POPE FRANCIS: FULFILLING HIS ROLE
A wonderful story of a religious leader who really does "get it" is the new Pontiff of Rome, Pope Francis. It is the story of role fulfillment.
One reporter wrote: "Last night, in a break from tradition the Pope, Pope Francis, did not celebrate what is called
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 15, 2012
LONGING
In his book The Spiritual Life of Children, the famous Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles tells the story of Alice, a ten-year-old girl who came from a family that did not believe in God. She expressed her doubts to him with these words: "I remember... I saw the people next door coming
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Oct 30, 2011
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THE HEAVIEST LOADS
N. T. Wright, in writing about this passage (Mt 23:1-12), tells the story of trying to prepare for a hiking and camping trip. He went to an outfitter who took him around the store showing him everything he would need. The salesman recommended a good sleeping bag and a durable
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Aug 29, 2011
WHO IS THIS GUY?
Chuck Colson relates this interesting story in his book How Then Should We Live?:
"In William Steig's Yellow & Pink, a delightfully whimsical picture book for children, two wooden figures wake up to find themselves lying on an old newspaper in the hot sun. One figure is painted
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jul 10, 2011
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THE WIZARD OF OZ: GETTING HOME
I remember watching the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is trying to find her way home, and along the way she runs into a scarecrow with no brain, a tin man with no heart, and a lion with no courage. But they learn that there is a wizard in the land of Oz who can help them
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on May 29, 2011
THAT CROSS ALONE
Clarence Jordan, author of the "Cotton Patch" New Testament translation, and founder of the interracial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia, was getting a red-carpet tour of another minister's church. With pride the minister pointed to the rich, imported furnishings and luxurious
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IT WAS THERE ALL ALONG
I remember a time when I had misplaced my good pen and I was looking for it everywhere. I looked in drawers. I looked under things, behind things and in things. I looked on the floor, but it was nowhere. And then I found it. I was holding it in my mouth the whole time.
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Feb 20, 2011
LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD TO WORK
There was an amazing story recently that took place during the riots in Egypt. As a backdrop remember that on New Year’s Day of this year there was a suicide bombing of a Christian church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which killed 23 Christians and wounded 97
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WHEN WE TRULY ARE THE CHURCH
Chuck Colson tells this story: "My mind goes back to a Christmas 20 years ago in Romania, when the country was still in the grip of communist tyranny.
The story begins with Laszlo Tokes, pastor of a fast-growing reformed church in the city of Timisoara. His
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 31, 2011
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THE BEATITUDES: AN INSTRUMENT PANEL
On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was killed when the Piper Saratoga light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. His wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were also
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 20, 2011
WE ARE NOT JUST ANTS
Broadway play: Spider Man
Green Goblin has Spider Man in his grip as they fight atop the Chrysler Building in NYC. It is hundreds of feet to the ground. The Goblin says to Spider Man, "Look down there Spider Man. What do you see? Look at all those people. They look like
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Nov 16, 2009
Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called “The 2013 Year Old Man”. In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman who has lived for over 2000 years. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?” Brooks replied: “No.
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on May 27, 2009
WHO WAS WEAK AND WHO WAS STRONG?
April 6, 1994 marked the beginning of dark and infamous days for Rwanda, a small country in central Africa. For the next hundred days, up to 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia — mostly using clubs and machetes. It was a genocide of monumental proportions,
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 26, 2007
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“‘Come hither to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.’ Oh! Wonderful, wonderful! That the one who has help to give is the one who says, Come hither! What love is this! There is love in the act of a man who is able to help and does help him who begs for help. But for
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 26, 2007
“‘Come hither to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.’ Oh! Wonderful, wonderful! That the one who has help to give is the one who says, Come hither! What love is this! There is love in the act of a man who is able to help and does help him who begs for help. But for
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 16, 2007
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Last year, a particularly dark film came out entitled Children of Men. It is about the world in the year 2027 where no children have been born for 18 years. Imagine a world like that. A world with no need for toys. Churches with no children or youth. The doors of Kenyon College closing
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Methodist
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This past Christmas, the Dallas family from our church gave us a wonderful gift of Noah’s Ark complete with hand-carved animals. The problem is that it is especially fascinating to children. We have had to glue poor Noah back together more than once. After one visit from our grandchildren, we
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Sheep are not particularly bright animals. It is not that they occasionally wander off, it is their pattern. It is predictable and expected. They are easily distracted and easily led astray. A story ran in the Washington Post in 2005 telling about shepherds in Gevas, Turkey who watched in shock
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Methodist
Donald Miller, in his excellent book Searching for God Knows What, tells about going to a Bible college where he taught one of the classes. Speaking to this group of Bible students, he told them he was going to present the plan of salvation, but he was going to leave out one key element, and they
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jul 23, 2007
For some, the presence of difficulties and suffering in the world mean that God is punishing them for something. But for others, it is the sign that God is not able to do anything about the problems they face. Others wonder if he simply does not care. William Frey, retired Episcopal bishop from
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