Roger

The Old Testament contains many stories of intrigue.  It’s no small wonder  the early years of Hollywood brought many of these ancient stories to the wide screen.  In recent days, I’ve watched three of them: Victor Mature played Samson (Samson and Delilah); Yul Brenner played Pharaoh (The Ten Commandments), and Gregory Peck played David (David and Bathsheba). While their directors practiced poetic license, their portrayals of biblical characters were heart-warming.   I wish Hollywood would take a long, hard look at the story of Mephibosheth, an obscure account found in 2 Samuel 9.  Let me summarize the plot.   As you may recall, King Saul and his son, Jonathan were killed in battle against the Philistines.  Although Jonathan was heir apparent to the throne, it was widely known that David was God’s choice.  In those days, remaining family members became fearful for their lives, as survivors were typically seen as threats to the throne and...

In today’s world, causes are not in short supply:  Healthcare reform, civil rights, climate change, immigration, impeachment, education, animal cruelty, the homeless, vaccinations, Save the White Whale, Save the Dolphin, save “whatever,” house churches, and countless others.   Cause-oriented and cause-driven people fill Facebook posts; and conversations in general center around those causes near and dear to us.  Inherently, there is nothing wrong with this; however, let me sound a warning, especially to all professing Christians. God’s people need to remember that one CAUSE overrides all others:  the CAUSE of Jesus Christ.  Even in the church, people tend to elevate CAUSES over this most important issue.  Music preferences, preaching series, prophetic ministry, church government, sound volumes, and other issues catch the attention of church-goers, often “CAUS-ing” division and unrest.  I’m amazed at how often the enemy successfully CAUSES godly pe...

Mother’s Day is behind us, but I can’t shake a certain, powerful thought from my mind. It centers around the power of influence.  God designed the home to be the premiere laboratory for the Christian faith.  Nothing outranks the home in the training and nurturing of children, not even the local church. In the home, the man (husband) is the head; the woman (wife) is the influencer.  Someone suggested that “while the man is the head of the home, the wife is the neck that turns the head!”  Two women were sitting in church listening to this teaching, when one leaned over and asked the other, “What did he just say?”  She replied, “I’m not completely sure, but I think the pastor just said we were necks!”  Influence is defined as “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of someone.”  God, in His infinite wisdom, gave this gift primarily to the mother (wife).  She is the one who sets the atmosphere in the home.  The o...

Walter Chandler passed away 50 years ago.  I still miss him. He was my grandpa, and how I loved him.  He was a kind man who was fun-loving to his large brood of grandchildren.  Each of us received individual attention. I remember surprise trips to the Whippi-Dip on Route 7 in Pierpont, Ohio.  The building is now dilapidated. Foliage and trees overrun the remaining debris.  Grandpa, who was financially limited, would say, “You yung-ins get in the truck. Let’s go to the Whippi-Dip.”  We jumped into the back of his blue pick-up truck, and Walter Chandler, who never held a driver’s license, drove us to get an ice cream cone.   The breakfast table holds still more boyhood memories.  How grandpa loved homemade biscuits, smothered in butter and molasses.  He would put whole biscuits in his mouth and let me watch him chew, while opening wide his mouth. Seven-year-old boys love to watch such gross things!  Grandma would say, “Daddy, don’t...