Jonah: Reluctant Prophet, Persistent Rebel

This morning I preached a sermon on Jonah 1: Reluctant Prophet, Persistent Rebel. The key questions I focused on are, do you love your enemies? and do you love your neighbours? Jonah refused to love his enemies (Nineveh) and he overlooked his neighbour (sailors), and so he missed out on the blessings of miraculously successful evangelism (Nineveh) and reaping a full harvest while the field was ripe (sailors).

Harry Chapin on ballad music

A student recently reintroduced me to the music of Harry Chapin. So I have been listening to several of his songs lately, many of which I had never heard before. To him, life is a story that needs to be told. One of the best ways to tell a story is with a tune. He once said, "Because a song don't have much meaning... when it don't have nothing to say." As an English teacher, I frown on the double negative, but in his colloquial way, he makes a great point. In a meaning-starved world, it is refreshing to listen to a modern musician that still had something to say. Chapin was a remnant of the true minstrels from days long since past. Anyway, below is his live performance of one his his most famous songs, "Cat's in the Cradle". His style is folksy, his poetry is vernacular, yet his stories are enthralling.