Our column rotation placed my Father’s Day tribute after the fact this year, but, hey, it’s never too late to salute the dads who are doing a good job with fatherhood, and to challenge all of us to raise our performance even more.

Being a father is a wonderful gift, an awesome privilege. I’ve entered the almost-empty nest stage of life, and would love the turn back the clock just a few years. I loved raising my kids, and tried especially to make many memories and spend much time with them. They say kids spell love t-i-m-e, and would rather have you than any thing you can buy for them. Read More»

A pastor friend called greatly distressed because one of his core church members had informed him that his family was leaving the church because he was not being fed. If you really want to master the art of church grumbling, that is one statement that you must know how to use: “I’m not being fed.” Read More»

Saturday, May 21 came and passed without a cataclysmic world-ending disaster. The sincere California pastor missed his prediction again.

Eighty-nine-year-old Harold Camping came up with numerological proof based on Genesis 7:4, which reads “For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things which I have made.” Read More»

We’ve officially joined the Grandparents’ Club, though we’re much too young to be grandparents. Our daughter’s baby was due May 2nd, and we were debating about when to leave for the nine-hour drive to Southwest Florida.

We hoped to be there for the delivery and wondered whether we should leave Wednesday, or Thursday. The baby solved that dilemma by deciding she’d come early. Read More»

It was the top of the fifth, with a runner on first base and the Oakland A’s David DeJesus at the plate. Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, a right hander, stepped off the pitching rubber as if to attempt a pick-off throw to first, but instead at the last second changed his mind and threw sideways to the plate and right at the batter. It was a weird move and briefly confused the umpires. Read More»

Last Wednesday, the processional carrying the body of fallen soldier Jeremy Faulkner passed our church on the way to the funeral home in McDonough. Faulkner was killed March 29 when his unit came under enemy fire in the Konar Province of Afghanistan.

Faulkner’s body was flown to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, arriving around 11 a.m. Then Patriot Guard Riders and law enforcement officials escorted his body through Fayetteville and Lovejoy and into McDonough. Citizens lined the route to wave flags and show respect for this Griffin High School graduate. Read More»

One of the privileges of being in the ministry is the opportunity to be “pastor” to people in times of joy and in times of adversity. Simply “being there” and having that “ministry of presence” are greatly appreciated by parishioners in need.

I may be slightly biased, but I feel every person should have a pastor and church family to support and minister to them at life’s critical points: weddings, births, hospitalizations and surgeries, deaths, family crises, celebrations and losses. Read More»

Someone said, “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear dumb than it is to open and remove all doubt.” Or, as Forest Gump’s mother said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” In other words, mental aptitude is often demonstrated by the stupid things a person does.

Take, for instance, dumb criminals. Last week, Timothy Chapek broke into Hillary MacKenzie’s house in Portland, Oregon, went into the bathroom and began taking a shower. Then he heard the homeowner return, so he locked the door and called 911 because he was afraid. Read More»

Recently, I drove out into the county to visit one of our members recovering from surgery. As I approached her house, I saw blue lights flashing up ahead. A small, red-brick church was on the corner, and the front yard was full of people standing around. Read More»

James Denison told about the senior adult lady who finished her shopping and returned to her car, only to find four men sitting in it. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, screaming at the top of her lungs that she knew how to use it and would if she had to, so get out of her car!

The four men ran like crazy! Read More»