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When I went off to seminary, I moved from Woodville, Miss., to New Orleans. It was only a few hours’ drive, but the two cultures were light-years apart. Read More
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I heard about a first-grade teacher who collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and had them come up with the rest. Here were some of their answers: Read More
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Last week I began telling about the time I conducted a burial service in Reidsville for “Lloyd,” a man in his 90s, and how I met his mentally-challenged 45-year-old girlfriend from the nursing home, “Ruby.” Read More
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A burial service is supposed to be a solemn occasion, but I’ve left several cemeteries red-faced instead of teary-eyed. Read More
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Recently I heard about a church named “Church by the Side of the Road.” I’m sure there was a good reason to name the church that, but for some reason it conjured up pictures in my head of a church broken down and abandoned on the roadside. Read More
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A kindergarten teacher had asked her students to bring a symbol of their religion for show-and-tell. Read More
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Once I saw a cartoon that had a picture of a poor man sitting in the sand, naked except for a loincloth around his waist. He had a piece of pottery and was scraping his sores. Read More
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Most of us learn to pray from hearing prayers of our family and in our church. But some prayers in church are a lesson in how not to pray. Read More
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Although the following story about "back row Baptists" did not actually happen, it’s still my favorite: Read More
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A church in rural Alabama is named “Original Church of God,” but underneath the sign are the words “Number Two.” This isn’t the only church with an original name, however. Here are some other unique church names I’ve heard about: Read More
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Eight-year-old Tad (not his real name) watched with wide-eyed amazement as his parents renewed their marriage vows. Read More
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Once I had to stop preaching so that everybody could watch a deacon swat a wasp. But when it comes to distractions, insects cannot compete with babies. I was preaching on a Sunday night, when a lady on the front row started feeding her baby. Read More
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I always thought that I was romantic. But having two attractive young daughters has taught me that I have a lot to learn about romance. (Sorry, guys, they’re both taken — both are now married.) Read More
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Unfortunately, some people have had a bad experience in church. Perhaps your experience was like these. Read More
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Many NFL fans are not aware that there is another form of football played on Sunday. It’s called “church football.” Read More
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A popular spiritual says, “Joshua fit [fought] the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.” One child got the words of the song confused and sang, “Joshua hit the bottle of Cherry Coke.” Unfortunately, he isn’t the only one who gets the stories of the Bible mixed up. Read More
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Many pastors have come to learn some deep, dark secrets of members that we must take to our graves. But thanks to HIPAA, one of the secrets we used to find out about has been hidden. I’m talking about the real first names of church members. Read More
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When I went to seminary to train to be a pastor, I was met with several surprises. Read More
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Things can and often do go wrong at church Christmas programs. The children or adults playing shepherds and wise men may trip over their bathrobe costumes, drop the gold on baby Jesus’ head, fall off the stage, or forget their lines. Read More
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During a school play near London, three 6-year-old boys acted out the role of the wise men. As they presented their gifts at the nativity scene, each boy stepped forward and stated what they were offering to Christ. Read More
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The pastor of a church in California put a sign in front of his church during December that said, “Jesus is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas.” He received a complaint from a woman in the community who took offense at the message. She closed the conversation by saying, “I don’t think the church should try to drag religion into every holiday.” Read More
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Introductions can make a huge first impression, either for good or bad. Read More
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As Thanksgiving comes and goes, most of us will feast on turkey, ham and many other wonderful foods. But you can get too much of a good thing — even fried chicken. Read More
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When I went to high school, two things were always done before a football game: prayer and the National Anthem. Read More
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Once a snake almost got into our church office. Here’s how it happened: Read More
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When I went off to seminary, I moved from Woodville, Mississippi, to New Orleans, Louisiana. The two cities were only a few hours’ drive apart, but the two cultures were light-years apart. Read More
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Somebody once told my associate pastor that I “don’t look like a preacher.” I’m not sure what that means. Did she say that because I have a beard or because I like to wear my blue jeans and baseball cap around town on my day off? Did she say that because I don’t have some stereotypical kind of stern or “holy” expression? I don’t know. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to look like a preacher. At least not until I heard Dr. Laurence White. Read More
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The very first church that I served as pastor was a new mission church along the Mississippi River. Fort Adams was a tiny fishing village in the southwest corner of Mississippi, about an hour’s drive north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The forests around Fort Adams were full of deer, but only a few humans. There was a Catholic church in the town, but no Protestant church within 20 miles. Read More
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A minister received a phone call from a Baptist church in a nearby town in Georgia. The man on the other end said, “Do you have a shotgun?” Thinking the man was inviting him to go hunting, the minister replied, “What Southerner doesn’t have one?” The man said, “Then come down here to the church!” Read More
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Dennis Swanberg (also known as the Big Swan) is a former preacher who is now a Christian comedian. He often tells stories about how when he was a boy, he got into trouble in church. Read More
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Sometimes a preacher’s words just don’t come out right. Read More
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Baptism is a deeply personal symbol of faith, but it is also very public. As a man in south Georgia discovered, when something too private shows up in a baptism, it can be embarrassing. Read More
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Prayer lifts our souls to God. Sometimes it also lifts our spirits because our misplaced words make us laugh. Read More
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Every church has traditions, and it is often harder to get churches to change their traditions than to change their doctrine. Removing the carpet can be more controversial than removing a Person from the Trinity. Just ask an Episcopalian pastor in Savannah. Read More
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An older pastor retired and moved back to his home in rural Mississippi. A few days later, his phone rang. Below is a verbatim transcript of the phone conversation: Read More
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Last week I began the true story, amazingly similar to the famous song by Ray Stevens, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival." Stevens sang about "the day the squirrel went berserk in the First Self-Righteous Church in the sleepy little town of Pascagoula." But what Pastor Butch Knight saw happened a few years ago in the First Baptist Church in the sleepy little town of Poplarville, Mississippi. Read More
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About 20 years after Ray Stevens wrote “Mississippi Squirrel Revival,” something very similar actually happened in Poplarville, Mississippi. Read More
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Years ago, my whole church got choked up during communion. Read More
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A popular spiritual says, “Joshua fit [fought] the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.” One child got the words of the song confused and sang, “Joshua hit the bottle of Cherry Coke.” He’s not the only one who gets Bible stories mixed up. Read More
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A large church had a rather large guest preacher one Sunday who made a grand entrance like none other. Read More
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Dennis Swanberg (also known as the Big Swan) is a former pastor who is now a Christian comedian. He often tells stories about how when he was a boy, he got into trouble in church. Read More
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When I get comfortable with a cell phone, I don’t like to change. Read More
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Recently, I went to church while on vacation in Gulfport, Mississippi. At the end of a row of nice padded chairs was an older chair with arm rests, and a big sign fastened with transparent tape to the back of the seat. The sign read: "PLEASE DO NOT USE, MOVE OR SIT IN THIS CHAIR. THIS IS MS. ______ [name withheld] CHURCH CHAIR. THANK YOU." Read More
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One of the joys of reading a church bulletin is finding the “bloopers.” Some are typos, like these: Read More
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"I didn’t know that Mr. Gilbert won the Masters," said a boy in our church. He was talking about one of our deacons winning the Masters golf tournament in Augusta. Let me explain. Read More
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A few years ago I went on a mission trip to the Seattle, Wash., area. I spent one day going door to door in a blue-collar neighborhood in Tacoma. We took a religious survey, offered a thank-you gift for their time, shared our faith with those who would listen, and asked what ways the church could minister to people. A few people responded, but nothing exciting happened. That is, until we met one extroverted lady. Read More
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Years ago there was a fellow living in Rincon who passed away. The family members wanted to prepare adequately for the funeral, but they didn’t have much money. Read More
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Like many men, I am not a very good gift-giver. I wait until the last minute and run out to Wal-Mart. Or I get a gift that I think she wants, instead of what she really wants. Read More
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I’ve heard of the squirrel that got loose in church, and I even saw a bat get loose in church. I’ve heard of snake handlers, but never before have I heard a story like the one I heard from a pastor’s wife in Gulfport, Miss. It seems that this preacher’s wife was also a preacher’s kid. And one day when she was a child, they had a snake visit her father’s church. Read More
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