It was May 8, and the radio DJ announced, “Today is Ricky Nelson’s birthday,” as he prepped Nelson’s song, “Travelin’ Man.” Nelson was a TV star and a pop singer of the golden oldies era who had 54 hits on Billboard’s “Hot 100.” He, sadly, left us at age 45. He flew from Guntersville after […]

It’s been a season of hard-charging faith documentaries, including “The Secrets of Hillsong” and “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.” Both saddened me. I never watched any of the Duggar series on TLC, though I was aware of the basic plot through word-of-mouth. The “Shiny” documentary intertwines with the ministry of Bill Gothard, the Duggars’ […]

The recent Netflix series on the 30th anniversary of the Waco, Texas, tragedy spurred my interest, and I found some new books at our local library chronicling this event. I remembered some of the details from 1993 but these recent volumes supplied greater detail. Both President Clinton and Attorney General Reno admitted in their autobiographies […]

Baptist historian Leon McBeth called it “the woman question,” and Southern Baptists yet struggle with it. Sixty percent of our members are women. Normally we don’t hesitate asking them to serve in most church positions because we know they bring dispatch, order and grace to the job. But the two places we approach with fear […]

I met them at the baseball field in Vestavia, Ala., where their son is our grandson’s teammate. Something was said about her difficulty learning English, so I asked where she was from. “Moldova,” she said. “I’m Russian.” I told them I’d had a student at Judson College from Moldova named Anna, and then I struggled […]

My sister and I traveled several years ago to visit a relative in prison in another state. I’ve been to a number of prisons and they’re all dark and foreboding. A correctional officer once escorted me from the gym where my class met to a cellblock so I could see it firsthand. I still shudder when thinking about those […]

Brig. Gen. Henry Martyn Robert was born in South Carolina and moved with his family to Ohio when his father couldn’t countenance slavery in the South. Robert chose a military career, graduating from West Point in 1857. As an army engineer, he helped design the seawalls in Galveston, Texas. During the Civil War he helped […]

Hers was the voice of a generation, and this year marks the 40th year of her passing. Karen Carpenter left us much too soon on Feb. 4, 1983, at age 32. A music critic early in her career called her “chubby,” and this began a life-long struggle with her self-esteem. By the time she sought help […]

Comedian Jerry Lewis remarked that his greatest wedding present was a home movie of the ceremony. “When things get tough in the marriage,” he said, “I run the movie backwards and walk out a free man!” It’s true that all marriages face challenges, despite the idealism of the dating years. In those years we may […]

I’ve always heard it said that we seniors have several distinguishing traits, including talking about our surgeries. I used to roll my eyes in pastors’ meetings when “the old guys” told us about their latest procedures, but more recently I’ve begun to listen intently. My latest medical escapade ended on a hopeful note. A norovirus […]

The church should always have open doors, but I’ve had two battles over this. In one church we replaced the heat and air conditioning system, but never seemed to get the right temperature. We had an energy audit and the tech suggested our rear parking lot door was so large and stayed open so much […]

It was like watching a familiar movie, knowing the ending already and feeling dread. I read Shelby Foote’s account of the Battle of Gettysburg years ago, but read it again this month. As I got closer to his account of day three, I began to feel sadness at the coming slaughter of my countrymen. Both […]

The wind in my face was bitterly cold in downtown Dallas a few years ago since the winter weather was yet lingering. My continuing education classes had ended at the seminary in nearby Fort Worth, so the afternoon was free for some sightseeing. A chill came over me independent of the temperature when I walked […]

It was interesting to read in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s recent autobiography that his children were baptized with water from the Sea of Galilee. The family was out of water when their third child was born, so kindly Israeli officials sent a fresh supply. This is unusual since in other cases I’ve known it’s Jordan […]

They were a great family who had no denominational underpinnings. I knew them as Presbyterians who became Baptists who became Methodists. I once heard a pastor remark, “It doesn’t hurt to change the label on an empty bottle.” Ouch. I think I’d just say, more charitably, that denominations don’t have the appeal they once did. […]

Every senior adult knows if you have a computer or cellphone issue you talk with a grandchild. However, my grandson was stumped and suggested I go to the local dealer. I found a link on their website suggesting they could help by phone, so I called. Michelle was very helpful. She asked to screen share […]

Some friends at church asked me to describe my near-death experience. I light-heartedly told about traveling through a long tunnel, seeing light at the end and, suddenly, a heavenly figure bathed in glorious light. Soon I recognized St. Peter standing at the gates of heaven. He reached for my hand and said, “Welcome home, my […]

The pastor was insulted but tried to be measured in response. A parishioner asked if he’d be willing to conduct a funeral for her beloved dog. He politely declined, and suggested he’d call a colleague to do the deed. Then the lady asked a second question. “Pastor, do you think $500 is enough to offer […]

I once heard a pastor remark, “God made one Billy Graham. He only needed one. But he made you, too, for a unique purpose.” Though it’s intriguing to think of how Graham would’ve fared with a twin helping him in world-wide ministry, I think this pastor was correct. A common perception among Christian youth is […]

I remembered Ben as a man filled with racial animosity. He didn’t want people of other races coming to our church, and he frequently accosted me when he thought I was defiant of his wishes, which I was. We disagreed, and we often talked about it. At least this was a start. Once he admitted […]

It was a story from The New York Post last spring that I pondered and saved. The headline proclaimed, “City removes last-standing public payphone from NYC street.” The accompanying picture showed the removal of a telephone counter, not the old-fashioned telephone booth in which Superman changed clothes. It used to be that we entered the […]

We’ve been working through the book of Genesis at midweek Bible study in our church. It’s been refreshing to look at the old stories I learned as a child, and to consider them with more maturity and, I trust, more insight. Genesis 37 begins the Joseph chronicles that essentially take the remaining chapters of the book, but this saga is interrupted […]

David McCullough, who died last August, gave us books about the Panama Canal, the Wright Brothers, the Brooklyn Bridge and the American Revolution, and won Pulitzers for “Truman” and “John Adams.” The latter was made into an HBO miniseries that earned 13 Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes. In a “behind the scenes” feature on […]

The recent sub-zero weather at Christmastime reminded me of the difficulties of weather-casting for churches, and how often we get it wrong. We planned an outdoor Easter worship during Covid spring, but church leaders decided on Good Friday that the forecast monsoon on Sunday would prevent this. However, Sunday came as a bright and sunny […]