The Way

How is it that time goes by so quickly? I remember when I was a kid, my mom and dad would talk about how quickly time goes by and I would sit and wonder, "what the heck! Time doesn't go by quickly, it has taken me ALL MY LIFE to get to be 12 years old!" But now . . . my perspective has changed. Time does by quickly. And I realize that more just about every day. So . . . since my last post, here are a few things that have happened. This is big news! Over Labor Day Weekend and after 29 plus years, Sondra and I said, "so long! to our waterbed." I can a bit of a slow adopter, but 29 years was enough. It was a good bed. She had sprung a leak or two over those years but that bed served us well. It must have weighed about 5 million pounds so I am sure there will be less stress on our floor joists. Our new bed arrived and we both seem to be sleeping pretty well. We are in the process of finding some new bedroom furniture too. Not my favorite pastime but pretty much...

I realize that I have been remiss in posting lately. I am not really sure why. It seems that I have ideas to write about but then I go to keystroke it in to the computer and it just does not flow. I know that writing is a discipline and one that I enjoy doing but life has been running fast the last month or so and so I have not slowed down enough to think and write. The past couple of weeks have involved some really great times with student ministers and our LifeWay Student Ministry staff. I am thankful for the work and calling that I have. I am also thankful for my church and the opportunities that I get to share with the college aged students and the middle and high schoolers. Recently we have been looking at who Jesus is. Not just at some of His teachings that are good for us to follow, but to try and place our attention and affection on Him personally. It is fun to watch and lead students to discover Jesus the person who longs for relationship with us. I ran across this vide...

Get out your Kleenex. Just a great reminder to say Thank You. This bank did a great job.

Here is a clip of the final run of the 1970 All Star Game that was won in the 12th inning. Most people remember that Pete Rose scored by knocking over Ray Fosse at home plate. That was pretty cool but the batter, Jim Hickman, is the dad of a good friend of mine (Joey Hickman) and his single allowed Pete Rose to score. Way to go Jim Hickman!

Recently I was invited by our church to participate in a series of Hot Topics that the church seems to shy away from at times. There were several choice topics offered, but the topic of sexual identity seemed to jump off the screen at me. I have my reasons why, but that is saved for another blog post some time. I really have not struggled with sexual identity in my experience personally, but have some experience with students, friends and co-workers who have seemed to have some great questions about this topic. I agreed to study, pray and present on the topic and my talk landed first in the series. The series at church is being adapted by a resource by Mike Glenn called Gray Areas . I think Glenn does a good job of looking at some tough issues through a solid, biblical lens.  Here are some thoughts that I spent time explaining in more detail. You are getting the Cliff Notes version here. Here are three statements that I believe the Lord led me to share to establish some basis ...

When I was a small boy growing up in rural Missouri, my parents asked me, "Where have you been?" quite often. Sometimes the inquiry was because I had been away from home without specific permission; sometimes because I was away longer than I had permission; and, sometimes they wanted to hear about my adventures. Here is an update on some of my adventures the past couple of months -  Since mid-April most of my adventures have been around Nashville. There were a couple of trips but they were mostly uneventful We made a quick trip to Panama City Beach, FL mid-May to support Mark in his 70.3 triathlon. The water was rough so they cancelled the swim. He got a good finish and we had a ball with him and Shelbi. Sondra and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary that same weekend. Morgan graduated with her Master of Social Work from the University of Tennessee and my dad and cousins came down to attend the graduation and hang out for a few days. It was great to have ...