A GOOD AND GENEROUS BELIEVER
I read a story recently about nearly everyone’s favorite hockey player, Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins. I am being facetious of course. He’s probably the most disliked player in the NHL, except if you’re a Bruins fan, of course. Anyway, when Brad Marchand returns to his hometown of Halifax in the summer, he stops whenever he sees a young…
RESURRECTION – PAST, FUTURE AND PRESENT
A man complained, “Every time I come to church, we sing the same old hymns.” “Well, how often do you come?” his minister asked. “Regularly,” the man said, “Every Christmas and Easter.” Now we chuckle about C & E Christians, but they are present when the two main doctrines of the Christian faith are…
LIFTED TO A HIGHER PLACE
A fitness center offered $1,000 to anyone who could show that they were stronger than the owner of the place. Here’s how it worked. This strong man would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and then hand the lemon to a challenger. Anyone who could squeeze out just one more drop of juice would win the money. Many people tried—weightlifters, construction…
IMMERSED IN THE JORDAN
In 2 Kings 5, verse 14, we read, “So he (Naaman) went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.” The Jordan River is very significant in Israel’s history. After wandering forty years in the wilderness, the Hebrew people crossed the Jordan into the promised land.…
THE PERSISTENT GOD
I start today with a couple stories today from Great Britain. A few years ago sixty-two-year-old Miriam Hargrave of Yorkshire, England, finally passed her driving test. It was her fortieth attempt. After such persistence you would assume she started driving right away. But after spending so much money on driving lessons she couldn’t afford to buy a car. Maybe it’s just as…
GIVING THANKS IS GOOD FOR YOU
A few years ago Citibank in the U.S. ran television commercials to say “thank you” to its customers. One commercial showed two women in a grocery store. One woman put her hand on the other’s stomach and asked when her baby was due. The woman looks at her and says, “I’m not pregnant.” Oops. The first woman, not knowing what to do, says simply “Thank you.” With this simple…
A MUSTARD SEED OF FAITH
From Luke 16 we read a story Jesus told about a very rich man named Dives and a very poor man named Lazarus. Dives drove a high-end vehicle, lived in a large house with a pool and hot tub, and wore expensive suits. Lazarus was a street person. Sometimes the police gave him a ride to jail or the Salvation Army for a meal and a night’s stay.…
A BRIDGE ACROSS THE CHASM
From Luke 16 we read a story Jesus told about a very rich man named Dives and a very poor man named Lazarus. Dives drove a high-end vehicle, lived in a large house with a pool and hot tub, and wore expensive suits. Lazarus was a street person. Sometimes the police gave him a ride to jail or the Salvation Army for a meal and a night’s stay.…
SHREWD BELIEVERS
The sales manager of a large company was hard at work, poring over his computer screens, checking sales figures and considering how to motivate his sales force. Just then a young insurance salesman appeared at his door and said, “You wouldn’t want to buy any insurance, would you?” “My friend,” said the sales manager, “who taught you how to sell? Don’t ever ask that kind…
THE SEARCHING GOD
We clergy receive free parking when we visit our people in Credit Valley Hospital. In the Spiritual Care Room a machine stamps the parking card paid. Then we insert the card at the exit gate, the arm rises and out we go. Very nice indeed. One day in the spring, I went to the spiritual care room for the…