I’ve celebrated eight decades of Christmas and much of it is just not the same anymore. Trips to share the festivities with grandparents accompanied with backyard football and afternoon singing around the piano, have evolved into being the grandparent, listening to Christmas music on the radio and watching football on TV. The smell of a…
I have been studying in preparation for the 2026 teaching sessions for the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center. We will be looking at “Biblical Role Models for Church Leadership.” I have rediscovered at least three things to be consistent in every character that we have chosen. For one, they walked with God consistently. You can’t…
When I wrote last Monday’s Morning Manna about Thanksgiving, I did not know about the Monday afternoon phone call. The Nurse on the other end of the line said, “We need to talk with you about your surgical procedure scheduled for in the morning at 7am.” What? Back in the summer, when I first began…
This is Thanksgiving week and I have a problem. How do I condense all the things on my Thanks list into one Monday Morning Manna paragraph? So let me surprise you with one. I am thankful that thirty-two years ago, I attended and graduated from the Fort Worth Citizens Police Academy. I am thankful for…
I just completed an Interim Pastorate in a church that sang all their congregation hymns from a hymnbook. I knew all of them and sang along freely. Then I returned to my home church where the congregation sang five songs, none of which I knew, or had ever heard before. I couldn’t even sing along…
Every morning, I step on the scales to be sure I am not gaining weight. At mealtimes I am conscious of the calories I consume, so I don’t count too many. Every day I count the pills I take so I don’t get the wrong number at the wrong time. When walking I look for…
This week we will celebrate National Buffalo Day. The term ‘buffalo’ is often used interchangeably with ‘bison,” the proper term for the mighty creature we celebrate on this occasion. I remember studying about the Buffalo Soldiers of the post-Civil war era and hearing about Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Shows of the late 1800s. …
In Acts 2:7-11 people spoke in other languages. I have a TV set that does the same. I noticed a small mistake on my TV cable bill, so I called their 800 number. The person who answered was gracious and kind, agreed to my discovery, and made the needed corrections. Then he asked, “Is there anything else I can…
Our university has a wonderful Homecoming tradition – the selection of two Queens. The student body elects a student Homecoming Queen and the Alumni Board of Directors selects a Coming Home Queen. Last week end, my wife was the Coming Home Queen. The honor includes being recognized at the Friday night Alumni Banquet with an interview…
The second Sunday of October has been designated Pastor Appreciation Day. The church where we have been members for the past thirty-three years is currently pastor-less, so I will just pay tribute to the list of wonderful pastors I have had from birth through Seminary student days. I was born and spent my earliest years…