Last week, seventy students received graduation certificates from the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. As their Professor, I would have ordinarily been the one to hand them their certificate, then pose for their picture with me. However, due to a covid-like sinusitis, I was stuck at home, lest…
This is American Thanksgiving week. Time for ten of my favorite Thanksgiving quotes. “We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown.” “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens…
I watched my four-year-old great grandson disobey his mother, then run across the room to hug her neck. I never got to do that with my mother when I was four. I’ve been watching him play soccer on Saturday mornings, and now basketball. In both sports his Daddy is his coach. I never had that…
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…