By: Pat Quade

Ever heard of a restaurant called Lambert’s? I heard of it when I was in Pensacola, FL. I never got to go, but its distinctiveness was widespread. The menu is pretty typical southern fare, the waitstaff had a reputation for being friendly and courteous and the prices were decent, but that’s still not what they were known for. They were known as “The Only Home Of Throwed Rolls”.

Now if you’re a fairly proper type of person I don’t think you’d care much for Lambert’s.  You see, their dinner rolls come to your table via air mail. From what I’ve been told by people in the know, to get a dinner roll you signal one of the staff by raising your hand and immediately they will do their best Roger Clemens (sans the steroids) and pitch a roll to you across the dining area for you to catch. Now that’s unique!

By Dr. Steven Phillips, PhD

God takes us all the way to LLangollen, Wales to see a living example of a "New Church" format. It's a "community" of believers who practice "church" by "being the church" in everyday life rather than just "going to church" one day a week.  Enjoy the story below.

By Dr. Steven Phillips, Ph.D.

My wife and I felt promompted this weekend to go see the Michael Moore film, “SiCKO” which, I understand, has received almost universal rave reviews from audiences who have seen it. But, I have to admit that I was partially interested because Christians in America seem to be radically divided concerning the universal health care debate. Because Mr. Moore is regarded as a liberal, many conservative Christians would doubtless view anything he produced with suspicion, at best, if not outright contempt, whereas, more “middle-of-the-road” thinking Christians have been at the forefront of health care reform for years. As far as the movie was concerned, I can only say it is the first time in years I have watched an entire audience cry through half of the feature only to break into a standing ovation at the end and actually stay through most of the credits. But the film had a more lasting effect for me. I came away with a myriad of questions about where Christians and the organized church ought to stand on the health care issue. Then it occurred to me that I had never heard anyone speak or even write about what the Bible has to say on this topic. I was perplexed at that fact because that would seem to be the deciding factor for Christians to determine where they should stand regarding important issues.

By Dr. Steven Phillips, Ph.D.

Some months ago I felt the Lord gave me a word of encouragement for God's people. Whenever I believe God is saying something that He wants shared with the Body of Christ, my usual practice is to let the word "ferment" for a time in my spirit before delivering it.   I like to pray about it and let the Spirit mull it over in me for a time to see if it still seems to have the "Breath of God " in it after a while. I tend to find that, if it's really from God, it will "mature" and have even more life in it if I allow it to mellow a bit.  After some time of holding on to this word, it now seems to be a richer promise to me than it did when I first received it.  So, here it goes...

I felt the Lord said, “I am saving the best for last!”

Sounds pretty simple, huh? Well perhaps I should try to put this short message into context and it just might increase a bit in significance because it's brevity and simplicity disguise the wonder and breadth of its application.

By Steven Phillips, PhD 

 One of holiday “traditions” around our household is to watch several of the classic Christmas movies during the season.  These vintage films have the power to cause one to think more about the blessings that life has bestowed upon us instead of the momentary problems that we might be facing.  They help us remember the fact that life itself is a gift worth far more than anything that comes in brightly colored wrapping paper – and, remembering that, can give you hope – even  during difficult economic times.  So it was that this holiday season, Rachel and I sat down to enjoy an evening with Jimmy Stewart in “It's A Wonderful Life.” But this year, with our nation in the throes of major bank failures and millions of people losing their homes in foreclosure, the old tale seemed to cry out with an eerie, prophetic significance.  All I could think was, “I wonder who is the evil Mr. Potter of our day trying to buy up the failing banks and seeking to profit off of the suffering of so many?”