One of my favorite Christmas stories happened during the horrors of war. The Christmas carol “Silent Night” was responsible for a wartime Christmas truce.   I researched the story and found that it is true. So here is a nice Christmas story for your Christmas celebrations to share at Christmas gatherings during this Christmas Season (was that anti-pc sentence a little too obvious?). I would normally post a story like this a little closer to Christmas Day but I found out there is a movie depicting this event and I thought you might be interested in acquiring or renting it. There are some cautions for parents contained in this review in Christianity Today but the positives seem worth the investment. Here is the story that inspired the film. The year was 1914 and soldiers were having to spend Christmas Eve night on the battlefields of France during World War I, the Great War, as it was called. After only four months of fighting, more than a million men had already perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers
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Thanksgiving this year was spectacular. Great food. Football. And then a football movie. Sweet! To be fair, The Blind Side is much more than a football movie. It is the true story of Michael Oher. Michael was taken from his mother and bounced from place to place in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Memphis. A white couple (Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy) take Oher in and rest of the story is a heartwarming journey that examines the power of love, affirmation and stability. Oher was a first round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL Draft. I loved the movie. I highly recommend seeing it and please don’t wait for the DVD. I urge you to get out and support this movie because it  portrays Christians and family values in a positive light. In the words of Mel Allen, “How about that!”.  I was hit from my blind side by an interview that Sandra Bullock did with World Magazine. Here is an excerpt from the piece written by Megan Basham. Sandra Bullock,
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I try to stay away from politics in my humble ramblings. I learned my lesson about trying to make a spiritual point with a political example in my first book. Nothing causes people to take the grace card off the table quicker than being on the wrong side of their political views. So I proceed with great humility in this post. I know the White House has a lot on their plate. I know that there is a lot to track every day. But doesn’t someone have a TV Guide at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Of all the the shows they could have preempted why did they have to preempt A Charlie Brown Christmas? I would be happy to give them a list of shows that would benefit the culture by preempting them. But no one asked. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my annual delights. The message of Christmas and the meaning of Christmas is powerfully portrayed in this classic show.
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I am still a fan of the daily comics in my local newspaper. I might skip the editorial page but I rarely miss my daily dose of  the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. Since my brain was not wired according to factory specs I am fascinated by others that have odd wiring. Stephen Pastis is the genius behind this strip and he has created some great characters. At first glance the strip inhabitants don’t seem all that creative. There is a rat named Rat, a pig named Pig and a goat named Goat. Not a lot of anguish went into the naming phase. But the traits of the characters make for an entertaining and even insightful look into our own blemishes. Pig is the naive and innocent character. Goat is the thoughtful moral compass and Rat is the self-centered rodent that his species implies. A recent strip brought back memories of an early marital crisis.    Copyright Comics.com I strive to be transparent and
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I have been doing this church thing for a lot of years. I have sung hundreds of songs over the four decades or so that I have been darkening the church door. Some songs have great meaning to me. Some lyrics moved me to deep worship of God. Some times I really meant what I was singing. Other times I was singing through the motions while thinking about lunch and when the kick-off was going to happen. Gotta think that Satan loves the ADD brain. One song that has always made me uncomfortable came up on the iPod today. The song was put to music by the legendary George Beverly Shea in 1932. The words were a poem written by Mrs.Rhea Miller in 1922. Shea recalled the moment. At the age of twenty-three, I was living at home with my parents, continuing to work at Mutual Life Insurance and studying voice. Going to the piano one Sunday morning, I found a poem
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Today I was sitting at my nephew’s house in Southern Ohio when I heard a THUMP! Then another THUMP! Going to investigate I found that a beautiful Cardinal was sitting on a branch near the dining room window. I guess he saw his reflection because he would look at the window, take off and fly smack into it. THUMP! He did this over and over. (Actual shot of “Thumper the Concussed Redbird”) I remembered that I had a similar experience with a bird back in Texas so I was relieved that this is not just a Red State phenomenon. I thought I would revisit my comments on Avian behavior and how that relates to my personal journey. No, I have not yet seen my reflection in a mirror and attacked it. I would more likely move quickly away. I like to think I am smarter than that bird so I laugh and make fun of him for mindlessly hitting the same window time after time. Obviously he
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I have learned to reserve my use of the word hate. I don’t say that I hate those who oppose my faith. I don’t hate those who have opposite political views. I don’t even hate the Michigan Wolverines even though that will get my Buckeye passport revoked. I do, however, have a few things for which I will use the word hate. I hate legalism in Christianity. Legalism is answering to the wrong source of authority. Legalists default to religious traditions rather than the Word of God. My faith journey began in a legalistic church. I will probably always walk with a bit of a spiritual limp. Legalism has reared it’s ugly and sinful head in the lives of some very dear friends. They are being hurt by church-goers who are living in legalism.  Legalism takes the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ and mixes in some “churchified” version of the law. Church by-laws occupy equal footing with God’s Word. Righteousness is no longer about Christ but about right behavior
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