The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Karen Carpenter was the preeminent voice of the 70s. Along with her brother Richard she sold 160 million record albums. Karen sang love songs. “We’ve Only Just Begun” has been used at countless weddings over the years since she introduced it to the world. But in his book, “Little Girl Blue,” Randy L. Schmidt revealed that Karen Carpenter searched for love and never seemed to find it. Another of her songs is autobiographic: “I'll say goodbye to love / no one ever cared if I should live or die...
As you read this article I will have recently returned from a visit again to Israel, the land of our Lord, with a fine group of people from our area. It is hard to describe to someone who has not been there the unique and special appeal of this tiny piece of arid geography tucked in an out-of-the-way corner of the earth along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. This remarkable land has cradled the faith of three major world religions, Judaism, the Muslim religion and Christianity. “To th...
He was deacon chairman in the church when I became the pastor. I was young and impressionable, and he made an impression on me. I still quote Horace, though he's been in heaven for many years, when I jokingly refer to the Sunday worship guide as the "bullington" as he did. Horace had a sense of humor, but everyone knew he loved the Lord and his church. One day his wife Ruth told me the season of the year we were in at the time--summer--was particularly hard for Horace. I asked her what she...
February is known as the month of love with the annual mid-month celebration of Valentine’s Day. Love is certainly one of the most powerful emotions God gave us. Most of us enjoy the love of others and find happiness in returning love. But there is another powerful emotion we are less capable of managing well within the framework of our Christian faith. That is anger. Let’s start here with a question. What is your pet peeve? Everyone has one. One of the most frustrating to me is telemarketers. Y...
A few months ago prior to the national election, I wrote an article about decisions our country must make in light of the well know verse from II Chronicles, “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The election is over and now we are about to inaugurate a new President. America turns a new page and begins writing a new chapter in its his...
We'll soon hear about the new president's "first 100 days." Writer Thurston Clarke published a history in 2013 not of the president’s first 100 days, but of his last 100 days. The president is John Kennedy and the book documents what JFK was doing day-by-day before the tragedy of Dallas. Clarke pulled together narratives from many sources and many cities. The reader feels a sense of dread as the days tick by and November 22 approaches. An intriguing aspect of this book is the initiatives Kennedy...
As we make our journey through the Advent Season, one symbol is pre-eminent—LIGHT! Tree lights, candle lights, houses, buildings, and malls are all decorated with lights. Perhaps it’s a parable of our times that we are rarely without some form of light. I suppose we ought to thank Edison for that. It is said that after thousands of experiments, when he finally achieved this monumental breakthrough that would affect all of human history, Edison heard the shrill voice of his wife cry out, “For goo...
I traveled to a Tennessee prison last weekend to visit a cousin. My sister engineered our trip, and we picked up our cousin's brother en route and had a nice day, despite the major purpose of our excursion. I learned that other family members had been reluctant to go through the process of approval and to visit. I remembered once hearing a radio host fielding a call from a lady who'd distanced herself from relatives who had a family member in jail. "I don't want to be around them and I don't...
An elderly gentleman was sitting on a park bench, basking in the sun, when another elderly fellow sat down. They looked at each other for a moment but did not speak. Both men sat there, staring straight ahead. After a while, one of them heaved a big, heartfelt sigh. The other jumped up immediately and said, "If you’re going to talk politics, I’m leaving." I’m not going to talk politics...so don’t quit reading! But what I am going to do is remind you that Christian’s had better be informed...
A former Nashville studio musician spoke to a group of church leaders in our city recently. He told us a little about his time in "Music City" and how decisions are made about what music to produce and sell. He said other than Bill Gaither's Homecoming music, the industry is producing only the so-called "praise and worship" music now. This music focuses on the majesty of God and is normally addressed to God the father or another member of the holy trinity. I say "so-called" praise and worship...
Each time I visit my Optometrist my face ends up looking into an instrument which is like a large bowl turned on the side. This test has a fancy name, “automated perimetry.” While my head is still, the person being tested has to stare straight ahead while tiny lights of different intensities are flashed from random points in your vision field. Pressing a button indicates that the user sees the light. The purpose of this instrument is to test for blind spots and the extent of peripheral vis...
I heard about a presumably wealthy Texas cattle ranch owner who boasted about his holdings. When asked how he got such a big ranch, he replied that he bought up a bunch of smaller ranches and made them into one bigger ranch. He said he kept the names and made the new ranch a composite of them all. Thus he owned the "Lazy J Rolling S Mighty Texas Bar Seven Triple L Buffalo Nickel" cattle ranch. "Well, how many head of cattle do you own?" his friend asked. "Only seven," he replied. "I had a lot...
Of all the people in the world, what group enjoys the greatest amount of freedom? “Americans” might be the preferred answer, although some people in other places might disagree. Strangely, however, the answer has nothing to do with borders within which someone lives. Of all the people in the world, those who enjoy the greatest amount of freedom are Christians. In fact, Christians living under an atheistic dictator enjoy more freedom than a person without faith living right in America. Of course,...
I went to the business office to get a purchase order for office supplies; I think it was a box of file folders or paper clips, and the attendant questioned me like I was Oliver Twist asking for more gruel! I felt anything like a professional. My face began to burn and I stepped outside before saying something I might regret. Most of us have been in similar situations and know the body language of anger. Our face flushes, our jaws tighten, our eyes become narrow slits and often our voices are...
Continued from page 1A Evil exists in our world today! It always has existed and always will exist until the Lord calls a halt to this world as we know it! Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The times are evil; that is, there is much that is evil in them. It would be to our shame and discredit if we failed to recognize that evil; if we wrapped ourselves in a foolish optimism and failed to war with heart and strength against that evil.” We have been timid too long and failed miserably to app...
I read the story in "The Christian Century" last spring. The author and her husband held three teacups in their hands after the husband's mother downsized and moved to a smaller apartment. The couple talked about which items to keep, if any, or whether they should keep all three in a home that was already full of things. The question they asked about each item was, "Does this item spark joy?" The writer said she got this concept from Marie Kondo who's written extensively about de-cluttering one'...
America is at a crossroads again. We are watching the system designed by our forefathers in the Constitution strained like never before. Instead of choosing between good and better in leadership, we find ourselves bitterly divided so that compromise to find the best direction for the country whoever is elected this fall as President seems unlikely, if not impossible. The same kind of unrivaled partisanship filters down through both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court where the choices boil...
I vaguely remember the high school dating scene with multiple cases of “going steady” and break-ups. Some of these on-again, off-again relationships were hard to keep up with since they were on-again today and off-again tomorrow! Sometimes the break-up would be a note passed in class, or a tense telephone call. Break-ups were always hard to do, as Neil Sedaka used to sing. I heard on the news lately about a new break-up service for those too timid to do it themselves. For a fee the service will...
One of the most sobering events of life for me was becoming a father. There is obvious responsibility that goes with marriage, but marriage is also about partnership and sharing life's ventures. However, with a child, there is a weight of responsibility like nothing else in life. A parent has one chance to shape a life which will affect what happens for generations as well as an eternal destiny. Unfortunately many homes in America are suffering from the phantom father. A man is present who may...
Canadian Army Lt. John McRae was in the line of defense that withstood the German assault in Belgium in 1915. The Germans resorted to chemical warfare using chlorine gas but the Canadians held fast. Later McRae officiated at a colleague's burial. In the ensuing days he noticed how quickly the poppies grew over the newly-dug graves. He wrote “In Flanders Fields” that became the national poem of Canada, and a loving tribute to all the dead in World War I. My mother had three brothers who ser...
The question was asked in a class of eager preschoolers, “What makes a happy home?” “A cat,” answered one four-year old. “Brownies,” answered a blue-eyed blond with cute pig tails. “Lots of love,” stated another. Finally the teacher’s eyes fell on a hand in the back corner of the room. “Yes, Dennis,” she said. “What makes a happy home?” “Lots of peanut butter and ants in the kitchen!” came the reply. You don’t have to be a psychologist to imagine what must have recently happened at his house....
An ABC tribute to Gilda Radner some time ago reminded me of the number of people we’ve lost in the last few years who made us laugh: John Belushi, John Candy, Phil Hartman, Bob Hope, Grady Nutt, Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Clower and others. Humor has great value. Solomon said laughter is medicine for the soul (Proverbs 17:22), and sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is to have a good laugh. Lincoln, a man who suffered depression or "melancholia" as it was called in those days, talked a...
Everyone has a pet peeve. One of mine is telemarketers. Telemarketers are both resolute and resilient sales professionals. Their job is to get on the phone to make cold calls and try to sell a product or a service. They do not give up easily. If you do not pick up the phone they will call you again. If they encounter your answering machine, they may leave a recorded message but you can be assured they will call again. Perhaps you are like me. You don’t like professional sales callers and just as...
It was an unusual comment. He was with a group who came to our church to use our facilities for a civic event. I was fairly new at the church and he told me he went to a neighboring church. "We don't worship like you do," he said with a smile. I got the impression he was making a judgment about our worship. His comment, however, reminded me that every church I've known worships differently. Every church is a unique mix of folks with unique social and denominational traditions. I've been to a...
In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced...
