toddcast

I've done a lot of funerals in my twenty plus years of ministry, far more than I thought I would ever do.   Every service touches me in a unique way and with each funeral I seem to come away with a life-lesson I needed to hear.   Recently I was taught a valuable lesson as I eulogized a certain man.   His name was Dillon. For many years he had been a member of the church I serve but then, a few years ago, he moved away.   Shortly before his death as his health was deteriorating, he moved back to the area, and when he passed I was asked to perform his funeral, which I was honored to do.   There were many admirable qualities about Dillon, but it was actually his disability that taught me the most. Some time ago Dillon had surgery for throat cancer that left him unable to speak.   For all the years I knew him he had to use an electronic device to communicate.   He would hold up the gadget to his throat and the vibrations would create a mechanic...

This past Monday was Groundhog Day.   It has always amazed me that a groundhog gets a "day."     I wonder how all the other animals feel about that?   No offense to the critters, but Groundhog Day is probably best known because of the 1993 movie with Bill Murray.   If you haven’t seen the movie you probably know the premise.   A disgruntled television reporter is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the Groundhog Day festivities and is further disgruntled when he is snowed in and has to stay another night.   He wakes up the next day and, instead of it being the day after groundhog day, it's groundhog day all over again.   This cycle humorously repeats itself giving Phil, the disgruntled reporter, a chance to perfect that day.   Through a process of trial and error he gets to relive a day until he finally gets it right.   Happy ending.   Roll the credits. The movie, of course, is fantasy.   Things like that...

Sometimes life is a mess!   As I sit in my own office you can barely see the top of my desk as just about every available flat surface is cluttered with some books or papers of some sort!   Sermons to preach, classes to teach, meetings to prepare for, schedules to keep - my office sometimes resembles the aftereffects of an F3 tornado! Maybe your life looks a lot like my office.   You just can't keep up with all the demands, you can’t tidy up all the clutter, you can't organize all the tasks.   Stacks of papers to be filed, toys to trip over, dishes waiting to be washed, laundry overflowing the hamper, to-do lists that seem endless.   Sometimes life can just get jumbled and untidy!   Sometimes life is a mess! Now I certainly don’t want to discourage tidiness and I'm not one to dispute the old adage,     "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" (I'm thankful that one's not in the good Book), but maybe we can look at our messy lives through a ...

It's Black Friday and the bargains abound.   Christmas shopping is in full force as bargain-hunters swiftly navigate the crowded aisles of stores and retailers rake in the profits.   It's the day circled in red for every serious present-purchaser as the quest for deep discounts celebrates its day in the spotlight.   I'm not out there this year (or at least that's my plan) but I've been out there in years past, and I have to admit, there is a certain adrenalin rush slapping down that credit card assured you have made the steal of the century.   You're so confident that you got the best deal ever you're surprised you’re not arrested for grand larceny on your way out.   I especially love those stores that print out your savings on the receipt -- "You spent $52 and saved $6,863,673!"   There's just something about getting a great deal! We humans love a great deal and maybe there's nothing wrong with that, but perhaps this quality re...

Six weeks ago my oldest daughter had a baby making me and my wife grandparents for the first time!   My wife and I were overjoyed and made arrangements to visit her, her husband, and the baby (Really we only wanted to see the baby.   I'm told that's how it is when you become a grandparent!)   They live in Indiana and to make the most of our time we decided to fly up for a few days.   They live in Fort Wayne and our flight made a transfer in Chicago. We boarded our flight in Dallas bubbling over with excitement only to be discouraged when the pilot came over the intercom and informed us that our flight would be delayed because of some technical issues in Chicago.   Usually that's not a big deal, but on this flight we had only a brief layover and now were in fear of missing our connecting flight.   We finally took off and calculated that there was a slim chance we could make the next flight, so upon landing we rushed out of the plane, located ...