Last Sunday, Jeana asked if I would run old devotionals on the Fridays I am off. Since she is much more intelligent than I am, I decided to follow her advice. Here's a devotional from five years ago. I pray that it somehow blesses your day. Devotion for June 5, 2014 A man, here in … Continue reading May 31, 2019 →

This past Sunday, Sam and his sister, Julie, who is a world-class opera singer, sang a duet during the offertory. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. The only thing that would have made it better is if they had invited me to sing with them. But for some reason, … Continue reading May 30, 2019 →

Jeana sent a picture of a sign she saw at a restaurant in Salado. The sign was printed in the format you would see in a dictionary. It said: “{calories} [noun] /pronounce/kal-uh-rees, Tiny creatures that live in your closet and sew your clothes a little big tighter every night.” Now I understand. The fact that … Continue reading May 29, 2019 →

Early this morning, I read an email from Barbara about some visitors to our church this past Sunday. They were worried they were sitting in someone's seat. This reminded me of an experience I had in my mid-twenties. I was a young man stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. I decided to visit the United Methodist … Continue reading May 29, 2019 →

Somewhere on an aircraft carrier, there's a sailor headed towards the Persian Gulf. Somewhere in Afghanistan, there's a soldier on patrol. Somewhere off our coast, there's a seaman on a Coast Guard Cutter searching for drug smugglers. Somewhere, in the middle of nowhere, there's a Marine guarding our nuclear weapons. Somewhere off the Alaska coast, … Continue reading May 27, 2019 →

Yesterday after lunch, I walked into Dennis Hall. Ellen was sitting at the receptionist’s desk. I said, “I’m very important. Where are all my messages?” Without missing a beat, Ellen said, “Your staff is so efficient; they’ve already taken care of everything.” This got me thinking. Do you ever think you are important? I don’t … Continue reading May 23, 2019 →

Last week, when Ray and Linda were traveling in Chicago they passed a Tootsie Roll factory. Since I am big on Tootsie Rolls, they sent me a picture of the sign pointing to the loading dock. I used them in a devotional. The problem is that we have two couples in the church named Ray … Continue reading May 22, 2019 →

This past Sunday in worship, I was preaching what was possibly the single greatest sermon in the history of Christianity, when suddenly, I noticed Ellen and Olivia shaking their heads and making the strangest faces at me. It was clear that they were trying to communicate something but I didn’t know what it was. The … Continue reading May 21, 2019 →

When I first met Shannon, my stomach was a six-pack. Now it's a keg. When I first came to FUMC Temple, all my hair was brown. Now it's predominantly gray. When I first came to FUMC Temple, I met all these little children that we celebrated in church yesterday for graduating from high school. What … Continue reading May 20, 2019 →

Linda and Ray are traveling. She sent me a picture of a street sign with a huge Tootsie Roll at the top with the word "Shipping" underneath and a big arrow pointing right. She wrote: "Ray and I saw this sign on Cicero Ave. in Chicago on Monday and thought of you. We were on … Continue reading May 16, 2019 →