Tarry Ye Here
On June 2, 1982, Los Angeles truck driver Larry Walters fulfilled a lifelong dream of flying. However, his record-setting flight was not on a commercial airliner, but rather in a lawn chair he had purchased from Sears! When the idea hit him, Larry went to a local army-navy surplus store and bought a tank of
A View from Mount Perspective (Part 1)
For the last thirteen years, we’ve been blessed to own a piece of property in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. After my father died and we were settling his estate, we had a small amount of money to put toward a down payment on a log house outside of Gatlinburg. Terri and I had prayed for twenty years
Y Is for Yoke (Part 2)
Discipline “It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young” (Lam. 3:27). The child that doesn’t learn to listen and obey isn’t likely to become a leader when an adult, unless soemthing unusual happens along the way. Though he argued that he wasn’t qualified, Jeremiah was a young man when
The Sheer Delight of Willingness
Written by: Bill Elliff “I delight to do Thy will, O my God” Psalm 40:8-11“Sustain me with a willing spirit” Psalm 50:12b“…the will of God is…good, acceptable, and perfect” Romans 12:2b We long for joy. More than momentary happiness, we yearn for deep satisfaction; the inward delight that comes even in the midst of difficulty.
The Leaven of Compromise
Nineteenth century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard told an interesting story about a wild duck. While flying across Europe in the springtime with his mates, the wild duck came down and landed in a Danish barnyard where there were tame ducks. He enjoyed their corn, so he stayed for an hour, a day, a week, then
Sale on Seniors
One of my jobs as writer of this column is to spot trends and report them, especially trends among the emerging generation now in college. The most recent trend I’ve seen is our college seniors are willing to work for almost nothing if the working conditions are right This started a few years ago but
Does Preaching Matter?
Whether it’s discussed under the subject of worship wars or of what the exact nature of preaching is, this is a good question. Let me just go ahead and state the obvious. I believe preaching matters, not just because I’m a preacher but because the Word of God teaches, endorses, and encourages the proclamation of
Y Is for Yoke (Part 1)
Unless you live in a pre-industrial society, you don’t think much about yokes because teams of draft animals pulling plows have been replaced by powerful tractors. But if you were a farmer in Bible days, you needed yokes so you could harness your animals and plow your land. Cultivating the land meant growing food to
What God Is Doing in Our Midst
Many people have been asking about what the Lord seems to be doing in our midst in these days. Who knows all God has in His matchless mind for these days? But there are some things I do know. I DO KNOW: The Lord graciously awakened our church two weeks ago. We have been praying
Performing Well Under Pressure
For many years, “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” opened with various scenes of athletic competition and these famous words, “…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic competition.” Within those words is the subtle reminder that even skilled and experienced athletes often collapse under the pressure of competition. One of the
The Joys and Trials of Travel
Not long ago, I had the privilege of taking two flights on a private jet. Because of the graciousness and generosity of an individual, I found out what it was like not to go through the hassles of TSA search and seizure, seats with no padding, crowds of cranky people, and tired ticket agents. I
S Is for Sacrifice (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1) If we want to build Christian character, we will sacrifice.“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39). One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that the losers are the winners, provided that they sacrifice their own will