Do you give any Christmas gifts to people you don’t know personally – like the postman, the firefighter, the police officer, others who give to you, but never meet you? For the past twenty-plus years I have enjoyed a Christmas Eve practice of giving to police officers I do not know. It started after 9/11,…
I remember once making a request of my parents that was so out of sync with the plans for the family, that they just stared at me, no verbal response, just a glare. Some may say that my request was unanswered. It took me years to learn that my request was answered. The answer was…
When I was the Baptist Student minister and Bible Instructor at Pan American University (now University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Jim Hatley was the Director of Missions for the Magic Valley Baptist Association. In our first visit, he confessed that he was not yet functioning in his job to his full capacity, since his…
Many years ago, I was sitting in Missions class listening to one of my favorite professors, Dr. Cal Guy, lecturing a group of want-a-be-pastors-and-missionaries on the pressure of perfection in ministry. He said something I’ve never forgotten. I didn’t write it into my notes and it wasn’t on a test, but I remember the exact…
Is it possible that Thanksgiving is more than a holiday – more than turkey, football, family, etc? For many years, people of faith have used the acronym, ACTS as a guide for prayer – “A” being for adoration; “C” being for confession; and “S” being for supplication. The “T” in that acronym stands for Thanksgiving…
Many years ago, in the midst of a Thanksgiving sermon, I decided to ad lib. I suggested that everyone think of three people for whom they were thankful and tell them of their thankfulness. After the sermon, my wife asked me who my three people were. I really hadn’t thought about it. The sermon was…
Last week I officiated the wedding ceremony for two friends that I have known since I was nine years old. They have known each other since they were four years of age. We spent part of our “growing-up” years in the same church – same children’s ministry, same youth ministry, same missions organizations, same baptistery,…
One of the most popular features in “Reader’s Digest” magazine is entitled, “The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met.” One such “character” for me was Dr. William F. “Bill” Edmonson. He was a college President. I was his Interim Pastor. At the conclusion of the annual mission’s emphasis sermon, I made an appeal for those…
I took my pastor to lunch recently, celebrating Pastor Appreciation Month. In the course of the conversation, I asked him how he felt the specific call of God to be a pastor, since he had previously been a Student Minister and a Church Starter. His answer was similar to mine – an early call to…
The license plate border on my vehicle says, “Backing the Blue.” Yet another police officer has been arrested and accused of murder, this time in my own city, and on the heels of a widely publicized trial of a police officer in the adjacent city, now serving ten years for murder. In both cases the…