This was a working vacation to New Zealand, in which I averaged almost one presentation per day. On successive Sunday mornings I preached at Titirangi Baptist Church (pastor Jonathon Weir) and at Owairaka Baptist Church (pastors Bruce Hilder and Carl Josephson), sharing three points from John 3:13-17 -- that God desires to save people, not to condemn them; that he saves believers through the merits and for the sake of Jesus Christ; and that the alternative to eternal life is, indeed, to perish. Sunday evenings saw advertised public meetings at Remuera Baptist Church (pastor Warren Prestidge) … [Read more...]
KEEN ON KIWI-LAND (1)
We arrived home safely about 9 p.m. last night (Thursday, August 24, 2000 Houston time), 28 hours after waking on the same date in the distinctly "Scottish" town of Dunedin on the South Island of predominately "British" New Zealand. New Zealand is an extraordinarily beautiful Pacific country composed of two major islands, situated 1200 miles southeast of Australia. Explorers launch out from NZ to Antarctica and the South Pole. If you imagine England and Scotland 125% larger, inverted in the South Pacific, you won't be far wrong. Or think of California, reduced by 25%, then stretched thinner to … [Read more...]
FAMILY MATTERS
July 2000 -- This past Thursday through Sunday, Sara Faye and I attended a reunion of the extended family of my maternal grandparents, Will and Delia (O'Neal) Short, who themselves went to Africa in 1921 as missionaries and served Christ there for more than 60 years. About 100 Shorts, O'Neals, Fudges, Ewings, Mansurs and decendants came from across the United States, England, Holland and (recently) Africa to the beautiful Roman Nose State Park Resort in northern Oklahoma. There we variously made new acquaintances and renewed old ones, golfed, swam, picnicked, played, rode horseback, and … [Read more...]
PRAISE ON THE HIGH PLAINS
February 2000 -- Joyful praises ascended to God in songs and prayers from the Texas plains this weekend as some 90-100 men from Broadway and Vandelia Churches of Christ, St. Luke's and Aldersgate Methodist Churches, a Bible church, an Hispanic Baptist church and a Worldwide Church of God -- all in Lubbock, Texas -- joined in a spiritual feast of worship, fellowship and ministry of the Word. I was privileged to deliver four messages from the Bible at the multi-church men's retreat, conducted at Plains Baptist Center, in a sequestered canyon on the Caprock (high plains) of West Texas. God not … [Read more...]
A DAUGHTER’S REFLECTIONS
My wife Sara Faye and I are honored to have her mother Celia live with us in her declining years. The two of them just made a trip to check on the family homeplace in Middle Tennessee. I thank Sara Faye for allowing me to share the following personal reflections with you which she jotted down one evening during that visit in 1999. (Edward) * * * She sits on the bed surrounded by piles of photographs. The frustration and agitation are evident on her face as she gropes for a name, a place, a memory -- searching through the mists which have come to her 87-year-old mind. She brightens at a … [Read more...]
‘RECHARGED’ AT DOUBLEHEAD
October 1999 -- One can hardly imagine a venue more conducive to spiritual "recharge" than the picturesque Doublehead Resort, located alongside Wilson Lake amidst 1100 acres of towering pines and hardwoods between Decatur and Florence, Ala. A gentle and much-needed rain throughout the weekend highlighted the comfort of the 5,000 square foot central lodge and lakeside log cabins, where I joined about 30 men from the Seven Mile Post Road Church of Christ (7MPRC) in my hometown of Athens, Ala. for 15 waking hours of Bible teaching, worship, testimonies and prayer. The rain also reminded us of … [Read more...]
MINISTRY IN MALIBU & LONG BEACH
April/May 1999 -- Sara Faye and I returned home to Houston on Monday evening following a week of physical and spiritual refreshment that included the Annual Bible Lectures at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, weekend visits with several relatives, and Sunday ministry with the Church of Christ in Long Beach. These were six days of praise and worship, Bible study and some of the richest Christian fellowship to be found on this earth. To imagine a worship session at Pepperdine, think of 6,000 believers accustomed to a cappella singing, meeting in a university gymnasium, lifting the … [Read more...]
FROM A BROTHER IN BELGRADE
On Saturday, March 27, 1999, I received a heart-wrenching e-mail from Goran Zarubica, a Christian brother in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, forwarded to me from a vocational missionary in China who is my cousin in the flesh. I reprint part of Brother Zarubica's unedited letter to remind us that God is not a nationalist, that his kingdom includes men and women of all peoples and nations, and that the day will come when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. * * *"Brothers and sisters in Christ -- Hope is in God! The … [Read more...]
KARLA FAYE TUCKER
A gracEmail subscriber in Tennessee asks, "What are your thoughts -- as a believer, an attorney, and a Texan -- concerning Karla Faye Tucker? I am so thrilled by her witness to God's redemptive power. But I fear for a nation whose leadership is so concerned about doing justice (vengeance?) that it has forgotten what it means to love mercy. Texans shown on TV here appear so cold and vengeful that it's scary. I would love to get your perspective." * * * Most of the civilized world knows that on February 3, 1998, the State of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker by lethal injection for the … [Read more...]
PRESIDENTIAL REPENTANCE
On Friday, September 11, 1998, the U.S. Congress opened and released to the public the Report of Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, setting forth what Judge Starr characterized as impeachable offenses by the President of the United States. The same day, the President hosted the annual White House Prayer Breakfast, at which he made the following remarks. Only God knows his heart and his sincerity. As Christians, we are obligated at this point to accept them as genuine. We must also denounce as unchristian two popular reactions to recent events -- one liberal and one conservative. Those … [Read more...]
