For thirty-eight years I’ve used the same bank without any issues. Last week, when I opened my monthly statement, I noticed a suspicious check. Further investigation revealed that I had written the check fifteen months ago, but it had never cleared the bank. Now, someone who had the check changed everything on it except my signature, made…
Some things you really need are hard to find, especially in a small town, but “he who seeks finds” (Matthew 7:8). A big, fast truck passed me in the other lane. As it went by its back wheel threw a rock into my front windshield. Immediately, I saw a crack moving across the window. As the crack continued…
I retired from my faculty position sixteen years ago. Recently, I began teaching again. I made acquaintance with a few first semester students and felt compelled to offer some unsolicited advice, based on my nine years on a college faculty and twenty-two years on a Seminary faculty: You are not going back to college. You are now enrolled…
This is Pastor (or Pastors or Ministers) Appreciation Month. If you ask most Pastors how you can assist them, at least one of their answers would be to pray for them. Most of the resulting prayer would be of the very general nature – “Lord, bless my pastor.” May I suggest three very specific prayers that you could…
It seems like every day is a special day to celebrate something or someone. Last week I noticed a lot of happy wishes on social media for National Daughter Day and then for National Son Day. I was unaware of either day prior to last week. One of my favorite social media posts was shared by several friends…
My wife and I decided to take a different route back home last week from my monthly teaching session with the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center. We went from the beautiful Rio Grande Valley of south Texas and drove “up river,” meaning we drove along the Rio Grande River to the northwest rather than due…
I’ve been thinking a lot about family lately. Five of my favorite quotes on family have surfaced: “A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” — Poet, Ogden Nash, “In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds…
Last week brought back memories. My four-year-old great grandson began playing on a soccer team. When I was four years old, soccer was a game played in another country or at least in a far northern state. He also began Pre-K. Again, from my days in Miss Baker’s Little Kindergarten in Paris, Texas, I have…
During the past month I have lost two cousins. On the same day we were burying one, the second one died. It caused me to look for my favorite quotes on cousins, some of which I would like to share: “Cousins are childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends.” – Unknown “Cousin to…
I always wished for a sister, even when my mother was pregnant with my younger brother. I had a wonderful name selected, but Madeline, became Bob, and the wish was over. But I had Vicki, a female cousin, with whom I was especially close, from our days as teammates in all the family football games…