From 1980 through 1996, I was in “full-time ministry.” I spent those yearsas a church staff member. From 1985 through 1996, I was a senior pastor, first in Turlock, California, then in Paris, Texas. The last few months of that period, I was pastor of a church in Arlington, Texas. This leg of my journey…
Tag: journey
Hardship: When things don’t look good, look harder
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly….
Leadership 101: Make no place for foolish pride
As you read the following, keep in mind: Effective leadership requires a certain vulnerability. They say confession is good for the soul. So, here goes: It is a sad fact of my flawed nature that, too often, the less certain I am on a matter, the more vociferous and vehement my argument. In other words,…
A Birthday New Year’s Resolution -or- 101 reasons to celebrate
What a week it’s been! I have 101 reasons to celebrate life right now. Last Friday, my baby girl got married to the love of her life and started that incredible journey called marriage. It was a beautiful wedding, well attended, and pulled off without a hitch. I had the privilege of preaching the charge…
It’s the Journey, Man! or, Welcome to Walley World, now go home
One of my favorite Hollywood comedies is National Lampoon’s Vacation. I love it because it is such an accurate caricature of life in the American familyand because most of us who have been around a minute can identify with the characters and their misfortunes. There is this epic journey to Walley World, with mishap after…
Lost in Translation | I Have a Dream (that needs an interpreter)
I need a Joseph or a Daniel to help me out here. I need a dream interpreted and I am willing to pay for it. Well, sort of. Last night I dreamed and this is how it went… Someone had died. I don’t now know whom it was, but in my dream, I must have…
The Journey Man: Celebrating seven years and change of not much
Today is nothing special…and that is a perfect reason to write this little bit of self-indulgence. I decided this morning over coffee to take a look back at my blogging journey. I discovered that I have been writing about sports, religion, family, faith, politics, and assorted other subjects for more than seven years. My very…
Unexceptional beginnings? Don’t stay where you started!
Ancestry.com is an exceptional tool for learning how unexceptional you really are. Likemost people around my age, I spend more time thinking about roots and origins and the “old times” than I did, say, 20 years ago. Can it, then,be a surprise that, when the opportunity to pop my family name into an Ancestry.com search…
Insanity revisited, or Life in Review
randy travis mug shot I like Randy Travis. I know he fell hard and landed naked on the side of a north Texas road, broke and broken by a life he hadn’t found a way to keep up with. I like his song, “1982,” because it resonates with my soul. Now, it is about a…
Like the rain: a retrospective of this life, love, and marriage
Marriage: Any relationship that stands the test of time must withstand its share of storms. It may have begun with sunshine and song, but the thunderstorms will soon roll in.