I remember hearing about two different visitors to a particular church on the same Sunday. Both had a similar experience. No one spoke to either one of them, and both left with the feeling that it was an unfriendly congregation. The first visitor decided that he would go back one more time, but resolved that […]
I remember sometime back riding in the car with my friend Hunter and we passed by a large cemetery. Hunter asked me, “So, how many dead do you suppose are in this place.” “I don’t know,” I replied. He said, “How about all of them!” We laughed hard, but underneath the lightness, his joke was […]
Mark Twain once said, “The rain is famous for falling on the just and unjust alike, but if I had the management of such affairs, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors, I would drown him.” I think most of us can relate! […]
Let me say how grateful we are to those who make gifts that enable this ministry to touch so many. Your generous support is a real Godsend. There is a funny story about Adam and Eve. Adam stayed out late one night in the garden of Eden. When he got home, Eve was really upset. […]
The much beloved hymn, Fairest Lord Jesus, is was written sometime in the mid-sixteen hundreds by an anonymous author. It first appeared in a Jesuit hymnbook in 1677. Whoever wrote this beautiful hymn obviously had a deep devotional life. A life that focuses on the beauty of Christ, is a life put in perspective. A […]
There is a funny story about a woman who read that dogs were healthier if fed a tablespoon of cod liver oil each day. So, each day she followed the same routine. She chased her dog until she caught it, wrestled it down, and managed to force the fishy remedy down the dog’s throat. Then […]
One of my friends, Dan Brooks owns Sunrise surf shop in Jacksonville Beach, and for several years he organized a surf camp for children who have autism. I’ve had the privilege of helping out with this ministry – and what a blessing it was for me personally as a volunteer. This young boy I worked […]
In a movie about Beethoven, there’s a scene in which he becomes furious at his landlady. Later, he apologizes. It is a touching moment in which you can see that the woman was almost moved to tears. Beethoven then gives her two tickets to see his new symphony performed for the first time. She responds […]
The Apostle Peter once said, “Now I truly know that God shows no partiality!” (Acts 10) Jesus had spoken to him in a dream and made it crystal clear that even the gentiles, people so utterly different than Peter – were welcome and loved by the Lord.” In his book, “Learning to Lead,” Fred Smith […]
In their book, Radical Hospitality, Father Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt tell a story about a young couple who was in a restaurant with their four-year-old son. The waitress approached the table, took the parent’s order and then turned to the boy. “I want a hot dog,” he stated. His parents barked in unison, […]
