A professor in a world-acclaimed medical school once posed this medical situation -- and ethical problem -- to his students: "Here's the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The…
You never know where the invitation will come. Abraham was sitting at home. Moses was out in the wilderness. Isaiah was in a worship service. Matthew was at work. The woman caught in adultery was, well, caught in adultery and about t…
There’s the story about George Washington Carver, who went into the woods every morning before sunrise to talk to God, whom he called, "Dear Mr. Creator."
"Dear Mr. Creator," he said one day, "why did You m…
An ancient legend tells us that when the Great Lord of All Being created all things - animals, birds, mountains, seas, and human persons - when he finished his work, there was only silence. No sound was anywhere. The angels, having examined the creation, reported to the Great Creator that, to be complete, it needed the sound of the Creator's…
In his book If I Were God I’d End All Pain, John Dickson recalls speaking on the theme “The wounds of God” at a university campus. After his speech, the chairperson asked the audience for questions. Without delay a man in his mid-30s, a Muslim leader at the university, stood up and proceeded to tell the audience how preposterous was the claim that the Creator of the universe would be subjected to the f…
Several years ago, Dr. Claude Thompson, distinguished member of the faculty at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, received the report from a team of physicians that he had only a short time to live. Each day, each moment, became precious to him. No movement was without meaning, and his words were chosen carefully. He knew he was going to die. There were some things he wanted to say to his students and colleagues, and in a heroic act of eleventh-hour witness, he addressed the seminary community. As a man on his way to a certain death, he wanted to be sure that some essential things were laid down before his departure. When the time is short, only essentials matter.
Jesus was to have only a few short hours with his disciples. He knew it. The shadow of the cross was lengthing, and in thr…
I don’t know who first uttered these words but they set forth a terribly important bit of wisdom: If there is nothing above us we will be consumed by all that is around us.
Our nation’s Founding Fathers recognized its truth when they wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable…
Loving the created world is not wrong as long as our loving God is not diminished. To love the world and fail to love God would be like a bride, who, being given a ring by her bridegroom, loves…
Roy L. Smith tells about an aged and scholarly minister with a flair for astronomy who spent the night on a California mountaintop with a group of young men from his church. It so happened that a little after midnight two great stars came into conjunction, and the dear old man went from sleeping bag to sleeping bag, shaking them and shouting,…
Excerpt from an interview with the late Joe Bayly of David C. Cook Publishing Company and his wife, Mary Lou. The Baylys lost three children.
Joe: We are stewards of the children God gives us, and at any time God can interrupt that stewardship.
Mary Lou: Although…
There is a reason why many Christians around the world have latched so quickly and tenaciously onto the discovery of what may be the ossuary or burial box for James, the brother of Jesus. There's a reason why every time archaeologists discover some inscription referring to King David, Pontius Pilate, or some other biblical figure that this news immediately makes a splash in the pages of Christianity Today…
A man named Gerhard Dirks, the "father of the modern computer," was one who had to face up to life's most important question. During the years of the Second World War he made many inventions that led to the development of the first computers. He and his family escaped from Hitler's Germany and later Russian occupation to the west. He was a brilliant man, reported to have an IQ of 208. He had over 140 patents with IBM and even attempted theoretically to reconstruct the human brain. But he became completely bewildered and shaken when confronted with the complexity and utter impossibility of such a reconstruction. He didn't know what to do or where to run. He had to face a choice: Either the human brain came about by a fantastic chance or by intelligent planning. Dirks re-established contact…
In his book Finding God in Unexpected Places, author Philip Yancey describes the time he and his wife visited Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Park. They were having lunch in the lodge, watching the digital clock ticking down the minutes until the next big splash. When the clock reached 30 seconds, diners left their tables and rushed over to the windows overlooking the geyser. When Old Faithful erupted, and all the tourists were ooohing and aahing, Yancey looked over his shoulder and saw that the waitresses and busboys were using this time to clear tables of their…
"Mother, look what I got," said Jimmy. "A man gave me all these big pieces of money. Now I'm rich. Is it alright if I buy an ice-cream cone for you and me?"
"Let me see that money," said his mother. "I am sorry Jimmy you can't buy anything with this money. It is no longer of any value."
Jimmy said, "You mean it is no good Why? It is even bigger than the money in my bank!"
"It is difficult to tell you Jimmy, but our government didn't make this money and money is not good unless the people that make it stand behind it."
"Gee, that makes me feel bad," said Jimmy. "I thought I was rich."
Learning …
The esteemed space scientist Dr. Werner von Braun received many cards and letters over the years from people who believe that space exploration is against the Creator's wishes. "Scripture mail," NASA calls it. These correspondents warned the scientist to cease this dangerous godless folly. "One lady wrote that Go…
Sam Duncan lay in the semi-darkness of his nursing home room performing the only two activities of which he still considered himself capable: watching and waiting. Although his eyesight was dim, he could still make out the steady brightening of the light of dawn through the window next to his bed. And although his hearing was too far gone to catch the rumble of the medicine cart, as it worked its way up the hall toward his room, he could sense that the time for his morning pills was near. He waited for the nurse to push open the door and greet him and his roommate Arthur, who was still snoring loudly in the bed next to his.
Most of the accepted measures of quality of human existence no longer affected Sam. While time, in terms of years, seemed to slip away unnoticed, the hours of the day …
The United States of America is nearly 250 years old today. That's a long time for a nation to remain free. But, when you look at our history in the context of world history America is just a CHILD among the nations. Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, Greece all make America's history seem so short. Consider what a brief time we've really been here as a nation: When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. By the time he died Ronald Reagan was a boy of 12.
There you have it. The lives of four men can take you all the way back to the beginning of our country, 250 years ago. We are so young. And yet we stand tall among the…
The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter's night. He said, "The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth's winter eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneline…
When people tell me that they are saved and question whether or not I am, I am tempted to say to them, "Well, I'm so happy for you. But no, I'm still a sinner. I'm still working on it. I'm still struggling day by day to be purified and sanctified in God's sight. But God is patient with me and allows me to come, just as I am, without one plea. As I look at myself in the light of God's glory, I know that I am…
1 Kings 10:5 - "the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her."
Nehemiah 1:11 - "... Now I was cupbearer to the king."
This is an officer of considerable responsibility, who attended Eastern monarchs. This office is of very great antiquity, being mentioned in connection with the Egyptians, the Persians, and the Jewish rulers.
The primary duty of the cupbearer was to taste the foods and wines that were to be served to the king as a pl…
A high school graduating class in California omits the invocation from its proceedings because of a law suit brought by three seniors who claimed the brief prayers would violate the "separation of church and state" clause of the Constitution. This is but one instance, part of a long-growing list, to be contained in a manual that our generation appears to be authoring: "How to Dismiss God from the Universe." To whom or what shall we ultimately be driven? What was the first tiny spark in the abysmal darkness? The first cause? The initial force? How did the universe come into being? Was it the handiwork of a great "Whom it may concern," or the climax of a colossal cosmic chaos? Read no farther than the first verse of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
I reme…
The unanimous Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies in Congress, July 4, 1776
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just …
The chief objection that modernists have with the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 was answered by St. Augustine over 1500 years ago. Augustine sa…
Martin Luther asserted that the true theologian was the one who could rightly distinguish between law and gospel. When Lutherans, including this Lutheran, work at theology we almost always work within the parameters of law and gospel. Protestant theology in general talks about three uses of the law. The first use of law is usually termed the political or civil use of law. The second use of the law, the spiritual or theological use, is the law as a mirror in which we see our lives; the law as revealer of our sins. The third use of the law is law as a guide for Christian living. There is much debate even among Lutherans whether Luther taught the third use of the law. I do not believe that he did.
The function of the civil use of law is to help humankind create a civil society. Since all peo…
Freidrich Nietzsche drew the distinction between a servant morality and a master morality with disturbing clarity. A servant morality adopts values and follows a morality which is imposed upon us by others. It negates the self. A master morality, on the other hand, sees the self as the creator of both values and morality. It, therefore, affirms the …
Dr. James B. Lemler was preaching one time about the Trinity. He told about a couple of parents who had gone home from his church and during Sunday lunch were talking about his sermon. In the midst of their conversation, their second-grade daughter sitting at the table chimed in. "Oh, Father Lemler's sermons, they're always the same," she said, "You know . . . blah, blah, blah, . . . love . . . blah, blah, blah . . . …
A poll for U.S. News and World Report's found that 93% of Americans say they believe in God or a universal spirit. Of those polled, 65% say religion is losing its influence on American life, although 62% say religion is increasing its influence in their personal lives. Other findings:
Charles Shultz, creator and author of the Peanuts cartoon characters often conveyed a message in his comic strips. In one strip he conveys through Charlie Brown the need we have to be loved and through Lucy our inability to love one another.
Charlie Brown and Lucy are leaning over the proverbial fence speaking to one another:
CB: All it would take to make me happy is to have someone say he likes me.
Lucy: Ar…
The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Koine Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related in fact, almost identical to the Hebrew word for "believe" (aman), or "faithful." Thus, it came to mean "sure" or truly," an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an "amen." When God makes a prom…
"Why does Tommy have so many fine toys and I have only a few?" asked Richard.
"We have tried to see that both you boys receive equally from all that we can give you," answered the mother, "but you seem to break up your toys, and never pick them up or take care of them."
"But his toys look better than mine, and they last longer," argued Tommy. "I throw mine around because they are not very good anyhow."
"Just like that Walt Disney tune says, 'it's what you do with what you've got, that pays off in the end,' " counseled the mother. "You must learn to think of your things as more preciou…
The climax of the parable occurs in verse 15: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" The vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the b…
What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and Sto…
William Willimon, dean of the chapel at Duke University, questions: Don't you find it interesting that when the great Lord, the Creator of the universe, t…
The earliest known mention of the expression "Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of AD 390 from a synod in Milan. The most traditional version of the creed is as follows:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the …
Four boys stood watching the parade some ten miles from the high school classes they were supposed to be. The event was important to them.
"How did you get here" asked Dick.
"I borrowed my father's car."
"I took the bus," said Bill.
"I thumbed a ride," said Jack.
"Well, at least we all got here, didn't we," said Bill. "Nothing could keep me away."
"Me either," said Jack. "When I want to go some place, I go."
It is surprising how easily we find a way to…
It is sad when religion becomes a divisive influence rather than a unifying one. I read recently about the funeral procession of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Journalist Arthur Godfrey told of a man who took a taxi from a hotel, bound for Union Station, and was delayed by the funeral procession. He instructed his driver to pull over while he got …
Since Thanksgiving, the shopping malls have been telling us that "It's the most wonderful time of the year." And it is - for them. For many others, however, it is a mixed bag. Christmas isn't what it was when I was a child and never will be again. I'm an adult; it's different; it just is. In this economically difficult time, many have lost jobs or seen their investments and securities dwindle unsure of what the future holds.
Perhaps we have not been able to do what we might have liked to have done for Christmas. Many…
Martin Luther summarized the nature of Christian life, what it is like to be born again, very well in one of his lectures in 1535. He reported that his teacher, John von Staupitz, said to him: " 'It pleases me very much that…
I like the story told about Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) in his later years. On a special evening at the Vienna Music Hall his oratorio "The Creation" was being performed. As the majestic work moved along, the audience was caught up with tremendous emotion. When the passage "And there was light!" was reached, the chorus and orchestra burst forth in such power…
The 96th Psalm is closely comparable with 1 Chronicles 16:23-26. Psalm 29:2 also contains the words, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." The New Revised Standard Version translated Psalm 96:9 to read, "Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him all the earth." Older people have long been accustomed to using the words from the King James Version.
Worship ought to be made beautiful in sight, sound, and thought. The physical settings of worship experiences serve to enhance and reinforce the yearning for understanding and completeness. This may be illustrated by a question: "Would you rather have a picnic on a graveled area in the heat of the sun, or where there is verdure of grass, and the shade of trees?" Worship is best when the scene is not barren, but blessed with go…
In the Old Testament we often find God in conversation with his people. Conversational prayer entailed discussing the events of the day and seeking God’s will for the future. In these conversations with the Creator, we find the believer seeking to unite his will and the will of the nation with God’s will. God’s people tuned into him, listening for his direction.
In my freshman year at Concordia Preparatory School in New York, I can recall trying to tune my radio into WBAL in Baltimore, my home town. Under certain atmospheric conditions, I was successful. Often the static wasn’t too bad, and I could hear the familiar sounds of the way the king’s English was spoken at home. It w…
J. S. Bach became known worldwide for his remarkable musical talent, but he never ceased to credit his Creator as the one who was responsible for his ability. The pages of his musical compositions could well have been used to satisfy a personal pride as his name appeared …
Judges 5:11 - "To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel."
Amos 6:5 - "who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David invent for themselves of music;"
Music is both an art and a means of expressing ideas and emotions; it is sometimes called a "universal language." This language makes possible the communication of ideas and feelings among people who are separated by language, customs, time, and space. Music grows out of human experience. It gives us an understanding of the people of other countries and of past generations.
Man began to make music long before he started to write history. We know about early kinds of music partly from the drawings and musical instruments left by men wh…
"Jimmy, why are you sitting there all alone?"
"Nobody wants to play with me. They always fight with me."
"Why don't you go over and see Billy?"
"No, he always wants his own way."
"You could play with Dick," said the mother.
"No, we had a fight this morning. I punched him in the nose and his mother sent me home."
"How about Jack?"
"We had a fight in the school yard."
"If everyone fights with you, maybe it's you," said the mother.
"See, you're picking on me, too. Everybody picks on m…
Democracy is not self-executing. We have to make it work, and to make it work we have to understand it. Sober thought and fearless criticism are impossible without critical thinkers and thinking critics. Such pe…
Lent was originally established for new Christians, those who experienced a call. They were to spend forty days and forty nights preparing for their baptism. If at the end they still wanted to follow Jesus, then on Easter Eve they would be baptized as the sun was rising in the east, signaling the new day, the ne…
