Recently, I was visiting with one of the members of the church where I serve as one of the elders. One of his daughters from another state was taking advantage of a week off from her work to stay with him. Unfortunately, his health is declining to the point that somebody needs to be with him at all times. Since he is a widower, he no longer has a spouse who can help. Fortunately, this daughter and her siblings are seeing to it that this need is met. During the course of conversation with both the father and the daughter, the daughter said something kind of “out of the blue.”…

In recent years, I’ve taken up a new hobby. I now go on scavenger hunts on a fairly regular basis. Well, to be honest, it is not a hobby. Also, in the interest of honesty and transparency, they also are not really scavenger hunts. Actually, what I have started doing more of recently is an attempt to “carry my weight” with regard to some of the things that Donna has done for years. Part of that effort involves what feels to me like a scavenger hunt, but is actually a trip to the grocery store. I’ve been known to tell people at the store on some occasions that my wife…

Just before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told those gathered with Him that they would be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Many throughout the years have noted that these words serve as an outline of sorts for the book of Acts, as the Gospel did in fact spread from the city of Jerusalem, then out to the surrounding regions, and ultimately throughout the Roman Empire, all within just about three decades. Those words from Jesus, though, have also been utilized by congregations to think about their own evangelistic efforts. By “Jerusalem,” a congregation might think about…

I’ve only flown commercially a handful of times, but, on those rare occasions when I have, I have found one of the “preflight instructions” to be interesting. If I remember correctly, passengers are told that, in the event of an incident that causes the oxygen masks to drop down, they are to put on their own masks first. I suppose that some might see that instruction as selfish, but there is actually a practical side to this. The instructions are not given so that a person can take care of himself/herself and ignore the needs of others. Instead, they are given in order that others might be assisted. A person…

I recently spent some time with a man that I’ve known off and on for over sixty years. He is about a year older than I am. We weren’t “pals” during our elementary school years because we attended two different schools. When we both got to the same high school, our age difference meant that we weren’t in many (if any) classes together. As I look back, I guess that about the only time we spent much time together in an organized way was when we were both Cub Scouts. That was a long time ago and only lasted a few years. As we were talking, I mentioned that, even…

A few days ago, I observed what I consider to be one of those “life lessons” we hear about from time to time. I suppose that it would be more accurate to say that I observed something and considered it to be a life lesson. As I was making my way to see some of our members who are in a nursing home, I noticed that, some distance in front of me, there was a vehicle that was clearly identified as one that belonged to our local sheriff’s department. I don’t know if the sheriff or one of his deputies (or maybe even somebody else from his office) was driving,…

From the outset, let me say that I have been as guilty as anyone for saying what I am going to write about. I used to say it quite regularly. After some time and thought, I would still say it, but I’d feel like I had to qualify it. Now, I do my best to avoid it. And it’s because I spent some serious time thinking about Cornelius. So, what is the saying? It is when we are talking about someone who has lived a pretty good life, but has never been baptized, and we say something like this: “He wouldn’t have to change much.” Now, having been someone who…