{"id":95983,"date":"2026-06-08T21:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=95983"},"modified":"2026-06-08T21:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:11:36","slug":"i-wonder-about-a-lot-of-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-wonder-about-a-lot-of-things\/","title":{"rendered":"I Wonder About a Lot of Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Bill D. Hallstead<br \/>\nvia\u00a0<em>Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995<br \/>\nadapted from\u00a0<em>The Christian Chronicle<\/em>, August 1994\n<ul>\n<li>I wonder why people who punish a child for lying will tell the same child, &#8220;Just say I&#8217;m not home.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people who can get to work by 7:00 or 8:00 can&#8217;t get to church by 9:30, or even 10:30.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people are ecstatic if a ball game goes into overtime, but upset if a church does the same.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why, when the preacher says, &#8220;In closing&#8230;&#8221; he doesn&#8217;t.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people disregard thoughtless things said at work, by friends, or in a store, but not when the same things are said by someone at church.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why so many feel free to skip church for things they wouldn&#8217;t dream of skipping work to do.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why it&#8217;s a compliment to say a man&#8217;s sensitive, but an insult to say he&#8217;s emotional.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why a speaker who &#8220;needs no introduction&#8221; gets one anyway.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people wouldn&#8217;t dream of stealing money from the collection plate, think nothing of skipping their church contributions. Or why people who expect their church to always be there for them when they need it, give their money to other places instead.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why those who work the hardest in the church, give the most, and are the most consistent in serving the needs of others, are the ones who appreciate the church the most, while those who do and give the least find the most fault.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why parents who wouldn&#8217;t dream of letting their children decide for themselves whether to attend school, go to the dentist, or wear decent clothes think it&#8217;s proper to let them decide for themselves whether to attend Sunday School, church, and youth programs.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people who say, &#8220;Money isn&#8217;t everything,&#8221; act as if it were.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people still remember things they forgave ten years ago.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why other people&#8217;s sins are always so much worse than our own.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why other people&#8217;s children are so naughty, but our own are cute when they&#8217;re doing the same things. Or why it&#8217;s the fault of the other children&#8217;s parents when the children do wrong, but our own do wrong in spite of our having taught them better.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people who say, &#8220;I can quit any time I want to,&#8221; can&#8217;t. Or why people keep themselves enslaved to a habit in order to prove their independence.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people who stand before God and vow &#8220;Until death shall part us,&#8221; later decide that means, &#8220;until the going gets tough, &#8221; or &#8220;until I find someone I like better.&#8221; Then I wonder why they say it&#8217;s God&#8217;s will that they break the vows they made to Him. Does that mean He really wants us to lie to Him? I wonder, does God bless us for lying to Him?<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why people apologize to the preacher when he hears them use God&#8217;s name as a swear word. Doesn&#8217;t it seem like they should apologize to God?<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why we don&#8217;t sing &#8220;Sweet Minute of Prayer.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>I wonder how long after death it takes for atheists to know they were wrong.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder how long it takes for those who decide to &#8220;end it all&#8221; to discover they just started it all.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why the fertilized egg of a Sea Tortoise is deserving of all the protection of law given an adult Sea Tortoise, but a fertilized egg of a human, or a live human baby yet unborn, has no such rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I just wonder about a lot of things. Don&#8217;t you? I wonder if God doesn&#8217;t wonder about us a lot, too. I wonder if He&#8217;s amused, or if He just sadly shakes His divine head. I wonder, does God cry?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bill D. Hallstead via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 adapted from\u00a0The Christian Chronicle, August 1994 I wonder why people who punish a child for lying will tell the same child, &#8220;Just say I&#8217;m not home.&#8221; I wonder why people who can get to work by 7:00 or 8:00 can&#8217;t get to church&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1040],"class_list":["post-95983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-consistency"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-people-wearing-shorts-to-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":0},"title":"What do you think about people wearing shorts to church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was brought up in a church that has taught us to be modest and when we come to church we should dress appropriately. I have moved out of state and attend a church where people wear shorts in the congregation and on the platform and I am grieved.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-death-of-wonder\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":1},"title":"The Death of Wonder","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Anthony J. Hamilton How often do you feel a sense of wonder? There is a Hebrew word, p\u00e2l\u00e2\u2019, with the following definition: Primitive root - to be marvelous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action. It is used in several different ways: for people being separated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Wonder-and-Amazement-205x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31541,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-get-agitated-at-having-baby-dedication-ceremonies-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to get agitated at having baby dedication ceremonies during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in search of a church home and have visited several.\u00a0 The last church I joined was more focused on supporting its Christian school than on evangelism, or even Sunday school and joyful singing, and it really bogged me down.\u00a0 That said, when I sense something out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-you-ever-wonder-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":3},"title":"Did You Ever Wonder Why &#8230;","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear ... people who make astrological forecasts don't get rich by shrewd investing in the stock market? It would seem that if they can truly foretell future events they should be able to do quite well. ... people who believe in the \"science of healing of the mind\"\u00a0wear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Wondering-226x300.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-people-accept-the-gospel-but-others-reject-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":4},"title":"Why do some people accept the gospel but others reject it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son had a question I am not sure how to answer.\u00a0 The question is:\u00a0Why is it that some people respond to the hearing of the gospel by accepting the gospel, and others respond by rejecting it?\" It is the same Holy Spirit that will convict of sin, righteousness,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-from-church-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":95983,"position":5},"title":"Running from Church Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Blackford When a church has problems, the first inclination is to run from it and find a perfect congregation that doesn't have problems. I know that feeling. I've had it too. Of course, honesty compels us to admit that this is the easy way out. \"After all, my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}