This final week of 2004 has seen what is perhaps the largest natural disaster in the world's history, following an earthquake under the Indian Ocean more than 740 miles long and having the force of a million atomic bombs. The quake, which jolted the earth's rotation, spawned monster waves called tsunamis which swept across the Indian Ocean, killing (says the Associated Press) more than 44,000 people in eleven countries from Thailand to Somalia. Human life is fragile and precious, in the big picture and in our individual cases. Immortality is Christ's accomplishment and the Christian's hope. … [Read more...]
Archives for 2004
PLEASANT IN ARKANSAS
Nov. 2004 -- Pleasant Street Church of Christ was the venue and the weekend just ended matched well the name. It was pleasant for the natural surroundings in Springdale, Arkansas, a family-oriented city of 58,000 adjacent to Fayetteville (home of University of Arkansas) near both Oklahoma and Missouri. It was especially pleasant for the loving church family hosting the Saturday seminar on "Surprises from a Study of Hell" and for the hospitality of minister Larry Branum and his wife Reba. The giant yellow oak in front of the church building and the 50-foot tall pecan tree in the parsonage … [Read more...]
BILL LOVE — ASLEEP IN JESUS
Bill Love, known to many gracEmail subscribers around the world, died peacefully in his bed on Friday, April 30, 2004, following about two weeks of hospitalization and hospice care at home. Bill was preaching minister at the Bering Drive Church of Christ in Houston, Texas from 1974-1996 where he was my family's preacher and dear friend from 1982 onward. Bill suffered a stroke in 1998 that left him paralyzed on one side and unable to speak or to write. He also suffered for many years from congestive heart failure. Despite these infirmities, Bill set a valiant example of courage and faith, … [Read more...]
THE DRAGON SLAYER: A REVIEW
I have just read twice and highlighted The Dragon Slayer: Reflections On the Saving of the World (2004, privately published, 202 pages, paper), the latest book from my eloquent friend Jim McGuiggan of Northern Ireland. As usual, McGuiggan devotes his considerable mind and poignant pen to the profound realities that matter most, this time the atonement for sin which Jesus Christ accomplished once for all. For centuries the Irish have been noted as gifted story-tellers and McGuiggan maintains the Hibernian reputation, as seen in this passage reminiscent of Brennan Manning: "We built a wall that … [Read more...]
