God Said Otherwise

April 15, 2026

Leadership Notes

     Before hitting the cool story, here are two tidbits I’ve been holding on to for a while.

     First, I could not have been happier with the Olympic people making their ruling on men who pretend to be women competing with biological women. The Governor of Arkansas put it best when she said, “The weakest men compete with girls…the weakest minds celebrate it.” Amen and Amen.

     The second one is, simple, memorable, and quotable:

“TOO MANY ANTS ARE TELLING BEES HOW TO MAKE HONEY.”

     Now the cool story. It’ll be something to remember next December when you sit down to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

     Walt Disney Studios once sent Charles Schulz a rejection letter, telling him they appreciated the submitted example of his work, but he wasn’t good enough to draw background art. It was a very polite form letter. “We only hire the very finest artists.” Schulz wasn’t one of them.

     On top of that, his yearbook rejected his cartoons. He flunked physics. At one point, he struggled greatly in school. In eighth grade, he flunked every subject. Every single, solitary one.

     The other kids called him Sparky, after a horse in a comic strip. Not an homage or compliment. Here’s how iconic radio host Paul Harvey once put it:

“Sparky wasn’t actually disliked by the other youngsters. No one cared enough about him to dislike him.”

     So Charles Schulz, the invisible boy, did something counterintuitive. He didn’t try to prove Disney wrong. Instead, he wrote his autobiography in cartoons. Named the main character after himself. “Charlie.” A kid whose kite never flies. Whose team never wins. Whose crush never notices him.

     Then, as his career and creativity progressed, Schulz did something the network executives were not happy about. He put Luke 2 at the center of his Christmas special. “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…”

     That’s what they told him to cut. Too religious. He refused. To this day, millions of families watch that episode. They watch the scene. A loser became a messenger. Disney said he wasn’t good enough. God said otherwise.

     And now, your Moment of Spurgeon:

“Christianity can never be strong till her disciples have strong

convictions, till those who believe in revealed truth believe in it as assuredly as they believe in their own existence.”

With Much Love and Affection,

              Richard