Religion Or Relationship?
Two kinds of religion exist in our world: Religion A and Religion B. The first is "faith" in name only (2 Tim. 3:5). It's the outward practice of Christianity without genuine faith in the living Lord.
To Chase Or Be Chased
I once saw a monarch butterfly turn the tables on a bird. The monarch actually chased the bird away! It was a strange sight, but understandable. This species has been protected by its Creator with a taste that makes birds sick. My guess is that it can courageously chase birds—while other kinds of butterflies are being chased.
Smooth Talkers
A man who was trying to explain the meaning of the word oratory commented with tongue in cheek, "If you say black is white, that's foolishness. But if while you say black is white you roar like a bull, pound on the table with both fists, and race from one end of the platform to another, that's oratory!"
News From The Graveyard
What's the foundation of our Christian faith? An empty tomb! Yes, the cornerstone of the gospel is that grave which held no corpse on that first resurrection morning.
0 To 40
The full-page newspaper advertisement for a new car was clever, and it made me think. In bold type it proclaimed that this automobile "goes 0-40 as fast as you did." It went on to say, "What happened? One minute you're studying for mid-terms, then you take a little nap and somehow wake up 20 years later with a job, a mate, and a couple of kids."
Carry Me!
Kelsey's daddy was reading to her, just as he did nearly every night before she went to sleep. She had picked the zoo book, and to her active imagination it was as if she and Daddy were there. She looked happily at the pages with the giraffes, zebras, and elephants. But when they got to the page with the grizzly bears, she said, "You would have to carry me." She said the same thing when she saw the gorillas on the next page. Curious, her dad asked her why he would have to carry her. "Because I'd be scared," came her straightforward reply.
A Small But Powerful Seed
The small piece of paper was hardly worth bending over to pick up. Yet the young father retrieved it, and what he read changed his life.
Who's In Control?
By nature we all have a desire to control our world. From infancy we turn to our own independent way, trying to control circumstances, the future, people—and even God if we could. Since we can't, we end up frustrated, hostile, and critical.
Misnomers
A newspaper columnist expressed astonishment at the way truth is often stretched in advertising. She recalled ordering "fresh fruit salad" from the menu in a Boston restaurant. But when the item was served, it was anything but "fresh." The peaches, pineapples, grapes, and maraschino cherries had spent months wallowing in their own juice in a tin can. When the waitress was asked what happened to the "fresh" fruit salad, she responded cheerily, "Oh, honey, that's just what they call it."
