PlainSpeech Messages | Find YOUR way to GRACE.
I recently read a message I’d given in 1984 and felt a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. Embarrassed because it seems inadequate now, and surprised by how much my worldview has changed. Twenty-five years from now, I might read these messages and have a similar reaction. I offer no guarantee that my work or words will endure the eroding effects of time. I can only assure you these thoughts have been helpful to me, and perhaps a few others, today. With that qualification, I offer them to you.
~ Philip
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How to Die Before You’re Dead (10)
It is good to be back with all of you, our friends. Our visit to Texas went well. Joan drove the entire way, every mile. 2,400 miles, round trip. Did you know once you become president, you are never again permitted to drive on a public road? You have a driver for the...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (9)
VIEW VIDEO When we moved to Danville, 25 years ago, most of the houses now in our neighborhood weren’t yet there. We were pioneers, along with the Comers, who lived on the other side of the neighborhood, we could just see the smoke from their cooking fire. In between...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (8)
VIEW VIDEO One of humanity’s biggest problems is that people who think they’re wonderful often aren’t, and people who are wonderful seldom believe they are. It’s nearly impossible to persuade a narcissist of his need to grow. And similarly, it’s incredibly hard to...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (7)
VIEW VIDEO I’ve been thinking this week about family traditions, which we used to have in my family until my granddaughter was born and tradition went out the window. When my siblings and I were young and had birthdays, we received one present, a cake, and Mom would...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (6)
When I was a kid, we’d go visit my Grandma Norma down in Vincennes. She and Grandpa lived in a house built in 1832, which they’d bought in 1929 for $1600, and fixed up. My grandfather added on to it so perfectly you couldn’t tell where the old stopped and the new...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (5)
VIEW VIDEO We’re having family Thanksgiving on Friday this year, which would have been unthinkable when I was a kid, like having church on Monday instead of Sunday. It just wasn’t done. But Spencer is at the firehouse this Thursday, so we moved the family dinner to...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (4)
VIEW VIDEO When I was 6 years-old, my great-uncle Fritz died and I wanted to go to his funeral, not because I was especially fond of him, I barely knew him, but because I’d never seen a dead person, except in the movies. My brother Glenn, the veteran of several...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (3)
VIEW VIDEO Winter arrived this past week, and with it, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), when the lack of sunlight plunges many of us into despair. The solution, of course, is Florida, which raises other difficulties, namely snakes. When I said winter arrived, you...
How to Die Before You’re Dead (2)
VIEW VIDEO It is good to be back with you. Last week, you’ll remember, was our Sunday for unprogrammed worship, which, since time immemorial, has been held on the fifth Sunday, four times a year. But the elders decided to have it last Sunday, the third Sunday,...
How to Die Before You’re Dead
I walked into town one day this week for lunch. It was a glorious, early autumn days that God is inclined to grace us with every now and then. Brilliant blue skies, pleasant temperatures, farm equipment passing by, the farmers on their way to their next field. Autumn...