    When you see a panhandler with a cardboard sign at an intersection, the best advice is to avoid eye contact and never give them any money. Even the good folks who dedicate their lives to helping people on the street will tell you that your money is better spent by contributing to an organization […]
3373) Doctor Samaritan Read More »
By Brian Doyle, in First Things, August/September 2016, pages 21-22. Â Brian Doyle is editor of Portland Magazine and author of A Book of Uncommon Prayer. ——————————– Â Â Â By chance I was in New York City seven months after September 11, 2001, and I saw a moment that I still turn over and over in
3370) A Spontaneous Tribute Read More »
A Labor Day meditation on the foundation of a Christian work ethic. ———————————– A reading by Edna Hong, in Bright Valley of Love, copyright 1976, Augsburg Publishing House, pages 98-9.   In his next (confirmation) class Pastor Wilm picked up the subject of what’s a guy to do with himself when he’s no longer just a
3360) It is the Lord You are Serving Read More »
From Mother Teresa (1910-1997) ——————- People are often unreasonable and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous.  Be happy anyway. The good you do today
3348) Simple, Godly Wisdom Read More »
   (…continued) Salee learned that Christians feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and we do so because our Lord Jesus has commanded it.  Sam Kinison wondered why the photographer didn’t just give the child a sandwich.  That is what Christians are always doing, all over the world, through international relief organizations and in
3343) Steve Job’s Question for His Pastor (3/3) Read More »
   (…continued) I once knew a Cambodian refugee named Salee.  Salee was a young man when the communist dictator Pol Pot came to power in Cambodia in 1975.  Pol Pot was a ruthless tyrant, and over the next four years, two million Cambodians were dead as the result of his rule, many of them murdered
3342) Steve Jobs’ Question for His Pastor (2/3) Read More »
   Steve Jobs was truly one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known.  He has been called the Henry Ford of our time.  Not only was he a brilliant inventor and innovator, he was also an incredible businessman, marketer, and leader.  Along with a couple friends, he started the Apple Computer Company
3341) Steve Jobs’ Question for His Pastor (1/3) Read More »
   A man got into a cab at LaGuardia airport.  The friendly cab driver, a recent immigrant from Southeast Asia, asked in broken English why he was in New York. The man replied, “I am a Lutheran minister and I am here for a convention. Do you know what a Lutheran is?” “Oh yes,”
3336) Welcoming the Foreigners Read More »
   (…continued)  Twenty centuries ago the Romans did not know what to make of the early Christians who were so odd as to have only one God, but they were impressed by how the Christians helped each other– and everyone else.  In most the monasteries of the Middle Ages there were rules about hospitality,
3324) Lending a Hand (2/2) Read More »
   Many years ago, my brother and I took our two high school age sons on a trip to the mountains of Colorado.  On the drive home, in the middle of Nebraska, our car started to choke and sputter.  We pulled off at the first exit, coasted in to a motel parking lot, and
3323) Lending a Hand (1/2) Read More »
