It’s been 34 years now…I dropped out of school 34 years ago this month. I was right in the middle of my sophomore year at Texas Tech. One day in October of 1981 I just stopped going to class. I suspect you are already forming assumptions. Most likely your assumptions are correct. Yes….a girl was involved. I was seeing an “older woman.” I was 19 and she was approaching 21. She had a job in a bank. And she dressed…
I have a confession to make. I love old thriller movies where the villain slowly poisons some unsuspecting victim. And of course in movies of yesteryear, the villain always gets discovered. The victim is saved from certain death right at the last minute by the movie’s hero. Such heroes were often played by actors like Cary Grant or Gregory Peck. A slow and deliberate process of poisoning someone in real life is anything but entertaining. And it can actually take…
Earlier this week I delivered two lectures at Abilene Christian University regarding the role of a law enforcement chaplain in times of crisis. During the course of conversation a dear friend shared one of those quotes that has a way of staying with you. She said: “You can pretend to care, but you can’t pretend to show up.” Two days later I was reminded that this statement is indeed true… A friend is caring for his mother in Arizona. She…
To our Granbury and Hood County First Responders: We know….all too well….that many of you feel like a target right now. You sense that there are people with evil intent targeting you. And at the same time, you also feel invisible, because so few appear to notice the good you are doing. Today, we are here to say: You are visible indeed. Your actions have not gone unnoticed. And today, we want you to know you are a target for…
Serving the community has been the theme of my sermons for this quarter. I am using “community” in a geographical manner. I am urging the church to serve the people that comprise our town. We are what one writer calls a “rurban” town. We are not rural but we are not urban either. But we are fairly eclectic group of people. In that line of thought, a comment from a friend reminded me that I overlooked a key lesson that…
In the reading schedule we are doing at church this year, we read the section today that describes the inhabitants on the island of Malta showing the Apostle Paul and his companions “unusual kindness.” (Acts 28:2). My immediate reaction? I want do that…I want to show people “unusual kindness.” But what does that look like? I tried to remember times that others have showed me such unusual kindness. It didn’t take long to remember… In 1998, my family attended a…
Every day on my way to work I am being tortured. There are no breaks. It happens every single day. Some sadistic individual has placed a 1972 Chevy El Camino with a for sale sign right in my line of vision. I can’t not look at it. It is a beauty. The body is perfect and I suspect the interior is equally flawless. I try not to think what is under the hood. And I remind myself that it could…
Law enforcement in America is under severe scrutiny. Simmering racial tensions between police and the citizens they are called to protect and serve have reached a boiling point in communities across America. At the urging of a good friend and colleague, I am going to comment on such tensions. My perspective is rather unique. I have been a law enforcement chaplain for over 25 years. In that role, I am called to provide pastoral care both to officers and victims…
My heart has been ripped right of my body this week. It has been taken out by force, placed on a hard surface and stomped on. I suppose I really should explain. I am doing my second year residency this week for my master’s degree in mental health counseling. (I know…what kind of nutcase goes back to school at age 51.) But here I am taking a course this summer in counseling children and adolescents. The written coursework was great. …
Reading the newspaper is dangerous business. There is no telling how a particular article may impact your life. Last week I played in a golf tournament with a marine. He is not an active duty marine, but years ago it was pointed out me that there is no such thing as a “former marine.” During our golf round he shared a story that continues to impact me. He got up one morning and read the newspaper. That’s not an unusual…