My mother was a great student of the Bible, but I’m not sure she cared much for the Book of Esther. She often said that my father was the head of the house, but then added, “I’m the neck, and the head does not turn without the neck.” Not sure where she got that idea,…
Do we have to ask God to hear our prayer, or does He automatically hear? When Nehemiah was preparing to go before the King to request permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city, he prayed, “O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your…
According to Wikipedia, bullying is “the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate.” It is a serious issue in our culture today. While I am totally opposed to bullying, especially when it happens to the young, I think there are times, we can laugh it off and go…
A lot has been written on social media recently about sermon plagiarizing – preaching someone else’s sermon, although one of my preaching professors told us if you preach another’s sermon it is called plagiarizing, but if you combine parts of several sermons, it is called research. My pastor-father used to say, “When better sermons are…
It is now legal for Texans (and others) to carry guns without a permit, unless, of course, there are mental or legal reasons that keeps an individual from carrying. Lots of folks are worried about a possible increase in “gun violence.” At the risk of stirring up controversary, I’d like to address the subject of…
Yesterday was Father’s Day. In spite of having had skin cancer surgery on my forehead on the preceding Monday and having spent the week with swollen eyes and nose, using ice packs for ten minutes every hour, taking pain killers on a regular basis, and sleeping with my head elevated, I preached my morning sermon….
Most of my “Monday Morning Manna” columns are written on the weekend or week preceding their posting. Such is this one. If you read this on Monday, you will be reading it on the day of my ninth MOHS surgery for skin cancer. I once asked my surgeon why I had so many skin cancers….
The first two grown adults who disagreed were named Cain and Able (Genesis 4:1-8). The most recent disagreement that you observed (or in which you participated) may have been at your workplace, an athletic event, your church, or your home, and it may have been last week, or today. These disagreements are normal. Afterall, God…
My little girl had a birthday last week. Birthdays are good for reflections, and I did a few. Not fully understanding the blessings and challenges of raising a daughter, I had asked God for one, and God agreed. One of my favorite memories was when she was four years old. The back story is that…
I have been compiling a collection of prayer quotes from lesser-known authors. As I was preparing to donate my collection of five hundred books on prayer to the Southwestern Baptist Seminary Library, I got to wondering who all these authors were. A few were recognizable, but most were unknown, at least to me. I decided…