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
NEW!
Habits of Wholeness (3)
VIEW VIDEO Our granddaughter Madeline was visiting us this past week. I was up in my office working, and she was downstairs with Joan making brownies. They were discussing various topics, then I hear Madeline say, “I’m going to go upstairs and ask Papa to play Barbies...
Habits of Wholeness (2)
VIEW VIDEO One of my favorite things in our local newspaper, The Republican, is the yesteryear column that recalls local news from decades ago. This week’s column reminded readers that in 1971 all my family but me went to Vincennes to celebrate my sister’s birthday,...
Habits of Wholeness (1)
VIEW VIDEO I’ve made no secret of my passion for motorcycling, so you’ll be surprised to learn that this past month I actually gave away two of my motorcycles as gifts to friends, so coincidentally had room for another motorcycle, a 1971 BMW r75/5, that was built in...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (6)
Well, it’s good to be back. Joan and I enjoyed a weekend at the farm, and are now refreshed. Many thanks to Amanda Gainey and Ned Steele who rose to the occasion in my absence last Sunday. If I had a major award to share, I would share it with them. Joan received her...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (5)
What a beautiful week! Eight inches of snow fell in Danville and I have four neighbors with snow blowers and plows, so I phoned them the morning after the big snow to tell them I was holding a Good Neighbor Contest and it was down to the four of them. Then I sat down...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (4)
https://youtu.be/ZBHpFPAZmjI Today is Valentine’s Day, that day we celebrate all things romantic. I went to CVS yesterday to buy Joan something meaningful she will treasure the rest of her life. Perhaps a card someone else had written, or something delicious to eat...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (3)
VIEW VIDEO In my first church, whenever we had a meeting for business and someone would share an idea, there was this guy who’d stand up and say, “Let me tell you why that won’t work.” Sometimes, just to mix things up, he’d say, “Let me just play the devil’s advocate,...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (2)
We’ve been hearing the word unprecedented a lot this month. My friend Howard Macy recently said the frequency of the word unprecedented is unprecedented. Every time I watch the news, I hear the word unprecedented, as if for the past 245 years, the United States has...
Characteristics of Good Relationships (1)
Last Sunday, I had intended to begin a sermon series on the characteristics of good relationships, but we were rudely interrupted by an insurrectionist mob, which could not be ignored. Nevertheless I will not be deterred from my duty, so will pick up where we left...
A Presidency That Will Live In Infamy
This week we witnessed an attack on our nation’s capital by a misguided and ignorant mob, committed to the usurpation of our presidential election, spurred on by a man whose appetite for power and adulation knows no bounds, a modern-day Nero who tweeted while...