Sunday, August 30, 2009

Wise Advice from a Wise Lady


This picture was taken at a church-wide birthday party for Adeline Copelan (seated) on her 100th birthday in 2005. Today (August 30, 2009), I am officiating at her funeral. She turned 104 in March, when she, always concerned for my health, said, as she pointed from my stomach, and motioned to my head, "from here to here is okay, but that belly's got to go!"

This is one of my favorite pictures as two of our then teen-agers, Daniel and Ryan, were going to show Adeline something they had learned in their mission group, but they were interrupted by some wise counsel from a wise lady. She said (at the moment of the picture mind you!), "It's a crazy mixed up world out there, no don't go and get suck up in it!"

I am happy for her as she is finally at home with the Lord, something she's been looking forward to for a long, long time. And her advice about the world? Well, we'd all be better off if we were careful daily "not to go and get sucked up in it!"

Saturday, August 15, 2009

For All My OLD Friends Who MIGHT Remember...

Brown Bannister produced just one contemporary Christian album featuring his singing: Talk to One Another, back in 1984. For 30 years, however, Bannister has produced award-winning albums for some of the industry’s top Christian artists, including Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Mercy Me, Avalon, Point of Grace, CeCe Winans and Twila Paris. I was looking for lyrics to his album and came across this speech he gave this summer at his Alma Mater, Abilene Christian University. He is the person who basically discovered Amy Grant when she was part of his youth group! He also has won 13 Grammy Awards, 23 Dove Awards and been named Producer of the Year five times by the Gospel Music Association. Here's the speech:

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Questions of Conscience

Read an interesting article today by Dr. David Gushee on "Our Missing Moral Compass" and he shared an interesting, and convicting list of questions Catholics can ask themselves prior to going to confessions. Maybe these are questions we need to ask ourselves before we go to our High Priest in prayer. If we're not going to be honest with our Father, why bother praying?

The excerpt from the article: It's Friday night at the bookstore, and I'm leafing through a book of Catholic prayers. Here I find the "examination of conscience" questions to ask oneself prior to going to confession. These questions include the following:

Have I neglected my home or my family duties?
Have I been lazy, neglectful, or easily distracted during prayers?
Have I used God's name irreverently or taken false or needless oaths?
Have I missed church through my own fault?
Have I worked unnecessarily on Sundays?
Have I disobeyed, angered, or been disrespectful toward my parents or those in authority over me?
Have I quarreled with or willfully hurt anyone?
Have I caused another to sin?
Have I been sinfully angry? Greedy? Proud? Jealous?
Have I neglected to care for the poor and the needy?

And so on. It is a rich moral inventory.


Tough questions, but here's the good news: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9