To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. For a nation with such a long and illustrious history, not to mention a rich musical heritage, it seems odd that England has no official national anthem. Major sporting events and national gatherings usually default to God Save the King (sung to the same tune as My Country Tis of Thee). From time… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Dear God: Thanks for nothing. Before you conclude that this must be the winner of the Worst Prayer Ever Contest, consider the possibility that nothing is sometimes really something. Thanking God for nothing can be a prayer of profound gratitude. Thanks, Lord, that nothing happened to me while driving this past week. Thanks that nothing prevented… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Sir Winston Churchill lived what was arguably the most remarkable life of the twentieth century. He was an unrivalled public speakerA skilled oil painterThe winner of a Nobel Prize for LiteratureAll despite the fact he had been a mediocre studentHe struggled to please his distant, demanding fatherAnd his socialite mother rarely gave him… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It was hands-down the most memorable Easter gift I have ever received. One year, when my two brothers and I were in grade school, Mom didn’t settle for colored eggs and chocolate bunnies. Just for fun she bought each of us a live baby chick. Older brother Scott named his Khruschev, the Soviet dictator… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. If you do what is best for yourself, the entire community will benefit. According to the 18th century British economist Adam Smith, that’s one of the pillars of a healthy capitalist economy. Smith’s magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations, was published in 1776 – the same year that the American colonies declared their… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Yes, Presbyterians (who occasionally refer to themselves as God’s Frozen Chosen) actually do show emotion from time to time. In his book Jesus Outside the Lines, Scott Sauls recalls the time when theologian R.C. Sproul was the guest presenter at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Sproul was famous for his fierce… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Bob Ebeling was tormented by guilt for 30 years. Ebeling was an engineer for Morton Thiokol, the contractor that built the solid rocket boosters for NASA’s space shuttles. On the night of January 27, 1986, Ebeling contacted Allan McDonald, Morton Thiokol’s senior leader at Cape Canaveral, where the shuttle Challenger was scheduled for launch… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Many years ago, when one of our kids came into the world, we received a framed verse of Scripture to hang in the baby’s room. It read, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children…” (Psalm 14:2) I thought that was lovely. I also thought it was strange that I had never really… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “Impossible” is a relative term. Sometimes, things we identify as impossible turn out to be quite possible after all. Over the past 27 years, Tom Cruise’s cinematic hero Ethan Hunt has undertaken six “impossible missions” and somehow succeeded every time. Next month he’ll star in the seventh installment of the action series – a… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It’s not easy being a lost sheep. In one of his most famous stories (Luke 15:4-7), Jesus helps us imagine what it might be like to be a shepherd. “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country… Read more »
