There is a game show on NBC that is generating some interest called Deal or No Deal. I am not a big fan of the show but it did generate a little spiritual analogy. Let’s suppose that some thirty-six years ago Jesus had come to me in person and offered the following deal. Jesus: “So here is My deal for you. I will forgive you of your sins and relieve you of the guilt and fear that they have burdened you with. I will give you the assurance of eternity spent with me. I will be there throughout your life to teach, console, strengthen and bless. Just ask me and I will provide.”Me: “Wow.” (I wasn’t much of a wordsmith at sixteen)Jesus: “By the way, I know that your relationship with me will lead you to a beautiful and Godly woman who will be the love of your life and who will help you become the person you want to
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While out walking one day a local pastor noticed a young boy trying unsuccessfully to reach the doorbell of a house. The pastor decided to be a Good Samaritan so he walked up behind the boy, put his hand on his shoulder, leaned over and firmly pushed the door bell. Crouching down to the boy’s level the pastor smiles warmly and asks, “Now what, young man?” The boy looked at him and said, “Now we run!” That is how I feel about today’s topic. I am going to post and run. In recent weeks I have written about the Biblical requirement for forgiveness and I have found out that not everyone agrees with my views. Some didn’t forgive me for saying you have to forgive! I am going to violate the principle espoused by humorist Will Rogers who said that “when you are in a hole, quit digging.” Today I am going to suggest that we all need to examine ourselves to
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A story in the Dallas Morning News today confirmed one of my deepest beliefs. The biggest problem with kids sports is adults. As the father of three sons; I have seen the effects of the traveling squads and elite teams. Sure, some scholarship athletes come out of those programs. But the unseen consequence is that we (alleged adults) have sucked the fun out of childhood sports for a large percentage of the participants. Warning…geezer rant directly ahead:  I remember playing sandlot baseball for hours because I loved the game. I also played in an organized league but my joy and love for baseball came from the hours of camaraderie built around the sandlot games. I learned more about tough negotiations playing in my friend Vic’s backyard than I ever learned in school. For example, we were able to hammer out the Hirn Street Treaty with this rule. Any ball hit into Mr.Moore’s garden is an automatic out because we are
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Today’s Peanuts comic strip features Charlie Brown’s sister Sally struggling to spread frozen butter on her toast. Finally she exclaims, “Nobody told me life was going to be this hard!” I can understand Sally’s frustration. Life is hard. This was not in the brochure. Or at least that is what I once believed. In fact that very information is in the brochure. The Bible is very clear that life will be a journey of struggling to spread frozen butter and worse (that is a paraphrase). Much worse. I am going through one of those frozen butter times right now but I have come to understand that those times are part of the journey. God has given us a wonderful gift that we too often leave unwrapped. The gift of laughter. The following excerpt is from my sporadically selling book “Bring’em Back Alive – A Healing Plan for those Wounded by the Church.”  I believe a sense of humor is one of God’s gifts to help get us to the
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I am afraid that I offended a fellow blogger with my post about what I believed to be the damage done to the box office totals of End of the Spear  by an Evangelical backlash. Byron Harvey wrote to let me know that I was wrong, that I had misrepresented his intent about his opposition, and that my logic was flawed. I suspect he has also removed me from his Christmas card list.  Byron has a blog called The No Kool Aid Zone (love that title) and he took offense that I had lumped him in with some of the more extreme reactions to the controversy about Chad Allen. I made some broad statements about the treatment the movie and the production company received. I may be a “Bad Christian” but I try to be a fair one. I hope that readers understand that not everyone who disagreed with casting Chad Allen was angry or graceless. Forgive me if I gave anyone that impression. That was not my intent. I am giving Byron a chance here on the
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The box office run of End of the Spear is likely drawing to a close. The backlash from a number of Christian blogs, publications, and from many  pulpits accomplished its goal. Estimates are that the controversy cut the box office return by one-half to two-thirds. I wish congratulations were in order. But I am simply burdened and discouraged by our choice of battles in the evangelical community. I should never be allowed near a keyboard when I am angry. But I hope that all who advocated a boycott are happy with the results. Your efforts kept a lot of people away from a movie that has a powerful message. I have not talked to a single person who saw the movie (and that would be dozens) who was not moved by the portrayal of forgiveness and redemption. No one that I know cared who played the role of Nate Saint. Typical response. “Oh, he was gay? (pause) He did a good job.”
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Americans apparently know more about “The Simpsons” than they do about the First Amendment. Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey according to a story released today by the Associated Press. The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms. The survey found more people could name the three “American Idol” judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans. It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was
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