A Word about the Word
Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife. [Proverbs 17:1]
Eating can be a very positive thing. I’m not a “foodie,” but any card-carrying Italian had better appreciate the finer art of food and eating. And yet, it’s not just the quality of the food that matters. The quality of the relationships with whom we are eating can make any meal a sumptuous banquet or a sour serving. I hope your meals put a smile on your face and heart, not just because the food is so good, but because the company is so loving.
Close to Home
This Sunday is Father’s Day. I know the pride of seeing the “fruit” of fatherhood in a daughter who is caring, confident, and a rather good parent now in her own right. I lost my father when I was 40. He was far from perfect (who is?), and yet he taught me the value of hard work and of landing in a vocation that is all about people (he was a physician). The work is rewarding and never finished. This Sunday we will salute our many fathers and be reminded that our God is everything a good father is to us and more.
I am a novice to the SBC. I’ve pastored in the Independent Church world my entire ministry life until Trinity. Yet I can say confidently with input from the other Trinity pastors and from what I have read that Pastor Ed Litton is a wise choice as the next President of the SBC. If you’re interested, here’s a good assessment.
The World as It Is
In a recent study performed by the Royal Horticultural Society, researchers discovered that talking kindly to your plants really can help them grow and be healthy. It got me thinking: Imagine what talking kindly to humans can do.
The actor Ned Beatty passed away (Superman, Deliverance, M*A*S*H, etc.). He attributed his ability to get in touch with his emotions, a trait that helped his acting career, to the church he was a part of growing up. “It [the Christ Christian Church] was where people got down to their truest emotions and talked about things they didn’t talk about in everyday life…” Seems like that’s the way church and fellowship ought to be.
Speaking of the SBC (and file this under “Things I Wish I Had Said”)…
“Whenever the church gets in bed with politics, the church gets pregnant. And our offspring does not look like our father in heaven.” [Pastor J.D. Greear (outgoing SBC President)]
I’ll catch you on the other side.
