the Rear Pew

Popcorn and the movies go together like peanut butter and jelly.  You get the movie theater bucket of warm buttered popcorn and a cold drink in your hands and your ready to sick back and enjoy the movie.  But then you have to sit through endless “Coming Attractions”.  At this time of year, only four weeks before Christmas, all the holiday season movie previews are out and you will have to sit through them to see your movie.

This is the season of coming attractions, the Advent Season.  We look forward to all the Christmas music, the bright decorations, party after party, family get togethers and of course, the celebration of Jesus’ birthday.  Continue reading Coming Soon

As a young boy I remember how excited I would become as the opening theme song for the Lone Ranger would begin on television.  The Lone Ranger wore a mask and traveled the early west, along with his faithful side kick Tonto, helping people and rescuing them from evil and injustice.  Each episode after The Lone Ranger saved someone from the bad guys, as he rode off into the sunset, someone would ask “Who was that masked man”?

When Jesus was on Earth, we can see starting in Matthew 16:13, that he also helped a lot of people and very often people were asking the same question, who was that man.  Some people at the time thought that he was John the Baptist, maybe the prophet Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other past Prophet that had come back to life. Continue reading Who Was That Man

So I’ve been told that some people claim that they can taste a difference in the color of M&Ms.  So I went to church and set up a blind taste test.  Four individuals tasted a total of eight different M&Ms without knowing what color they were and not once did they even guess what color M&M they had just eaten.  Therefore, In my mind I proved that all M&Ms taste the same.  They may be different on the outside but they are all chocolate on the inside.  I will admit that the colors somehow, make them more fun to eat. Continue reading Is Red The Best?

I recently enjoyed a little vacation filled with little day trips to a few museums and like any vacation I took a few pictures.  Well as you can see in this pic, I’m not the greatest photographer.  In this pic from the Mack Museum in Allentown Pa., I not only got my finger in the way but the bulldog hood ornament isn’t in focus either.  As my vacation pics remind me, it’s very important to make sure that you are well focused on the right thing before you click the photo.

Well I was thinking about how true that is in our regular every day life as well.  It’s important that we focus on the right things.  Sometimes, we forget what is important and we focus on all the wrong things.

One day Jesus went to visit the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary.  The sisters welcomed Jesus and right away Martha turned it into high gear and began to work hard at preparing a dinner for everyone.  However, Mary decided to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen, to catch every word, of His teachings.  So while Martha worked hard in the kitchen, Mary sat and listened. Continue reading Focus

Over the years I have been part of many a church work days.  They all start the same way for me, by jumping right in to volunteer before I’m smart enough to find out what the work is that needs to be done.  Then I show up on what turns out to be the hottest day of the century and I’m on yard work detail.  So my day turns out to be more dangerous because of the heat and more difficult because I’m pulling weeds and spreading mulch all day.  Now come the next work day, I again just jump right in not knowing what I’ll be asked to do.  It always turns out to be harder than I thought it would be. Continue reading Jump Right In

I would bet that most of us have played rock, paper, scissors many times as a kid and perhaps a few times as an adult too.  Did you know that this game can be traced back to about 25 BC? Well today this simple game is played all around the world and even has an international tournament.

One of the great things about Rock, Paper, Scissors is that any one of these items can be a winner.  I was thinking that if I was going to write a letter a rock or a pair of scissors would do me much good but a piece of paper would be great!  If I wanted to cut my hair a rock or a piece of paper wouldn’t be much help.  But that pair of scissors would be perfect. Continue reading Rock, Paper, Scissors

Most children, more than half according to some studies, had a teddy bear or some kind of stuffed animal or blanket that they hold very dear during the early years of their childhood.  They like to snuggle up with it when they need some form of comfort.  For me it was a sock monkey, very much like the one in the picture, that my grandmother had made for me. As I think back, it was a great sort of comfort for me when the thunder and lightning filled me with fear.  It would some how calm me when I would hear my parents relentless arguing between themselves.  My sock monkey also somehow even made the measles or flu feel just a little bit better. Continue reading My Sock Monkey

It wasn’t that long ago that a friend had invited me to their wedding.  Well I was unable to make it but I sent a gift along with a mutual friend.  Several weeks later in the mail I had received a thank you note for that gift.  It made me feel good that they took the time to send me a note to let me know that they received and enjoyed the gift.

Remember when you were a child and someone would do something nice for you and your parents would say to you, “Now, what do you say?”  You knew what to say, but often you’d forget without that prodding from a parent. Continue reading Being Thankful

Excuses, a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense.  Well we’ve all used them at some point to explain our school work not being done, maybe being late for work or even for not going to work at all.  They certainly are nothing new.  In fact we can see them in Scripture.  Take for example, Luke 9:57.  Jesus was walking along and said to a man, “follow me”.  But his response was that he had to go first and bury his father.  But Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” Continue reading Making Excuses