Ecclesiastes 12:10

  No good deed ever goes unpunished.   I’m sure that is how Obadiah felt. As he was serving as the house overseer for the wicked King Ahab, he had risked his life to protect the prophets of the Lord from the wrath of Queen Jezebel. He holed them up in a cave, provided them with supplies, and divided them up so they couldn’t be as easily discovered. This act of kindness had put him in danger for years.   And then he had stumbled on the most wanted man in Israel, the prophet Elijah. “ He said, What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?”   1 st Kings 18:9     Ahab had searched far and wide for Elijah. Now Elijah wanted Obadiah to go and tell him that he had been found. Obadiah could see how bad this could go. What would happen if he told Ahab he found him and Elijah wasn’t there? What would happen to those he was protecting? Had Ahab found out about his saving the prophets? Would...

  Maya Lin wanted to build a wall. Her wall was not practical but a monument. She created it as part of a college architecture class that challenged students to make an entry for the national design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Her professor only gave her a B-. The politicians didn’t care much for it. They claimed it was too simple and an affront to the soldiers. Yet it stands today as one of the most powerful memorials. It’s not just the wall, it’s what is on it. Names. 58,000 half-inch-high names of the dead in chronological order.  Lin wanted people to know the names of those that never came back.   Nehemiah wanted to build a wall. It wasn’t a monument but a practical necessity. Not only to protect his hometown but to unify the people in it. The politicians didn’t care much for his efforts. They undermined and intimidated the effort. But Nehemiah didn’t stop till the work was done even after the wall was built. The book of the Bible that bear...

  Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed in Ford’s Theater April 14 th , 1865. Of course, he had no idea that night would be his last. Lincoln loved the theater and it was his common diversion for his stressful job. So he probably didn’t think much about what he carried in his pocket that night, but maybe we should.   In the personal effects found on Abraham Lincoln that night: a small handkerchief embroidered “A. Lincoln,” a pocketknife, a watch fob, glasses (one repaired with cotton string), a Confederate five-dollar bill, and wallet with only some worn-out newspaper clipping in it. Most of the items were common enough but I want you to notice the newspaper clipping. One began, “ Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time .  The clippings were, even at the time of his death, so well-worn they were almost unreadable. They mostly were articles extolling his presidency.   Contrary to what some today might say, Lincoln was the most vilifi...