My Church Notes

Open the Envelope, Please

On a British auto show, three hosts are often given challenges with their cars. They are not told the challenges ahead of time. Rather, they are handed sealed envelopes, and while on screen, they ...

Judge Judy

Judge Judy has become an icon on television. Sharp witted and highly knowledgeable, Judge Judith Sheindlin is a master at cutting to the core of disputants’ complaints, flaying them to the bone ...

On the Winners’ Side

Several years ago Sony bet on a video playback system called Betamax. However, JVC rolled the dice on a format known as the Video Home System. Both were in production for a number of years. ...

In the summer of 2013, a manhunt was initiated to look for the missing child of a woman killed in San Diego, California. A statewide abduction alert was issued. Frantic efforts ensued to locate the ...

Rolling in the Dough

To be flush with cash means to have more than it takes to meet everyday needs. Much more. It means we’ve got an income that is able to generate vast quantities of wealth, and to do it on a regular ...

Our FLEECE God

Fabrics have certain properties, just as minerals are brittle or flammable, or plastics can be transparent or opaque. Some fabrics are designed to wick moisture from the skin, while others are ...

Our Name Set in Stone

There is an old poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning that counts the many ways we are loved. We’ve heard countless times that diamonds are forever. How about love? Is love forever? How can we know if ...

God Takes in a Trade

America is a nation on wheels. Even those who do not own a car hire taxis or rent automobiles to travel farther than they can walk. Our mode of transport often becomes part of our identity. We see ...

Fool’s Gold

In the 1849 California Gold Rush, many men became obscenely wealthy as a result of finding gold either above or deep within the ground. Even more men had their lives destroyed by the events of the ...

The Forever Promise

Few things stand the test of time. Stone castles built to withstand the onslaught of war now hunker in the European countryside, their facades crumbling against the ravages of time. The Colossus of ...

Stolen Copyrights

In the publishing world, what a person creates belongs to him or her wholly and with no reservations. Come up with an idea for a new character? It’s yours and cannot be legally used by anyone else. ...

A Broken Crust of Bread

In Fort Worth, Texas, for many decades, motorists passing through downtown were assailed by the most delightful of aromas. On the Near South Side, alongside the freeway, stood a massive bakery. On ...

Our FURNACE God

Our God is a loving god. However, he is also God, and his ways are higher than ours. There are times he needs to exert his might so that humanity will remember that he is God. His FURNACE of creation ...