Everyone has had it happen, and it hurts. It is when you worked for something, you put yourself out there, and someone else was chosen for what you wanted. You applied for your dream job…but were passed over. You wanted to get into that graduate school…but you didn’t make the cut. You sought a promotion…but someone else got it. You tried out for the team…and were left to be in the stands instead of on the bench. We know the feeling. It is painful–because we wanted it so much–to be told “no,” or even possibly, “you’re not good enough.” (By the way, as an aside, I have often wondered about the…

I fully realized that this may be one of my most controversial contributions to A Legacy of Faith. I have no interest in enforcing my practices or the practices of my family on anybody else. I would not presume to do so, even if I thought I had that right.  A few weeks ago, while I was out doing some visiting, I drove by the local Salvation Army building. I took the time to stop and take a picture (which is reproduced below). I am doing this for one reason – and one reason only.  I believe that there are many good people who donate to and/or buy from this organization without realizing that…

In the past 9 days, I have spoken at two funerals. The two services were for two ladies who meant a lot to me. One was in Nashville, and the other in Haleyville. It was a high honor to be asked to speak at each of the services, and in reflecting on the lives of these ladies, I was reminded of a powerful principle that every Christian needs to have in mind throughout our life. See, unless you were near to these ladies, you probably would not have known of their passing. Their deaths did not make national news. No radio talk show is going to talk for hours about…

This past weekend I received a random text from a number that my phone did not recognize. Here’s what it said, “I’m sorry for everything that happened. I just wanted to wish you and your family a happy holiday season.” This text message literally took my breath away. Who was it from? To what were they referring? I immediately tried to think about anything that had happened that was bad over the last several years. Fortunately, I could not come up with anything I personally had done to hurt someone that was so significant that I would have to have a conversation about it. As I learned of who had…

It is not an original idea to suggest that thanksgiving should be much more than a holiday. All people would be much better off and the world would be a much better place if an “attitude of gratitude” would be the norm. This should especially be true of a person who wears the name of Christ and is truly trying to follow Him.  As I was thinking about the upcoming holiday and, more importantly, about the mindset that should be ours, my mind went to a passage where gratitude was expressed. It was even expressed to God. Sadly, however, it was expressed for all of the wrong reasons. The passage that came to…