Posts Written On

September 26, 2015

Fiction by /

Peanut Butter & Liverwurst

“Why are they all staring at me?” Heidi asked herself. She checked her clothes. Shoes, socks, dress—nothing was undone. She put on her very best outfit for the first day of her new school. Momma made sure her long sleeved blouse was starched, her knife pleated jumper neatly pressed, and her oxford shoes polished. Two thick braids bounced behind her ears. Momma tied the ends of each braid into a large bow using wide bubble gum pink satin ribbon. Heidi was impressed with the image in the mirror as she passed her dresser and closed the bedroom door.

Momma walked her to the classroom and left her in the hands of Miss Lehrer, who eyed Heidi above rhinestone studded cats-eye glasses precariously perched on the edge of her nose. Miss Lehrer pointed to a desk and chair, and motioned for her to sit down. Faces were staring at Heidi, sending signals that ranged from curiosity to disdain. Heidi slid into the seat and kept her eyes focused forward to avoid making eye contact with the menacing faces that scrutinized her.

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Musings by /

Tales of Three Murders, She Wrote

In my first set of three stories in the Series category, I retell the tales of three murders. Moses the actual murderer, David the conspirator to murder, and Paul the accessory to murder, were men with a checkered past who ended up completely changed and have influenced generations for centuries. If it were today, they might have been tucked away into a prison system without a speck of hope for a bright future. Shouldn’t they have been put into the trash heap of “useless” humanity? Didn’t they deserve the utmost wrath of justice? Many would say yes, they earned consequences and really didn’t deserve a second chance. But God . . .

After a forty year exile, Moses went on to lead the new nation of Israel and write the Pentateuch (Torah), the foundation of the Jewish faith for millennia and the wellspring of Christianity under the inspiration of the Almighty. David suffered the loss of his child, but went on to write the some of the most beautiful and passionate psalms under the influence of the Holy Spirit that inspire heartfelt worshipers even today. After having been healed of his blindness, Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, went on to pen a good chunk of the New Testament.

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Series by /

David, What Were You Thinking?

When you hear the name David in a Bible context, what usually comes to mind is the shepherd boy who annihilated the giant Goliath with a rock. Pretty impressive, huh! David’s journey from the slingshot to the throne is well documented in the Bible. He was a heroic warrior, led armies to victory over and over again, not a perfect record, but as good as it gets. He has a problem with Saul, the first king, who wants to get rid of him, but David’s overall honorable behavior wins the favor of God and man. He becomes the rightful king.

David’s deeds, however, were not always so honorable. An ugly affair with Bathsheba lets us know that he was not dropped out of heaven onto earth to be exalted as the perfect man (2 Samuel 11 and 12 ). Bathsheba was the hottie who lived next door. One night David goes out for a walk around the roof of his house, when he spots Bathsheba next door taking a bath. Vavoom—nothing left to the imagination! I always wondered about this. Who takes a bath without at least covering the window? For that matter, who walks around the roof at night?

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Series by /

Paul, A Man on a Mission

The church was only a few months old after Pentecost. Stephen was a leader in the First Church of the Redeemed — not really — the church was not that organized yet so it didn’t have a name or denomination. He was preaching and performing signs and wonders, just being a disciple like Jesus said to do, which caused a lot of attention. The speed of word of mouth is amazing, kind of like the Internet for the first century. Just get a few people miraculously healed and a backlash of naysayers call you a heretic. And that’s the nice word. Critics spring up over night like a fungus. No different today as it was back then, so why should it take us by surprise.

The Synagogue of Freedman were outraged at Stephen’s ministry and not only maligned him, they spread libelous rumors and paid people to lie in order to get him arrested. It didn’t end up well for Stephen. After a solid defense, the religious brethren stoned him to death, but not before the false witnesses did something peculiar. They took off their robes and laid them at the feet of Saul, (name later changed to Paul). This is a rather peculiar detail to include, and yet, why would that detail have any importance? Why would the stoners bother to first of all disrobe, and then make Saul the coat check guy?

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Series by /

Yeah, God, But . . .

God talks to a man through a burning bush (Exodus 3 and 4). A BURNING bush, not just an ordinary shrub, although that would have been scary enough. I don’t know about you, but if I saw a burning bush, I might be looking for a fire extinguisher or at least be dialing 911, but more than likely I’d be making a fast exit far away. And a voice coming out of it talking to you? Could you hear Moses saying to himself, “What was in that lunch I just ate?” He pretty quickly figured out that nobody was hiding behind the bush playing a prank.

So he’s having a conversation with God and getting the download on what God wants him to do. He hears God, and I don’t think his negotiating with God was a matter of not wanting to obey God. It was about self-confidence and fear of failure. He finds out that he has to round up a gazillion Jews, organize a walkout on their “employers,” and get them out of town for a fast getaway with the riches of Egypt. Are you kidding me? Most people agonize for days on what to pack for a seven-day Caribbean cruise. We’re talking about massive relocation. It would be like telling the entire population of Philadelphia to pack up and get out of town—permanently and NOW. Traffic jam does not even remotely describe the chaos.

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Musings by /

When the Medium Is Not the Message

There are preachers of every ilk and style to satisfy a multitude of tastes — passionate screamers, academicians, motivational speakers types, fire and brimstone doom proclaimers, everything-is-beautiful tree huggers, tattooed and pierced prophets, just to name a few. That tells me that God must have an amazing sense of humor in some cases, but more importantly, His character is one of justice, mercy, and love with massive doses of tolerance for diversity. God offers His family messengers to proclaim His Kingdom suitable for every cultural context and people group. What medium may appeal to one group doesn’t for another. Nevertheless, the core message must be what God is saying. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 9:22 says, “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”

Style is a personal thing, and there is plenty of discussion on which is better, more appropriate, more exciting, more effective, more whatever. You can take courses on how to be a better speaker, how to construct a three point sermon, how to captivate your audience, how to “be yourself” and still proclaim a common gospel targeted to a specific audience. What appeals to me personally is more the content of what is said than the delivery mode. I often take note about whether there is a string of personal story telling centered around some moral or ethical principle, which can be very entertaining, or a clear discernment and presentation of Scripture in its context. Is there any mention of Scripture at all? Is there a point where the message of the gospel is lost in the frenzy or dazzle of the human or even electronic medium?

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Musings by /

Shake a Little Salt

What’s a pretzel without salt? When you go swimming at the beach and have a wound—salt water stings, but isn’t it amazing how fast it heals. How about this: when you have a sore in your mouth or throat, the dentist tells you to gargle with salt water. Nasty but effective! Two thousand years ago salt was a precious commodity and quite expensive. In fact, Roman soldiers were paid in salt. They called their allowance of salt solarium, from which we get our word salary. Shoppers, something that is on sale—for salt—we feel like we’ve conquered the economic Goliath. Because salt was considered valuable at one time, when the phrase “to salt an account” is used, we mean to make it more valuable. So, what’s the deal about salt?

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