Monthly Archives: July 2025

Our Calling: Be the Good News

Posted on July 20, 2025 by mitchteemley

One of the fundamental rules of storytelling is “Show, don’t tell.” The same rule works well for followers of Jesus. Unless we show people the good news, it won’t ring true. And the best way to show it is to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Quips and Quotes, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Here’s Why We’re Fascinated by Robots

Posted on July 19, 2025 by mitchteemley

The idea of creating imitations of ourselves has always fascinated us humans. In Greek mythology, the sculptor Pygmalion brought his statue Galatea to life. Ancient Chinese scholar Daoxuan spoke of creating “metallic people” to weep when the Buddha died. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Popular Culture & Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

The Funniest Monster Movie Ever Made?

Posted on July 18, 2025 by mitchteemley

What’s that, you’ve never seen Notzilla, the “cult classic comedy” (MovieWeb) I wrote and directed? Inconceivable! Or you say you’ve seen Notzilla, “one of the funniest movies ever made,” only once? Not enough! Round up your family, friends and pets to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Movies, Popular Culture & Entertainment, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Writers: How to Use Dramatic Reversals

Posted on July 17, 2025 by mitchteemley

Source: The Phoblographer Tips for Writers Dramatic tension is the key to an engaging storyline. Or even an essay or blog post, for that matter. This takes the form of rising action, a series of reversals–escalating problems or crises–that must … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, The Wishing Map, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Ask and You Shall Receive!

Posted on July 16, 2025 by mitchteemley

Two Hilarious Sermon Illustrations Pastors, teachers, and drama groups: These two family-friendly comedy scenes are based on actual incidents involving my wife Trudy and me. In them, the fictional versions of us, Rick and Toodie, grumble, love, and laugh their … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Two Unexpected Lessons in Grace

Posted on July 16, 2025 by mitchteemley

Two Powerful Sermon Illustrations Pastors, teachers, and church drama groups: Each of these scenes takes place in a classroom and features a powerful, unexpected lesson in grace. And both are now available from my script publisher SkitGuys.com! Click on titles to preview or … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Broken Boy Meets Broken Girl

Posted on July 15, 2025 by mitchteemley

Source: Unsplash from Freerange Stock My Real Memoir As she passed, my friend Theo, a fellow graduate directing major, whispered, “She’s so sensuous and classy.” I hadn’t seen Dinah since last spring, but I had to agree. Theo admitted that he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Looking Back: Ten Years Ago Today

Posted on July 14, 2025 by mitchteemley

Image by Johannes Plenio Thought for the Week Oh, how the world has changed. Ten years ago, I’d just seen Pixar’s Inside Out and cried like a baby; president Obama was normalizing relations with other countries; and Donald Trump had … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 77 Comments

We Will Walk Together Again

Posted on July 13, 2025 by mitchteemley

We will walk together again, my friend, if not in this kingdom, then in the next. And when we do, O, the stories we will tell! ∞

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Quips and Quotes, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The “Doing Church at Home” Era

Posted on July 12, 2025 by mitchteemley

We had no choice. Back in the ‘90s, our then-toddler daughter kept catching colds at church. This was no surprise. After all, kids are viral airports, where infections land and take off with great regularity. In fact, quite a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Memoir, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , | 28 Comments