One of my all-time favorite things to do was sit on my grandfather’s front porch and listen to him recall his “days of old.” He talked of friendships, missed opportunities, family members, and as always, advice (based on his many years of experience). Isaiah must have been getting old. “Then he remembered the days of…
I sat around a rectangular table with seven other men, all focused on an eighth man at the head of the table. That eighth man had been named to a prominent and powerful position. The seven were there to pray for the eighth. How many intercessors does it take to reach maximum effectiveness in prayer?…
What a visit it was, just last week! He was one of my Dad’s best friends. He was one of my brother’s heroes. During my teen-age years, he was one of my greatest encouragers. Now he is ninety-nine years old and on hospice care. Gone are the days of his distinguished military career as a…
I had been writing this Monday Morning Manna for more than a decade but had never heard this particular mispronunciation. In commenting on my writing, people often pause, trying to remember what it is called. “I appreciate your Monday Morning . . . thing” they will say, or “I read your Monday . . ….
I was recently faced with a major decision concerning my future. I realized that the older I got the fewer options I had, and this one was complicated because it involved financial issues. In the midst of the decision, as I was listening for God’s directions, I read Isaiah 30 as a part of my…
I am preparing to speak to another group of Senior Adults. There was a day when most of my preparation time was devoted to young adults – college students, seminary students, young congregations, etc. With the passing of time comes the changing of the audiences. I still speak to younger groups, but increasingly the invitations…
I pulled up to the drive-thru window at the burger restaurant with money in hand, only to be greeted by a smiling teenager saying, “Your meal has been paid for, sir.” When I asked for an explanation, I was told the person in line in front of me had paid for my meal and left…
I was doing some reflection over my years of ministry and made a startling discovery. Many of my best friends in ministry were/are musicians. Not surprising, I come from a long line of musicians, but I am definitely not one. My grandfather used to sing me to sleep accompanied by his banjo (which now sets…
The days are different. Some days I find myself with high energy, desiring to accomplish much. Then on other days, I just want to sit on the porch and sip coffee. Carl Sandburg expressed it this way: “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that…
I confess that I opted to watch baseball on TV last week vs. watching twenty Democratic want-a-be Presidential candidates debate the issues. I did surf the networks back and forth just to see what was going on among the hopefuls, and I did read the next-morning reviews. I start with my confession only to say…