Persecutions Of Ministers

Perhaps this article found in a church bulletin will interest you. It's entitles, "How to Get Rid of a Pastor." Not long ago a well-meaning group of laymen came from a neighboring church to see me. They wanted me to advise them on some convenient and painless method of getting rid of their pas

Love Of Enemies

In our relationships with others, often what passes for love is little more than a neat business transaction. People are kind to us, so we repay them with equal consideration. When they treat us unjustly, our negative response is really what they asked for. Everything is so balanced, so fair, so logical with this ...

Judgment

At church camp when I was a teenager, an ugly rumor about two of our counselors quickly became the talk of the camp. The next day, at morning prayer, the minister read the story of the adulterous woman, in which Jesus told the crowd that any person who had no sin could cast the first stone. And one by one, those...

Integrity

John Cassis tells the story related to him by a customs officer at the U.S.-Canada border: "A man came through one day with his four- or five-year-old son. The customs officer asked the man if he had anything to declare. The man said no, but he looked suspicious, so the officer pressed on. "'Are you carrying cigarettes?' ...

God’s People

During the Second World War, a church in Strasbourg was destroyed. After the bombing, the members of this particular church went to see what was left and found that the entire roof had fallen in, leaving a heap of rubble and broken glass. Much to their surprise, however, a stature of Christ with outstretched hands that ...

God’s Power

In her book It Only Hurts When I Laugh, Ethel Barrett tells about a king of Sparta in ancient Greece who boasted to a visiting monarch about the mighty walls of Sparta. But the guest didn't see any walls, and finally he said to his host, "I'd like to see those walls. Show them to me!" The Spartan ruler pointed with great ...

Hypocrisy

On May 3, 1987, the story of Gary Hart's fling with blond model and actress Donna Rice finally erupted into a national scandal. As it unraveled, the tale included accounts of her visit to his town house in Washington, a boat trip to Bimini, off the coast of Florida, as well as assorted reports about the promises he had allegedly...