Editorial Cartoons Favorites

Blinded

"Blinded" was not actually an editorial cartoon, but an editorial style cartoon done to raise funds for a Covenant campaign while serving at the SBC Radio and Television Commission. Covenant was a campaign for decency in broadcast media.

Debbie Wall, my Direct Mail Associate, emailed me a message with the idea. "This is just an idea I might be using," she said. "Please DON'T spend a lot of time on it."

I didn't. I printed her email, sketched this on the back of it, and faxed it back in minutes. But the message is timeless. The cause is current. In fact, it has grown to crisis proportion.

Empty

Recent disasters, from war in Kosovo to tornados in Oklahoma and violence in Colorado, reminded me of this 1994 editorial cartoon that addressed a similar situation. It depicts that our ministries must go deeper than surface needs.

Barns

A 1997 Baptist Standard editorial gave me this opportunity to speak about our higher stewardship -- the stewardship of assets. Think about it. You can tithe for a lifetime, and that's good, but it's only the beginning. All you have to do is compare your net worth at the beginning of your career with your present net worth. Where did the increase come from? From God! Now, how are you going to express your stewardship of that?

Use this cartoon to add spice to stewardship materials.

Wallets

A 1995 Baptist Standard editorial noted the aversion some have to preaching about stewardship. That often translates to empty pews if the people know about it ahead of time. And sometimes there is a vast difference between how folks voice their support with their wallets as compared to their words.

Use it to add spice to stewardship materials.

Excluded

Editor Toby Druin wrote in a February 1995 edition of The Baptist Standard about Kenneth L. Woodward's Newsweek article of February 6, 1995, entitled, "Whatever happened to sin?" This cartoon that illustrated Druin's editorial gives us a timeless tool.

Use it to provoke thought during preparation for a revival.

Use it on an overhead cell to illustrate a sermon on repentance.

Please Minister

The editor wrote of our obligation to be willing to become the instrument of our prayers for the needy. I saw it as a prayer shared by Jesus everytime we pray it.

Use it to spur response during a Thanksgiving offering for the needy.

Use it on an overhead cell to illustrate a sermon on World Hunger Sunday.

Thanks, No thanks!

I can't pinpoint the exact date this first appeared in The Baptist Standard, but you'll find it useful to show how ridiculous is the attitude that we can grasp all the privileges of being a Christian but refuse the responsibilities.

Work? Precisely!

The cartoon shown left, from the July 8, 1998 edition of The Baptist Standard, says that what it takes to make a family work is work.

Little White Lies

"Little white lies" are bigger than they seem. The real victim, of course, is Truth, which I depict as having been crushed beneath this "little white lie."

Perhaps the most overlooked truth is that the liar himself is the crushed victim. For every "little white lie" is another blow to one's character and integrity.

"'White' Lies" appeared in the Aug. 8, 1998 edition of The Baptist Standard.