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I Hate Rejection!
I hate rejection. Rejection sucks. Even though I’ve been rejected more than I care to remember in my life, every time it happens it’s like someone rips my heart out of my chest. It’s not that nothing good happens between rejections. Truth be told, a lot of wonderful things happen. I’ve had more successes than I failures. Rejections remind you that you’re alive and willing to try new things. It…
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Are You Being Followed?
Are You Being Followed?
I’ve heard it said that just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean that you’re not being followed. That sentiment certainly appears to ring more true today than ever before with ever-smarter algorithms and burgeoning artificial intelligence capabilities.
Recently, I found myself chatting with family and friends when someone brought up the topic of what they described as creepy online spying. They…
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4 Ways to Use Social Media to Minister to Others
4 Ways to Use Social Media to Minister to Others
Despite pleas for positivity, our culture seems to reward negativity. This can be especially true on social media. While social media affords us the privilege of connecting and make the world seem like a smaller place, it tends to give courage to people who would never say to your face what they dare to type in the comment section.
That’s not to say it’s all bad. There are actually a lot of good…
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Psalm 63: God is Trustworthy
Psalm 63: God is Trustworthy
Hard to believe that it is Saturday again already. Has your week flown by like mine? The temperatures sure are creeping up here in Texas. I’m not sure we’re quite ready for triple-digit days here in the DFW metroplex, but ready or not, they have arrived. There’s something about sunny weather that makes me smile. I love the sunshine. My guess is most of you do too. But sometimes, even when the…
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Like Love, Prayer Is a Verb
Like Love, Prayer Is a Verb
The line of men waiting to pray last Friday night after chapel was long. I lead a team from our church that travels down to the Union Gospel Mission once a month on 4th Friday to minister to the 300 or so men at the shelter. Some of them are staying there, participating in the discipleship program. Others are there for the night, while some are bussed in for the evening from other shelters, to…
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What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?
What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?
This is a re-post of a blog that I wrote a few years ago explaining the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Remember that freedom isn’t free and take a moment today to pause during the festivities and celebrations to prayer and honor those who gave their all so that we might enjoy all that we have today. Blessings.
What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day? I’m…
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Psalm Saturday: Memorial Day Review
Psalm Saturday: Memorial Day Review
For the past several Saturdays, we’ve looked at what the psalms say about prayer and examined the prayers contained in them. We plan to continue that over the Summer. Since we’re celebrating Memorial Day Weekend, I wanted to glance back at the Psalm Saturday series and list the weekly offerings in one post for the convenience of those of you who may have missed one or two… or all (LOL).
I pray…
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My Two Cents: Be All In
My Two Cents: Be All In
Recently, after attending an Easter celebration at my alma mater, Dallas Baptist University, Sweet T and I drove through the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. Terri’s mom, Joyce, accompanied us that evening. We were in awe of all the rows of headstones marking lives of service and sacrifice.
Memorial Dayis a federal holiday set aside to honor and remember the men and women who sacrificed their…
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Using Your Creativity to Advance the Gospel
Using our creative abilities to advance the Gospel.
Jesus loved to tell stories to teach the disciples and even the crowds that gathered in every place that He and the disciples visited. In those days, there weren’t any printed newspapers. The internet didn’t exist. No radio. No TV. Jesus and his troupe generally walked on foot, from town to town. Of course, Scripture notes the occasional boat trip. The stories of their visits traveled around the…
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Beyond Blessed: Never Stop Learning
Beyond Blessed: Never Stop Learning
Friday night, May 18, certainly goes down as a memorable life moment that I was honored and privileged to share with fellow graduates, university faculty, friends, and family. It marks the culmination of years of effort and investment, both on my end, but more importantly on the part of others. I am not a self-made man, but simply the return on investment nurtured by so many incredible people. I…
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Finding Joy Worshipping in the Presence of the Lord
Finding Joy Worshipping in the Presence of the Lord
As we continue to look at prayer in the Book of Psalms, we turn to Psalm 84.
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty blessed is the…
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Wrestling with Show v. Tell
Wrestling with Show v. Tell
We love stories. Sit in any critique group for longer than 10 minutes and you’ll hear the phrase “Show, Don’t Tell.” While it is true that all stories mix and balance showing and telling, the best yarns that keep us turning the page showing characters acting, feeling, and responding. It’s not that you never tell. Sometimes, writers have to tell us that Jack climbed up the hill.
Telling has a…
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My Monday Morning Cup: Life is Better When You Laugh.
My Monday Morning Cup: Life is Better When You Laugh.
Good news doesn’t get as much attention as bad. We’re more apt to gawk at a car wreck than notice the planes successfully navigating the blue skies above. People doing bad things dominate the headlines, burying the good works of many. Good news is thrown in like a bonus, as if to say “Hey look, life ain’t all bad.” Even then, it’s usually a story about someone doing something good amid an…
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My Mom is my hero. She recently celebrated her 80th year walking Planet Earth. Her journey hasn’t always been an easy one. Truthfully, it has been filled with extreme difficulties starting with fleeing her childhood home ahead of the advancing Russian Red Army. She hadn’t turned six years old before she watched her mother and grandmother pack up their belongings–except for the valuables they’d buried in the backyard–and attempt to catch a train to Berlin. By the time she turned seven, she had survived a World War. She was a happy girl, in spite of living the life of a refugee, with no place to really call home. Her youth was filled with hardships, but she kept her spirits up, and somehow through it all, managed to hold on to her innocence.
Mom met Dad at a church camp one Summer. She loved him instantly and hoped he would be the one God intended her to marry. And get married they did, but not until after they buried her future father-in-law, who died a hard death from a combination of cancer and other ailments. She stood by my father’s side as he grieved the loss of his dad and looked after his mother. Like me, my Dad grew up an only child.
They got married and lived in small apartment hosted by the owner’s of a small café and inn in a tiny German town near Lake Constance. From their they moved to Switzerland because the jobs were more plentiful, due to a burgeoning economy. When I was born they met some friends at the hospital who would later invite them to come to America, continuing my family history of migration.
When we came here, neither of my parents spoke English. Like me, they had to learn. And learn my Mom did. She adjusted to a new life in a new land, leaving behind her parents, siblings, nephews and nieces, and friends. Marshall, Texas was a hospitable place, but not one used to foreigners. Certainly not Germans. But Mom, who has displayed an incredible friendly spirit through her life, made friends quickly. The list of people who helped her adjust to her new home is long. You simply can’t make it in this world without a good support network.
As a young lady, Mom was a beautiful, gregarious soul who never met a stranger. This continues to be true today. Mom makes friends, through church, through community outreach, and through her artwork. Though life has thrown her more than her fair share of challenges, Terri and I have witnessed my Mom rise to the occasion, exemplifying what it means to be an overcomer. Through it all, I’ve seen her faith blossom and her love for people grow. That ain’t easy in this world. That’s why Mom will always be my hero.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who have been blessed to raise children and who have been a blessing to so many. You may not always realize it, but you have had an incredible impact on more people than you can ever imagine.
God bless you all.
My Mom is my Hero My Mom is my hero. She recently celebrated her 80th year walking Planet Earth. Her journey hasn't always been an easy one.
Psalm Saturday: Prayers in Psalms
Psalm Saturday: Prayers in Psalms
The past few Saturdays we’ve looked at a couple of my favorite psalms. Since getting back home from looking after Mom as she recovered from her fall last summer, my mind has focused a lot on prayer. I’ve seen the results of people praying, especially this past year. At every turn, the Lord reveals His desire for me to focus on prayer. I’m currently working on a book project centered around…
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Writing After 50: You Can Do It!
Writing After 50: You Can Do It!
You have been hammering out stories since you were a young whippersnapper fresh out of diapers, but you do not have much to show for it. Sure, you have had the odd success here and there, but that Great American Novel you were projecting to finish by the time you turned 27 didn’t happened.
Your life has sped past 50 and the pedal is grinding metal. You can see more years in your rearview mirror…
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Communicating the Wondrous Truth of God's Love and Mercy
Christians have a greater ability today to share their God-stories with a lost, hurting world.
People, past and present, love to communicate and share stories. Throughout our history, we have found new ways to communicate over distances near and far. People want to communicate important moments in their lives and share them with others. Ages ago, in Altimira, Spain and in Lascaux, France, prehistoric people painted cave drawings depicting their existence and their daily struggle to…
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