Church Blog (Page 40)

I knew an old lady who was “Not one to criticise.” She always insisted that a person should hold their opinions on the shortcomings of another until they understood life from the other person’s perspective. However, her philosophy was known to be tested on occasions. Strangely, the targets of her rare displays of frustration all seemed to fit the same profile. They were old men who were separately, or collectively, described as “Cantankerous!” “Bombastic!” or “Ignorant!” It was hard to…

Henry Ford’s decision to double his car factory workers’ wages to $5 per day (a lot of money in 1914), changed the workplace forever. However, the increase didn’t come without strings attached. Ford believed that good workers must be good citizens. So, he employed inspectors to visit the homes of his workers to ensure that they lived clean and sober lives. Those failing the first inspection were given a chance to clean up their lives. But if signs of drunkenness…

The apostle Paul combines two classes of sins, one being immorality, and the other, greed, and calls whoever practices them, Idolaters! (Ephesians 5:5). This seems a far cry from any typical view of idolatry. Many stop at images of the Golden Calf in the Old Testament. I have always thought it strange that there are Christians who can’t bring themselves to classify those statue filled church buildings and Eastern temples as idolatrous; despite their worship rituals. It pays to ponder…

“Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26). If there are two things that Christians are not very good at, they are “Righteous Judgement” and “Righteous Indignation.” Probably the saddest thing about some of the outbursts of anger that I have witnessed is that I felt the outbursts were justified. They seldom are! There is no shortage of things to be apoplectic about. Who hasn’t seen couples deliberately unpick the lives…

It is a man’s integrity that sustains him when he is slandered. Even his enemies, though likely to glory in his downfall, will first be faced with the evidence of his goodness before passing judgment. By contrast, every lie a liar tells us yet another millstone he hangs around his own neck. As brethren, we may ignore liars, but the enemies of the church mock our naivety. The worldly man may not care about his lies, but he most certainly…

There was a time when some Christians believed that movie theatres were no-go zones for good church folk. Of course, with Television bringing those same films into the home, the “Faithful Christians don’t go to Movie Houses” movement quickly died out. This did not mean that the godly film critics were wrong. On the contrary, it just meant that the sinful language and behaviour that people once travelled to and paid for was now freely piped into their living rooms.…

Humourist, Jay Leno, tells the story about a house he sold. A single mum and her son came to the door saying she loved the house and the area and asked if they were interested in selling. Jay and his wife really liked the lady, and because she was a single mum, reduced the price by $50,000. His wife even insisted that he get the blinds dry-cleaned as a special gift to them. After the Leno’s had moved into their…

Soap operas thrive on envy and jealousy. They are indeed the stuff of drama. But unlike soap operas, the lives, families, and businesses crushed under the sins of envy and jealousy, cannot be written into the following plotlines as if no real evil was intended. The sin of wanting that which is “Not yours to want” is called coveting in the 10 Commandments. God did not put it in last place as if to be a soft-landing from an otherwise…

It is not for nought that Jesus remains the ultimate hero. He has continued to inspire the world for 2000 years as the Divine Saviour who humbly submitted to evil. Ray Overholt reminds us of Jesus’ options in song: “He could have called ten thousand angelsTo destroy the world and set Him free.” Jesus persevered through the midst of utter horror, all the while having the power to punish those who brought the pain upon him. Seven weeks later the…

In my youth, I met a missionary couple who were polar opposites in temperament. He was soft-spoken and very measured in all he did and said. She was excitable and spoke what was on her mind. I learned a lot from them. She used to often say, “Christians need to bear fruit for Jesus, and that, I believe is winning souls.” As the years went by, I wondered if she had “toned her approach down” a little. I had the…