My friend Charlie turned 91 yesterday (as I’m writing this). If you’ve ever been to West Side, or to Salem, or quite possibly to the state of Virginia, you’ve met Charlie. There’s a running joke that Charlie knows everyone, and the joke lands because it’s not that far from the truth. You wouldn’t know Charlie is 91 if you met him – he has an energy about him that a lot of young people I know envy. He is an incredible blessing to many, and I am thankful to call him a friend and mentor of mine. This week has been our Gospel meeting week at West Side, which has…

Baxter is big now. I knew it would happen, but I don’t think I realized how quickly he would transform from the 8-pound puppy I brought home to the almost-40-pound dog that he is now. (Don’t worry, he still has growing to do – another 20 pounds’ worth at least, if his parents are any indication.) As expected, his new size has come with new challenges, not the least of which is attempting to keep the truly insane amount of hair he sheds off of the furniture. It is much harder to keep up with him running, much more of a challenge to keep him from reaching things on shelves…

Contrary to what you might think at first, this is not my second post about basketball in three weeks. I am just taking advantage of the fact that some who read this may be looking forward to the NCAA championship basketball game which is scheduled to be played on the same day on which this post should appear. I thought that this might be the best time to “get this in” before some of us turn our attention from basketball to baseball. As I watched the postgame press conference after the Kentucky Wildcats lost to Tennessee, I heard the Kentucky coach, Mark Pope, use a quote that he said that…

Most who read this will be familiar with this statement made by our Lord: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18) There is absolutely no way to “guesstimate” all of the possible interpretations and nuances about the last part of that statement. Wherever one comes down on all of that, though, it is generally agreed that this was the Lord’s way of saying that the church He would build would be (as the saying goes) “built to last.” In other words, nothing could keep Jesus from…

I still remember the day I heard the concept. I was blessed that year to have inclusion students in the classroom of a fellow Christian. We were studying the water cycle. Valerie said something to the effect that “All the water on earth has been here from the beginning because it’s all recycled.” Mind blown. The same water that Noah dealt with during the flood, that Elijah prayed would be withheld and then given again, that the Lord said falls “on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), is the same rain that falls on our heads. It changes forms, but it goes through the cycle over and over, watering…

It is bitterly cold outside here in Paducah, as it is in many places in our country today. It makes you want to just stay in the house where it is warm and cozy. Now, for those of us who eat out often, since there are just two of us, this can present a problem. It means that I have to cook a meal. Honestly, I don’t mind cooking, so it isn’t that big of a deal. However, this time I decided to do something different. I decided to organize our freezer and use up our leftovers from past meals. I was amazed at the variety of items we had,…

It happened again. A familiar passage, but a new way of hitting the heart. This past Sunday night, our minister was doing the second in a series of lessons called “Conversations with God.” This lesson was about Moses and the conversation He had with I AM at the burning bush. Most who are reading this have probably heard the list of excuses Moses gives before finally getting down to his final plea of “Send someone else!” (Exodus 4:13) Somewhere in the middle of the list is his fear of rejection.  Now, if we are honest, this is probably one of our greatest excuses about sharing the gospel with people. We…