Bill Teague’s lpc e-pistle

Thanksgiving beats congratulations every time 
 
Thanksgiving Day is by far my favorite holiday.  There is something altogether good about it.  It is uniquely American and, if we do it right, inescapably God-acknowledging.  Two events define the American Thanksgiving tradition.  The first, of course, is that great three-day feast of thanksgiving at Plymouth Plantation in 1621.  We moderns can deconstruct and revise the story all we want, but the fact of the matter is that those who were there remembered it as a time to offer thanks to God after a hard and bitter year: “Although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want,” wrote Edward Winslow. Governor John Bradford is the other who recorded his memories of the time.  (Click here to read to the two eye witness accounts of the feast.) Continue Reading »

The Joy of Destruction
 
2012, the latest and some are saying the biggest if not the best disaster movie of all time opens everywhere tonight.  If you haven’t read a review yet, you can try this.  As best I can tell, lots of people will die and nearly every famous building in the world will topple; even the trailers have hints of bad new age theology. I can hardly wait to see it. 
 
I don’t think we’ll see 2012 tonight, though Becky likes watching disaster and destruction as much as I do. I’d really like to see it with our son Christopher. There’s no one better in the whole world with whom to watch the whole world end than our son Christopher. Oh, he loves the action and all the amazing techie effects, but what really makes it so good to watch a disaster flick with Christopher is his sardonic sense of humor. He’ll shred the over-the-top dialogue and the improbable plot turns with just the right comments.  But we won’t be seeing Christopher and his wife Katie until Christmas time. I’m not sure 2012 can wait so long.  Continue Reading »

The Blessing of Giving
 
As the Apostle Paul bade farewell to the elders of the church in Ephesus for what would be the last time, he remembered the three years he had spent among them.  He spoke of the tears and the trials they had shared and he commended them “to God and the word of his grace.”  He told them to keep up the hard work they had begun and be diligent in helping others.  Then he reminded them of the words of Jesus not otherwise quoted in the gospels, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Continue Reading »