The uncertainties of life would drive a sane person mad if they obsessed about it. We tend to tuck the doubts and fears in a back corner of our minds so we can have (as my Appalachian kindred would say) “walking around sense”.
Continue reading “Certainty of God”Smell the Smoke
My grandson and I went out a few nights ago and cooked up a little hot chocolate on a campfire. While sitting around the fire, the smoke seemed to chase us. We would move our camp chairs to escape the smoke and you know where the smoke went next, right? Yep, we were like smoke magnets. When we went back inside for the night, we smelled like we had been roasted.
In the world we live in, the smoke seems to be chasing us. It’s hard to get away from the clamor of the world.
Continue reading “Smell the Smoke”Journey Update: October 2020
I had my first cup of coffee on our screened porch this morning; the coffee was hot and the air was a little chilly—just the way I like it. I love the Fall season. After a hot and crazy summer, the fresh cool air is a welcome change.
Continue reading “Journey Update: October 2020”Balance
Over the years I have tried to apply balance to my life and encourage it in others. I have found that those who like to view themselves as radicals do not like the concept of balance. Balance sounds like compromise to the radical. I try to be very choosy on which mountains I am willing to die on; molehills are not mountains.
Continue reading “Balance”Where to Go at the End of the Road
If I’m travelling on the road and dog tired, the “Vacancy” sign in the motel window promises a hot shower and a bed with clean sheets. On the interstate to somewhere the “Cracker Barrel sign in two miles” puts hope in my stomach and cheers me on to the next exit. But what about rest for my soul?
Continue reading “Where to Go at the End of the Road”Resurrection of Personal Responsibility
When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I see the man who gives me the most trouble in life—ME! It would be easier to blame my parents, my wife, my siblings, my co-workers, or society in general, but I need to take responsibility for my own failures, brokenness, and, yes, sin.
Continue reading “Resurrection of Personal Responsibility”Work With Your Own Hands
I was raised in a working-class family who had risen out of Depression Era poverty. Most of our neighbors were either poor or slowly rising to middle-class status. Our exposure to rich people was rare.
Continue reading “Work With Your Own Hands”Journey Update: September 2020
We appreciate your prayers and continued financial support. I cannot express with mere words our thankfulness to God and to you for helping us. I pray for you every month. No one takes this journey of ministry alone and your support is an additional blessing of encouragement.
Continue reading “Journey Update: September 2020”Some “Speckulation”
Do you have a speck in your eye? My eye is feeling a little scratchy! Jesus talked about people having specks and planks in their eyes. These specks and planks can cause a lot of “speckulation” about other people.
Continue reading “Some “Speckulation””Don’t Let Them Divide Us!
I remember watching action-hero cartoons as a child and the general theme would be a bad guy wanting control over the world and a super-hero good guy would save the day. The same plot repeated itself in every show; the bad guy almost prevailed but in the end the good guy saves the world. What works in the fantasy world does not always play out in the real world. Most of us are apprehensive about the future.
Continue reading “Don’t Let Them Divide Us!”
