I’m often embarrassed walking around Christian bookstores and seeing isles filled with Christian “tchatchkes” (Yiddish for trinket) that add little or no value to the lives of believers. Most of them just get thrown into the already cluttered world we live filled with more stuff than we could ever use or need. After all, who really needs another velvet painting of the King, and, no, I’m not talking about Elvis here.But once in a while something comes along that blows away the chattel people consume.Such is The Word of Promise: a fully dramatized audio New Testament featuring JimCaviezel and a host of great actors. These are not just good reads of the New Testament books, but a fully engaging, theatrical rendition faithfully taken from the New King James Version. What a great product–visit their site and listen to a few samples and you’ll see what I mean. I remember getting…

I have been around churches a long time. Unfortunately, I’ve seen the worst in people come out in the name of Christianity. And, sadly, most of this poor behavior I’ve witnessed during church business meetings. Once during a particular quarrelsome evening where two feuding segments went at each other’s throats with wild accusations, I noticed the church secretary taking very few notes for the official minutes. I leaned over and asked her, “How are you going to write this down?” “It’s simple,” she replied, “I usually write, ‘much discussion followed.’” Well, I’ve sat through church business meetings that started at supper time and ended almost in time for breakfast. Those marathon meetings usually have one thing in common: strife. You can tell you’re headed for a church showdown if a bus of inactive members who haven’t been around in years suddenly shows up for the mid-week business meeting. I’ve observed…