Silly Old Bear

Jake Taylor has it all: friends, fame, a basketball scholarship and the hottest girl in school. What could be better?

Enter Roger Dawson. Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but putdowns and getting pushed aside. Things couldn’t get worse … could they?

Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn’t fit in Jake’s — or anyone’s — circle, and he’s had enough. He walks onto campus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move.

Jake’s last-ditch effort can’t stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake’s world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can’t shake the question, Could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the geeks, losers and loners. But he quickly finds that crossing class castes threatens everything he’s built his world on. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question: What do I want my life to be about?

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[PART 4 OF 4]

In the previous article, we looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the prodigal son himself. In this article, we will re-examine the parable from the perspective of the older brother.

Go ahead and read through the parable again by clicking on the picture of the Bible to the right. Then come back here and continue reading.

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[PART 3 OF 4]

In the previous article, we looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the father in the parable. In this article, we will re-examine the parable from the perspective of the prodigal son himself.

Go ahead and read through the parable again by clicking on the picture of the Bible to the right. Then come back here and continue reading.

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[PART 1 OF 4]

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is one of Jesus’ most well-known parables. It is actually the third in a series of parables that Jesus told, one after the other, in Luke chapter 15. All three parables have a common theme.

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The following article appeared in the November 2009 print issue of the “Christian Chronicle”, an “international newspaper for Churches of Christ” whose mission is “to inform, inspire and unite”. The article was written by Chris Blair, who ministers to students on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, while serving as the Campus Minister for the Huntsville Church of Christ. This article is reprinted with the gracious permission of Chris Blair and the Christian Chronicle.

I think you will be inspired.

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[PART 5 OF 5]

I believe that the story of Santa Claus is the story of God!

As I’ve stated in my previous “Santa Claus Factor” articles, I believe the story of Santa Claus can be viewed as a parable that teaches us some important lessons about God. This will be my last article in this series.

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[PART 4 OF 5]

I believe that the story of Santa Claus is the story of God!

In the last article, we discussed Santa’s list. We noticed the similarities between Santa’s “nice” and “naughty” lists, and God’s. In this article, we will continue to explore the parable-like nature of the Santa Claus story, and its ability to help us understand God a little better.

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[PART 2 OF 5]

In my previous article, I told you that I believe in Santa Claus, and I briefly explained my reasoning. If you haven’t read that article yet, you can catch it here.

In this next series of articles, I want to dig a little deeper and explain why the Santa Claus story is important, and then provide a more substantive explanation as to why “I believe in Santa Claus”.

Are you ready?

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[PART 1 OF 5]

“Do you believe in Santa Claus?”

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I had never prayed as hard in my life as I did the morning of March 16, 1997. It was a Sunday morning, about 6:30, and I was driving from Children’s Medical Center in Dallas back to our house about 35 minutes away. Four hours earlier, Susan and I had been told by a doctor at Children’s that our 9-year-old daughter Ashley had a brain tumor.

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