A Reading of Psalm 23

There once was a Shakespearean actor who was known everywhere for his one-man shows of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a reading of Psalm 23.

Each night, without exception, as the actor began his recitation “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”… the crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of the psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor’s incredible ability to bring the verse to life.

But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. “Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23″?

The actor was quite taken aback by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the Psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent.

Before I Was a Mom

Before I was a Mom – I made and ate hot meals. I had unstained clothing. I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom – I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom – I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom – I had never been puked on, wet on, spit on, chewed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom – I had complete control over my thoughts, my body, my mind. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom – I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests, or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Freeing Truth

“First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire.” – 2 Peter 3:3

There’s a dangerous myth floating around in our culture. It says that all religions have an equal claim on the truth. Because we live in a society that highly values tolerance and pluralism (at least philosophically we do) this myth has lots of appeal to us. It basically says that as long as someone believes something sincerely, then it must be true for them, and no one has the right to tell them otherwise. Their belief must be respected and given equal weight with all other “truths.”

That sounds great in theory, but it just doesn’t hold water in reality. I don’t care how sincerely you believe that 2 + 2 = 5, it just isn’t true. I don’t care how deeply you believe that you can leap off a tall building and fly, — that isn’t true either.

Clean Blood

The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio.You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It’s not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and it’s kind of interesting. They’re sending some doctors over there to investigate it.

You don’t think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say it’s not three villagers, it’s 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it’s on TV that night. CNN runs a little blurb; people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

Amazing Rescue

“[Christ Jesus] …did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!” – [esvignore]Philippians 2:6-8[/esvignore]

A very moving true story comes from Beaconsfield, Australia, where two miners were trapped 3,000 feet underground in a mine after an earthquake. Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, were lodged in a steel cage beneath tons of fallen rocks.

Teams of specialist miners bored through more than 45 feet of rock for two weeks using a giant drilling machine to reach the men. The final sections of the escape tunnel were cut with hand tools to minimize the risk of a cave in.