Recently, I overheard a conversation. I promise I was not eavesdropping; the participants were speaking so loudly that I could hardly help hearing almost every word. One participant was older, and was a man. As the conversation went on, he revealed that he was 80 years of age. The other was somewhat younger, and was a woman. She told the man the year she was born, and it was in the 1960s, so she would be in her 50s; a full generation younger. Oh…the man was white and the woman was African-American. They talked about everything. (They made it rather difficult to read my book!) But, at one point my…

On September 15th I had a new knee joint put in my right leg. It is amazing to live at a time when a two-to-three hour surgery and a two day stay in the hospital results in having a joint that will eventually be pain free if you follow the doctor’s orders and do what the physical therapist asks you to do. In just a little over two weeks I have made great strides in my balance and walking. I’m so grateful for the home health care nurses and the physical therapists who have helped me tremendously, but that’s not what I want to talk about in this post. When I…

“I’m just scared…” How many sentences have you heard over the last few weeks and months that start with that phrase, or something very similar? “I’m scared about what will happen if Biden gets elected.”“I’m scared about what will happen if Trump gets reelected.”“I’m scared about what this virus is doing to our country.”“I’m scared that some people will never come back to church, even when the coronavirus has a vaccine.”“I’m worried about kids not having a regular school year again.” Certainly, we could go on, but are these–and many, many other similar sentiments–commonly heard and shared with the world right now? And I want to suggest that our enemy,…

I cannot do it! I think that almost every other member of my family can do it, but I can’t.   I cannot read something (even a newspaper or magazine) while something else is going on. There is no such thing as something “playing in the background” for me. Before I realize it, whatever I’ve been reading is on the back burner and my attention is focused on the tube, the music, or whatever. I cannot even concentrate on what I’m trying to read if a conversation is going on in the same room in which I find myself.   However, I have made an amazing discovery. Most of the things that can distract me from reading…

Isn’t it a terrible word?!?! I have probably heard the words “hate” and “hatred” used more in the last few months than I have in most of the rest of my life. Sometimes it is used casually. We talk about things we hate: our weight, our hair, liver and onions, our job, Covid-19, and any number of other things which affect our lives. More seriously, it might even be someone’s behavior or attitude that we think we hate. However, there are other times we come in contact with hate or hatred and they are so recognizable that it is hard to miss. It could be something we feel, or something said or…

Many of us are familiar with the discussions we have from time to time about the little word “for.” Some people believe that “for” in Acts 2:38 means “because of” and that we are baptized because we are already saved. However, “for” can mean “in order to.” We need to understand that the same word (in Greek and English) is found in Matthew 26:28. It is very clear in that passage that Jesus’s blood was not shed because sins were already forgiven, but that His blood was shed in order that this might be the case. Lost in this discussion is the fact that “for” can have another meaning. When somebody says that he…

How often have you heard a statement that “stopped you in your tracks” and really caused you to think? Please allow me to share with you one such statement that had that impact on me. The statement was only one sentence in a sermon delivered by a preacher, but the impact was so strong that I still remember it years after I heard it. It was also strong enough to make me forget everything else that was said during that sermon. Here, in its entirety is that statement:  “You, at this very moment, are as close to God as you have chosen to be.” Could that possibly be true? Is it not…