Sweet memories……. (written 10/18/2020) ”On the night that I first saw Bill Byrd, I was picked up at my dorm by one of his fraternity brothers and was escorted to a social event on Auburn’s campus for those of us who were candidates for sweetheart of...
God created man first, but God chose to incarnate himself within a woman first…… ……and placed Himself into a family, where God, laying aside His God-only omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, experienced human love, protection, nurture, and...
I visited this morning with a horrifically abused and neglected child-woman. We delighted in abundant morning glory vines, feathered heads of golden rod, and the warmth of sunshine mixed with a gentle breeze….. I marveled at her resilience, her gentleness, her...
Today Pastor Terry Tatum preached at Lynn Haven UMC on conversion and repentance. At one point he referred to himself as one who had come to see his ego “self” as one inch big in comparison to a prior opinion of himself as a super-hero! It reminded me of a day when I...
Progressive humanists/educators once opined that children were “Tabula Rosa”, NOT bigoted, but loving and accepting of one another and that prejudiced behavior is learned through the corrupting influence of culture. Consider this: Now, with “new and improved theology”...
I and others have observed that religion is about belonging and behaving….. about affiliation with others and embracing the values and practices of the group. Life in Christ, Christianity, is about believing Christ is God and becoming Christlike through receiving the...
Because I planned to spend time teaching at Titus 2 this afternoon and then stay for Bible Study at LHUMC, I started my morning a little later than usual. After an early morning ZOOM meeting I watched a live-streamed worship service on my computer and it spoke so much...
In 1980 I made my first trip to my pastor’s office seeking counsel. I cried as I told him about my boss, a married man I had known for 3 years in my workplace who was flattering me, courting me like a love struck adolescent boy…. I was tempted. And I was ashamed....
Words spoken reveal the beliefs of the speaker and influence the beliefs of the hearer. Anytime I hear the cultural iteration of “body, soul, and spirit” spoken by a Christian, I cringe….. like fingernails scratching a chalk board…..1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul...
If satan had to ask to sift Peter, then he would have also had to ask permission of the sovereign God to sift Judas, as well, it seems. Peter endured the pain of his shame and lived to see himself restored when he encountered the Risen Christ. Judas, expecting a...
