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The Last Time

  What if this is the last time? Easter was about 8 weeks ago. As I looked over my sermon notes early Easter morning, I had a thought that kept coming to mind. I pushed it aside for a few minutes and then it would return. Finally, I spent some time thinking about what I was thinking about. On the drive to church, I verbalized my thought to my wife. What if this is the last time? She replied, “The last time for what?” The last time I preach on Easter Sunday? What if this is my last opportunity? She did not want to talk about it, but we did for a few minutes. I expressed a desire to represent the Lord well. There are always extra people in the worship service on Easter Sunday. I wanted to preach in such a way that I would be satisfied if it was the last time. I have been preaching for 41 years. I am rarely satisfied with any message that I preach. I wanted to be satisfied if this was the end of my race. More importantly, I wanted the Lord to be pleased. I have no reason to believ...
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Gone But Not Fogotten

  They walked and they walked. Step after step. Mile after mile. About 68 miles in 9 days. Many died along the way. Many more died in POW camps. It is estimated that of the 12,000 Americans who were on the Bataan Death March, only about 1,700 survived to the end of the war. This week is the 84 th anniversary of the Bataan Death March. This horrible event took place on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines from April 9-17, 1942. It was the largest surrender in the history of the US Army. If you read what the sadistic Japanese soldiers did to our soldiers, it will make you sick and angry at the same time. I won’t share all the gory details. You can find them online. I have read many books about the Bataan Death March, and I have read many survivor accounts. I have the dates of the march marked on my calendar every April. I do that so I will never forget the sacrifices of those heroic men. Each year, I try to do something in honor of the men who were on that march. One year I h...
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The Dawning of a New Day

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    The ball has dropped. Auld Lang Syne has been retired for another year. The fireworks have all been fired.   Another new year has dawned. It is hard to believe that it is 2026. It seems like only yesterday it was 2025 or 2015 or 2005. Another new year stretches in front of us like a new sheet of paper that has not yet been written on. It is a great time to give some thought to what you will write on that paper. Leap forward in your mind to January 1, 2027. What will you wish you would have done in 2026? What changes will you wish you made? What relationships will you wish you tried to mend? What will you wish you had done in your walk with the Lord? What Bible verses will you wish you had memorized? What kind of person will you wish you had become? Now come back to the present. The good news is that you have a new year in front of you to work on all the things you will wish you had worked on a year from now. But a year is a long time. It is easy to become ov...
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