Tag Archives: barber shop

Barbershop Theology, Faith

Barber Shop Theology – Directions

How many words are in the Bible? “In the beginning God . . .” Look, four words at the start.

“Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

See that? There are twenty more words at the end of the last book of the Bible.

I read somewhere that there are maybe a million words in the Bible. I spent my whole childhood hoping to find a genie in a bottle or get a wish; my goal was to ask for a million dollars. I figured a million of anything would be plenty.

Growing up in my dad’s barber shop taught me many life lessons. One lesson was how to give good directions. Quite often a stranger would step into the shop to ask for directions to a farm, or place like Boone, Broxton, Richard’s Spur or Porter Hill. Sometimes they would name a place three doors around the corner. A barber shop on Main Street was an easy find. Our directions went something like this: “Go up to the light (the only red light in town) and turn north, go `bout a half mile and turn back west. Head on out past the Sale Barn and go a `lil over five miles and turn right out there where the road bends. It’s just right there across a `lil-lo bridge.”  Continue reading Barber Shop Theology – Directions →

Barbershop Theology

Barber Shop Theology – The Big & Small of it

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The Big and Little of the Gospel

 I’ve heard it said that the gospel is simple enough for a child to understand and still so complex that theologians can discuss it at great length. This makes the gospel all the more beautiful.

Just how wonderful is the gospel? Even angels long to look into these things. I Peter 1:12

Precisely what is this gospel? It is ‘good news’. But what is the content of this good news?  Well, for this Barber Shop Theological foray, let’s see the big and the small of the Gospel.

My dad, Oscar, first stepped behind the barber’s chair of his shop in Apache, Oklahoma in January of 1963. I was in the first grade. There is no telling how many thousands of haircuts he has given over the past 48 years.

My dad tried to retire once and sold his shop in town, but a stream of guys from around town found their way to the house and the chair he had put into the garage, and soon he was only semi-retired.  To this day, he still greets customers by their first names as they show up a mile north of town to get a haircut. On my recent visit home Continue reading Barber Shop Theology – The Big & Small of it →

Barbershop Theology

Barber Shop Theology … continued (Hurry & Wait)

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“Hurry up and Wait”

 What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world (even if he hurries) and lose his soul. Mark 8:36

Speed. There is definitely a need for speed in our society. Wait, did I say need? Okay, there is a want for speed. You might think that with all the time-saving devices, gizmos, and machines at our disposal, we would have plenty of time to sit and ponder. Nope, we are busier than ever.

I’m not a terribly impatient person, but I chuckle at my ability to choose the slowest check-out person at the grocery store. In an age of fast foods, express lanes, Jiffy Lubes, quick printing, speed dialing (and dating), instant messages, well, you get the picture — the fact is, we can do more, faster than at any time in history, and yet we regularly hear, “I just don’t have enough time!”

 

Barber Shop Theology

Last week I referenced the beauty of waiting, particularly, waiting for a haircut. When life puts you in a holding pattern, what do you do with it? Scripture says, “They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.” This suggests value in waiting.

Waiting is like most other activities of life, it can serve a wonderful purpose when we choose by faith, to embrace joy because that activity belongs to God. “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God.” (I Thessalonians 5:18).

Waiting and Action

I remember many, many great waiters in my dad’s barber shop.  But one young man particularly stand out from the others. He was out of work and was spending more and more of his time reading the newspaper and listening to the barber shop banter.  He was developing a routine, complete with a standard answer for those who wanted to know what he was up to.

The question would eventually come. “So, what you been up to? I heard you was out of a job.” Continue reading Barber Shop Theology … continued (Hurry & Wait) →