A blog by Tom Sheepandgoats (aka Tom Harley)
Search topic, word, or Bible verse (Bible books may be abbreviated)
-
Bea’s Law
They're being tongue-in-cheek. Surely, they're being tongue-in-cheek. Please tell me they're being tongue-in-cheek. And yet…..Time Magazine really appears to be in earnest, as if a new scientific truth has been discovered, as if Einstein and Newton might gnash their teeth in envy….how could they have overlooked such a fundamental law of nature? You tell me: do you think they're being facetious here, or do you…
-
One Fine Day in the Ministry
“Oh, you are NOT going to tell me that Jehovah's Witnesses aren't fundamentalists. Please don't tell me that.” But I did tell him that, right between the eyes. We're not fundamentalists. Alright, so we have some attributes in common with fundamentalists, but we also have attributes in common with the liberal churches, and some with the science rationalist types. We're all over the board and…
-
WALL-E and the Gulf Oil Spill
What's not to like about WALL-E? A trash compactor robot, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) spends his days compacting trash (what else?) with an eye on making the earth fit for rehabilitation. See, centuries ago, humans polluted the earth to the point of ruin, so they evacuated in massive spaceships. There, they loll about in such ease that their limbs have atrophied; they've become…
-
Celeste
Know who made that tub? My sons did,” Mama says. “Know who made that picture?” pointing to a wall hanging. “I made it, I did.” See these walls? My sons made them. See that curtain? Know who made that? I made it, I did.” “Didn't your sons make that television, Mama?” I ask. “No, they didn't. I bought that television at Macy's in New York…
-
An Habakkuk Presentation
That day the stock market plunged 1000 points in an hour, only to regain all but 300 at day's end, you could make mention of it in your ministry. But you could only do it for a short time. People's memories are short. After a few days, most crises are swept off center stage by a new crisis. But then you can simply substitute the…
-
Isn’t That His Job?
Here in the West, people expect God to be Santa Claus, and take him severely to task if he fails to perform. No matter what course they pursue, even when ill thought out, even when self-centered, God ought to pour out the blessings. Isn't that his job? Habakkuk, listing calamities of his day, confounds these type of folks, because his response is not one they can…
-
At My Age I Shouldn’t Have to Prove Anything to Anyone
All Pop wants is to cross the border for a few hours to visit a relative. You wouldn't think that's asking too much. But it is. A distant cousin lives in a St Catherine nursing home, just across the Canadian border. We run up to visit her once a year or so – my brother, Pop, and myself. A driver's license and birth certificate has always…
-
Counting the Costs
When Roger the retired C. O. gave the public talk, we invited him to the house for lunch afterward. Also a few twenty-somethings. Mutual encouragement, you know, copy a fine example, one 'face sharpens another,' and so forth. Young Solomon approached the fellow after lunch. “So, how long were you in the Circuit work?” “Thirty years!” came the reply. “Wow. You must really miss it.” “Nope!”…
-
Cake, Fruit, and the Limits of Reason
It was irksome when those atheists put up their "Let Reason Prevail" billboard right next to that Illinois State Capitol Nativity Scene – that much was immediately apparent. But putting my finger on just why it was irksome required more effort. Of course, I immediately shouldered the task. Was it the presumption, by the sign's authors, that they held a monopoly on "reason?" Partly. Was…
-
So There was this Lutheran Evangelical, and he Approaches this Rabbi
so as to SAVE him. Only, he doesn’t know he’s wearing a big “kick me” sign on his behind. No sooner does he finish his pitch and the rabbi does kick him. Hard! HA!! [Okay, okay, Tom Sheepandgoats, don’t gloat. Stop it!. The rabbi doesn’t like you any more than him, most likely. Maybe he’ll try to kick you, too. Well….maybe, but at least I…