Successful Living – Pathway Journey

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023

Shadow of Darkness

In the history of the world, there have been seasons or eras of great darkness. One example in the last century was the Great Depression which was sandwiched between the two Great World Wars. These three events cast a dark shadow over the world for about thirty-one continual years. The world has been under a shadow of darkness since the fall of man in the book of Genesis.

Amid this darkness, there have been periods of relative peace and prosperity. Jesus spoke about this darkness and His light, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV).

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023

Mama, Am I an Orphan?

Historical Fiction based on the Life of William Whitt (1775-1850)

I had just started school in the fall of 1781. I noticed right off that all the pupils in my class had a father except me and two others. Being fatherless was all I had ever known. My father died in the War of Independence while they were encamped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania with General George Washington. I was only about two years old when my father left to fight. I had no lasting memory of him or his dying in the spring of 1778.

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023

Artificial Intelligence and Truth

In the last few weeks there has been a lot of hoopla about AI (artificial intelligence). The very name “artificial” intelligence is telling. Artificial lemon flavoring means it tastes like lemons, but it is not real lemons. Perhaps AI is not real intelligence at all. Anything with the fingerprint of man has the potential for a bad purpose even though it was brought forth with the best of intentions. It appears that AI in some cases is already fabricating lies (misinformation if you please).

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023

Praying for Rain

The year was 1824 and we had moved from Tennessee to the foothills in Alabama after our crops in Tennessee had been gathered in. I had bought 20 acres of land in the valley below the mountain plateau I first crossed with General Jackson in 1812.

When we were settling into the new homestead, we immediately began cutting logs for a small cabin. We figured the land on the downside of the mountain would be the richest ground. So that’s where we cut the first trees for our house, gaining logs, and clearing a cornfield at the same time.

March 7, 2023March 6, 2023

Higher Purpose

It is crazy for an atheist to say he has a purpose. One cannot have a purpose if they are only an accidental biological blob careening through space and time.

We can only have purpose because of God. God has a plan based on a purpose.

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023

Keep Your Hands Out of Your Pockets!

When I was in college preparing to be a teacher, we were required to visit schools and observe real-life classroom instruction. I remember visiting a shop class in a school just south of Auburn. The instructor was an older gentlemen not far from retirement with a lot of hard-earned wisdom. I never forgot his instruction to his students, “When we go into the shop, I better not see any of you with your hands in your pockets. You never go on a worksite with your hands in your pockets. Be ready to work and be ready to protect yourself. You hear me! Keep your eyes open and keep your hands out of your pockets! I better not catch any of you with your hands in your pockets!”

January 25, 2023January 24, 2023

More Than Enough

I remember taking my beloved Christian brother, Pastor Baptiste, who lives in Haiti, to one of our American all-you-can-eat buffets. There were stations after stations of food. He was amazed at the quantity of food and that he could eat all he wanted. When I was with him in Haiti, I discovered he had told many of his friends about his unbelievable experience at the bountiful restaurant.

January 18, 2023January 18, 2023

Stand Still, Don’t Move!

I’m sure the phrase, “Stand still, don’t move” has been said million of times in thousands of circumstances. I can hear one of my older brothers using that phrase when we were squirrel hunting. I’m sure a young soldier has heard similar words in a mine field. Perhaps a hiker has heard the same when a rattlesnake was within striking distance of his leg.

January 4, 2023January 3, 2023

Pressing Forward

Difficulties and hard times can either be a ball-and-chain of the past dragging us down or a catapult to launch us forward into the future. We all have made bad decisions, took some wrong turns and yes, sinned.

All of us have had some hard knocks brought on by no fault of our own, some delivered by bad people meaning us harm and sometimes even good people making bad decisions.

December 29, 2022December 29, 2022

Tick-Tock (not TikTok)

I remember as a child hearing the tick-tock of an old mantel clock in the home of one of our elderly kinfolks. At the top of the hour, the clock would make a gong for the number of the hour. It was always a little creepy to me. The passing of time is kind of weird when you think about it, like the whittling off of your life second by second.