viewoutsidethepew

Joe Quatrone, Jr. wrote an article on May 11, 2012 referring to the prodigal son. His point reminds the reader that we, as adopted into the family of God (Romans 8:15), become real family. Amazing in itself, it multiplies with significance because the “natural” Son Jesus not only has no jealousy toward us, but looks for more people to adopt in! I add these thoughts: Read more…

For a number of years now Canadians have worn red on Fridays, encouraged by the Red Fridays Foundation of Canada (http://www.redfridays.ca/index.htm). This public display shows our respect and that we support our troops who risk their lives for the benefit (especially) of the Afghan people.

Recently I have noticed that few people still follow the practice. Like all things human we lose interest in something after a certain time. That strange habit implies that what we supported no longer needs it. It simply vanishes from our personal radar screen. Read more…

I remember the first time I translated the Book of Jonah. One of the projects of a Hebrew language class I took involved the translation of that little Bible book.

In it one discovers a mild profanity, never translated that way that I have found. It happens early so, as you can imagine, most everyone perked up their intellectual ears and paid attention to the details in the story from beginning to end. Read more…

When we accomplish something it feels good if someone notices and compliments us. Often we look for that. Somehow an achievement feels better if we get praise.

There’s a difference between encouragement and flattery, however. Read more…

Many years ago I regularly attended an old-fashioned Baptist prayer meeting. One of the people there, slightly older than myself, did not pray out loud on one occasion that sticks in my memory. A comment was made to her about it. She said she did not feel like praying. That started quite a flurry of comments. She held her ground, and refused to pray words out loud despite pressure to conform to the group’s definition of prayer.

In my thoughts “Time to Pray” the seed was planted about how to define prayer. A step further takes us to the question, “How do I pray without spoken words?”

Read more…