The Bible has a lot to say about deception. James 1:22 (ESV) says, “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We like to think because we can memorize and recite scripture that we are great Christians. But if we are not putting the words into action by helping other people, … More Are we deceived? A few thoughts.
Doug’s father told us what happened. “Doug and Ben were out last night. Then about 11 pm I heard them out in the driveway. Doug was home. I heard them talking and then Doug got back into his car, and he and Ben went back out. Ben doesn’t know when to call a night a … More Ambassador Chapter 20
The push lawnmower made vibrations which shook my hands, my arms, up to my shoulders, to my brain, to my heart, to my stomach. Everything I tried to hold in, all the bad feelings kept below the surface were shaken up by the vibrations and I was unable to prevail against it. Like the reverse … More Ambassador Chapter 19
The next day Doug called. “I’m sorry about last night. Do you want to go to the mall?” “Sure,” I said. It was better than staying home. I finished my conversation with Doug and hung up the phone. Father was standing on the other side of the kitchen table. “Was that Doug you were talking … More Ambassador Chapter 18
School was less painful since I now I had a steady boyfriend, and I was wearing his ring. I felt normal. Doug came over my house most days after school before he went to his job. If he left my house too late, he sped out of the driveway, the tires kicking up gravel. The … More Ambassador Chapter 17
Ben, a pale redhead, was Doug’s best friend. They both studied to become mechanics, they liked to drink beer, and they liked to drive fast. The next day at lunch Doug told the story of what he and Ben had done the night before. “Ben was driving up Broadway last night, and all of a … More Ambassador Chapter 16
It was a warm September afternoon several years later when the green 1962 Cadillac entered our driveway for the first time. The white convertible top was down, and Doug’s long brown hair waved in the breeze. I met Doug in the lunchroom of high school while I was dating one of his friends. His friend … More Ambassador Chapter 15
Margie, Johnny, and their friend Denise were in the back room of the house. They had decided to smoke some reeds they had picked from the field. Father smelled smoke in the house. He had always been terrified of the house burning down, and losing everything he had worked for. He followed the smoke … More Ambassador Chapter 14
At exactly 5:45 pm Father, lunchbox in hand, walked through the door. Supper was ready; the table set. I had ten seconds to determine what mood he was in, and to set my internal robot setting appropriately. Did his gait stomp angrily? Did his feet shuffle in defeat? Did his eyes appear cold and dead? … More Ambassador Chapter 13
In eighth grade, Donna Barrletter and I passed notes back and forth during class, and chatted on the phone after school for hours. We talked about boys, hairstyles and clothes. One evening while we were talking on the phone, I realized my parents’ liquor was out in the open, the bottles sitting on a small … More Ambassador Chapter 12
Work with gravity; running uphill is harder than running downhill. The time to ascend is before the battle, so that you have clearer vision of the enemy. You can see what direction he is coming from, how large the army is, what weapons they are using. A good example of this is Chamberlain at Gettysburg. … More The Art of War post 2
James 5:4 Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out: And the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. (Lord of hosts) The wages cry out. The next sentence says that the reapers, the ones doing the work also … More Does Money Cry?
It was Saturday afternoon when I switched on the television. I turned the knob to change the channel and watched as black smoke billowed from a train. I sat down on the floor in front of the TV. The train stopped. Soldiers opened the doors and forced walking corpses out of the train. The ground … More Ambassador Chapter 11
Mother put the ketchup on the table for our supper of hamburgers, baked beans and potatoes. The clock said 5:44 pm. I picked up the gallon of milk, and began to pour it into my glass. Father walked in the back door and slammed his lunchbox down into the corner of the table. “Derrick is … More Ambassador Chapter 10
The stained glass windows provided a prism for the sunshine to convert into different colors and stream inside the church. I peered into my ruby ring and tilted it from side to side to reflect the colors of the glass like a kaleidoscope. It was difficult for me to decipher the words of the priest … More Ambassador Chapter 9
Johnny’s 8th birthday was coming up on a Saturday in November. He wanted to have a few friends over for cake and ice cream. There was flu of some kind going around at school. We gathered around the kitchen table for supper, on time as always. Suddenly, Johnny jumped up, darted around the back of … More Ambassador Chapter 8
Nana Hardy lived next door to the graveyard; its stonewall boundary spilled rocks onto her property creating steps to enter the other side. This entrance was too tempting for us to ignore. Margie, Johnny and I climbed up the steps into a century-old world. The faded white tombstones filled the cemetery in rows. “Look. How … More Ambassador Chapter 7
Later that evening, we watched, “It’s the great pumpkin Charlie Brown.” Halloween was next week. What a great holiday. Dressing up and going door-to-door and getting candy. It was every kid’s dream. The next day when I arrived in Mrs. Whitlock’s classroom, I noticed a bunch of kids over by Dave. He was making Snoopy … More Ambassador Chapter 6
I’ve read this parable a million times, but today, something jumped off the page at me. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins 25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their … More Buying oil at midnight?
A few days later at school, I noticed that stinky Charles was not in front of me in line. He was absent from school that day. That afternoon, before the buses arrived, Mrs. Whitlock canceled our scheduled ‘boring reading book time’ to talk about Charles. “You may have noticed that Charles is not in school … More Ambassador Chapter 5
SueAnn Porter 