April 1997

Mixed Emotions

We have a phrase in our society to describe the times when we experience feelings of joy coupled with simultaneous feelings of anxiety or sorrow. We call it "mixed emotions," and recently, I was struck with it in perhaps its ultimate form. On a Sunday a little over a month ago, I baptized my oldest, Jeff, into Christ. more...

A Biblical Look at the Promise Keepers Movement

Who hasn't heard of Promise Keepers? In the last seven years PK has grown from a small blip on the religious radar scope to a multi-million dollar enterprise that hosts national events, produces numerous workbooks and booklets, and influences millions of men across the country. Some in churches of Christ have gladly allied themselves with Promise Keepers, even promoting their meetings and urging men to join the group. Others have been less certain they should endorse PK. What does the Bible say about this? Let's examine PK from a biblical standpoint. more...

We Worship God on Sunday

It was a very simple phone call. One of the boys' baseball coaches called to explain when the next game would be, then closed with, "We'll have our practice on Sunday at 2:00. I'm going to try and make that our regular practice day, so as not to have to mess with a week night." more...

Faith Alone

What if our nation was at war and you were separated from your family, taken prisoner, and carried away to a foreign country, with no promise of ever seeing your home or family again? All you have is a handful of friends and your faith in God, a faith which is mocked by the inhabitants of the country in which you are imprisoned. Could you remain faithful in such circumstances? What if the added pressures of temptation, false accusation and persecution were also part of the mix? more...

The Preacher's Pen

Want to buy the Eiffel Tower? Lots of people did in 1925. In that year a swindler, card shark, and all-around confidence man named Victor Lustig ran one of the most brazen and outrageous scams of all time. He sold the Eiffel Tower -- twice! Posing as a government official he invited Parisian scrap metal dealers to a secret meeting. He told them that the government could no longer afford the upkeep on the Tower, and so wanted it removed. These scrap dealers, Lustig said, had been selected and brought to the meeting because of their stellar reputations, and would have the opportunity to secretly bid on the project. On and on he went, feeding their egos and discussing how much money the Tower would be worth to them. It didn't take long for Lustig to pick one of the dealers as his "mark" and take him to the cleaners. Lustig then fled Paris, only to learn that his victim was too embarrassed to tell anyone he had been fleeced. So Lustig returned to Paris, lined up a different set of scrap metal dealers and ran the same scam again. Incredibly, it worked again. What a salesman! more...