This week marked a couple of rites of spring. The reporting of pitchers and catchers to spring training and the arrival of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. For me one is a “right” of spring and the other is becoming a “wrong”. I was on the road when the swimsuit issue arrived at my home. The lovely Mrs.Burchett led me into a marital minefield with this simple statement. “Your swimsuit issue arrived today.” She waited. Work brain, work! Must step carefully. Following the lead of Nehemiah I “prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered”.  My response was simple. “Throw it away.” Joni thought she had (to quote Roger Clemens) “misheard”. “What?” “Throw it away. I don’t need to see that.” I think I surprised the Missus. This has been a process for me. I have gone over the years from eagerly anticipating the SI issue to guiltily perusing it to quickly flipping through the magazine and then tossing it. This year I never even saw
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This Valentine’s Day is approaching the two year annivesary of D-Day (that is Diagnosis Day for cancer patients). I will gaze at my bride across the table tonight and see the same beautiful woman that I saw two years ago. The sparkle is back in her eyes, the hair has returned and Joni looks wonderful. Tonight I will treasure the moment. But I remember a lesson from the cancer journey. Beauty is so much more than the standards our shallow society sets forth. Here is a piece I wrote during our breast cancer trial. One of my smart aleck remarks that I use periodically is that “I am not burdened by that whole maturity thing.” There are many times when I go about demonstrating that in real life. But the unwelcome intrusion of “life” into my happy little routine has caused me to evaluate a lot of things. God is teaching and revealing a lot of things to me during our
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In our last episode… A recent post about whether Christians should sit out or perhaps cast a protest vote in this year’s election has generated some spirited response. Let’s hear from you along with some unsolicited comments (as always) from yours truly. Our first comments come from Russ who tried a crazy idea. He decided to go to God’s Word, spend time with God and pray. If too many follow Russ’s lead we could be threatened with unity so we must tread carefully. Maybe that is the sarcasm that reader Larry noticed in his comments yesterday. Here is the result of the crazy prayer idea. So basically after I went to God, prayed and became revitalized, it was clear what I must do. First, stop letting the media scare me into thinking we do not matter. Second, prepare to vote, keeping in mind, there are other races other than President (Senate, House, State legislatures, etc) and to seek out good candidates to support that will represent what
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Last week I posed this question: Should Christians sit this election out? You responded. Today we take a look at some of those responses with comments from your Bad Christian Laureate. First some thoughts from those who disagree with me. I understand the point you are trying to make BUT!!!!!! I believe that our responsibility as a Christian out weighs our responsibility as an American.   Not sure what to make of the all-caps and highly exclamated “but”. Nonetheless, the point of my article is not whether our first priority is to Christ or to country. I think most Evangelicals would answer that without debate. It seems to me that scripture is clear that we have dual citizenship. Our top priority is as future citizens of heaven but we have responsibilities in this life as well. The writer continues…   I served in the military and do not take the privilege of being an American lightly, but I believe that our
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A news story this week from Christianity Today amused me. The headline was provocative. Super Tuesday Results Show Split Between Evangelicals and Their Spokesmen I am an amateur evangelical anthropologist. Like Jane Goodall I go into their habitats and study their behaviors. Since I am one of the species it is easy to assimilate into their culture. My first journal, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People, was a result of my time spent with these fascinating creatures. From my observations a couple of immediate questions came to mind as I read the headline in Christianity Today. When did we get spokesmen? Unlike dentists on TV commercials I can’t get four out of five evangelicals to agree on anything. Have these reporters not previously observed that evangelicals are an unruly lot and that our primary conflict resolution strategy is to split? (Note to the humor impaired: The comments above were good-natured jesting. Please back away from the send button) The rest of the story was a bit
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The morning perambulation (look that one up Nelson) was lovely today. The sun was shining brightly and the air was brisk. The iPod was cranking with a playlist that featured songs from my brief career as a disc jockey in the early 70’s. Yep, that was one more failed career on my resume. I remember that I used to play songs each day based on my mood. If I had just broken up with my girlfriend you would hear songs like “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”, “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” and “Alone Again, Naturally”. I feel sorry for any listeners on those days. “Did you listen to the radio today?”“Yeah…I feel really depressed for some reason.”“Me too. I wonder why?” Sorry. On my current DJ playlist is a song that generated some spiritual reflection. Bill Withers had a big hit with the song “Lean on Me” in 1972. Sometimes in our lives we all have painWe all have sorrowBut if we are
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Regular readers of the humble ramblings know that I will often reference some of the great thinkers of our age to make a point. Today is one of those days as I go deep into the mind of Popeye the Sailor Man. What other Christian writer offers this kind of depth and insight? Stumbling across an old Popeye cartoon triggered this post. Seeing an old cartoon brought back memories of a childhood misspent in front of a glowing black and white Sylvania television. Questions still unanswered came to mind. Why did Popeye have to get  his strength from spinich? Why couldn’t he be more like Wimpy and get his super strength from hamburgers? What was so attractive about Olive Oyl? What size shoe did she wear? Fifteen? Sixteen? Perhaps some of my questions will never be answered. But it was a couple of familiar expressions from Popeye that generated today’s article. The first Popeye proverb summarizes the place I arrived at a
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