We know intuitively when it is an “oops” or something more.  Burning the toast is an “oops.” “Oops” won’t do for burning down the house.  Not getting the lab work done on time is an “oops.” Amputating the wrong limb is more than oops.  When the liturgist bungles a line from the Lord’s Prayer, that’s an “oops.”  When a preacher builds the sermon around denying the divinity of Christ, “oops” should not satisfy the Elders of the church.

Our world is not very tolerant of “oops.” When all of us are victims of one sort or another and ideological purity is demanded in every corner of our lives, “oops” become high crimes and misdemeanors, the treason trials begin, and the grand inquisitors expose the heretics among us.

Maybe I’ll make being more tolerant of “oops” a New Year’s resolution. Continue reading →

“Think a Little Bit” is the Comments Section handle used by a New York Times reader in Illinois.  And that’s all we know.

This past Sunday “Think a Little Bit” commented on a column by Ross Douthat and the comment made it to the “Times Pick” list.

Douthat, a practicing Roman Catholic, may be the most conservative of the Times’ columnists, and regularly speaks about things of the faith and of his church.  The headline, whether Douthat’s or an editor’s, was click-baitish enough, “Can Politics Save Christianity?” I took the bait.

The column was Douthat’s Christmas column and ended with a warm “Merry Christmas.”  In the column Douthat wrote about the politics of his local parish in Connecticut and connected them with things happening in the whole world.  Implicitly, the piece argued for the importance of Christianity and the church to the wellbeing of the whole world.  I suppose that is what prompted “Think a Little Bit” in Illinois to respond.

Mostly off-topic, TALB in Illinois wrote, “I would like to know – is it possible to be a good person without fear of hell or reward of heaven? I believe it works for me – I don’t need religion or God to want a fair and kind world for all of us.”

“Nails it!” responded DeeK in Seattle. Continue reading →

Becky and I are recently back from a trip to Memphis and a pre-Christmas visit with our daughter and her husband and our soon-to-be-four-year-old grandson Theo.  Much of our time in Memphis was taken up with dinosaur hunts and serving as part of Theo’s fire brigade.

Theo has been fascinated by fire engines, fire-fighting helicopters, and firefighters for more than half his life.  Our recent service on the fire brigade consisted mostly of Theo providing the siren noise to our living room sofa fire engine and then taking our hoses (Brio train tracks and Duplo pieces work, but the rubber snake was the best) and spraying water all over the burning forest, building, or occasional parking lot.  Once in a while we might rescue a kitten trapped in the top of a burning-or-not tree.

Theo loves fire engines and playing firefighter.  The siren noise and spraying water is the main point.  There’s never been a kitten in a treetop or a man in a burning building who has not been rescued by Theo’s intrepid brigade.  Any damage caused by the many fires to which we responded seems to have been repaired as quickly as Wile-E-Coyote recovers from a TNT explosion. Continue reading →

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Not everyone in our families and neighborhoods, let alone our whole world, recognizes the words from Luke 2. But for many of us, the scene is set and we need hear nothing more to remember the story of the angel’s announcement of a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And, by the way, one contemporary version’s “wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough” just won’t do (CSB).

Repetition plants words and phrases good or bad in our hearts and minds Those good words and phrases have the ability carry through hard or joyful times, while those other words and phrases perhaps trap us in despair and anger. As with so many things, it is not a matter of “if” so much as it is a matter of “what.”  Not if we will remember certain word or phrases, but what words and phrases we will remember.

We do well to remember the words of Scripture, for they will encourage us when we must walk through the valley of the shadow of death and will give voice to our joy when we remember God’s love and mercy which is new every morning – great is his faithfulness! Continue reading →

Christopher Teague preaching at Spirit Chapel, Whiteman Air Force Base

This past Sunday Becky and I worshiped with the congregation at Spirit Chapel at Whiteman Air Force Base where our son Christopher in one of the chaplains. Christopher was preacher of the day. For you strict church and state separationists, don’t worry the Department of Defense is not endorsing Christian doctrine in the name of the chapel.  It has more to do with the B-2 Spirit bombers based at Whiteman than with the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.

Sitting between us in the pew as we worshiped was our 11-year-old grandson Caleb. That itself was a great joy. Then one of the songs in the opening set was “Ten Thousand Reasons.”  First published in 2011, “Ten Thousand Reasons” is an oldie but goodie in the world of Contemporary Christian Music. We sang it a lot back in the day. Our best memories of “Ten Thousand Reasons,” though, are not just from the ways it led us in worship, but that it was Caleb’s favorite song when he was two and three years old. How precious those moments when we knew nap time was over as we heard little Caleb, still in his crib, belting out “Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul/Worship His holy name/Sing like never before, O my soul/I’ll worship Your holy name.”

As we joined the Spirit Chapel congregation singing “For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing/Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find,” both Becky and I found our eyes misting. Surely our children, children-in-law, and grandchildren are near the top of the list of ten thousand reasons for our hearts to find. Continue reading →