Yes, it snowed last night in Indianapolis; two hour delay for Carmel schools, trees and bushes covered with clinging wet snow.  On my way to work, my 8 year old granddaughter, on her way to school, called from her mom’s iPhone with the excitement of a great discovery, “it looks like Narnia out here.”  Continue reading “It looks like Narnia out here!” →

The American holiday of Thanksgiving has a long tradition commonly connected to the early Pilgrims in 1621, a three day feast with their guests, Massasoit and ninety of his men.  The Continental Congress issued several annual Thanksgiving proclamations beginning in 1777.  George Washington issued the first presidential proclamation in 1789.  Among our early presidents, only John Adams and James Madison followed suit, leaving a gap between 1815 and 1862 with no Thanksgiving proclamations. Thomas Jefferson openly opposed the idea of a national day of Thanksgiving. When the practice was begun again in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln, he followed the example of CSA president Jefferson Davis in which the focus was on thanks for battles in the Civil War.

Our current celebration is thought to be the fruit of forty years of letter writing pressure by Sarah Josepha Hale. It was in the fall of 1863 that Abraham Lincoln picked up the practice that has been continued annually by every president since to call our nation to a day of national Thanksgiving. However, it wasn’t until 1941 that federal legislation established Thanksgiving as a national holiday to be celebrated on the 4^th Thursday of November.

I commend particularly the proclamations of Washington in 1789 and Lincoln in 1863 linked above.  Read them and share them in the midst of your Thanksgiving Day activities.

And don’t forget the main focus – “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 ESV

The Tale of Two Robertsons

In one corner is Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network.Well known for reckless comments, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I heard he actually justified divorce and remarriage because one’s spouse has Alzheimer’s.If he really said such a thing, surely it would have been removed from the CBN website with a retraction in its place.So I checked it out on the website and sure enough, there it was on the show of Tuesday, September 13. Continue reading “In Sickness and in health… except for Alzheimer’s ??” →

Quite different from the other respondents in the 9/11 article in the September issue of Christianity Today, Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham and sister to Franklin Graham, declared, “All I know with certainty was that God was trying to get the attention of his people including me… Like Isaiah, I also saw a humiliating vision of my own sin” with “immediate impact…in my relationship with God, an increased fervency in prayer, clearer insight into God’s Word, and a sharpened focus in ministry.” What a great model of starting with personal self-examination and going before the Lord, much as Daniel does in Daniel 9. Continue reading ““How I have Changed since 9/11” – Anne Graham Lotz” →

I was taken aback in reading Will Willimon’s response in Christianity Today to the invitation to provide a response to their column, “How I Have Changed since 9/11.” Willimon is no stranger to the pages of Christianity Today. After twenty years as dean of Duke University Chapel and professor at Duke Divinity School, he is now bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Here’s what he said as the climax of his response: “September 11 has changed me. I’m going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what’s wrong with the world.”

He had my full attention. Preach it, Brother! Continue reading “Was Good Friday a Bad Day?” →

No surprise that this week leading up to the 10^th anniversary of 9/11/2001 is dominated by stories of that fateful day. While driving back to the office, I just listened on NPR to the riveting story of a NYPD firefighter who was trapped with his team on the 4^th floor of the north tower when the whole thing came down around them. Explaining how he and others with him survived, including the woman they were there to rescue, he described the building as a banana being peeled as it came down around them, as they, in the “banana” itself, were spared; while 343 of their colleagues were killed. Continue reading “Reflections on 9/11 – How have we been changed?” →

Another guest contribution from my brother, Wesley Andrew Macy, Estes Brook Evangelical Free Church, Minnesota; September, 2011 Newsletter

While we appreciate the telephone, Facebook, text messaging, etc., nothing takes the place of “face to face.” I keep in touch with family by phone and email throughout the year, but being in Kansas this past August for the bi-annual Macy family reunion, it was so much better to see them “face to face”.

In the fall of 1973, I was a college sophomore, living in Kansas. My brother was in seminary in Illinois. I missed him and wanted to see him. I took Amtrak from Wichita to Chicago to visit Tom and his wife, Linda. Arriving at Union Station in Chicago, I took the commuter train to the northern suburbs. Somehow I managed to get off at the right stop, Lake Forest –just a wide spot in the road with a simple shelter and a long sidewalk. Tom wasn’t there. Everybody else walked purposefully from the train to their cars. But I had no car. I was alone, didn’t know where I was, feeling unsettled and insecure. Continue reading “Face to Face” →

Just a month ago, I referenced the work of John Stott, author of Basic Christianity and other excellent works.  Yesterday, July 27, at 3:15 p.m. London time, John Stott finished his 90 year sojourn on earth and entered the presence of his Lord.

I invite you to read the excellent eulogy by Tim Stafford describing the world wide cross generational influence of this humble servant of Jesus.  It is long as obituaries go, but more than worth your time to read it to the end. Few have had such a positive impact as John Stott.  You will benefit much from his life and teaching.

And don’t forget!  In the face of death, we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14

My brother’s choice of the title for his guest post, “Beautiful Words,” stirred long ago memories of our mother, Margaret Ruth McCormick Macy. There were times when you walked into our farm home, or even heard through the walls from the outside, sounds that would make you think an accomplished pianist was inside. If so, I can tell you what was being played, an old hymn from the Phillip Bliss collection, “Wonderful Words of Life.”  How can I be so sure?  Because that is the only hymn Mom could really play well.  I don’t know what piano training she had, but while she would struggle to sight read some other songs, this one was played with confidence and clarity. So, while I wouldn’t have asked her to be the church accompanist, I thank her for the memory of this one old hymn. Continue reading ““Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words of Life”” →