Ecclesiastes 12:10

    One of the biggest mistakes new Christians make is the assumption that being a Christian means that things will always go perfectly. To be fair, they might think that because many false teachers proclaim that. They imply that if you follow God, you won’t suffer, you won’t struggle, and life will be the best possible.   Yet that isn’t what the Scripture teaches.  Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted . 2 nd Timothy 3:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 1 st Peter 4:12 so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 1 st Thessalonians 3:3   Though even with this knowledge, we can still say that the Christian life is the best possible. It will come with suffering and trials and afflictions, but these will not compare to th...

  In the story of the prodigal son, we see a young man who leaves home to go into the far country. There he falls into a life of sin and excess. His funds from the inheritance run out but then something tragic happens, a famine. This famine means there isn’t enough for the people of that land much less this young outsider. They let him watch the pigs but won’t even let him eat their slop.  It’s only then that the boy realizes the foolishness of his choices and the need to go home. He thinks he will only be accepted as a hired man, not a son but the hunger has burned away his pride. He does not care anymore. Yet his father accepts him back, it even seems he has been watching the road longing for his return. A celebration ensues, rejoicing over the lost one that has come home.  Have we considered however what got him to come home?  If not for the famine the young man may never have had the epiphany that he needed to come back. Famines are terrible things and they don’...

  Dean Holloway was having a bad day. Dean was the bus driver for Merle Haggard and his band. Dean and Merle were both Okies that grew up in California as their parents fled the Dust Bowl. Merle was in LA to record 23 songs in 48 hours for his label. Dean had spent the better part of the days outside with the bus with no air conditioning waiting. So when Merle came out to let him know they were almost done he wasn’t happy.   Merle asked how his friend if he was doing all right, He replied, “I hate this place. I’m tired of this dirty old city”.  As a songwriter, Merle was always listening for interesting ways people put things and something about. “This dirty old city” caught him. Merle said, “Mr. Holloway “I can see you’re upset, but why don’t we take that anger out on a piece of paper?   So Dean ranted and Merle wrote. Merle said to Dean, “You’re in the middle of Los Angeles now. Where would you rather be?” Dean said, “If it were up to me, it’d be ...

   All my life I have heard people in prayer thank God for the blessing we have in this country to be able to worship without any fear persecution from authorities.  I’m not “ a prophet or the son of a prophet ” but with the changes in our modern word, I wonder if that will be the case for much longer.  That might seem a radical idea to some but consider how quickly our world is changing in how it thinks about moral issues (homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, etc) and how quick it has become to pass laws to control “undesirable” behavior and thinking.  I not sure that an expectation of increased political pressure on churches is too radical a guess, however let me say something even more radical: I’m not sure we should be thanking God that we are not persecuted more.  I'm thinking about Acts 5:41,  “ So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His...

This the weekly Radio program for the Hope Church of Christ for April 29th,   2012 If you can't run with the Footman...

There are times when we find those around us suffering. When a friend gets the call no one ever wants to get, the diagnosis comes back worse than expected, when tragedy strikes those around us. It can be a very helpless feeling to try and provide comfort to those is the midst of such pain. We don’t want to say the wrong thing and make it worse . We don’t want to say nothing and seem as if we don’t care.   It is hard to know what to say that will help. In John 11, Jesus was faced with the same type of dilemma. Two women he loved had lost the brother they all loved. His friends were questioning how he was handling the situation. Mary and Maratha blamed him for his death. So what did Jesus say and do?             Jesus comforted Martha with words that reminded her of her faith. Those words I am sure helped but notice what he did as the sisters came together. He wept . Their pain and suffering became his own. He expressed his lo...