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The wise will trust Jesus

Back in 2007, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was called in to rescue a Houston, TX, man from a 60-foot-tall pine tree. William Harrison climbed the tree to rescue his $2000 pet parrot who had escaped from his cage when Harrison’s daughter left the cage door open. Once Harrison climbed up to retrieve the parrot, he couldn’t get back down. With nightfall approaching and the ground around the tree too wet to support fire apparatus, the Houston Fire Department asked the Coast Guard for help and a helicopter plucked Harrison from the tree. Once he was safely back on the ground, Harrison ...

Authenticity dwarfs tradition

In his book, The Pentecostal Minister, author William Poteet reported that in 1903 the Russian Tsar noticed a sentry standing guard on the Kremlin grounds with nothing nearby to protect. When the Tsar inquired, he discovered that in 1776 Catherine the Great had posted a guard there because the first flower of Spring had appeared and she didn’t want the flower to be trampled underfoot. Spring turned to Summer and the flower died, but no one thought to relieve the guard. For the next 127 years, the sentries stood guard even though the reason for the posting no longer existed. Few ...

Separation holds hidden landmines

Years ago, a woman asked to speak with me after the worship service. She began with a litany of familiar complaints about her husband, issues we’d discussed before. I pointed out (again!) that there are no perfect husbands and reminded her of her husband’s good points. I encouraged her to continue to work on the relationship and suggested that, while she couldn’t control her husband’s attitude and behavior, she could control her own. She responded that she was unhappy in the relationship and wanted to get out and pursue a happier life. Maybe I was just young and dumb or maybe ...

Cohabitation isn’t a good “trial run” for marriage

As recently as the 1970s, cohabitation (living together before marriage) was not considered to be “proper” and only 0.2% of couples engaged in the practice. In recent years, however, the pendulum has swung dramatically the other way, with something over 70% (one study from 2015-2019 reported 76%) of couples choosing to cohabitate before marriage currently. Economic factors sometimes contribute to the decision to live together, but many couples consider moving in together simply as a “trial run” toward marriage. “Let’s see how this works,” they figure, “because there’s ...

Start children off the way they should go

On March 2, 2010, a 15-year-old Lower Paxton, PA, girl was stopped by police at 1:30 in the morning as she tried to back a stolen car onto an entrance ramp for I-81. When arrested, the girl lied about her age and provided a false identity. Once police sorted out the truth, the girl and the 3 friends with her were charged with auto theft. Commenting on that news story, one blogger wrote, “Come on, kids will be kids. For all you know, the parents are the actual thieves, coaching their kids to take the car.” Another person commented and said, “Ah, they just be kids, man. We all did ...

Proverbs for young people

Humorist Mark Twain didn’t have a high opinion of the American teenager. “Things run along pretty smoothly,” Twain wrote, “until your kid reaches thirteen. That’s the time you need to stick ‘em in a barrel, hammer the lid down nice and tight and then feed ‘em through the knothole. And then, about the time he turns sixteen, plug up the knothole.” Stories about guns in schools and the suicide rate among teens fuels the belief that teenagers are out of control and adults often feel little respect for teens. One man wrote, “The world is passing through troublous times. The ...