The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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It’s been my experience that funeral home directors generally have a great sense of humor. I asked a gentleman about this once and he explained that a sense of humor is the only thing that saved him from awful depression. I can imagine these men and women deal with the greatest of tragedies. But on the other hand, I’ve heard some interesting stories from them. One funeral home employee told me about trying to salvage a graveside service after several pallbearers were drunk, and one fell into the...
Christian author, Lee Strobel, was in Birmingham last year. I met him and heard his fascinating story of abandoning atheism for a life of faith. Strobel, a journalist and legal reporter for “The Chicago Tribune,” was an unbeliever when his wife came to faith. She did was Peter admonished in his first letter, “letting her light shine” rather than nagging him for his unbelief! Stroebel was struck by the changes in her life and began a journalistic investigation into the gospel record, resulti...
I was thinking lately about when phone calls were segregated by “local” and “long distance.” This segregation sometimes was strange, since I knew some who lived on different phone exchanges--when they talked, one paid a toll and the other didn’t. And then I remembered two incidents in churches when long distance charges became an issue. I served a church in Indiana while a student in Louisville, and we made the 75-mile trip every weekend. The nearest mid-sized town where the emergency clinic an...
Admiral James Stockdale faced the nation at the vice-presidential debate in October 1992. Businessman Ross Perot named him as his running mate, so Stockdale stood with Vice President Dan Quayle and Sen. Al Gore in Atlanta. When it was his first time to speak, Stockdale said, “Who am I? Why am I here?” This turned out to be a laugh line and parody, which is unfortunate. Stockdale was a decorated soldier who spent seven years as a POW in Vietnam. But his questions are good ones for us in the chu...
It was the closest I ever came to my “big showbiz break,” as Rush Limbaugh called it. I got through to Kit Carson, EIB’s call screener (after about 50 tries!). It was my birthday, so I hoped it would be a good ploy to get online with Maha Rushie. I also said I’d like to ask him about a book he talked of writing called “The Back Nine.” Screener Kit said they were jammed for the afternoon, but he’d call the next day. Alas, it was not to be since I never got the call-back, nor did Rush write th...
The presidential campaign in 1976 was a bitter one pitting the incumbent, Gerald R. Ford, against the challenger, Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. Ford was named vice president after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, and became president after the resignation of Richard Nixon, making him our only unelected vice president and president. Within weeks of his swearing-in, Ford issued a controversial pardon for the former president. He argued the time for healing had come, and he didn't want to put the...
Social researcher Frank Luntz published “Words That Work” in 2007. He explained words have a denotative meaning, a concrete and “dictionary” definition, but also a connotative meaning since words can transport images to our minds. Luntz used three prime advertising examples. The alcohol industry changed their name to “spirits.” Many restaurant menus now have a “spirits” page and don’t use “alcohol” since it can bring images of darkness, drunkenness and despair. Spirits is a happy word that spe...
He’s a skilled college football player and a committed believer. He said recently he trusted God to help him score points on the field. It reminded me of a church member years ago who was exulting in his team’s victory the day before. The losing team missed an end-of-the-game field goal, and my friend said, “And the hand of God appeared and pushed the football to the left a few inches!” My friend was joking, but the aforementioned player was serious, I think. So, the question raised is how eff...
Dr. J.D. Gray served for many years as pastor at First Baptist Church, New Orleans. He often delighted in telling a Civil War story from 1865. The First Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C., was a seedbed for secessionists, so it was one of the first places Federal cavalry went when Gen. Sherman was busy torching Georgia and South Carolina. The cavalry officer asked a man in front of the church, who happened to be the church sexton, or custodian, if this were, indeed, the First Baptist Church. The...
She called to report the death of a lady in our former church, and I thought about several things. I was saddened to learn the deceased had been in declining health and in a care facility not too far away. I could have, and should have, found a reason to stop by to visit. I suppose we all have regrets thinking about people for whom we’ve lost touch. And it’s true that maintaining friendships in former churches used to be frowned on by some. I remember a minister from my teenage years who was rel...
I got a little good-natured blowback recently when I introduced the death angel to our congregation. I took as my text Paul's final visit with the Ephesian elders in Act 20. I extemporized about the uncertainty of life. The apostle said, "I will see your face no more." He had a premonition that chains and imprisonment awaited him in Jerusalem. Paul was, indeed, arrested in the city and Rome sent him as a prisoner to the capital. It was in Rome, we believe, he was killed at Nero's order. I...
My cousin laughingly told me about attending a product demonstration event years ago in Nashville. Reba Rambo, daughter of well-known Christian artist, Dottie Rambo, sang some of the new music along with the recordings the company offered. One of the numbers was quite lively, and Ms. Rambo began to clap to the music and asked the assembled ministers to clap with her. Someone in the front row refused and sat stone faced. Ms. Rambo stopped the tape and peered down at him from atop the stage....
The pastor search committee invited me to consider moving to their town and hosted a get-acquainted meeting with leadership. A man introduced himself, abruptly announcing that a staff minister needed to be terminated. He predicted this would be among my first challenges. I didn’t think more about this in the swirl of decisions we faced with the move. But a few weeks later the man came and renewed his commitment to fire the minister. From his position of leadership he persuaded other committee m...
It was a church slogan used in many places years ago: “The end of your search for a friendly church.” But let’s think about a new slogan: “The end of your search for a perfect church.” I remember a lady who presented herself for membership at the church I pastored at the time. I’d met her about two years before at a neighboring church when I led a Bible study. She came to us and quickly presented herself for membership, but from a different church than where we’d met. Thus she’d been a member a...
We grew up as high school friends and he became a music leader for church congregations. He told me the most embarrassing day was when he mounted the steps to the platform to begin worship, tripped and fell headlong onto the floor. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt, but there are better ways to begin worship. I thought of this lately when another pastor told a group of us about a famous pulpiteer from another generation who said as he mounted each stair that he would pray, “Fill me. Fill me,” besee...
The prison warden circulated a note to inmates asking for suggestions on the kind of party they'd recommend for his 25th anniversary. The prisoners all had the same idea: open house! Christmas is the season when many people have “open house” parties. But “open house” is misnamed, isn’t it? When you plan an open house, do you invite everyone? I rather doubt it. We must be exclusive, for there isn’t enough food, or space or time to invite everyone. Some folks by necessity get left out. This i...
A church friend travels the country transporting automobiles for car dealers and told me, “There’s no good way to get to Denver.” I think he’s right. We trusted the GPS and found ourselves amongst lonely Kansas wheat fields and windmills for many miles. Actually we intended to get to Denver in two days. Our son transferred there and asked us to drive his car. The first day was grueling as we drove from Birmingham to Tulsa. But then we learned the moving company wouldn’t arrive for another f...
It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Actually, no. It was a long time ago, but it wasn’t so far away. It was at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Ethics professor Dr. Henlee Barnette taught one day about God and government. In his lecture he read from a newspaper editorial written by a preacher who was part of the “Old Christian Right,” broadcasting at the time on 500 radio stations and 250 TV stations. This preacher condemned Communism, integration and Billy...
January 12, 2025 - The Alabama Humanities Alliance honored writer Rick Bragg recently in Birmingham. In his dialogue with Roy Wood, Jr., Bragg mentioned that not everyone believed his writing to be good. Stephen King ripped him when reviewing his Jerry Lee Lewis biography for “The New York Times.” Bragg’s friend, the late Pat Conroy, called to encourage him. “Stephen King saying Rick Bragg can’t write is like Taylor Swift saying Patsy Cline can’t sing!” Conroy said. Stephen King is a great wr...
The recent memorial service for President Jimmy Carter reminded me of the time in 2004 that our history and collectors’ club president, Roger, invited me at our annual banquet in Americus, Ga. to sit to President Carter’s left at the head table. I was excited at this possibility and thought ahead of time what I might say. That evening our speaker was former White House drug czar, Dr. Peter Bourne, who published a biography of Carter in 1997. He sat to the president’s right and the two men conver...
I heard a pastor lately who quoted an article by Quaker minister Philip Gulley, entitled, “If The Church Were Christian.” This is a striking title, and it caused me to think of my own response in addition to the original author’s thoughts. If the church were Christian, the church would be welcoming. James was very clear in the New Testament: “My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (James 2:1). In James’ day it was the rich a...
I’ve seen a few incidents that make me wonder if it’s true football is a religion. At a funeral a few years ago I read a sign posted on the chapel door. It said, in effect, not to talk about the day’s earlier football game since the family had been busy and planned to watch the recorded game after the funeral concluded. I wondered who they thought might have stepped in to speak a word of comfort to the grieving family and brought up football, or worse, ribbed them about their team’s defeat?...
It happened twice in recent months and taught me a lesson about priorities. I saw one lady at a political rally where she asked for support in an upcoming election. Her family joined our church when she was a child, and she reminded me, “Pastor, you baptized me at our church.” And I saw the second young lady at a 12-year-old football game. Her son and our grandson were on the same team. “You baptized me when I was a little girl,” she said. Few things are as important as taking time for boys an...
I met him while visiting our daughter’s church lately, and we had a brief conversation. I asked about his lifework, and he said he was an attorney, but he’d considered Christian ministry as a young man. My response, conditioned on recent research I’ve seen, was, “You could do both!” He indicated he’d thought about this, but our conversation was interrupted before we could delve into details. Most denominations report a shortage of pastors, including a shortage of bi-vocational pastors--th...
My sister and I attended the Peter Noone concert last Christmas and heard "Herman" from the original Herman's Hermits who celebrated his 77th birthday recently. I remember he joked that at his concerts there was no danger of anyone rushing the stage. He said this as he looked out at our audience, many of us with knee replacements, bad backs and walking canes! My generation grew up with AM radio and rock and roll. And we still like both, though AM is getting harder to find. Research shows that...
