There is an interesting editorial in today’s edition of USA Today by Diane Cameron entitled We are Easter People . Here is a portion of that piece. One of the lowest points in my life occurred years ago when I was living in Washington, D.C., at Easter time. My older sister had recently died and both of my brothers were seriously ill; my best friend was leaving town, and on top of that I was questioning my work. In my journal that April I wrote, “Am I depressed?” When I read those pages now I laugh and shake my head. “Depressed?” That I even had to ask. In that long year I thought I’d never laugh again, just as I thought I’d never again feel love, the joy of easy friendship, or the satisfaction of good work. I went to church that Easter out of both habit and desperation. I had grown up in a church-going family. It was what we did. And
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Most of us have heard the motivational quote “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That looks really good on a poster underneath a cool picture. But there is always the cynical presence of Murphy’s Law and its many variations. For example, there is Lynch’s Law to counter that popular saying. Lynch must have had some friends like Job because he postulated the following. Lynch’s law: When the going gets tough, everyone leaves. There are many people who are reading this post and have read my books that can relate to Lynch’s Law. All too often that seems to happen in the body of Christ. We know that cannot be the heart of Jesus for His followers. We are to seek and restore, not leave and condemn. So what in the wide, wide, world of sports is a goin’ on? I still believe in the church despite my recognition of the inherent flaws of an organization that openly (for the most part) recruits sinners. I
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Long suffering “Bad Christian” reader Cheryl was disappointed she missed the latest opportunity to “Ask a Bad Christian”. She did not know the feature was imminent (that is forgivable…neither did I).  The question she had wanted to ask was, “How is Trigger doing?” People my age immediately think of movie and television cowboy star Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger. That Trigger is currently stuffed and on display at the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri.       Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dale Evans      (Courtesy of Roy Rogers Museum) A little background is in order for those who are not regular readers of these humble ramblings. I had written a couple of blogs about dogs. Allow me to pick up from an earlier post written on Friday, February 24th. I realized the amazing connections we have with our canine partners after a tongue in cheek piece about the Canine School of Evangelism became the third most read rambling in the brief history of this blog. A follow up dog story
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It is with fear and trembling that I venture to comment about faith and science. I recently wrote about how I disagreed with the concept of scientifically trying to prove the effects of prayer. The article was based on my experience with people praying for my wife’s breast cancer surgery. I was a bit surprised to see a couple of sites mocking what they perceived to be my flawed logic.  I am learning that the blogosphere is best described by the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield who often said, “I’m telllin’ ya’, this is a tough room!” So I would imagine the following article could draw the ire of the praya-haters. The story by Robert Roy Britt appeared on the LiveScience website. So There are many things you can do to increase your life expectancy: exercise, eat well, take your medication and … go to church. A new study finds people who attend religious services weekly live longer. Specifically, the research looked at
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I am reprising the “Ask a Bad Christian” feature after a deluge of emails asking for it. Okay, when you decide to write your own blog and pay for a server you too can call five emails a deluge. But I digress. Welcome to Round 2 of “Ask a Bad Christian”. The first question comes from the article Bad Christian disputes scientific study. Dear Bad Christian, When scientific research supports a religious belief, we preachers rejoice and quickly use it in our next sermon to say, “See, I told you so!” When science disproves (or at least does not support) a religious belief, we console ourselves with, “Well, beliefs can’t be quantified, but we know it’s true and that’s all that really matters.” Can we have it both ways?   Sincerely, RevWLJ Dear RevWLJ, No. Sincerely, Bad Christian P.S. to RevWLJ…I believe that I tried to make the point that we cannot quantify spiritual things scientifically so I am on the side
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Today was opening day in major league baseball. I have been at my real job at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas directing the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox television opener. And that will likely be my real job until you people start buying more books! In my mind there is no more special day in sports than opening day in baseball. The smell of freshly cut emerald green grass delights the senses. The base lines are painstakingly and perfectly defined by a grounds crew that is committed to perfection on this day.  Red, white, and blue bunting give the ball park a festive world series look. The players today act like little boys. This is the one day that these privileged athletes seem to forget they are millionaires and actually appear grateful that they are paid to play a little boy’s and girl’s game. Kids skip school and parents do not care because memories are being made for both of them. The hot dogs taste like gourment food.  Tacky souvenirs are
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I am not a scientist. I don’t play one on TV. I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I have to humbly disagree with a story that I found in the Dallas Morning News today. The headline reported that a “Study fails to show healing power of prayer.” I appreciate the efforts of the Templeton Foundation to quantify spiritual effect scientifically. I really do. Still,  I suspect that many or even most would be unmoved if the results showed a profound and positive effect for prayer. I recall that Pharaoh refused to believe in the God of Israel even as he stood derriere deep in frogs. Let’s examine the findings in the story and discuss. My comments are italicized. Does praying for a sick person’s recovery do any good? In the largest scientific test of its kind, heart surgery patients showed no benefit when strangers prayed for their recovery. And patients who knew they were being prayed for
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