I was just finishing some yard work when I saw a Hispanic man drive up in a pick-up truck. A young man was with him, later I found out it was his son. I smiled and waved, he smiled a waved back. They unloaded some equipment and went to work. I finished packing my things away.
They had not been there five minutes when suddenly there was a load bang. The young began to scream over the noise of the power equipment, “Father, father! My …

Ralph and Maxine had been married nearly fifty years. I was their pastor. One day I heard Ralph was in the hospital. I drove to town and made my way to his room. He was having a tussle with an ugly strain of the flu. It looked miserable, but it didn’t look serious. I kept my visit short, prayed with him, and said good-bye. I thought I would see him in church on Sunday, but the next day instead of being discharged to recover …

I don’t want to shock any of you but in a shadowy season of my past I drove what they called a “Roach Coach.” It was actually a squeaky-clean, brand-new catering truck outfitted to service factory workers. I would drive up to a factory at break time. Someone would shout out “Roach Coach” and workers would line up to buy hot coffee, hot chocolate, hot sandwiches, donuts, chips, pretzels and candy bars.
After servicing the workers I would tidy the truck, restock items that were getting low and face things …

Clay Nuttal has been a pastor for fifty years. In my in-box today was this little nugget I am trying to take to heart when I preach. What are your thoughts?
The cardinal sin of preaching is making any reference to time. You want the listener to be thinking about message content, not the clock. The minute we mention time, their minds are somewhere else; and often it’s hard to get them back. As preachers, we fail to think through how people may respond to disclaimers. If …

Years ago something happened that angered me. I’m really not easily angered though my story will make it seem so. This petty offense just touched a very sensitive nerve. The offense was repeated four or five times. It was during a time when I was already enduring more than my fair share of criticism. I will never forget it because it happened on four or five consecutive weeks at precisely twelve noon on Sunday.
Of course, I’m a pastor and if you ever lose track of me show up at …

On January 8, 1991 I went to Cedarville College to hear Jerry Falwell speak. He said, “There is not a pastor here who couldn’t double his attendance in a year if he just got out of his office and off the golf course and out of the coffee shops and began a house-to-house ministry.”
Jerry Falwell started in his home town in a church meeting at the Donald Duck Bottling Company and when he died the church was running over 25,000 in attendance. He left behind the largest Christian college in …

Mercer Chapel on Spring Road was a little white-frame community church. Like thousands of others, a fixture of the American countryside. Set in a cemetery, its patriarchs and matriarchs slept near by. It was a pleasant slow-paced congregation. Volleyball league and Ladies’ Aid. Strawberry suppers and ice-cream socials. Pot-luck dinners and Class parties. Christmas pageants and Easter bonnets. Good cooks and farm kids. American Traditional. Sort of a Norman Rockwell print.
The people were good to us. Elmer Brown introduced me to “punkin’ blossoms.” His wife Edith worked at the phone …

I was Ida Taylor’s pastor for a few years. She was not shy about what she liked and didn’t like. She let me know there were some things about me she liked and there were a few things I did or said she was pretty sure she didn’t like. She was real direct about what she thought about things. She wouldn’t talk behind your back. If she had a problem, she let you know to your face. If you’re going to disagree, I guess that’s …

I just got a call from a dear friend. He is a pastor. He needs to lose some weight. He read that I need to lose some weight. He challenged me to a weight-loss race. He has to lose 30 pounds. I need to lose 40 pounds. Here’s the deal: the first one to his goal is the winner (the big loser). The prize is this a hard-bound edition of Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon published by Banner of Truth.

I have a copy but mine is an old …

On Saturday night I am using a stand-up desk in a quiet corner of the house to do my final preparations for my messages. It is simple, uncluttered, and uncomplicated. I have already done my library spade work earlier in the week. I have the books and sources on the ‘net, on my laptop and in my Bible in my quiet corner. I try to stay off the ‘net as much as possible so I can keep my “head in the game.”
It is on Saturday night and Sunday morning …