Avalanche!

Adam and Chris had been best friends since grade school. They grew up in the same neighborhood and graduated high school together. And even though they went off to separate colleges and separate lives, they still stayed in touch.

They were in each other’s weddings, and they got together at least once a year to fish or hike or go to a ballgame.

Two weeks before Adam’s 40th birthday, he invited Chris to join him for a weekend of skiing and hiking up in the mountains. They rented a cabin and both left work early on Friday to drive up. The weather was clear Friday night, but snow was expected Saturday.

The Surprise Guest at the Funeral

Recently I had lunch with a pastoral colleague, and we started swapping funeral stories. Macabre? Maybe, but there are some pretty unusual things that happen at funerals. For example…

I was doing a graveside service for a lady in our church. Her casket was perched on one of those portable stands the funeral home provides. This one was on rollers. And the grave was on a hillside. I bet you can see what’s coming. I had just started into my remarks when the casket started moving. Downhill, of course. I blocked it with my body, and some of the other funeral staff jumped in. Disaster averted. But the lady’s daughter thought it was funny – “Mom was headed for the ocean,” she remarked.

THE GRATITUDE OF A NON-SUPERSTAR

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the kings's house... (2 Samuel 11:2)

In the last couple weeks we’ve learned of an evangelical superstar who has left his church, his marriage and his faith. The twist on this story is that he penned a popular book about courting instead of dating that influenced a lot of Christians as the Scriptural blueprint for starting a godly marriage. Now, in the middle of divorce and apostasy, he has apologized for that book.