Archive for November, 2009
« Previous EntriesPut A Sock In It
Monday, November 30th, 2009Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
God calls all of us to trust Him in difficult situations. It is always easy to trust God when all is wonderful, the sun is shining, and everyone smiles on our every word and action. It is not so […]
Johnny Ray
Saturday, November 28th, 2009Proverbs 18:24 “But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
When I first met Johnny Ray, I did not like him. He and his wife and daughter were coming to join my previous church. Johnny Ray asked a huge number of questions. My interpretation was he was a high maintenance person that I […]
Boating
Friday, November 27th, 2009Job 6:24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.”
My best friend, Johnny Ray, bought a boat recently. He asked me to go out in his new red boat with jet engines. I was dubious about the whole adventure.
I knew Johnny Ray was not a boater. I asked him […]
The Element of Discipline in Relationships or You Don’t Have To Tell What You Think
Thursday, November 26th, 2009Job 26:4 “Who has helped you utter these words?”
Recently a lady came into my office who was very angry at a co-worker. She said to me, “I don’t know what to do. I am very mad at this person and I want to end my relationship with them.” But I said, “Perhaps it would […]
Kudzu
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Romans 4:7 “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
My Granddaddy almost always saw good in everything. Some of the few condemning words he said were about kudzu. Granddaddy said kudzu was a “blight on humanity.” Kudzu had been planted on one of the houses on the farm as an ornamental shrub. […]
Life in a Mason Jar
Tuesday, November 24th, 20092 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay…”
The time we have with people can be a precious gift from God.
When I was a little boy, I loved to catch fireflies and put them in a Mason jar. My sister, Sheron, and I would hunt through the azalea bushes around the perimeter […]
The Next Sound You Hear Could Be Laughter
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Proverbs 23:15 “Then my heart will be glad: my innermost being will rejoice.”
If God did not have a sense of humor, He would not have created giraffes.
I love to laugh and love to find humor in living. We, as a culture, take life and ourselves much too seriously. One of the mistakes I made in […]
Editing
Saturday, November 21st, 20091 Kings 19:13 “The Voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ”
One of the things preaching, writing and painting have in common is in each we must edit. In preaching, it is important to edit out extraneous material so that you preach a sermon that is germane to the point. In the […]
The Mystery of the Other Person
Friday, November 20th, 2009Matthew 9:4 “Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said…”
I enjoy Agatha Christie’s mysteries. I have read almost all of her books. The classic stories of understanding the mysteries of who other people really are fascinates me. It adds dimensions to our lives to puzzle out the mysteries of others.
In the conversations I have with others, I am […]
I’m All Ears For You
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Romans 15:7 “Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you.”
Even though we cannot always be all-ears for the people we love, if we love people, sooner or later, we must make ourselves completely present, or all-ears, for them.
There are times it is hard for us to be present for other people. Perhaps it would […]