Category: Stories

Tell Them

Some 14 years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our opening session in the theology of faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. He was combing his hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. My quick judgment wrote him off as strange – very strange. Tommy turned out to be my biggest challenge. He constantly objected to or smirked at the possibility of an unconditionally loving God. When he turned in his final exam at the end of the course, he asked in a slightly cynical tone, “Do you think I’ll...

Forgiveness Bubbles

Forgiveness Bubbles Thanks for listening to me, God I need to talk to you I know you love your children, Lord No matter what they do And though I try to do my best I know I always should – But I’m not perfect or grown up Sometimes I’m not quite good Right now my heart is cold and stained With dirt and grime and sin I need forgiveness bubbles, please To make it clean again If you wash my heart again And rinse away the stain The wicked things I’ve said and done Will go right down the drain...

A Man Named Jesus

A Man Named Jesus One day I met a man named Jesus And he told me He’s God’s only son He said he is the way, truth and life And he died on the cross for everyone. He said he has the keys to hell And has victory over the grave He said all power is in his hands And if I believed I could be saved. I wondered why he ever cared about me Since I had done so many awful sins But he told me he would wash them all away And still be my very best friend....

When Jesus Came to Dinner

Ruth looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter one more time… Dear Ruth, I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit. Love Always, Jesus Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.” With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. “Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll have to run down...

Clean Blood

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...