Blog Posts

PERENNIAL TRUTHS!

12/21/2024

As I write this, it is all but the dead of winter. Okay, officially winter just arrived earlier this day at 4:21am. What is more, it will last for another three full months. So that would technically make the dead of winter a month and half from now, or halfway through the winter months. But given the fact that it will be a bone-chilling 22 degrees tonight on this, the shortest day of the year, I stand by my assertion.

As I look outside my window, all trees save for the Cedars, which are evergreens, are stripped of their foliage. For the time being, at least, they have ceased to photosynthesize, and now sit dormant for the season. In the fulness of time, they will put forth new foliage and begin the process all over again.

That is a quality of all the tress in my yard. They are perennial in nature. This means they come back year after year. The same is true for the grass in my yard, as it is for the shrubs and several of my wife’s decorative plants. But not for all of them.

For many of the flowers she put out in the spring to beautify our home were not perennials, but rather annuals. When planted they, too, grew, budded, and bloomed. But they only did so for one cycle. Thereafter, they were done. And after time, they were all but forgotten.

Think about it… Yes, they were once here. They once stood proudly, flowing back and forth in the wind, drawing the eye of all who passed by. They once proclaimed their magnificence to anyone who would behold them in their short-lived glory. But only once. For after having once strutted themselves in their opulence, they never did so again. Instead, their destiny was to have their remains plucked up and cast aside even as another generation of annuals eagerly waits to take their place in the sun.

Conversely, the many wonderful cedar trees that inhabit our property all stand tall day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, unceasingly clothed in a rich blanket of greenery as they silently testify to the ongoing hardiness of life which nature has imbued within them.

I trust you see my point. “Here today, gone tomorrow” versus “Here today, here tomorrow”! Which would you rather have as your testimony? Sure, the cedar trees will not shoot forth this spring with an abundant adornment of flowers that scream, “Look at me! Look at me!” But when those plants that do so have long disappeared, the cedars will still be standing tall, boldly declaring the strength of the life they have within them. Even in the dead of winter!

I share this with you four days out from Christmas in order to illustrate what Christ has done for us by His incarnation. He came into this world for one reason – to imbue us with life! Before God clothed himself in human flesh and came into this world, ours was but a fleeting existence. At best, all that could be said of any of us was that we were born, we lived, and that we tried to have significance. But we still eventually passed off the scene, destined to be forgotten for all eternity.

But the incarnation changed all that. For, as the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians (in his Second New Testament Letter, chapter 5, verses 16-21):

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And this is why Christmas matters! For by sending His One and Only Son into this world, our Heavenly Father was reconciling us to Himself through Jesus Christ. As the Apostle John puts it (in his First New Testament Letter, chapter 5, verses 11-15):

11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Did you catch it? Without Christ, we have no life. But with Christ, we have life, and we have that life to the full! In other words, “here today, gone tomorrow” or “here today, here forever”!

Given this, I echo the admonition of the Apostle Paul as I say, “I implore you, my friend, on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God this Christmas!” For in so doing, you will receive the greatest gift you could ever be given – the gift of eternal life!

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/2_corinthians/5.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/1_john/5.htm.

https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.

SEE ALSO:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/12/20/winter-solstice-2024-first-day-of-winter/77085291007/.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perennial.

For what it’s worth, the technical definition of a perennial is that which lives longer than two years. This distinguishes it from either an annual or a biennial. By definition, this certainly makes the truth of Christmas a perennial truth, as it has been with us for some two thousand years now. But more to the point, the truth of Christmas is eternal. For not only has it been true for two millennia; it will continue to be true for all eternity as well!

PROFOUNDLY SIMPLE!

12/18/2024

After I retired from full-time Pastoral Ministry, I thinned out my professional library considerably. I did so by giving many of my books to a younger generation of ministers. But I certainly did not part with all my theological books. The reason? I have begun writing novels; and more than one of those I have planned have plots involving Biblical and/or theological issues.

One set of books I kept was what might be termed the magnum opus of theologian Karl Barth: the multivolume work Church Dogmatics. Barth rose to prominence when he wrote the Barmen Declaration, which rejected the influence of Nazism on German Christianity by arguing that “the Church's allegiance to the God of Jesus Christ should give it the impetus and resources to resist the influence of other lords, such as the German Führer, Adolf Hitler”.

Rejecting the liberal theology of the nineteenth century, he helped to found the Confessing Church in Germany before settling in as a Professor of Theology at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
Thereafter, he set about writing his Church Dogmatics, in which he laid out his Christian beliefs. The five volume, 9,000 page, 6,000,000 word work was still unfinished at the time of his death. But it became the foundation of the Neo-Orthodox movement within Christian theology, rejecting the liberal theology of the preceding century.

I share this to tell the following story, which I first heard while in seminary. It seems that in 1962, while in his mid-seventies, Barth was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though he thought that Dr. Barth would like to be open for questions, he shouldn’t be expected to handle the strain.

Then he said, "Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us." He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, "Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?"

It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. The students held pencils right up against their writing pads, ready to take down verbatim the premier insight of the greatest theologian of their time.

Karl Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young seminarians, "The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!'"

Wow! There you have it! Summed up in one simple line by one of the greatest Christian theologians who ever lived is the greatest truth of the Christian faith! "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!"

I love this story; and share it here at Christmas time because of its relevance. For in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16, we have the proof of this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John’s statement here, taken directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself, comes shortly after his own comments on the incarnation in chapter 1, verses 1-18:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

And that is the great truth of Christmas… The Word was made flesh, in order that we might become the children of God! This is a truth so profound that its implications cannot begin to be exhausted, not even by the most gifted of minds; and yet it is so simple that even a child can comprehend it!

STORY SOURCE:

Available widely on the internet. See, for example:

https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/84078/one-of-the-greatest-theologians-that-ever-liv-by-lalachan-abraham.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/john/3-16.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/john/1.htm.

SEE ALSO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-orthodoxy;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Loves_Me.

In the last article, note the following statement: "Jesus Loves Me" is a Christian hymn written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which the words were spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child.

WORTHY WORDS OF WISDOM

12/13/2024

My sainted mother-in-law turns ninety in the coming year. Any way you look at it, that is a long and full life. And she’s not done yet.

These days, she rightfully engages in something she has certainly earned the right to - she dispenses a lot of wisdom. So, when she recently handed me a sheet of paper with the following, I took note. I post it here in the hopes that you benefit from it. It is titled…

AN OLD FARMER’S ADVICE

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best ever.
Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd. Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
Live simply. Love passionately. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

I was musing on the many truths reflected in these words purportedly presented by a wise old farmer when my wife came in with a similar, but stronger set of truths. She had been out “junkin’” - meaning she was visiting garage sales looking for interesting items – when she came across a plaque with the following “Country Commandments”…

There Is Only One God
No False Gods
No Cuss’n Gather on Sundays
Mind Your Ma and Pa
No Kill’n Cheatin’ Is Forbidden
Ya’ll Don’t Steal
No White Lies or Gossip’n
No Hankerin’ for Others’ Stuff

I trust you realize these latter admonitions are merely an intentionally rural way of re-stating the Ten Commandments. But, as such, they are much more than country aphorisms. For they are words of wisdom, not from a country farmer, but from a Heavenly Father!

For my part, I have learned to heed the advice of older, wiser individuals. And this especially applies to individuals like farmers, who have little time for either theatrics or pretense.

But if it behooves me to heed the wisdom of earthly sages, how much more does it behoove me to heed the wisdom of Heaven? For if scoffing at wisdom proffered from earthly sources will have earthly consequences, how much more will scoffing at the admonitions from Heaven have eternal consequences?!

SOURCE:

My immediate source was an old paper copy from my mother-in-law. After further research, I discovered that the same material occurs in numerous places on the internet. See, for instance:

https://m.farms.com/expertscommentary/27-important-lessons-from-older-farmers-87079.aspx.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/exodus/20.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/deuteronomy/5.htm.

BACK IN STEP!

12/9/2024

Recently, while out on my daily walk, I came across some neighbors of mine. They were also out for their regular exercise. As I came down the hill toward the lake, they were coming up the hill toward me. Only, they were walking backwards up the hill!

I ventured a joke as we passed, telling them that we had that much in common, in that I had spent more time than I could remember in life going backward rather than going forward! They laughed; but then told me that this was a regular part of their walking routine, as it helped with coordination as well as working muscles not always used when going forward. In short, they were doing this on purpose as it was in their best interest!

As I walked on down the roadway, I reflected on the fact that what they were asserting was good for their physical health and vitality probably had applications for life in general. After all, does it not behoove each of us, periodically, to pause, take a step or two backward, and utilize the process to improve ourselves and our standing? It probably does.

At this time of year, as the twelfth and final month has now unfolded, you are probably a lot like me in that you are focused in on Christmas and all it entails. If you are, good for you! As I asserted in my last post, Christmas is God’s greatest gift to us! For Christmas represents God’s passionate desire to see us spend eternity with Him, all made possible through the person and work of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

But Christmas, coming as close as it does to the end of the calendar year, is also a time of reflection. Given that God has done so much for us, is it not prudent to take a little time at Christmas and ask just what we have done with what all God has given us?! In other words, to pause, take a step back, and reflect on what all we have devoted ourselves to over the past year of our lives…

For this reason, believe it or not, one of the songs I have come to appreciate this time of year was penned by John Lennon. It is titled “So, This is Christmas”, and contains these haunting lyrics as the opening verse: “So this is Christmas; and what have you done? Another year over; and a new one just begun…”

Perhaps this is why the Bible confronts us with a similar admonition, recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Luke (chapter 12, verse 48), where Jesus says: “To whom much is given, much will be required.”

As Christmas unfolds, therefore, why not pause, take a step back, and reflect on what all God has given you? And in the process, why not ask yourself what you have done with what all He has given you?

After all, everything you have is clearly God’s gift to you. But what you do with everything you have been given is surely your gift back to Him!

LYRICS SOURCE:

https://www.songlyrics.com/john-lennon/so-this-is-christmas-lyrics/.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/luke/12-48.htm.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!

12/4/2024

As I write this blog post, we are being told that Americans are going all out for Christmas this year. Apparently, consumer confidence is up since the election; and store receipts are showing it. Multiple agencies project that this Christmas shopping season may see records set for spending.

Already, we are told that Black Friday 2024 was the biggest ever by online sales volume, reaching $10.8 billion. This marks a 10.2% or $1 billion increase over last year. And Cyber Monday did not disappoint either, with receipts topping $13.20 billion, up 6.5% or $800 million from the previous year. Obviously, both days reflect record shattering numbers!

I’m all for that. After all, who wouldn’t be? It is good to see the economy humming again. But with that being said, it will still always be important to keep the material component of Christmas in its proper perspective.

To that end, I thought I would share a brief story Tony Cooke once told. It seems that…

A store owner was doing some last minute Christmas shopping with his young son when he saw another store owner with whom he had been friends for some time. The two of them exchanged greetings and spoke with each other about what a financially profitable season it had been for their respective stores. The small boy overheard his father say, “This has been the best Christmas ever.”

As the store owners parted company, the father and son continued their shopping, but the father noticed his son had become very quiet. He inquired as to his son’s silence, and his son replied, “Dad, you just told Mr. Johnson that this was the best Christmas ever.”

His dad replied, “I did, son. The economy is great, and people are really spending.”

“O.K.” the son replied, “It’s just that I always thought the first Christmas was the best one.”

Little wonder that folks often say, “Out of the mouth of babes!” The young lad in the story was right! For that first Christmas saw the most costly and most cherished gift ever given – the Son of God given by the Heavenly Father to all men and women! And why was this precious gift given?

As John tells us in his New Testament Gospel (chapter 3, verses 16-18):

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Have you embraced God’s Great Gift? Have you accepted His Son? If so, my friend, then you can appreciate why that very first Christmas truly was the best one ever!

ILLUSTRATION SOURCE:

https://tonycooke.org/holiday-resources/christmas_illustrations/.

SALES SOURCE:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/will-black-friday-2024-be-the-biggest-ever-holiday-shopping-by-year/ar-AA1uSKEl.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/john/3.htm.

GRAND PASSION!

11/30/2024

My poor wife is exhausted. She is still recuperating from how hard she worked behind the scenes to make for a perfect Thanksgiving gathering for our family, and especially for our seven grandsons.

In addition to putting up an abundance of decorations, she cooked a full spread replete with meats, veggies, and deserts galore. Along the way, she managed to sew costumes for each of the seven grandsons reflective of the first Thanksgiving. And to top it all off, she choreographed a day of activities, games, the annual reading of the story of Squanto, and a tremendous feast for the entire family.

The least I could do was help with tearing down the decorations, putting away the leftovers, washing the dishes, and generally helping to get the house back in order.

Of course, the question underlying all this is why. Why does she choose to utterly exhaust herself as she does whenever holidays roll around? And, of course, the answer is because she is absolutely passionate about our family, and especially about our grandsons!

All these thoughts were on my mind when I came across the following headline on www.newser.com: “This Fake 'Granny' Exists Solely to Foil Phone Scammers: British company O2 Creates 'Daisy' Chatbot to Waste Fraudsters' Time on the Phone”.

According to Newser Staff reporter, John Johnson…

Daisy Harris sounds like a phone scammer's dream target. But as Daisy herself says, she is, in reality, their "worst nightmare." Daisy, as it turns out, isn't real, explains CNN. She's a figment of artificial intelligence created by the British mobile phone company O2. The sole purpose of this chatbot's existence is to answer the calls of scammers, come off as a technically bumbling senior citizen, and waste as much of their time as possible in rambling conversation. "I drew a lot from my gran," Ben Hopkins, who worked on the project, tells the New York Times. "She always went on about the birds in her garden."

The tech team trained Daisy by bringing in an employee's grandmother for tea and recording hours of conversation. In a news release, the company says Daisy has wasted up to 40 minutes of scammers' time in various calls. Actual humans have delighted in pulling off the same trick, but Daisy's advantage is that she can take call after call after call. The company says it has worked to get various phone numbers answered by Daisy into scammers' circulation, but the Times notes she can only make a tiny, if satisfying, dent in the problem. "Although it does disrupt operations on a practical level, it doesn't stop fraud more broadly in any meaningful sense," says Elisabeth Carter, an associate professor of criminology and a forensic linguist at Kingston University London.

Having had my own life interrupted and my own time wasted more often than I prefer by scammers, I, for one, am thankful for this “fake granny”. Perhaps you can relate.

And yet, there is one thing I am even more thankful for. I am thankful that the Lord gave me two wonderful grandmothers, neither of which was in any way “fake”. Rather, both were as authentic a grandmother as anyone could ever hope to have.

The Apostle Paul once told the Philippians that he thanked God upon every remembrance of them. I can only hope that my grandmothers both knew just how much I loved them and thanked God for them. I probably did not tell them this as much as I should have; but, I look forward to seeing them again in Heaven one day, where I plan to thank them repeatedly.

But while I cannot now personally thank my own two grandmothers for the authentic love and favor they showered upon me, my sisters, and our cousins, I can personally thank my wife for doing the same for our own seven grandsons.

And I can trust that, in due time, they too will come to understand and appreciate what all she does for them. So much so that they will one thank God for every remembrance of her; and that they will then be sure to tell her what she means to them as a result.

SOURCE:

https://www.newser.com/story/360149/this-fake-granny-exists-solely-to-foil-phone-scammers.html.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/philippians/1-3.htm.

SERIOUSLY, THANK YOU!

11/25/2024

I love the story I once read about a four year old boy who was asked to return thanks before Thanksgiving dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one.

Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa and all his aunts and uncles. After this, he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, and even the Cool Whip.

After this, though, he paused, and everyone waited, and waited, and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t He know I’m lying?!”

This story resonates with me as the Lord has now given me seven young grandsons. And as the old saying goes… “Out of the mouth of babes.” The point is that one never knows exactly what they are going to say. But one thing is for certain – whatever they say will always be something that comes straight from the heart.

And maybe, just maybe as Thanksgiving week unfolds, this is exactly what our Heavenly Father desires. Yes, He desires us to be thankful. But maybe, just maybe, He desires us to be sincere in our gratitude.

All of this is to say that yes, we absolutely should be thankful. But our gratitude should not be forced. Nor should it be pretentious. Rather, reflecting the innocence of a child, our gratitude should be voluntary, extensive, and, above all, refreshingly honest.

The same Bible that says, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) also tells us that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16), and should approach Him as such (Matthews 18:3, Mark 10:15, Luke 18:7).

In other words...

“Seriously, Lord, thank you! Thank you for all the good things You have given me; but also for all the bad things you have allowed me to experience, because this just shows how You have been there with me in all things! Like a loving Father, You have provided for me and cared for me in all things! So, again I say ‘Thank you, Lord! Seriously, thank you!’”

STORY SOURCE: Available online in several places. Consider, for instance: http://jokes.christiansunite.com/Prayer/In_All_Things_Give_Thanks.shtml.

SCRIPTURES:

https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-18.htm;
https://biblehub.com/romans/8-16.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/18-3.htm;
https://biblehub.com/mark/10-15.htm;
https://biblehub.com/luke/18-17.htm.

THE TALKING DEAD!

11/20/2024

We live in an amazing time. Advances in science and technology are making possible things only dreamed of in times gone by. By way of example, consider the following article in the news this week, titled “Hear Richard III Speak 540 Years After Death: English King's Voice Recreated, Revealing A Yorkshire Accent”.

According to the Nov 19, 2024 summary article at www.Newswer.com...

A decade after the facial reconstruction of England's Richard III, experts have delivered what is said to be "the most accurate portrayal" yet of the medieval king who's found new popularity since his remains were discovered under a Leicester parking lot in 2012. A digital avatar of the king was unveiled Sunday at York Theatre Royal, per the Guardian. Created by the Face Lab research group at Liverpool John Moores University, led by craniofacial identification expert Caroline Wilkinson, the avatar is based on Face Lab's 2013 facial reconstruction of Richard III but aided by state-of-the-art technology, allowing the king to speak for the first time since his 1485 death in the Battle of Bosworth.

In a video, the avatar recites a speech Richard III gave two years before his death while conferring his son, Edward, as the Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. Most obvious is the accent, which "sounds more distinctly from Yorkshire than the English spoken by the likes of Ian McKellen and Laurence Olivier when portraying the monarch in the Shakespeare play," per the Guardian. "Light" is pronounced as "leet" and "shine" as "sheen," for example. Historian Philippa Langley, who discovered the king's remains in 2012, says "everything has been meticulously researched, meticulously evidenced," leading to "the most accurate portrayal of Richard III," per Sky News.

The project is the brainchild of vocal coach Yvonne Morley-Chisholm, who "went into a deep dive of finding evidence of how [the king] would speak through speech and language therapy, dentistry, forensic psychology and archaeology," she tells the BBC. She then worked with linguist David Crystal, an expert in 15th-century pronunciation, to come up with the king's voice. "This is as close as we can get," about 90% accurate, Crystal tells NBC News. The recording is from British actor Thomas Dennis, who was coached on how best to evoke the king's accent and personality. In terms of the latter, evidence suggests Richard III was kind, loyal, brave, and just, Langley tells the BBC. (That flies in the face of this theory of the king as a killer of kids.)

I don’t know about you; but I find it amazing that we can now hear from a man over half a millennium after he died. And yet, with 90% accuracy, here it is, available for all to hear. (Check out the YouTube clip below to see for yourself.)

As I read this article, I was reminded of the Bible verse that states: “he being dead yet speaketh”. The specific reference here, in the New Testament Book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 4, is to Abel, who was slain by Cain. Most scholars agree that what this means is that Abel’s righteous sacrifice was accepted by God while Cain’s was not. And for this reason, his approach testifies to us even today about the importance of what God expects of us.

Still, there are many examples in the pages of Scripture of the dead literally speaking from the grave. For instance, we read in the Old Testament Book of First Samuel (chapter 28) that the Prophet Samuel spoke to King Saul from beyond the grave.

In the New Testament Gospel of Luke (chapter 9), we read about Moses and Elijah, long since deceased, talking with Jesus as He was transfigured before the disciples.

Later in Luke’s Gospel (chapter 16), we read of a deceased rich man who speaks from beyond the grave. In this same passage, the venerable, but long deceased Abraham, himself, speaks as well.

Even later, at the very moment of Jesus’s death on the cross, we read in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 27) that the graves opened up and many “holy” individuals were raised to life, and arose and walked about the vicinity where they interacted with the people of the day.

Perhaps the best example of people speaking after death is from the book of Revelation (chapter 19). Time and again here we read about the saints of the ages opening their mouths and praising God in His presence.

And so, my friend, it does indeed seem that the dead can speak again!

However, a far better question than “Can the dead speak again?” is perhaps “What would the dead say to us if they could but speak?”

According to Jesus’ words in Luke 16, they would most likely admonish us to heed the truth of God’s Word and make certain that we are prepared for eternity before we ever leave this world!
Given this, as Abraham affirmed in this same passage, one wonders whether or not so many people in this world would actually listen to the dead if they ever did speak!

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.newser.com/story/359710/hear-richard-iii-speak-540-years-after-death.html.

Click here for a YouTube Clip of the Recreated Voice of King Richard III:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9923JwzT10.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-4.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/1_samuel/28.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/luke/9.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/luke/16.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/27.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/19.htm.

FORGET SOMETHING?

11/16/2024

I have a confession to make. The older I get, the more I forget. It has almost become comical for my wife and me to get into the car to go somewhere and then be compelled to stop before leaving the driveway, as one or the other of us realizes that we have forgotten something. Her pocketbook, my phone, our shopping list – the examples are endless. Sadly, this happens all too frequently.

Of course, some things in life might need to be forgotten. A slight, a cheap shot, an angry word, a mistake, a failure… Again, the examples are endless. Unfortunately, however, this does not happen near frequently enough.

Other things, however, do not need to be forgotten. Be they simple matters like an appointment, a meeting, or a deadline; or be they more important matters such as a birthday, an anniversary, a commitment, a promise, or a vow. The jury is out on just how frequently such things are excusably forgotten.

But one thing should never be forgotten. I refer to simple gratitude. None of us gets through life without incurring a debt of gratitude to others in life. Without the infusion of a host of other individuals’ time, values, resources, and opportunities, few of us would ever have become who we have become, acquired what we have acquired, and/or accomplished what we have accomplished in life.

As this is the week leading up to Thanksgiving, maybe it would be a good time to acknowledge whomever played such a role in your life, and make a point to express your gratitude to them for their investment in you and your life.

And by the way, chief among those individuals should, of course, be Almighty God! Scripture affirms (in the New Testament Book of James, chapter 1, verse 17, AMP) that “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father…”

This same Bible also admonishes us (in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, chapter 103, verse 2, NLT) when we read “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”

Many people have done many good things for me personally. To them, I owe a debt of gratitude. I hope I am faithful to express my appreciation to them. But one individual has done more for me than anyone else ever has or ever could. That individual is, of course, my Heavenly Father. To Him, above all others, I owe the most gratitude. This week, above all others, I hope I express this sufficiently.

To put it another way, God has been good to me. And I hope I never forget it, especially as Thanksgiving looms!

What about you? Have you forgotten anything lately? Specifically, have you forgotten what all has been done for you lately? If so, then to whom do you owe an expression of gratitude this week? And just who, among them all, most deserves your thankfulness?

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/james/1-17.htm;

https://biblehub.com/psalms/103-2.htm.

NOTE: AMP refers to the Amplified Bible. NLT refers to the New Living Translation.

A MOTION AWAY!

11/11/2024

Like many folks my age, all throughout my childhood, I listened to many a song by the folk rock duo “Simon and Garfunkel”. Among them were such classics as 1965’s “The Sound of Silence”, 1966’s “Homeward Bound”, “I Am a Rock”, “Scarborough Fair”, and 1970’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” and “Cecilia”.

Yet, by the time I was a teenager, Paul Simon was recording hits on his own. These included 1972’s “Mother and Child Reunion” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”, 1973’s “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like a Rock”, and 1975’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”.

At the time, I took notice of the fact that the two had split up and that Simon was continuing to record, while Garfunkel was largely inactive. I just never knew why they split up. Until now. The answer came in an article by John Johnson at Newser.com titled: “Garfunkel On Rift With Simon: 'I Was A Fool': He Says The Two Recently Met For A Friendly Lunch For The First Time In Years”.

The article states:

Simon and Garfunkel Appear to Have Made Amends. They're not getting the band back together exactly, but it appears that Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon have made peace with each after years of friction. Garfunkel tells the UK Times that he and Simon had an emotional lunch earlier this year:

"I looked at Paul and said, 'What happened? Why haven't we seen each other?' Paul mentioned an old interview where I said some stuff. I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him. Looking back, I guess I wanted to shake up the nice guy image of Simon & Garfunkel. You know what? I was a fool!"

The details of that offending interview aren't spilled, but the Guardian notes that both have said caustic things about the other over the years. So does this mean a Simon & Garfunkel show might be in the offing? If so, it will likely be a private one. Garfunkel says the two plan to meet again, and Simon may or not bring his guitar. Garfunkel still performs with his son Art Jr., but Simon has largely retired after suffering hearing loss last year while recording an album. Both are 83 now.

Wow! Two guys who were the best of friends and who lived their dream together and made history. Yet, they had a falling out and have been on the outs with one another for almost fifty five years! When all it took was one or more parities bein willing to say I was wrong and I’m sorry I hurt you so! After all this time, their reunion, to quote Simon, was “only a motion away”! Kudos to whichever one took the first step and moved in the other’s direction.

Still, just think what they could have accomplished if they had worked things out early on and gotten back together sooner! Alas! The world will never know.

Perhaps the reason this story so resonates is because all of us, including me, have had unfortunate and unnecessary fallouts with friends and/or loved ones. I include myself because I know firsthand that I have travelled just such a path. More than once, I have parted ways with others. At times, it was clearly my fault. At times, perhaps it was the other person’s. Too many times, though, I cannot even remember what the fallout was all about.

Let’s face it; life is short – way too short, in fact, to spend on the outs with others. For my part, I am nowhere near 83. Still, I find that, especially as I age, I increasingly feel compelled to seek out those whom I am aware that I may have wronged.

Two of the hardest words to say in the English language are “I’m sorry”. And yet, these two words are undoubtedly two of the most productive words in the English language as well.

In the New Testament Epistle of Colossians (chapter 3, verse 13), the Apostle Paul encourages us to “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. “ He then reminds us why we should do this, as he adds “Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

How much better of a world would it be if we all just learned the wisdom of these words?! How much better off would we ourselves be if we would just set forgiveness and reconciliation in motion?!

After all, it’s not only mothers and children who occasionally need a reunion; it’s also brothers and sisters!

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.newser.com/story/359315/simon-and-garfunkel-appear-to-have-made-amends.html.

SEE ALSO:

https://simonandgarfunkel.com/;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Garfunkel.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-13.htm.

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