I was born at King’s Daughters Hospital in Temple, Texas. My Mother was a Registered Nurse there. It was a Tuesday. Several weeks later, she and I were in church together in a small Baptist Church in rural Bell, County, Texas. My father was the pastor. I cut my teeth on a green-back Broadman Hymnal,…
I last week’s Manna, I mentioned attending my first annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at age nine with my Pastor/Father. Let me elaborate briefly on why my father was a highly successful pastor. Nacogdoches, Texas is not small compared to nearby Woden or Alto, nor is it big when compared to Dallas or…
I attended my first annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention when I was nine years old. Our family drove from Paris, Texas, where my Dad was Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church, to Chicago, Illinois. We stayed in a hotel that was taller than anything I had ever seen. We met in a convention center…
During my college years my future could have made a drastic turn. A friend and I noticed that there would be minor league baseball tryouts in Arizona, and we decided to drive there in his car and participate. We had no hope of ever playing in the major leagues, but we thought just one summer…
The” Pomp and Circumstance” sounded the same but everything else was different. It was a Kindergarten Graduation, and we were there to celebrate one of the graduates – our great-grandson, Crawford Graham Kennedy. The highlight of the service was when each graduate walked across the stage to receive their diploma as their teacher introduced them…
Rajneesh Osho was an Indian spiritual leader, and philosopher. I wasn’t reading his writing but came across a quote of his from another writer – “Life is a balance between rest and movement.” A possible solution to being unbalanced comes from a catholic leader, Richard Cushing (who I wasn’t reading either) – “ Always plan…
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. If she is still alive, I hope you spent some time with her or at least communicated with her. Like many of you, Mother’s Day is celebrated in memory, for me! My Mother has been in heaven for a long time in earthly measurement. One of the things I remember about…
I just heard that child abuse was on a dramatic rise. Somewhere there is a person planning to abuse a child. Stop them, Lord! Redirect their thinking for good and not evil. Somewhere there is a group of people planning to traffic children. Put a detour in their path, Lord. Divert their paths into the…
My parents departed for heaven a couple of decades ago. There are times I really miss my Dad. Those times usually revolve around sporting events or ministry situations. But when I miss my Mom, it’s different. She was a Registered Nurse, and while she didn’t learn this in Nursing School, she did understand the value…
It was not my normal preaching style, but it worked. Last week I took a nasty fall on the parking lot, hitting the asphalt with my knee and face. That means on Easter Sunday I was still hurting, with bumps, bruises and cuts that were healing. I had to continually sip water to keep my…