I suppose that most writers perceive themselves as wordsmiths. But most of us merely arrange previously coined words. What a thrill it must be to actually create a word and see it become a part of the lexicon. The Seinfeld television show was known for inventing new words and phrases that are now in common usage. I was reminded of that this week when I read a survey about the phenomenon of regifting. Regift is a verb and means “to give an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift.” (dictionary.com) That term, as well as the noun regifter, were first used in a Seinfeld episode from 1995 called The Label Maker. Seinfeldians will recall this dialogue… George: The wedding is off.  Now you can go to the Super Bowl.Jerry: I can’t call Tim Whatley and ask for the tickets back.George: You just gave them to him two days ago, he’s gotta give you a grace period.Jerry: Are you
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I recently posted a rather fanciful look at how “man’s best friend” could teach Christians a lot about evangelism. I was heartened and bit surprised at the level of response to that article (Canine School of Evangelism). Apparently there are a lot of dog lovers embedded into the Evangelical community and that gives me hope for the church! The star of the most recent post featured our rescued lab/mix Hannah.  This is not a   posed photo. At any given time around our household Hannah will come waltzing up with the three tennis balls in her big mouth and download them one by one onto your lap for playtime. But the star canine of my two books was the late, great Charlie. Our beloved Golden Retriever died last year at the ripe old canine age of 14. Here Hannah snuggles up next to Charlie.                                                                                                           This excerpt from “Bring’em Back Alive” documents an experience I had with our senior dog citizen Charlie. It was one more example
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My first reaction to the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) yesterday was to start brainstorming ideas to help. For example, if Christian television preachers and hosts/hostesses voluntarily switched from hairspray to gel I think that would make a big difference in the size of the ozone hole. Maybe the megachurches could start a hybrid bus ministry to save precious fossil fuel for the people that drive over twenty miles to go to their churches instead of local churches. Perhaps the biggest contribution the evangelical community can make is to reduce the volume of hot air generated over philosophical issues that are not critical to essential message of Christianity.  It is okay to disagree about issues like global warming. Really. Global warning is not a part of the Apostolic Creed. I applaud the men and women who took the initiative to produce this document. Are they right about the danger of global warming? Who knows? But a call to action doesn’t seem too radical to me. Here is
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To all of my Christian brothers and sisters…I love you all like, well, brothers and sisters. But it is time for us to have a family conference. Next time you are really concerned about my health, hard drive, or soul could I request that you just pray for me instead of forwarding dire e-mail warnings? I don’t want to appear ungrateful but I have to agree with this note I received recently from my friends C&C. To all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me “forwards” over the past 12 months…*Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed and healthy. Extra thanks to whoever sent me the e-mail about cockroach eggs in the glue on envelopes – I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope. * Without you I would likely have gotten that flesh eating bacteria from bananas.* Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers
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When I was an idealistic young man Jimmy Carter was one of my heroes. I was a mere pup of twenty-two when I first became aware of the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia. He was so different, so refreshing, and seemingly so real. I felt like he was “one of us” and his resume was intriguing. He was an Annapolis grad and submarine skipper, a self-made man,  and he was not a Washington insider. But as a young believer I was most enthralled by his unabashedly candid comments about his faith in Jesus. I learned a hard lesson about faith and politics. Jimmy Carter’s presidency would kindly be described as mediocre. But the post-White House years restored my respect for Mr.Carter. His tireless work for Habitat for Humanity set a standard for how ex-Presidents could use the platform of their recognition to make a difference. But somewhere along the way Jimmy Carter lost his focus. I believe that we (Christians in America) fight a continuing
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Ray Pritchard is a very dear friend. God used Ray and Marlene in our lives when we were desperate to be restored because of wounds inflicted by the church. His book An Anchor for the Soul is my “go to” resource when I want to leave something with a person seeking a relationship with Jesus. So it was with some amusement (because I know him) and a lot of appreciation that I read these words on Ray’s weblog (Crosswalk.com). Ray was writing about my recent addition to the weblog fold at Crosswalk. “Kudos to Dave Burchett for a stellar first week as the newest Crosswalk blogger. Dave is an accomplished author, an award winning sports TV director, and an extremely trenchant commentator on the issues of the day. Dave is an old friend, and I’ve always wanted to use the word “trenchant,” and now I’ve done it. Check him out. He’s says things we need to hear.” Trenchant? Meaning number one according to
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I was taught to “dog” people about their faith. But maybe a ministry with mutts would be more effective to reach others with the message of the gospel. So I am thinking about starting a new seminary with man’s best friends as the instructors and role models for the students. My inspiration for this “hounds-on” approach to ministry training came from an article in American Way Magazine. The story was about dog training programs that have been implemented into prisons across America. The concept is simple yet brilliant. These programs take dogs from overcrowded shelters and place them with prison inmates for training. The animals live with the inmates 24/7 and are trained by them to become adoptable pets or even companion animals. One of the difficulties in training guide and companion dogs is finding dedicated trainers who have enough time to interact with the animals. The prisoner trainers have nothin’ but time. The American Correctional Institute says that idleness is a major cause of violence among inmates.
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