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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Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (8)
VIEW VIDEO I was thinking about God this week, and the broad range of people God attracts--conservative, liberal, moderate, thoughtful, reckless, fanatical, and even atheists, many of whom spend a great deal of time thinking and talking about the god they don’t...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (7)
VIEW VIDEO One of the things I like most about living in a neighborhood is watching people move in and out. Some people you hate to see move away, and others you don’t. The best moment is when the moving van pulls up, and watching discretely as your new neighbors...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (6)
The Royal Theater in Danville has gotten a facelift this summer, which I was glad to see, having spent a good part of my childhood inside its storied walls watching the old Westerns, which is where I learned about justice, that the good guy always won, and the bad...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (5)
Religions are good at valuing truth, so long as it is old truth. When I was a kid, I delivered The Indianapolis News to 26 customers on the southside of Danville. It was the smallest paper route in town, due to my unwillingness to sign on new subscribers. Having only...
Is Religion A Force for Good or Evil? (4)
VIEW VIDEO We’re continuing our discussion about religion and whether it is a force for good or evil. I thought it would be appropriate, before we went much further, to tell you how I came to believe in the Christian god. When I was a teenager, I began researching...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (3)
VIEW VIDEO We’re having a screenhouse built at our farm, so I visited an Amish man who makes doors and windows and purchased a screen door. The Amish man turned out to be this nice guy who doesn’t mind answering my questions about Amish traditions and customs. While...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (2)
It is good to be back with you. I spent last weekend riding motorcycles with the Quaker Oatlaws Motorcycle Club and ended up at the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home in Lincoln City, Indiana, where the accomplishments of President Lincoln were on full display. When we...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (1)
VIEW VIDEO I had plans this this past Monday to pull weeds in our flowerbeds, but it was too hot, so I watched a YouTube video instead. To be honest, it doesn’t have to be all that hot to keep me from pulling weeds. The YouTube clip was a debate between Christopher...
Liberation
VIEW VIDEO A few years ago, Joan got mad at The Indianapolis Star and cancelled our subscription. I’ve never known Joan to be mad at a person, but if you’re a corporation, you’d better not cross her. So now we subscribe to The New York Times, and I’ve downloaded the...
This Too Shall Pass
VIEW VIDEO Every Sunday, on our way home from meeting, I ask Joan if she liked my sermon, and every Sunday she squeezes my hand and says it was wonderful. We’ve been doing that now for 37 years and it’s been a wonderful arrangement. Except last Sunday, when I asked...