One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Matthew 25. As I read it, I’m always drawn to the parable of the Sheep and Goats. If you need a refresher in what it says, click here. I have read those verses a million times. I thought I was doing well on following the words of Christ. I try to treat everyone I meet well. I even go out of my way to help the people you often see with cardboard signs begging for money. I almost always turn around and take them a fast food meal. I thought I was doing a fine job of living up to the parable of the Sheep and Goats.

That was until I read this paraphrase from The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Sterns. "For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and...

Last weekend, my family gathered around the big screen TV and watched the Disney movie “Earth.” It was quite spectacular... and there were no animated characters. It was just the raw wonderful world of nature. During the movie the voice of James Earl Jones mentioned how different the earth would be if it were not titled at an angle of 23.5 degrees. It set me to thinking.



With my quick Google research I discovered that 23.5 (or to be exact 23.43) is the angle of degrees that the earth is tilted on its celestial axis, or the angle the earth is positioned from pole to pole. 



While that may appear to be of little significance, this number determines much of life on our planet. Without the 23.5 degree tilt our earth would be vastly different. Birds would have no reason to migrate; plants would grow at different times and in exotic...

Sunday night I saw a picture of heaven on earth. My vision came in the form of a bunch of teenagers jumping around on bean bags, singing Journey songs loudly, and simply enjoying being together.

Last Monday night I had supper with Kelli, a college student. We did the small talk thing and then the conversation took a deeper turn. We talked about what it means to be a minister and the standard to which ministers must live. Do ministers have to live to a higher standard than “normal” people? What do other people expect from ministers? These are important questions.

We don’t have a children’s church program here at First Baptist. However, I think we have something much better. We have a church worship service that is very welcoming to children. This past Sunday I was able to see just how child friendly our worship service is. Instead of taking my normal seat on the altar, I got to stay with our children’s choir on the front three rows. It was an eye opening experience for me.