Worthy Words

Rome’s Emperor Diocletian, in 303 AD, created a law to destroy all Christian writings and Scripture. Christians in the Roman Empire were commanded to turn over all sacred Scriptures to be burned. If a person kept any of these writings, or proclaimed themselves to be a Christian they could lose civil rights and be dispossessed of liberty. Those who turned over these sacred writings were called traitors. Others who refused were killed and called martyrs. Even Diocletian, a non-Christian, saw the power of the Scripture and so he aimed to destroy it. He believed that he could end the Christian faith by destroying all holy writings. As Christ-followers it is important for us to be reading the Word of God. It helps us to understand our history, who our Savior is and why He died for us. The Bible teaches us how to live as Christ-followers. The Bible is God inspired from cover to cover with no mixture of error. It is power reading for the soul. It helps us to make good decisions and live a l...

I remember PE class in middle school when the coach would pick two captains and they would select from the class team members for doge ball. You could tell which kids didn’t have much confidence that they would be chosen in the early rounds by their body language. Some would squirm back and forth unable to peal their eyes from the gym floor below. It was apparent they hated this part of PE class. As those students stood there shifting their weight back and forth listening with their heads down they must have been wishing and praying and saying to themselves, “Pick me…pick me!” Name after name would be called. Each selected member would quickly hustle over to their respective team. You could cut the tension with a knife as fewer and fewer students remained along the wall uncalled. There were only a few kids left and someone knew they would be the last one picked. It always came down to the one standing alone and when selected they would move over to their team, shoulders drooping know...

When you were a child at school recess did you ever hear someone say this?... “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me.” That mantra provided protection, safety, and resistance against the hurtful words of school-yard bullies. Putdowns like, “You’re stupid!” and, “I can’t believe you wore that!” are examples of the way as kids we would hurt each other with our words. As hurtful as these words are when they are spoken from child to child, they exact the most damage when they are spoken from parent to child. “Hey chubby…how ‘bout another donut?” “Why can’t you be like your sister/brother?” “I can’t stand you…in fact, I can’t believe you’re my son!” Language like this corrodes the soul of a child like a deadly poison resulting in a slow death of the beautiful spirit within them. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul commands that our words build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. “Do not let any unwholesome ta...

It’s that time of year again when high school, college, and professional football takes over the American sports scene. In Texas extra caution has been taken for teams facing this horrific heat wave. None the less the game must go on. The football season is underway. Coaches are putting their players through various drills, run-throughs, and scrimmages to prepare their teams for upcoming games. The pro-football teams have made some rule changes about how they practice this year. Full pads with full contact work-outs have been limited to once a week. Players practice now with limited full-speed scrimmages. Because the pro lock-out kept the players away from their practice facilities they haven’t been able to get the conditioning necessary to be full-speed ready. It seems that there are more injuries than in a normal pre-season. Either the players are not fully conditioned or the half-speed drills are creating injuries. Either way it doesn’t seem as if they are up to speed. There s...