I was sharing about my recent experiences teaching young pastors in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where my lectures are live streamed to several hundred in Mexico and Central America, when a friend commented, “ You’re just now reaching your prime.” At age 80, I’m not so sure about that but, if true, I am…
It does little good to walk in someone else’s calling. When I was twelve years old, I thought God was calling me to be a missionary to Canada. It was not to be. It wasn’t my calling. I couldn’t be a Hospital Chaplain, even though Chaplain Joe Luck was one of my teen-age heroes as…
Last week had been marked on my calendar for a long time – “Vacation!” The “want list” was simple: Go somewhere that the scenery was conducive to relaxation, a place that both Joanne and I would enjoy. No flying (I don’t mind flying; I just get tired of airports). No long driving (see flying/airports). Good…
Hard to believe, but this month it will be fifteen years since I retired from the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Seminary. At that time, I declared that I was retiring from a position, not from a calling. Since then, I have served eight churches as Interim Pastor, made at least three dozen trips to metro…
I don’t watch many movies, at least not in a theater. Most of the movies I’ve see have been on airplanes or in hotel rooms. I’m not sure where I was when I first saw, “A Field of Dreams” nor am I sure how many times I’ve watched it. This much I know for sure –…
For some strange reason the web site came up on my computer. It was the site of my High School class. One feature of the site was a brief update of various class members. I scrolled and one after another, the descriptions included the word, “deceased” – from my best friends, to teammates, to girlfriends, to unknown…
Approximately fifteen years ago, my granddaughter opened a Facebook account for me with the comment, “Bawpaw, you’re going to get old foggy if you don’t get on Facebook.” Within a few weeks I had over a thousand Facebook friends. That list has now grown to several thousand, plus I have added memberships in other social…
I got to see the famous U.S./Mexico border wall last week, actually, had my picture made standing by a gate. I was looking for a Mexican man, whose picture I had seen on a poster carrying a ladder toward the wall. The caption on the picture said, “$5 ladder; $15 billion wall.” I joked about Mexicans pole…
Seated in front of my TV last week, I watched Tiger Woods make his final tournament walk up the 18th fairway of the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. In great pain, he would finish over par, unqualified to play on the weekend. One of the very few ways I can relate…
As I was preparing for the second session of training for young pastors as a part of the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center, I was reminded of how much we need each other. Ministry is both difficult and demanding. A support group is an absolute necessity. Hymn writer and author, Helen Keller, said, “Alone we…