Two men were instrumental in my joining the Southwestern Baptist Seminary faculty in 1985, and in my teaching there for twenty-six years. This past September, we buried Dr. Roy Fish. This Wednesday, we will bury Dr. Justice Anderson. Both were my professors during seminary studies, then they were my colleagues on the faculty, and always,…
The observance of Christmas has changed, but the meaning remains the same. It all started with the Wise men who followed a star to worship the new-born King, then “departed for their own country another way” (Matthew 2:12). Christmas celebration has been changing to “another way” ever since. I have child-hood memories of real trees…
The last three days have definitely been, “a time to weep . . . a time to mourn” (Eccl. 3:4). Another mass shooting, this time in the Sandy Hook Elementary School of Newtown, CT. Like many who have been involved in one of these mass shootings and its aftermath (and many others who have not),…
When God impresses upon our minds some pleasing thought, everyone is happy. What about when God sends a displeasing word? What about when we pray for health and illness lingers? What about when we ask God to send us to a particular place and God sends us elsewhere? What about when we intercede for God…
“We will be known forever by the tracks we leave” said the American Indian Proverb that I read recently. As accurate as is this proverb, the idea is not original with the American Indians. Years before, it was said of Jesus, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His…
Back to complaining. We’ve now entered the post-Thanksgiving days. For 364 days each year many people complain to God that roses have thorns. On Thanksgiving Day, they thank God that thorns have roses. Why do we do that? Why do we not thank God all year around for everything? I read the other day about…
Living the Jesus way includes running with the lame one, jumping with the paralyzed one, celebrating with the restored one, listening with the deaf one, shouting with the mute one, observing with the blind one, rejoicing with the healed one. If you don’t understand any of this, you can ask the once demon possessed one…
Apart from a few loners, everyone wants to belong. Children long to be chosen for a team. Teen-agers search for a group, occasionally choosing the wrong group, just so they can belong. Those of us who served on university campuses observed that students needed a group, or they suffered from an aloneness that affected their…
How much is enough when it comes to following God’s will? I remember as a teen-ager, feeling called by God to the ministry yet trying to rationalize in my own mind how I could follow that calling, yet still fulfill the personal plans I had for my life. That experience taught me that God has…
It was an interesting title for a conference, especially when most of the conferences these days are related to mega-churches. This one was named the “Ordinary Pastor’s Conference” and sponsored by my home church, Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX. The stated purpose was, “to encourage, instruct and bless the ordinary, average, vanilla flavored,…