Just the Facts

More on the campaign and when that truth gets stretched...

A Thought

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the future of human civilization."

A Funny

The Bible has a way of making jokes that are usually understated. This morning as I was reading in the book of Acts I caught one of those light/funny moments in the midst of a crisis (remember from your English classes how in the midst of tension a writer will often break the tension with a bit of humor?). James has just been killed by Herod. Peter is in prison and the next day is execution. But then an angel shows up. Here's the text: 6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. The funny? The angel strikes Peter on the side. Why not a gentle, pastoral nudge? You can see the angel kind of winding up and whacking him. It's a funny picture. Another thing. Which one of us would have been so calm in the face of death to need a good whack to the side to wake up on the night before our execution?

Worst Ideas

Foreign Policy is a leading journal that informs and critiques. Recently they came out with the 10 worst ideas of John McCain and Barch Obama. It is worth a read as we listen to their ideas and especially as we listen to the debates.

Stories that Amaze

Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. It was a calm, starlit evening and and there were many passengers gathered on the deck. Mr. Sankey was asked to sing. Somehow he was driven to sing the hymn "Saviour, Like A Shepherd Leads Us."

"Can you remember when you were doing picket duty on a bright moonlight night in 1862?" asked a passenger.

"Yes," answered Mr. Sankey, very much surprised.

"So do I," said the stranger, "but I was serving in the Confederate Army. I saw you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger.

"Let him sing his song to the end, I said to myself, I can shoot him afterwards." "but the song you sang then was the song you just sang now. I heard the words perfectly: "We are Thine, do thou befriend us. be the guardian of our way."

"When you had finished your song, it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought: "the Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and might" - and my arm dropped limp by my side.

"Since that time I wandered about far and wide; but when I just now saw you standing there singing just as on that other occasion, I recognized you. Then my heart was wounded by your song. Now I wish that you may help find a cure for my sick soul."

Deeply moved, Mr. Sankey threw his arms about the man who had been his enemy and together they found their way to the Shepherd.

An old joke, no doubt, but still worth a smile

A new pastor was invited by the local Kiwanians to join their club. The membership secretary reminded him, however, that it was the rule of the club to have only one representative from each profession and that they already had one for the category of pastor. The only profession not represented at the moment was that of hog-caller. Would the pastor mind? "Well," was the pastor's reply, "where I come from, I was known as the shepherd, but, of course, you know your group best."

Nothing like a bit of encouragement on a Monday

9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Ecclesiastes 12.9