I am now the proud owner of a Rosary.

Yes, a Catholic Prayer Rosary.

No, I am not Catholic. I don’t even know how to “use” a Rosary.

But my prayer Rosary is one of my most prized possessions.

Here is how I came to own it:

My wife and I were running errands the other day, and we noticed a hitch hiker. So we picked him up and took him to where he was going. His name was Anthony Rodriguez. We had a great chat about his travels and his family while we drove him to where he was going…. the homeless shelter.

When we got there, he handed us a rosary he had made. He said that he stood on the side of the road for two hours before we picked him up, and his rosary was all he had to give us. We tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.

His gift was a gesture of kindness and gratitude from someone who had so little to someone who has so much. And for that, I will always cherish my Rosary and remember Anthony Rodriquez every time I see it.

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We usually think of books belonging in a bookshelf.

Here are some books for your backyard.

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The “Man Up” campaign sounds great, but I was most interested to read the opening statistics about fathers. If you missed them, start the video over and read them again.

I appreciate what this group is doing for the horrible situation in Africa, but at the same time I have to ask, “What about all the fatherless here in the United States?”

I work with people day-in and day-out who grew up without fathers, and I see the truth of these statistics.

Men, if you are being a father to your children… Thank you.

Just being there for your kids is accomplishing more for this world than you can ever imagine.

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A while back, when I was preaching through Ephesians, I included the following letter in one of my sermons. It was written in 1 BC from a Roman citizen to his wife, who was expecting a child.

He wrote this:

I am still in Alexandria. … I beg and plead with you to take care of our little child, and as soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you. In the meantime, if (good fortune to you!) you give birth, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it.

In case you didn’t know, “expose it” is a nice way of saying, “Throw it out. Let it die.”

Can you imagine living in a society where people choose whether or not they want to keep their baby based on its gender?

Can you imagine living in a society where people thought it was okay to kill a baby girl simply because you wanted a boy?

Oh… wait…

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