For July 12, 2026
No Excuses by Greg Holmes, D.MIN – Director of Missions serving 17 churches
A YOUTH STANDS trembling before a judge for the first time. The infraction is minor – a traffic violation. But he feels unfairly maligned; it somehow wasn’t his fault, even though in his own mind he was partially to blame. If the other person hadn’t… then he wouldn’t have… “How do you plead,” asks the judge, interrupting the youth’s mental soliloquy. He unconsciously shifts nervously from one foot to the other, and then ekes out, in a strangled voice, “Guilty your honor, but with an explanation.” The judge responds, “There is no such plea. You must plead either guilty or innocent, or “nolo contendere.” The youth understands “guilty” and “innocent,” but upon his quizzical facial expression at the last, the judge explains, “it means that you agree that you are legally guilty, but that you silently disagree with the basis of the charges.” The youth stammers, “Yeah, that one,” and then is quiet.