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Showing posts with label Legalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legalism. Show all posts

Friday, November 9, 2012

Top Ten (Worst) Analogies Found in High School Papers


          My wife, Judy, teaches writing at a junior high school in Tyler. I bet she can relate to the following, which gave me a laugh:

Top Ten Worst Analogies Found in High School Papers

10. “The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can."

9. “He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it."

8. “The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't."

7. "McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup."

6. "From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30."

5. "Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze."

4. "Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\\aaakk/ch@ung but gets         T:\\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake."

3. "Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever."

2. "The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease."

1. “Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph."

            Clearly, these analogies were efforts poorly conceived and executed. They fall short of the mark… like my efforts before God have often done.

"23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" (Rom. 3:23 NIV.)

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Man Who Would Not Dance


            There was once a man, who claimed to follow Jesus, who served under Adolph Hitler. He survived the defeat of the Second World War. Years afterward, a Christian writer asked him to reflect upon his experiences.
            One was a memory he held with great pride: during the Hitler years a dance was held one evening, and the believer’s commandant ordered him to go. The disciple of Jesus refused; he believed that dancing was wrong. He risked punishment—even death—rather than go against his convictions on dancing.
            At the same time, this individual who claimed to follow Christ, assisted Hitler in his effort to eliminate the Jews. That’s right, the man who would dare sacrifice his life rather than attend a dance, was part of the Holocaust.
            Now folks, I’m not a fan of dances, but I think someone had his priorities out of whack.

Story source: A PECULIAR PEOPLE—Rodney Clapp

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

But I am Wearing My Seatbelt, Your Honor

            A man appeared in court in Wichita, Kansas recently trying to fight a ticket. It seems a policeman had stopped him for not wearing his seat belt. His argument, which he proudly showed the Judge, was that he was wearing a seatbelt.
            Literally, this was true. Paul Weigand claimed he was satisfying the local seat belt law.
            The prosecutor admitted that he had a point. The law stated that a seatbelt had to be worn–and said nothing about it needing to be attached to a vehicle.
            However, the prosecutor went on to say that this violated the spirit of the law, which was to keep passengers safe. The judge then asked the gentleman if his accessory would keep him safe. When he admitted that it would not, the judge fined him $30 plus court costs.
            Legalism hurts a lot of people, but ultimately, it is self-destructive.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

God is Watching the Apples


My Catholic friends tell the story of children lining up at lunch in the cafeteria of a Parochial school.  The food was served on a long, rectangular table.

The first food the children encountered was apples. The apples formed a large pile, behind which was a note written by a nun. The note said, “Take only one, God is watching.”

Moving through the line, the kids would find at the end of the table dessert, which was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. Behind the cookies lay a note written by a boy, “Take all you want, God is watching the apples.”

Somehow, I think this violated the spirit of the nun’s teaching. We can do the same--with God.

The first step of following Jesus begins in the human heart.

We may think we are doing the right thing, but the LORD always knows what is in our hearts (Prov. 21:2). CEV