Five days a week, mostly, sorta, I do a one minute radio spot on our local station WIQO FM, Covington. I also send these spots out in text form via email. There is a link on this blog-page where you read some samples and subscribe to receive the daily thought.
These spots are about life--mostly my life, since that is the one I know the most about, culture, church, theology--pretty much the sky is the limit. It is hard to get everything in a minute (To be honest some of the email versions would take as much as a minute-and-a-half to broadcast) so often these pieces are short on answers. I try to make them what the name implies, Something to Think About, STTA.
Here is one I sent out today, with a few thoughts that follow.

Something to Think About, March 3, 2008
Here is a troubling finding:In a recent survey the Barna Group found that the three characteristics most associated with Christians are that we are: anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical.Rather than immediately rising up to defend our honor, how about if we followers of Christ bow our heads and ask for forgiveness. Our Lord was known as the friend of sinners. He was castigated for hanging-out with prostitutes, and tax-collectors. The Pharisees pointed out that he was lax about enforcing the man-made rules that cluttered their religion. And, as to hypocrisy: At his trial--amid the leaders, who pressed their trumped up charges, and the witnesses, who told lies, because that was the only way they could say anything bad about Jesus, and Pilate, who "washed his hands"--Christ was the only non-hypocritical person there.While we are still on our knees let's pray that God would help us to live so that we would be known for our love, our example of purity, and integrity.It's Something to Think, Pray, and Do About, from the CBC.

I am reminded of an experience of about 11 years ago. I was on a train traveling through a snowy night in Ukraine. A Russian civil-engineer got on board, and took a seat in our compartment. He was almost totally covered with the white stuff. After thawing for a few minutes, a lengthy conversation took place between he and my translator/traveling companion. After talking for a time our new companion settled in for a nap.

When he knew that he was sleeping my friend, Slavic, gave me a report of what had taken place. Slavic had asked the engineer if he knew what it meant to be a Christian. The man replied, "Yes, they don't do abortions."

I remember a mixture of emotions. I was pleased that my brethren in that part of world, where there were more children aborted than born alive, had the reputation that they are pro life. At the same time, however, I was bothered that so often our Christian message comes out as what we are against, rather than what we are for, or even more important, what Christ has done for us.

Lord help us to communicate the core of the story.