There are people I’ve known for years. They are consistent in their life. They sit a certain place at church and on Tuesday morning they can be found in the same place they were last Tuesday – at the breakfast club. I really enjoy talking with senior citizens and I’m fast becoming one –…
I grew up with a healthy respect for the dead. I’m pretty sure my parents passed it on to me. While I was a student pastor, I participated in a lot of memorial services for people who died. I think that deep down there is a fear of death inside of me. My faith…
There have been way too many times in my life when I felt like all was lost. The pain that comes through suffering is almost devastating. There are times when I find it hard to lift my head because of what I’m facing. I’m still learning that there is ALWAYS Hope because of Creator…
I remember very clearly when the Lord gave me permission to “sit down” (aka “stand down”) from a particular ministry that I had been part of for many years. In my early years as a student pastor, I had left my first ministry in frustration. I look back and realize that I ran from a…
There are times that I love the peace and serenity I feel in silence. Recently my family celebrated my Dad’s 80th birthday. It was a lot of fun with a lot of my family gathered as well as friends and neighbors. I must say that silence was not really part of the celebrating, but…
I used to run 3 miles a day to work at keeping in shape and I gave that up quite a few years back. I liked the early morning running. I didn’t like running nearly as much as the rush of endorphins after the run. That part made the pain of running worth it.…
Life is precious and somewhat fragile. I sometimes think about how close I’ve come to loosing my life and there are few instances that come to mind. I also think about a couple of my children who have been really close from cancer to a tree fall. James calls life a vapor – here today…
There are times when I have no one to blame for a mistake I made. I think that one of my first “go to” reactions is to look for someone to blame for something I did or did not do. It’s a lot cleaner and clearer to own the issue and deal with it rather…
This can be one of the most self-destructive behaviors. Revenge comes from a vindictive spirit within and works it way out. I’ve seen people who are bitter and hurt trying to exact revenge on others to feel better. In fact, the opposite is true. Revenge should be in the “bitter family” because people don’t…
When I see our first responders come upon a dangerous situation, they immediately go into this role of trying to remedy the situation for those who are threatened or in trouble. Whether it’s an accident where a person’s life is in grave danger or building that is on fire and someone needs rescue, they are…