Browse the blog posts going back to 2014 – and we also have a Watchwords archive.
- To Commit or Resist (12/1/2021) - Over the years, a close friend and critic (my daughter), has given me several books on the creative process, books by interesting authors she has known, including a self-directed workshop book that promised to make an artist out of me. And all the while sending me messages or thought-o-grams that... Continue reading
- The Foot-Locker (11/11/2021) - It was the middle of December, 1952, when my remarkable year of discovery came crashing to an end. So many things had happened since my high school graduation and my years in college. High school had been unhappy time for me and as I thought about going to college, my... Continue reading
- Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (11/2/2021) - Remember that nursery rhyme? Five Little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and bumped his head. I didn’t realize how indelibly imprinted that rhyme was in my mind until one evening while watching a family movie, reference was made to monkeys jumping on the bed. And that was... Continue reading
- That Worship Service (9/21/2021) - Three teenagers in an old car, heading for the beaches of Florida. I was 17 and we had just graduated from high school. Two PKs, preacher kids, and one we called “the ringer” had slept in our car at a rest stop. We had grabbed breakfast at a Stuckey’s somewhere... Continue reading
- Scripture Assumptions (8/1/2021) - Here is a children’s sermon message that illustrates a point: Pastor: “What has four legs, scampers around on tree limbs, and has a big bushy tail?” No answer from the children. A clue is offered, “It likes nuts!” Finally after a lengthy period of silence one small boy tentatively raises... Continue reading
- Truth and Life (7/1/2021) - And Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life…” John 14:6 What is truth? Steve Brown tells us that truth, real truth, is a hard taskmaster. You know with truth, there is no wiggle room, no way to hedge the bet. No way to hide or... Continue reading
- God’s Love (6/2/2021) - For nearly 35 years I’ve been a member of a number of Bible study groups. Over those years, we have studied most of the New Testament and many of the Old Testament books. We have been fairly thorough, using multiple commentaries, digging deeply, trying to understand the vision and God’s... Continue reading
- Can’t Stop Singing (5/1/2021) - One is never ready for the feeling that, with the death of your loved one, love has gone out of your life. Even a five-year advance notice in a terminal illness does nothing to assuage the pain of loss. In grief, breathing remains labored and tears sneak up without warning.... Continue reading
- Moment by Moment (4/13/2021) - This is the day the Lord made and I’m glad. Sure enough, just look at the sky! Oh, my goodness – Carolina-blue broken up with little puffs of white, lookin’ all the world like a Colorado mountain top. It must be close to 70° out, and the breeze, perfumed by... Continue reading
- Are You a Storyteller? (3/1/2021) - Are you a storyteller? My good friend, Mac, has been a storyteller all his life. He has used that talent to communicate humor and interesting ideas, all with a moral, all with a lesson to be learned. Mac has for many years, journeyed, on a weekly basis, to the children’s... Continue reading
- You Just Never Know! (2/15/2021) - It was 1955. I was a twenty-year-old kid in an Army uniform, on a flight from Denver to San Diego, on my way to my home-base, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. My assigned seat was next to an older gentleman, who introduced himself as “Jack” and immediately commented on my Army service... Continue reading
- Abortion, Gay Marriage, and Guns… Oh, My! (2/1/2021) - Yikes. Why would I even think about tackling those topics? At my age and stage, I ain’t afraid of nuttin’! But I have no answers, just partially formed ideas, not big and not especially small. Ideas that are natural extensions of my faith, and maybe my dated thinking. God set... Continue reading
