most of them come from angry spiritual hall monitors that happened to stumble on this site. Clearly many of them think that Christians should never question another person in the faith no matter what they do. Clearly many of them think any mention of a uncomfortable situation, no matter how civil in tone,
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(This is an update of an earlier post) Yes…the spelling in the title is correct. I am going to reluctantly revisit the airplane incident with Joel and Victoria Osteen that happened in December, 2005. One of the most visited posts I have ever written was in regards to the tepid apology that Mrs.Osteen issued after the incident. I finally removed the article after it became merely a feedback repository for partisan shots. The comments became a back and forth series between those who support the Osteen’s and their ministry versus those who do not. It became a spectacular exercise in missing the point. The ministry of Joel and Victoria Osteen was never the focus of my article. I became so frustrated and dismayed with the discourse that I removed the post. This article is an attempt to stay on point. My argument was never about the Osteen’s ministry, mega-churches, celebrity Christians or any of the issues raised by many of those who posted feedback. My focus was
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