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The great church seating controversy

cartoon of a big man talking to an intimidated, seated man. He says, "Welcome to First Church. Now get out of my seat!"

It has always fascinated me how good people can get caught up in petty things like saving their seat at church. In extreme cases, it can even lead to violence like this example.

At one of the churches I attended, there was a legend about an elderly lady that would hiss at people if they were in her seat. One Sunday, a friend’s family was about to sit nearby. The dear old sister looked up, then commented, “It’s okay if you sit there. It’s Brother So and So’s seat, but he passed away this week.”

It runs contradictory to what Jesus himself taught:

“But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.” Luke 14:10 NIV

So you can have my seat. But I can’t guarantee a dear old sister won’t hiss at you.

I created this cartoon for the September 2016 CHOGNews.

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Attitude

Took a risk, no regrets

Last year, my wife and I took one of the biggest risks of our lives. We moved away from everything and everyone we knew to do what we were called to do. I resigned from a steady job where I had a recent promotion to join my wife in this new adventure. Like the legend of Hérnando Cortéz, we burned our ships didn’t look back and headed for Arizona.

It didn’t work out the way we had hoped. I thought I could immediately land a new job right away. It took eight months. My father-in-law was gravely ill and eventually passed away. This caused us to make many trips back to the Midwest. A five-year commitment was cut to one year.

Yet, we have no regrets. In fact, I am glad we took a risk. It taught me a few things I never expected. 

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Social Media

Social media makes us all brand marketers

You see it each time you log into Facebook. Friends post their vacation photos. Parents brag on their kids. Grandparents express admiration about their grandkid’s accomplishments. It looks like everyone else is having a wonderful life while you’re stuck at home scooping out the litter box and trying to keep your toddler from tossing your iPhone in the potty.

You don’t think about it, but you do the same as everyone else. You post the best of your experiences and glow about the love you have for your teen. You don’t mention the fight the two of you have the other night because he refused to take his coat to school. Nor do you mention his atrocious calculus grade (at least you shouldn’t).

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Community

Fairs and Community

Last week, I got to go to The Great Darke County Fair in Greenville, Ohio. This year was the 160th running. I began going over twenty-five years ago when I began dating my wife. I learned very early on this was an event everyone in the county looked forward to each year.

As I was pondering what made the fair great, I observed the Italian sausage, elephant ear and walking taco stands. I listened to a barker exclaiming how easy it was to win a giant stuffed bear for my sweetheart. I sniffed the scents of each animal barn. Nothing much had changed over the years. While they sights, sounds and smells were fine, they weren’t great. What was it?

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CHOG News church cartoons Newsletters

I Just Love a Pond Baptism!

Cartoon of a guy with a fish attached to his arm. A woman says, "I just love a pond baptism!"

I didn’t have the benefit of a baptism in the great outdoors. Mine was in a church sanctuary. A few weeks ago, I got to witness over two dozen people get baptized outside. I overheard someone commenting about what could be swimming around that pond. Since this was in Ohio, alligators were quickly ruled out.

It was a great day of celebration and no one came up with a fish, frog or crawdad attached to an arm!

I drew this for the August 2016 CHOG News.

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