Most of my life, New Year's resolutions just didn't make sense.

Maybe that's because I feel most folks make too big of a deal over the New Year. What's so great about Jan 1, anyway? 

Life flows from day, to week, to month, to season, to year in an ongoing stream. The first day of a year never feels all that different from any other day. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries and graduations are bigger events than any Jan. 1. Even Y2K.

Life hinges on random dates far more dramatically than the beginning of a year. For example, my parents were involved in a catastrophic car wreck on a July afternoon. That day affected them, as well as our family, far more profoundly than anything that happened on the first day of 2012 or 2013.

But I began re-thinking New Year's resolutions very early one day this summer. It was one of the numberless mornings when I awoke at 5, dressed in the dark, laced up my sneakers and went out for a run.

This all started more than three years ago, when my buddy Peter told our Sunday school class I was going to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) with him. Peter had been after me to do this for ages, and he finally figured — correctly — he could shame me into it. If he told everyone I was committed, then I'd never back down. And so we ran our first half marathon together, and I loved it.

Almost exactly a year ago, as I completed yet another half marathon, I set a goal for 2012: I would run a full marathon — all 26.2 miles of it. That's what pushed me to get up at least five days a week all summer and fall to run anywhere from five miles to 20 miles. 

Here's the weird part: I failed to make my goal, but I never regretted pursuing it. The Saturday after Thanksgiving — just two weeks before the Dallas Marathon — I pulled a muscle in my left calf. At my age, that meant I couldn't rehab my leg in time to push it for 26.2 miles.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed all the 1,000-plus miles I put in as I trained. Sure, I felt down on race day, because I wasn't there, running. But I loved the early-morning quiet. The exuberance of exercise. The opportunity to think and pray alone on the road. The power of sweat. The euphoria of endorphins. The satisfaction of feeling stronger and in better shape than I'd ever been in my life.

And it never would have happened if I hadn't set a goal. Achieving it was secondary to pursuing it. 

So, I'm setting goals for 2013. If I don't aim for them, I'll never achieve them. And even if I don't make all of them, I'll glory in the challenge and be a better husband, father, co-worker, family member and friend because of them.

What are they? Well that's a personal question, and I won't tell you the complete answer.

But you can bet completing a full marathon is on the list.

Sometime every autumn, I look at my calendar and vow, "This year, it will be different." I promise myself I'll make plenty of time to savor Advent and Christmas. 

I imagine quiet evenings at home with Joanna, drinking hot chocolate and listening to carols and other favorite Christmas songs. I imagine dropping our Christmas cards in the mail by the end of the first week of December, and buying and wrapping all the Christmas presents shortly thereafter. 

I imagine leisurely evening rides to look at the lights, and plenty of time to read books—novels, even! And I think about Advent candles and Christmas meditations, as well as silent nights and heavenly peace.

Then the real world happens.

Like, ironically, desperately needing to update my blog sometime before Christmas. And trips to take, both for fun and work. Plus crowds and to-do lists as long as an eight-reindeer sleigh. Don't forget end-of-year jobs at work that can't be put off any longer. Interruptions—both annoying and lovely, that take time and wreck schedules.

Pretty soon, it's almost Christmas (or, for that matter, the day after Christmas), and you wonder where the time has gone. You look at the Christmas cards yet to be mailed. And the pile of books stacked expectantly by the easy chair. You wonder why things weren't different. Then you vow, as you have so many times before, "Next year, it will be different."

But it won't. You know it won't.

And I've been thinking, maybe it shouldn't be any different. Maybe we should just relax and recognize Christmas comes like a big ol' honking interruption in our busy lives. And that's OK.

After all, the original Christmas arrived at an enormously busy time. The Gospel of Luke tells us Jesus was born when Caesar declared "all the world" had to be taxed (some things never change). And to be taxed, everybody had to travel to their great-great-great-great ganddaddy's hometown. Enormously inconvenient, don't you think? Imagine how the work stacked up when evereyone had to pack up and go somewhere to fill out a census form.

And with Jesus' family, this was especially inconvenient. That's because his mama, Mary, was out-to-there pregnant. I'm a guy, so I can't even begin to comprehend how miserable that must have been.

Mary's pregnancy was inconvenient for the the innkeeper, too. You know he was double-down busy, what with all those out-of-towners in Bethlehem to take part in the census and register for the tax. He was so busy, he was plum out of rooms and started renting out the barn. Then, he had to make room for a pregnant woman who looked like she could go into labor at any minute.

Meanwhile, in a nearby pasture, the shepherds were hard at work. Thankless job. But someone had to do it, and so they camped out in the countryside, looking after their flocks. Until an angel choir interrupted their work, singing about something so incredible that, if you were alive at the time but not there at the moment, you absolutely couldn't believe it. Minutes later, They abandoned their work to go search for the baby about whom the angels sang.

The first Christmas arrived amidst the busyness of ordinary life. And so do Christmases today. 

I've been thinking we might appreciate them better—and more fully as God intended—if we respect them as interruptions in our already-busy lives. I dare say my dreams of the "perfect" Christmas (and how about yours?) more nearly reflect the imaginations of greeting-card designers and television-special producers than the theological intentions of the Gospel writers.

Christmas interrupts life. We don't set the whole world aside. Often, we don't even get to slow down very much. But that doesn't mean we don't pay attention. It doesn't suggest we don't understand the "true meaning" of Christmas. It doesn't imply we're any less grateful for God's magnificent gift of Incarnate Love, Emmanuel, "God with us."

Jesus is with us—among us—in our mad dash to finish up all those end-of-year chores at work. And the never-ending quest of raising our kids or looking after our elderly family members. Or just trying to stay sane in a politicized, hard world. Jesus is just as much a part of all that—no, actually, more part of that—than some idealized "perfect" Christmas scene.

Well, I hope this makes sense. I would've spent more time smoothing out the prose and fleshing out the ideas, but as you might imagine, I've been awfully busy this year.

Merry Christmas!

While we grieve the loss of 20 children and the educators who cared for them in Newtown, let us resolve to change the culture that allows such massacres to happen.

When will we say enough is enough? Not after Columbine, or Blacksburg, Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek or Portland. Maybe after Newtown.

Since two teenagers gunned down 13 people and injured 21 others at Columbine High School, at least 30 mass shootings have been perpetrated upon Americans. This year alone in our nation, 16 mass shootings have left 88 dead. This is to say nothing of the thousands across those years who died in single-shooting incidents.

This is madness. Maintaining the status quo is madness. The madness must end.

Gun control is a third rail of American politics. But gun policy must transcend politics. Some say it's a public-safety issue. That's true. But it's more. It's a human-decency issue. We need leaders with the courage to be decent, with the courage to demand our nation be decent and safe.

Second Amendment & wisdom

To some degree, gun control is a Second Amendment issue. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

The Second Amendment guarantees the right to "keep and bear arms." The Second Amendment is a wise and time-honored document. It should not be abridged.

But the Second Amendment should be applied with wisdom. It's time to reinstitute the assaualt weapons ban. It's time to strengthen policy regulating the purchase of guns and ammunition. It's time to strictly regulate high-volume clips and magazines designed to enable shooters to fire dozens—or scores—of rounds as fast as they can squeeze a trigger.

I know; I know. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. But guns are not outlawed, and the good guys who want to carry guns never are present when the outlaws open fire. So, we need to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of outlaws.

Maybe the madness is getting so caught up in the hypothetical situations that we overlook the plain facts. These are blood-red facts. Facts with names and faces, most recently names and faces of 20 6- and 7-year-olds.

Complex issue; multiple reponses

President Obama noted this is a complex issue, which is true. He said it's a challenge that will not be resolved by one changed law, which also is true. We must confront this challenge on several fronts, including:

• Restoring the assault weapons ban. This means working with the gun lobby to find a reasonable consensus that honors the Second Amendment in both spirit and letter while also making the nation safe from mass-shooters.

• Increasing the nation's infrastructure to deal with mental illness. Of course, this is a struggle, because it means providing state and federal budget dollars, which essentially dried up for mental illness in the Reagan Administration.

• Curbing the availability of violent video games to teenagers. This is a First Amendment issue—free speech—but we also restrict access to other commodities, such as alcohol, to minors. Teens don't have the right to absorb violence-porn.

• Agreeing to mask the identities of mass-murderers. We can tell the stories of these events without revealing the names and faces of the killers. This would curtail copycat slayings and take the allure away from psychopaths who wish to become famous—or infamous—for any cause.

End the madness

Of course, many people of goodwill will disagree with some or all of these actions. That is their right. But expecting the shootings to stop without changing the status quo is madness. 

Madness is the sudden slaughter of innocents—Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeline, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle and Allison. Madness is the massacre of the brave educators who perished with those children—Rachel, Dawn, Anne Marie, Lauren, Mary and Victoria.

The madness must end.

Every year, an organization called SplashData analyzes files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by computer hackers. From that data, it compiles a list of the 25 worst passwords. 

This year, for the first time, "Jesus" made the list, premiering at No. 21, right between "football" and "Michael."

So, if you chose the name of our Lord as a password for any of your online registrations, you probably thought, "No way I could forget that." Unfortunately, people with evil intentions are onto you, and they remember the name, too. And I doubt they're asking themselves, "What would Jesus do?"

The Infamous Ten

For the record, here are the Top 10 worst passwords of 2012. (By the way, if you picked Nos. 1 through 4, then shame on you for possessing a teeny-weeny imagination. And if you picked Nos. 6 and 8, what's going on in that head of yours?) Here you go …

1. password

2. 123456

3. 12345678

4. abc123

5. qwerty

6. monkey

7. letmein

8. dragon

9. 111111

10. baseball

Change, change, change

Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, said he encourages computer users to switch away from bad passwords. "We're hoping … more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites," he urged.

If you think you can remember "Jesus" but don't want hackers to break in and steal your computer secrets, try to out-think them. You might start by assuming hackers didn't go to Sunday school or, at best, didn't pay attention in Sunday school. So, think of passwords that mean the same thing but aren't as obvious.

Likely alternatives

This could include "SonOfGod," "Emmanuel" or "Immanuel," "TheWord" or (if you want to flatter yourself for knowing a bit of Greek) "Logos." And if your fingers are energetic and you go for a long password, try "SecondPersonOfTheTrinity."

Of course, if any hackers read this blog, they'll be onto you. But I'm guessing the volume of hackers who read FaithWorks is even lower than the volume who won Sunday school attendance pens.

So, if "Jesus" is your password, change it. That's not the same as apostasy.

He survived child sexual abuse. He nearly drowned in the Missouri River.  He's the first knuckleballer—"the baseball equivalent of a carnival act"—ever to win the Cy Young. He's 38 years old, 14 years past the runner-up. He's missing a ligament in his throwing elbow. He labored years and years in the minor leagues. He set records for allowing the most home runs and the most wild pitches in a game.

He's also one of the most down-to-earth, grounded, decent guys anywhere, much less professional sports. He holds his prestige "lightly," because he knows baseball success and failure do not define him as a human being. He knows faith and family, not fortune and fame, are what matter in life.

And he's a humble, committed Christian who credits the Lord for saving him and redeeming his life.

If you love sports, particularly baseball, you're reveling in Dickey's award. Beyond that, if you love great stories, particularly about faithful people who persevere, you'll enjoy Dickey's award. 

So, do yourself a favor and follow these links:

• Here's his Fresh Air radio interview, recorded last spring when his book, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball, came out. It's about 40 minutes long (unless you download it and play it double speed) but worth your time.

•  This is a much shorter news interview, recorded Nov. 15, after the Cy Young Award was announced.

• Here's the New York Daily News story on the award.

• Follow this link to the Orlando Sentinel story about his near-drowning incident.

• And here's where you can buy the book. 

 The people have spoken, and now the pundits and politicians are parsing what it all means. Some say the Republicans lost because Mitt Romney and his team didn't campaign well enough. Some say Barack Obama won because he and his staff brilliantly focused on the right demographic—women, young adults and people of color—to carry the swing states. Some say the popular vote was close, and President Obama enters his second term without a clear mandate to govern. Some say the president won a lopsided electoral victory and earned four more years with a solid mandate.

Here's what we know: A Democrat remains in the White House. Republicans control the House of Representatives. Democrats gained a larger majority in the Senate. Republican appointees out-number Democratic appointees on the Supreme Court.

Our federal government is about as evenly divided as the American people.

Many politicians, pundits and ordinary people reflect on the bitter campaign season, see the split in Congress, acknowledge the partisanship that dominates government and media, and claim our country is irreparably divided. Given their perspective, it's small wonder government has succumbed to cutthroat politics and partisan malaise. In that context, the people expect very little, and politicians deliver exactly what is expected.

But let's look at America another way. Yes, we're divided right down the middle. That's right—almost evenly split. So, the job of our elected officials is to do what's best for the whole country and reconcile the division. That will mean taking up a cause that's been anathema in Washington and statehouses for far too long—compromise.

We're not two countries, but one. If we're all going to fare well in the future, then the country needs to work. Government needs to function smoothly. With goodwill and creativity, our elected officials can find compromises that boost the entire country, not their particular part of the populace. 

As I've noted before, we need to take steps to punish partisanship and promote unity. And as I've also noted, we need to empathize with each other and seek the common good.

Calling for constructive cooperation and creative compromise is not naivete. It's what citizens should reasonably expect of their leaders. If America is going to thrive, we must expect fealty to party to diminish and loyalty to the whole of our nation to arise.

In the coming months, we should pay attention to how our elected officials behave. If individuals or parties or other groups block progress and refuse to work for the greater good, then we should vote them out of office the next chance we get. Of course, we won't have that opportunity with the president, but he should be made to know his legacy will be ruined if he does not work for the good of all Americans, just as the legacies of the House and Senate leadership will be  tarnished if they do not reciprocate good-faith offers of compromise and unified progress.

We only thought the campaign season was strenuous. That was simple compared to the task of diligent citizenship. Let us assure all our leaders we're watching them and counting on them to repair the rifts, work together like mature adults, and make our country strong again.

As head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Land is the SBC's prime lobbyist. He's been there 24 years, with  about a year left before retirement. 

Just a week before the 2012 presidential election, Land broke his longstanding pledge not to endorse political candidates. He announced his support for Mitt Romney for president.

A year ago, Land repeated his longstanding claim not to endorse political candidates: "I have defended various candidates from time to time when I've felt that they have been unfairly or inaccurately criticized," he said in Christian NewsWire. "At other times, I have been asked by the media for my assessment of a particular candidate's chances or weaknesses and strengths. Neither defense nor assessment should be confused with endorsement. As a matter of policy, I have not endorsed, do not endorse and will not endorse candidates."

Of course, Land always flirted with the truth of that statement. He never said, "Vote for So-and-so." But, if anything, Land is a clear communicator. He always framed his advocacy of issues so directly that anyone who heard or read him knew exactly who he supported in major races.

Immediately before joining the SBC agency in 1988, Land worked for Republican Texas Governor Bill Clements. When he moved into the Baptist Building in Nashville, he decorated his office with pictures of elephants. (Get it? Elephants.) Land advocated the George W. Bush administration so enthusiastically you always had the feeling if President Bush started wearing a cowboy boot on his right foot and a wing-tip oxford on his left, Land would write a theological treatise about why God wants everybody to wear a cowboy boot on their right foot and a wingtip oxford on their left.

But Land never outright endorsed a political candidate—including his good friend, Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, late of the presidential race—until now.

He knows direct endorsement of political candidates by leaders of churches and tax-exempt organizations violates the Internal Revenue Service code. His disclaimers aside, he's smart enough to know he can't hide behind a "private citizen" shield when he's gained all his notoriety across more than two decades as the chief public policy/public affairs officer of the nation's second-largest religious group.

So, why now? 

Romney needs conservative Christian votes.  Many evangelical Christians—Baptists included—don't believe Mormons are Christians and don't believe they should vote for a non-Christian. So, the Team Romney needed Billy Graham to remove the Mormon "cult" designation from his website. And they need Religious Right leaders to come out directly and explicitly in favor of Romney. 

That's Romney's side of the timing. And what about Land's timing?

He knows the IRS is so under-staffed it's not likely to deny the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's tax-exempt status over this. More than that, he loves the political limelight. And sometime next year, he'll be out of a job. And he won't have a platform. Unless he's been promised a place in a Romney Administration.

Only time will tell … and only if Romney wins.

Not tentative, skittish schoolboy hope, like "I hope I get an iPhone for my birthday." But biblical hope: "God led us thus far. And even though we cannot see the future, in hope, we're stepping out on faith."

Baptist Standard Publishing will launch CommonCall: The Baptist Standard Magazine in January. We have produced a pre-publication edition, which we will distribute at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Corpus Christi the end of the month.

Long path & clear mission

Our journey to CommonCall followed a long path and a clear mission. It began in 1888, when visionaries started a newspaper to draw Texas Baptists together. Since the beginning, we have existed to inform, inspire, equip and empower people to follow Christ and expand the kingdom of God.

Along the way, the Baptist Standard changed names twice, office locations several times, formats and printing styles many times, and editors 12 times. Across the years, our legacy has been forthright news about and for Texas Baptists. To that end, we primarily have published newspapers, but we've also employed other media. Generations ago, we printed books. Recently, we have operated a website and produced a digital edition on the Internet.

Heritage & legacy

Beginning next January, we will celebrate our heritage by extending our legacy even as we innovate once again. Actually, twice again.

For certain, we will continue to publish the Baptist Standard. But not with paper. Every-other week, subscribers will receive a digital edition produced with the latest technology, so that it will be easy to read on your computer, tablet and phone. The new Standard will include the same kind of content you've been reading on newsprint—Baptist and religion news; trends affecting faith and life; articles about missions and ministries; stories about faithful people; and letters and opinion.

And every month, subscribers to the current printed Baptist Standard will receive CommonCall, a magazine crafted in direct response to extensive conversations with Texas Baptists supplemented by surveys of pastors.

The magazine will highlight human-interest stories about changed lives, Christians who put faith in action, missions, evangelism and family life. It also will present thought-provoking leadership articles and stories about effective church ministries.

We asked pastors what kind of articles they want their members to read—material to equip them for service to Christ in their churches and in their day-to-day lives. We'll follow their guidance as we select content every month.

Solidarity & purpose

The magazine's name represents the solidarity and shared purpose that binds Texas Baptists. CommonCall reflects our desire for this magazine to unify churches and our convention. It also champions our shared commitment to help every Christian fulfill his or her calling.

So, we'll produce a state-of-the-art digital news publication, the Baptist Standard. And we'll respond to the expressed desires of Texas Baptists to receive an uplifting, inspirational magazine, CommonCall.

A great deal …

Individuals and churches who subscribe soon to CommonCall will receive two free bonus subscriptions of the Baptist Standard for each CommonCall subscription. This offer may not last long, but we want to give every Texas Baptists and every Texas Baptist church an easy, economical opportunity to tap into the Baptist Standard legacy and gather together around CommonCall. To make it even more economical, we're selling bundled subscriptions to churches. It's so inexpensive, churches can't afford not to provide it for their members.

In the best biblical sense of the word, we hope to continue blessing Texas Baptists for generations.

If you have questions about our changes or ideas for either the Baptist Standard or CommonCall, contact me: [email protected]; (214) 630-4571 ext. 1013.

Like the other day, when the phone rang in my pocket while I was up in Oklahoma, checking on my parents.

(By the way, many of you remember my mother and father were involved in a horrific automobile accident July 4 and have asked about them. Joanna and I drove up to their home in southwestern Oklahoma to see them with our own eyes. They've made solid progress since mid-summer. They've still got a ways to go, especially Mother, who suffered a compound fracture of her right femur. But they're getting better and stronger. Thanks for your prayers.)

Mother and I were visiting in her living room when my phone started ringing.  The message on the screen told me the caller was "Baptist Standard," which meant either one of my colleagues was trying to reach me or someone had called the phone at my desk, which by a miracle of modern technology passed the call to me.

Full head of steam

By the time I could say: "This is Marv Knox. May I help you?" the fellow on the other end of the line built up a full head of steam.

He mentioned the name of the little town where he lives, something about "my mother" and "mainstreaming Mormonism" and "trying to get Obama re-elected, which would absolutely ruin our country." He also used a word that, if his mother were much like my mother, would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap.

At first, I didn't know what he was talking about, because I didn't have a copy of the Sept. 3 Baptist Standard in front of me. As it so happened, the cover package of that paper focused on the increasing influence of Mormons in America. Of course, the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney influenced the selection of that topic. But while Romney is a Republican, the leader of the Senate Democrats, Harry Reid, also is a Mormon, as are numerous other business and government leaders.

To put it mildly, the caller didn't like the Mormonism package. Well, that may or may not be the case. I never determined if he ever actually read the articles, or if his mother got upset, and he reached out and touched the cell phone in my pocket. 

No endorsement intended or implied

I tried to explain the Mormonism package was nonpartisan, featuring prominent Republican and Democratic Mormons, as well as Mormons who have nothing to do with politics. Our practice—as well as common sense—forbids us from endorsing political candidates.

The caller didn't really care for my explanation. He told me he was involved in "something big" and about to come into a boatload of money, part of which he had considered donating to the Baptist Standard unless we kept on doing things he didn't like. Or his mother told him he didn't like. 

When he paused to take a breath, I told him about another phone call I received. It came from a Texas pastor, who saw the same package of articles and was concerned because he felt we were endorsing Romney and trying to defeat Obama.

See what you expect … or fear

So, I told the anti-Obama/pro-Romney caller that folks sometimes read into articles what they want or expect to see. Sometimes—and this seemed to be one of those cases—they also see what they fear the most.

The next sentence out of the caller's mouth use another phrase that, I'm pretty sure, consigned my soul to eternal perdition. And then he told me—again—he has a lot of money.

Although I think of myself as being fairly patient, this fellow finally got on my nerves. I thanked him for cursing me out twice and told him to keep his money.

Since then, I've thought quite a bit about how two people saw the same set of articles and drew completely opposite conclusions. That's probably a byproduct of this fractious, heated political season. But it happens far too often in homes, churches, schools and workplaces in our communities. 

We need to slow down our mouths and open our ears. We need to listen to each other and cut each other some slack. And, for heaven's sake, let's quit cussin' each other.

Years ago, my seminary opened a terrific health center. It featured a gym, pool, workout stations, running track and racquetball courts. And since most folks worked out just before, during or immediately after the business day, it also came equipped with spacious locker rooms.

Within a week of the health center's opening, the head of the seminary—a respected scholar and statesman—showed up early one morning for a workout. An hour later, as he strolled to the shower with just a towel, one of the longtime staff members piped up: "We're seeing our esteemed president in a whole new light!"

That's kind of what it's like to log on to Facebook these days. I'm seeing friends in a whole new light. And just like the scene in the seminary locker room, it's not exactly flattering.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter provide enormously powerful tools for communication.  Folks can express everything from their fleeting thoughts and feelings to their deepest philosophies and emotions. And they do.

Sometimes, reading Facebook reminds me of pondering bio-medical ethics.  Our technical expertise extends far beyond our wisdom to exercise it.

This seems to be compounded with Facebook because of an ironic fact: It's at once solitary and private and also transparent and public. And some folks don't seem to get that.

So, I've read posts from friends whom I know never would shout at another person or publicly denigrate their beliefs and commitments. Except they do it on Facebook, where hundreds and possibly thousands of others can read it and respond. And they do.

All this has ramped up in the past few weeks, and we're probably only seeing a glimmer of what it will be like before Election Day. I shudder to think of the fractured friendships, not to mention the damaged reputations, that will litter the social network like so much collateral damage of war.

Ironically, Facebook supposedly is a conversation among "friends." But it doesn't feel very friendly amid the coarse, take-no-prisoners political discourse of our era.

Maybe Christians should think about how they represent Christ—whatever their political persuasion—before they start ripping on the candidates and the citizens who follow and support the candidates.

We're going to hold a political election soon. Obviously, some will win and others lose. But it will be infinitely harder to take up the tasks of normal time—like making this country work—if the remains of battered, bloody and bruised "friendships" litter the landscape.

For well more than three decades, well-meaning Christians have been hoodwinked by scary letters, faxes, emails and, now, blogs threatening dire calamity: Evil forces are about to get Jesus thrown off America’s airwaves.

Throughout the years, the particulars have changed, but the common denominator is a warning that “Petition #2493” is being circulated to force the Federal Communications Commission to prevent the broadcast of programs that include reading the Bible, prayer, worship services, Christmas carols and Christmas features.

As far back as I can remember, the hoax claimed famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair proposed and promoted the petition. Finally, when most folks finally figured out she is dead, the rumor morphed. It claimed “they” were targeting “Dr. Dobson,” Christian counselor and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. Later, the rumor morphed again. It its latest iteration, the alleged victims of anti-Christian hooliganism are Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah and “other pastors.”

First things first: The whole thing is a lie. It was old, outdated and untrue when I first reported on it for Baptist Press in the mid-1980s. It was even older and no less a lie when I wrote my first editorial on it, somewhere about 1990. And now, Lord only knows how many reports and editorials later, it’s still untrue and way, way older.

It’s so old and untrue, I’m plain tired of writing about it. But thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can find more background, if you really, really want it.

• Here’s an editorial I wrote on #2493 in the spring of 2009.

• Here’s another editorial, from 2003. I still like the references to Elvis and Bigfoot from that one.

• Here’s a link to an article from the Snopes urban legends website.

• And here’s a Wikipedia article.

Help stamp out (this version of) Christian gullibility. Tell your friends and neighbors Petition #2493 is a zombie rumor. It’s not real, but it just won’t die.

Note: The fourth paragraph of this post has been revised. Originally, it stated James Dobson retired and shut down his program. Actually, Dobson resigned from Focus on the Family in 2010 and founded “James Dobson’s Family Talk.” Also the “Focus on the Family” program still is broadcast, with other hosts.

By now, you probably know all about the rowdy prince's trip to America. Fresh off his victorious stint representing Great Britain at the closing ceremony of the Olympics, he paid a visit on the former colonies. Along the way, he committed several tactical errors. Among them, he …

• Made a beeline to Las Vegas. Why, oh, why would a world-famous eligible bachelor spend his vacation in Las Vegas? Don't answer that. We both can think of zillions of reasons. And they all walk around in teeny-tiny skirts on stilleto high heels.  Although God may not tempt us with more than we can bear, Sin City doesn't follow the Lord's agenda. So, the bonnie prince must have forgotten to use his head for something other than a hatrack. He sure didn't think. Which led to his second mistake. He …

• Lost his knickers. Yep, that's right. He apparently went skinny dipping or at least took off his clothes in a Vegas hotel room occupied by multiple people. (If you think I'm going to provide a link to stories about his nekkidness , you're almost as daft as the young prince.) Drunken skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee may or may not be sacrilegious, but going nude in Las Vegas is just plain dumb. What happens in Vegas rarely stays in Vegas. That's because nowadays, practically everybody has a telephone with a camera in it. This led to his third mistake. He …

• Got caught wearing his birthday suit. Or, to quote the late, great Ray Stevens, "He didn't have on nothin' but a smile." 

The reason I feel a little bit sorry for Prince Harry is I understand what it's like to grow up in a fishbowl. I'm a Baptist preacher's kid, or PK for short. OK, so the all the major media, gossip blogs, Facebook and Twitter monitor Prince Harry's fishbowl, which sits on a mantel visible to the whole wide world. The only people who monitored my fishbowl were the other members of our little Baptist church and a few nosy folks who cared what happened inside the Baptist preacher's family. And the mantel that held my fishbowl could only be seen from the borders of Ochiltree County. 

But still, a fishbowl is a fishbowl. And living under close scrutiny by anyone other than your immediate family never is easy and can be unnerving. 

Nevertheless, I can only muster a smidgeon of sympathy for the naked prince. He's 27 years old and should have grown up by now. He's a graduate of tony British schools, supposedly the best in the world, which theoretically teach about honor and duty and the "greater good." And he's a military veteran and should've learned something about both discipline and logical consequences.

The prince would have benefited by words of advice from my dad and a plea from my mom, which they invariably uttered at the beginning of weekends when I was in high school.

Daddy often said, "Know who you are and Whose you are." It was his way of telling me to remember the morals and principles every significant adult in my life tried to teach me and to recall that, as a Christian, my actions reflected on Jesus. Mother added the weightier, "Please don't do anything to ruin your daddy's ministry." To be honest, I resented the psychological tonnage of that statement, but it effectively reminded me my actions could and would affect others besides myself, including the people I loved most.

Who knows what Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles said to Harry when he arrived back home in London. I hope the queen cried and blew her nose and made him feel miserable. So miserable he'll finally act like a man instead of a spoiled brat.

And when the rest of us remember Harry (I get it; we'd just as soon forget.), may his behavior remind us none of us is immune to the consequences of foolishness. The sin and stupidity we do never stays hidden.  And even more importantly, our actions reflect on others—our families, our churches, our Lord.