One of my favorite comedians is Brian Regan. He is off the charts funny and his material is family friendly. Written excerpts don’t begin to do justice to his delivery of the material but here is just a bit of one routine. Regan laments about how he often speaks without thinking and uses phrases incorrectly. Like the phrase “you too”. I’m just trying to go through life without looking stupid. It’s not working out too well. Sometimes you’ll say the right thing but at the wrong time and feel stupid. Something like: “You, too!” I was getting out of a cab at the airport and the driver goes, “Hey…Have a nice flight!” “You, too! You, too, you have a nice flight, too…in case you ever fly someday.” Don’t anybody look at me; I’m a moron. Don’t know when to say the “you, too” phrase. I can’t handle it. – Brian Regan But the “you too” phrase can be a blessing
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(This is the latest iPod Devotional that appears each Monday at theFish.com) One of my peers recently noted that “getting old is not for sissies”. Indeed. Even if you escape personal difficulties you will undoubtedly have family and friends who are going through physical, emotional and spiritual trials. One of the songs that I default to when I am walking through valleys with others is from singer/composer Rich Mullins. The song is from his CD called Songs and it is simply titled “Hold Me Jesus”. Well, sometimes my life Just don’t make sense at all When the mountains look so big And my faith just seems so small Right now I am in a pretty good place in my life and journey with Jesus. But then I started thinking about the many friends and loved ones who could relate completely to those lyrics in their current situation. And I can certainly remember seasons of my life when those words accurately reflected the condition of my
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Author Anne Rice has kicked the cyber hornet’s nest with her comments about “quitting” Christianity. Anne and I don’t have a lot in common. She has millions of readers. I have tens of readers. Her books are best sellers. My second book apparently is harder to find than a popular Congressperson. But we share one big thing in common. I also thought about “quitting” the organized version of Christianity that we call church. I SERIOUSLY considered doing a home study on Sundays instead of dragging myself to the local assembly. I was convinced that Starbucks was a much more spiritual environment than a church. My spiritual crisis would not have made any headlines. Having had that personal journey through the desert I am now inclined to pray that Anne Rice will find a community of believers who will walk with her in grace and truth and not condemn her. My friend Ed Underwood has a problem with stating his mind. He recently wrote about the Anne Rice
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I have an odd attachment to author Anne Rice. She was the subject of the very first blog that I wrote on October 24, 2005. The blog was titled “Pray for Anne Rice”. Here is that article written almost five years ago. I had heard the rumblings. The so called “Queen of the Occult”, Anne Rice, had embraced Christianity. Newsweek is reporting (breathlessly) that  “It’s the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train Coming” announced that he’d been born again. “ I am old enough to remember well Dylan’s announcement in November of 1980 that he had “a truly born again experience.”  I remember the excitement that Bob Dylan was going to use his considerable influence to lead thousands to faith in Jesus. So many of us were so excited that our faith was endorsed and confirmed by a super star. Dylan loves Jesus! I felt just a little bit more cool to be a Christian because the
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Finally all is well at the world headquarters of the humble ramblings. The tens of readers are receiving sporadic joy and occasional wisdom delivered to their cyber mailbox once again. The server meltdown that deleted several articles (everyone is a critic) and shut us down for a few weeks is fixed. The new design is more friendly and I hope you will enjoy it more. So everything is back to normal except me. Allow me to prove that. I get a frightening amount of spiritual fodder from the offbeat comic strip “Pearls Before Swine”. The title is taken from this admonition from Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. The exact phrase is found in the King James Version. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. (Matthew 7:6, KJV) And if you have ever been rended you know that is
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(This week’s edition of the iPod Devotional from theFish.com) I was driving along listening to the radio when a Billy Joel song came on. And my oddly functioning mind somehow conjured up Jesus picking the song and participating in karaoke at one of the many weddings that He attended. Perhaps He would have if only to further annoy the Pharisees. But past the weirdness of my thought process are a couple of things to ponder in the lyrics of the song “Just The Way You Are”. Don’t go changing, to try and please me, You never let me down before, My personal belief is that one of the biggest and most damaging mistakes that the church makes with new believers is not teaching clearly and continually what happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It seems that we too often get young Christians immediately into studies and activities.  We subtly (or in my own
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(The latest iPod Devotional from theFish.com. A new one is available each Monday at theFish.com) It is summer in Texas and that means one thing. It is hot. In fact, it is so hot that… …farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs. …you learn the hard way that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron. …you discover that in July, it takes only 1 finger to drive your car. …hot water now comes out of both taps. All of those are true because someone’s uncle checked them on Snopes. Really. Some guy told my friend that and somebody else said he was trustworthy. So forward those “facts” to everyone. When summer hits it is always nice to be able to retreat from the heat. This summer’s escape was to Southern California to take a little sea cruise and hang out with some dear friends. And while I acknowledge that it was refreshing
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