“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.” Proverbs 25:15 Someone noted that tact is like a girdle. It enables you to organize the awkward truth more attractively. A Chinese proverb says it this way: Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from a friends forehead. Both those statements r…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999It isn’t often that I use this space for a book review but in this case I am happy to make an exception. Recently a friend gave me a copy of The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel, the former newspaperman who now teaches at Willowcreek Community Church. The books subtitle tells the heart of the story: “A Journalists Personal In…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999The question in the title has been warmly debated over the years. Everyone agrees that Jesus did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 says so explicitly. He was free from sin in every form: thought, word and deed. But that same verse raises a problem when it declares that Christ was tempted in every way “just as we are.” In what sense was…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalm 94:19 The word “anxiety” comes from a root word meaning “to divide.” That’s because anxiety produces a divided mind, one which is pulled this way and that way, constantly distracted and disturbed. Here’s the point: either the Lord carries the w…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999An old adversary of mine has been much in the news lately. Although I never met him personally, I knew about the Reverend Greg Dell when he pastored the Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church in Oak Park. Our paths crossed briefly during the showdown at the Village Hall over the proposed Domestic Partnership Ordinance. That …
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999This morning someone gave me the “Preview Catalog” for the silent auction this Friday night to benefit Oak Park Christian Academy. The money raised at this gala event goes to provide tuition scholarships, to buy computers, and for other special educational programs. OPCA opened its doors four years ago with 19 students. The…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999Let’s suppose that one day as you are walking down the street, you see a huge man coming toward you. Let’s suppose he’s really big – at least 42 feet tall. Let’s say he weighs in at about 1500 pounds, all muscle. And he’s bearing down on you. As you consider the situation, only one question comes into your mind: Do I know t…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned my short career as a basketball coach. During the days when I served as pastor in Downey, California, our church entered a team in the Word of Life Basketball Marathon. Since the tournament was designed to be evangelistic, you were allowed to recruit players who didn’t attend your church….
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999This week a friend sent a message reflecting on her spiritual journey over the past few years. For a long time she had been praying for a certain thing from God. It is a righteous and even noble request but so far God has not seen fit to answer her prayer. My friend commented that as she prayed for patience, she realized th…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999It occurs to me that either you know what my title means or you don’t, and if you don’t, I’m going to have a hard time explaining it. The story goes like this. A week ago the national media reported that Jerry Falwell had attacked “Tinky Winky” for being a gay cartoon character on the children’s TV program, Teletubbies. I c…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999