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In the area of St. Louis, MO two brothers were hunting one bright fall afternoon. This bright sunny fall afternoon would change the lives of their loved ones forever. One of the brothers caught his foot on something, tripped, and as he hit the ground his shotgun fired in the direction of his brother.…

It is not as rare as one might think, or hope, that congregations sometimes call similar pastors (sometimes even in physical appearance!) time after time. And no one should be surprised that the same congregational problems keep arising pastor after pastor in such circumstances. Likewise, some pastors…

“Daddy Doll Under the Bed.” When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the refrigerator. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did once the door was shut. My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles…

Tiny Tim is one of Charles Dickens’ most loved characters. He is the small disabled boy in A Christmas Carol who brings joy to everyone who meets him. Tim’s father, Bob Cratchit, and the rest of his family love Tiny Tim. Two of the most meaningful scenes in the story are when Ebenezer Scrooge is peeking…

I wonder how many times today, I’ve gone to the door and looked out; For that tow-headed boy with winning ways, Playing round about. So often I’ve heard him laugh and sing, As he romped outside in the shade; And I knew he was happy just being close by, As hour after hour he played. And lots of times…

BALTIMORE — A man with a history of mental illness pleaded guilty Wednesday to drowning his three young children one by one in a Baltimore hotel bathtub during a custody dispute with his former wife, who said she still cries every day over the deaths. Mark A. Castillo, 43, told police and a fellow inmate…

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 48days.com, 9182007

It is sometimes said that the inability to change the past is one of the limitation that God shares with us. The best we can do when it comes to leaving a congregation is to bring the past to as complete and whole a conclusion as possible, so that all may rejoice in what has been good, learn from what…

When the Last Child Leaves The last one cleaned his bedroom out; He left today at five. There was not much to talk about; His car backed down the drive. This is the first night they all slept Behind some other door. This is the first night these rooms keep Our children safe no more. They never were our…

It seems that the author of the poem went to look at a cottage that was for sale. The previous owners had closed it up after their son died, and it remained as they had left it. As the author wandered through the long empty house, he discovered some child’s toys left in the seat of an old rocking chair,…

DWIGHT LYMAN MOODY, born in 1837, was the greatest evangelist of his day. He preached to more people than any of his contemporaries and was the catalyst of great revivals not only in the United States and Canada but also in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Yet what meant more to Moody than even his evangelistic…

Somewhere in these woods, too, are the hibernating black bears. Each fall, triggered by some ancient memory of winter, black bears go on a feeding frenzy. They consume up to 20,000 calories a day, adding 30 percent to their body weight. With the first snow, they den – deep in hollow logs, caves, shallow…

We all preach funerals from time to time. Here is a good way to close one. In a speech to the joint session of Congress March 27, 1990, on the 100th anniversary of General Eisenhower’s birthday, his son, John S.D. Eisenhower, closed by saying, “Ike is now part of history, gone from us for twenty-one…

After our seminary days, Joyce and I were called back to Florida to a fine little church in Fort Pierce. By this time we had three children – Stephen, Gayle and Phillip. Phillip was only two months old when we got settled in the new parsonage, nestled right next door to the little white cement-block…

Instead of the old kind of New Year's resolutions we used to make and break, let's make some this year and really try and keep them: 1. Try not to imagine the future; take one day at a time. 2. Allow yourself time to cry, both alone and with your loved ones. 3. Don't shut out other family members from…

Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860's Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong.…

He wrote in advance the epitaph to be on his gravestone: “The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here … Yet the Work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and…