As I write this last devotion, I often think of other stories later. It seems there is so much to share. I also want to be faithful to God’s Word in the exegetical portion. As we age, we remember more stories from our past but we only have so much time…

While in seminary, I took theories of Evolution and Creation. The textbook listed all of the fallacies of Evolution. A few years later, my wife and I went to Washington D. C. We visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The first floor was Evolution…

It is a shame most of us go through life without a thought of the future. In our latter days of life, we often look back and see the things we wish we would have done differently. We used to be so concerned about what was happening in the world that we never really embraced our life until we saw it beginning to wind down…

When we were kids, we used to say things like, “This is an A and B conversation. C your way out of ours.” Or when my little sister used to ask my older sister, “What are you doing?” She would say, “Nun ya.” …

Back in my childhood during Christmas time, I remember constantly looking under the tree. I even knew when a new present appeared. By Christmas day, I knew who got what present. I even knew who was going to get the most or biggest present…

When I was a child, I used to like to listen to the adults speaking after dinnertime. I was especially interested when we had company over, like my relatives. It was a chance to hear the adults talk. I got to hear what they were more interested in speaking about as the night got late…

While serving a search warrant for stolen property after receiving intelligence, we made a startling discovery. The house we were about to enter didn’t look like it was as big until we got inside. We got a basic floor plan from the informant concerning the layout of the rooms but had no idea what it would look like until we got inside. …

Death has been a part of Christianity forever. Hughes shares something I just knew each of us needs to hear once in a while: “Each devoted servant of Christ will bear his own cross. This was dramatically seen in the early years of the Salvation Army. When William Booth began his mission work in East London in 1865, it drew violent opposition, which grew even more violent in 1878 when his ‘Christian Mission’ became the ‘Salvation Army’ and Booth assumed the title of ‘General.’ …

It seems over the last few years as I age that my body just doesn’t heal or hold up. When I go to train at the gym or walk, it seems I tire more easily. It takes longer to recover too. With the advent of COVID (whatever your feelings might be either way), it seems as though there are more and more respiratory illnesses in our society in just a few short years…

Years ago, I was speaking to a person about an issue. They skirted the problem for a while, so I didn’t push it. I wanted him to tell me about the issue on his own. After a while, I changed the terminology a little to make it clear I had some suspicions as well…

There are times in life when we have conversations but want the conversation to go to a more specific area. We begin the conversation generally, only to zero down to the conversation we want to have later on. This is because we sense the conversation might become too uncomfortable…

I once had a serious disagreement with someone in ministry. It went on for about two years unresolved. I had been stewing over something I felt treated unfairly. Finally, over time the Holy Spirit would no longer allow me to carry the burden. He convicted me and reminded me that Jesus had forgiven all my sins, and now it was time to pay it forward…

When I first started in ministry, I didn’t understand a concept that I think is important for everyone today. Let me give you an example: As a young pastor at my church, an elderly man came to our church seeking help. I initially shared the gospel with him. He didn’t seem interested…

Quite often, we get an opportunity to share a meal with friends after church. It is good to sit with folks who love, serve, and share Christian fellowship. Many times we are a few minutes late to the eating place, because of other needs after the service…

While spending some time fishing with friends years ago (my least favorite hobby) near the bayfront in St. Augustine, something took away the boredom of waiting on the fish. The tide was coming in at the time. We anchored about 60 yards from shore in his 16-foot boat. ..

It seems a lifetime ago as I age that as a child we used to go tent camping. We did it all the way. No camp stove. It was all on an open fire. We slept on the ground in a tent (without the fancy air mattresses of today). We primitive camped. But the highlight of family camping was when my mom broke open the little, small bowls with our favorite cereal…

When I was younger and not concerned about diving into a pool without getting hurt, I used to run toward the pool and jump in near my daughter. I made a huge splash. It made her nervously smile. You see she had a hard time learning how to swim early on…

My dad used to love to fish. He had a boat when we lived in San Mateo Florida. We used to fish in the St. Johns River all the time. I, on the other hand, didn’t like fishing. For me, it was a time of fending off gnats, and mosquitos. I never caught anything except trash-fish…

When I was about 13 years old, my parents took us to a German/ American carnival on base. While we were there, I saw an arm-wrestling arcade machine. It allowed you to arm wrestle the machine to determine your strength. I was unaware my dad was watching me at the time…

When I was young, it was fun to play outside all day with my friends. We ran hard all day and worked up a good appetite. When it was time for lunch or dinner, my mom always had a great meal (except when we had beets and hash) planned…