06/18/2024
Here is an illustration that I wanted to include this past Sunday but ran out of time.
Comedian Turns Snarky Reply into Generosity
As a veteran comedian and improv actor, Patton Oswalt is known to have a ready retort for anyone heckling or giving him grief. But one particular time, his response caught his antagonist by surprise.
It started with a sarcastic tweet at President Trump. A Trump supporter named Michael Beatty tweeted back in response, lobbing accusations and insults at Oswalt. Out of curiosity, Oswalt began scrolling through Beatty’s Twitter timeline. What he found took him by surprise, which prompted Oswalt to tweet the following admission: Aw, man. This dude just attacked me on Twitter and I joked back but then I looked at his timeline and he’s in a LOT of trouble health-wise … He’s been dealt some [terrible] cards—let’s deal him some good ones. Click and donate—just like I’m about to.
The link that followed was to a GoFundMe account dedicated to help cover the burgeoning costs of care for Beatty’s health condition, which included diabetes and ketoacidosis. Because of Oswalt’s efforts at donation and promotion, the campaign began trending on social media, and has since exceeded several times over Beatty’s initial goal of $5,000.
Beatty responded to Oswalt with this: “You have humbled me to the point where I can barely compose my words. You have caused me to take pause and reflect on how harmful words from my mouth could result in such an outpouring.”
Archived Posts
Sometimes A Quote Says It All
As I said Sunday, our new sermon series: Reversing Heart Disease, is based on a book by Pastor Andy Stanley. He’s a great communicator and his book, The Enemies of the Heart, has his inimitable conversational style. This morning I want to share with you a few of the quotes behind Sunday’s sermon. That way, you get a sense of the writer behind the preaching (more or less).
The Gifts of Those Who Need Our Hope
I barely touched on a topic that is of interest to me during Sunday’s sermon. When we think of Christian service we often think of reaching out to help make the burdens lighter for the least, the last, and the lost. I can’t think of a better way to express the commandment of Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves. But what about...
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I’ve enclosed several insights I got while I dug into the scripture from Genesis 12 last Sunday. For you who love Bible background here’s a few thoughts to share:
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...