Connect with Me
Featured Books
Latest Release!
Personal Stuff
- Chris Fabry
- Married to Andrea since 1982. We have 9 children together and none apart. Our dog's name is Tebow.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
There I was, minding my own business, writing at 11:11 AM Pacific Time, when out my back window, what to my wandering eyes do I see...or is it wondering eyes? Oh well, whatever the wonder/wander, I saw this above the Rincon Mountain Range. It's flying over Tucson in honor of Gabby Giffords. Pretty cool way to end the morning.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Here's a picture that says it all. Brandon Phillips looking back at Teddy as he ran to the dugout. We talked about this on Chris Fabry Live. Have you ever seen anything as great as this?
Photo from The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger. To see the full set of pictures, click here.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Got up early to take Tebow outside. If I ever get the book completed that I'm working on, it will be because of his weak bladder.
Not a cloud in the sky. The moon was a crescent and above it some planet. Venus? I made the left to go to Tebow's favorite morning spot (he would kill me if he knew I was telling this) and in the sky I saw the strangest cloud I'd ever seen. It looked a lot like this:
I watched the cloud swirl and morph and with the rising sun, I thought I was watching some cosmic sign. Things have been tough the past couple of weeks. Could this be a message to my heart? And if so, what kind of message? I drew a picture of the cloud in my journal when I returned, in case I see that particular shape in the future and need a reminder.
Then I heard the news and looked it up online. From the Associated Press (which also published the photo above):
Not a cloud in the sky. The moon was a crescent and above it some planet. Venus? I made the left to go to Tebow's favorite morning spot (he would kill me if he knew I was telling this) and in the sky I saw the strangest cloud I'd ever seen. It looked a lot like this:
Then I heard the news and looked it up online. From the Associated Press (which also published the photo above):
The contrail was from a Juno ballistic missile that was fired at 6:30 a.m. MDT Thursday from Fort Wingate near Gallup, N.M., a spokesman for the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range said. The Juno missile was then targeted by an advanced version of the Patriot missile fired from White Sands.
The rising sun backlit the Juno missile’s contrail and provided a spectacular morning sight for early risers across the region.
Message received. Keep working on what you're working on and others will do the same.
Friday, September 7, 2012
I was getting beat at chess by my 11 year old. My nightly humiliation. I always lose my rook in the right corner. And then he says, "You didn't see that?"
Two guys outside with the telltale binder and a flyer. Will you give? Will you support? I don't like to encourage this kind of thing, but when they said they were with Teen Challenge, I took the flyer. It's a good ministry.
Sigh. I didn't have much cash. I have less now because I told them to wait, went inside and came back out and filled out the little card and wished them well.
The younger one said, "Pardon me for asking, but your neighbor over on the other street said a famous Christian author lived here."
I laughed. Crazy neighbors. I told them to wait. A couple of days ago I received a few boxes of copies of my new novel, Borders of the Heart, set in Tucson. I handed them the copies and they thanked me. I shook their hands and bid them a good night.
I sat down on the couch. A handful of pawns left. My King and a horsie and a bishop.
The doorbell rang again.
"Sorry to bother you, but we wanted to see if you would autograph it."
Steve and Morgan were their names. I hope they like the story. I hope my small investment will pay dividends down the road.
Two guys outside with the telltale binder and a flyer. Will you give? Will you support? I don't like to encourage this kind of thing, but when they said they were with Teen Challenge, I took the flyer. It's a good ministry.
Sigh. I didn't have much cash. I have less now because I told them to wait, went inside and came back out and filled out the little card and wished them well.
The younger one said, "Pardon me for asking, but your neighbor over on the other street said a famous Christian author lived here."
I laughed. Crazy neighbors. I told them to wait. A couple of days ago I received a few boxes of copies of my new novel, Borders of the Heart, set in Tucson. I handed them the copies and they thanked me. I shook their hands and bid them a good night.
I sat down on the couch. A handful of pawns left. My King and a horsie and a bishop.
The doorbell rang again.
"Sorry to bother you, but we wanted to see if you would autograph it."
Steve and Morgan were their names. I hope they like the story. I hope my small investment will pay dividends down the road.
Monday, August 6, 2012
1. Christians don’t have to be a wimps.
2. Being well-versed in the Scriptures and being a know-it-all are very different things.
3. Kindness and compassion are more attractive than a bombastic, showy faith.
4. Humility and a broken heart for sinners is a Christlike response to those who disagree with you.
5. Hard times prove who you are behind the curtain.
6. You can be the same person with the on-air light on or off.
7. You can spend a lifetime following God closely and still never figure him out.
8. The struggle proves you’re alive, and that God is working.
9. You are judged by the way you treat the person who can do nothing for you.
10. The Bible is relevant to every issue. We need to learn how to study it, interpret it, and most of all, live it.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
We knew this day was coming. Years ago when we began to lose some great Christian leaders my wife said, “What will we do when we lose Don Cole?”I guess we find out now. What will we do in a world without C. Donald Cole?
First, we give thanks.
Thanks be to God for his gift. Thank you for giving us a man so completely devoted to following Jesus. For his kind, generous heart and his wisdom and that calming, soothing voice.
Second, we ask God to comfort those who loved him and hold them close and give them peace in this storm.
Third, we ask God to make us men and women worthy of knowing him. We ask him not just to comfort, but also to conform us more and more to the image of Christ that we saw in Don Cole.
That was something Don would have said in devotions. He would have said it slowly, deliberately, and by taking off his glasses and putting them into his shirt pocket. He would open the Bible and pull out his glasses again and read a few verses and speak truth. Simple. Clear. To the heart.
Don Cole was not just a voice on the radio to me. He was a real human being with opinions, struggles, and a huge heart for those on the outside of the fold. He also cared about the forgotten inside the fold. What you heard on the radio was what you got in his office or at a Cubs game or over coffee. Don Cole was a real man. And he showed us that real men could love God and the Bible. He wasn’t a wimp. And he showed us how real men loved their wives, not lording over them, but sacrificing for them. And he laughed. Oh, how he loved to laugh.
Don Cole was the real deal. He knew when to speak his mind, when to gently correct, when to stand up to a bully, and when to listen. His mouth was filled with choice words he used not to win arguments or stump people with his encyclopedic knowledge, but to lead each person closer to the truth, closer to the heart of God.
I’ve met many great Christians over the years. Famous authors, politicians, preachers, power brokers, thinkers, theologians, sports figures, crusaders, and experts. None of them compares with Don Cole. They don’t even come close.
Why? Partly because he was one of a kind. Partly because of the varied experiences he’d had and his ability to use his intellect and spiritual acumen to create a perspective on the news few could render. Partly because of his amazing ability to meld knowledge with passion for people.
But mostly this: the other thinkers and theologians and preachers didn’t walk with us. They came and went. He was there, committed, no matter what. I’m sure he could have moved to a much higher position, could have been president of some Bible college, or something else. He stayed with us. And he considered what he had been called to do the most important thing. For him to do anything else than teaching God’s Word, anything, would have been a step down.He came to the table with a Bible in one hand and the other outstretched to you. He got down in the trenches, in the muck and mire of life, and walked side by side. The only agenda Don Cole ever had was love.
I grieve for the loss of Don Cole. I grieve for Naomi and the family. I grieve for those too young to hear him and benefit from his wisdom. But mostly I grieve for myself and what I know I have lost and for what I know I’ve gained from having known Don Cole. And for having called him a friend.I can hear his voice, and I will hear it again one day. He would laugh at the tributes, chuckle and shake his head. And put his glasses away.
Thanks be to God for Don Cole. Comfort those who loved him and make us worthy of knowing him. In the name of Christ, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)