The Bible-Believing, Bacon-Eating, Blog-Writing, Bald-Preacher

     Around 2000 years ago, give or take a hundred years, there were two angels hanging out after angel choir practice. Art & Herald were angles that sang in the glory section of the choir. The choir had been practicing for many years to get ready for their most important concert ever. Nobody knew when or where this concert was to be held but they knew they would be announcing the birth of the new born king. Not just any king but the Son of God. Art and Herald were excited because they heard rumors that it was about time for the concert.      Gabriel had been sent to deliver an important message on earth. He mentioned to some other angels before he left that he was headed to Nazareth to talk to a young virgin. All the angels knew that Jesus was to be born of a virgin so everyone was excited. That was what Art and Herald was talking about. They knew the final tryouts for the angel choir would be soon. They were discussing the songs and going over the different parts. Each wonder

     Does your family have Christmas traditions? You know the things you do the same way every year or a place you always have to go? It may be the way you exchange gifts or a place you go look at Christmas lights. It may be a recipe that you family makes, a song you always sing or a movie you have to watch. There are a lot of Christmas traditions out there. Some are unique and others are common among many families. Do you know where and why your family's Christmas traditions started? Sometimes those stories are as good as the tradition itself. The hows and whys of some Christmas traditions are great mysteries. Nobody knows why they have to do it every year or how long they have done it they just know they do it.      What happens when the Christmas traditions get broken or stopped? Can Christmas still go on? Will it start a new tradition? Will it be a temporary stop in the tradition? Will anyone notice the tradition has stopped? Those are real questions for many families each yea

     So, I am a band dad. Am I qualified to be a band dad? Let's see. First I have to be a dad. Check. I have a daughter. Next my child has to be in the band. Check. She started playing in the band when she was in the 6th grade and is now a freshman member of the high school band. So I qualify to be a band dad. Wow, that was easy. What did I do for such an honor? Nothing. It is all my daughter's doing. It was her decision to join the band. It is her hard work, her time spent practicing, and her dedication that makes me a band dad. I just wear the t-shirt.      I could never be in the band. I tried. In the 5th grade we took a "band test" to see if we should be in the band. I had high hopes. I wanted to play the drums and go straight from elementary school band to being a rock star. When the test started I was all business. The test consisted of counting beats and picking out the higher or lower pitches. There was 10 "questions" on the test. I listened and

     Some years ago when Abby was in Elementary School she brought home some math homework. It looked easy enough so we sat down at the kitchen table to have some father daughter bonding time. I thought I remembered how to do the problems she was working on but as she begun working the first problem I couldn't figure out what she was doing. After several minutes of struggling to figure out what she was doing I did what all good parents do when they are stumped by their children's homework, I went to Google. After searching for a few minutes I realized that I did know how to do the problems. So I begin to show Abby how to do them. This didn't go well.      As I showed her the method I learned that only took a few steps and mostly could be done in my head she wouldn't listen. She kept telling me that wasn't the way her teacher taught her. Now I purposely left our her grade and her teacher because I loved all her teachers at Sawmills and I am Facebook friends with

      I am celebrating today. Not because of who won the election but that the end of the election and political commentary is in sight. The news networks will spend a week or so analyzing how Trump won and why Clinton lost. They will try to tell you they saw it coming even if they had no clue. You know, the same way a weatherman tells you that he knew it wasn't going to snow even though he predicted a foot of snow. There will be a few more speeches from all candidates and standard plea for unity. Then one of the news networks will decide to get a jump on the others and start trying to predict who will run in 2020.      As I look back on the election I learned a few things. There a lot of passionate Americans that hold certain issues close to their heart. I also learned there are a lot of uninformed Americans that will believe any "news source" that says something they like. Unfortunately, a lot of times the passionate Americans and the uniformed Americans are one in

     I pulled into my parking spot at the church this morning and I noticed the white cross in front of my parking space had fallen. It was not big deal. It has fallen before because it is stuck in white gravel not into the ground. In the past I simply dug a small hole with my foot to place the cross in. Then I used the same foot to move the gravel around the cross so it will once again stand up. That was my game plan when I got out of my car.      I walked up to the cross with my phone and large ice tea in one hand. I had my keys, my Bojangles bag and my wallet in my other hand. Now, I don't usually go around carry my keys, phone or wallet in my hands. When I bought my phone case it came with a nice clip that I wear on my side. Most of the time that is where I keep it when it is not in use. This morning the line at Bojangles was a little slow so I checked my email while waiting. When I got my food I tossed my phone in the seat with my food and drove away. I have a habit of whe

     I had a long todo list for this afternoon. I had some "administration" things that I needed to work on and hopefully complete. It was fun stuff like getting ready for our bi-annual planning meeting, a small project I am working on for the next deacons meeting, and looking at some slides to be added to our pre-service slide presentation. If possible I wanted to finish my sermon plans for the rest of the year. It was a very doable list. I had no worries about finishing it. I came back from visiting with my Chairman of Deacons and got my things together and was ready to start. Everything started off just as planned. Then it happened.      Out of the corner of my eye I see a small black blur fly by me. I turned my head and didn't see anything so I returned to my work. This happened several more times. Later I felt like something was crawling on my head. With my lack of hair my head is very sensitive to things, especially sunlight. I quickly rubbed my head but didn't

     I have watched some of the protesting that is going on around the United States over the past few months. How could I not? It was on every channel during every show. I, like most Americans, had my opinions on the protests, the protesters, the reason for the protest and what should happen. Just like every other American I had my quick fix idea. As I step back and look at my quick fix solution I realize that it probably wouldn't work because I don't know all of the insides and outsides of the situation. I only know what the media, social media and an occasional researched article tells me. I know that I don't know everything about any of the situations. So is my opinion an informed opinion? Not really. But when has that stopped anybody from sharing their opinion? In America it doesn't matter if your opinion is based on facts, myths, research, fantasy or anything else. America will find you a place to express it. It may be on social media, at the watercooler, from a p

     Saved By The Bell was a teen comedy series that aired from 1989-1992 but has been on the air somewhere every year since in syndication. I didn't watch it until 10 or 12 years ago when my daughter, Abby, discovered Zach and the gang. We have watched it ever sense. It is definitely not intellectual TV but it is a clean show and somehow has gotten funnier over the years. I think I have seen each episode so many times that I am now laughing at myself for laughing at the lame jokes the show is filled with.      Over the years I have learned a lot by watching Saved By The Bell. The first thing was their school, Bayside, was much cooler than my high school or any high school for that matter. They didn't have a cafeteria, instead they always ate at a nearby restaurant, The Max. They could come and go to the Max anytime they wanted even during classes. They ordered burgers, fries, shakes and drinks but hardly every paid for any of it. They used The Max as their hangout, for sch

     I saw something disturbing on Facebook yesterday. I seen it in a few places but I still didn't believe it. I decided to Google it today to see if it was true. I was saddened to find there was truth to the post. That means there is less than 100 days until Christmas. In fact, there is 99 days 13 hours 27 minutes and 2 seconds. It seems to be getting closer by the second. My wife will be asking any day now if we can put our tree up. I look for Christmas music to hit the stores at any time. From my years of retail I know that in a lot of stores there is Christmas merchandise in the back rooms ready to be stocked. I wouldn't be surprised if some hasn't leaked out onto the sales floor some where. It is coming even if we are not ready for it.      To be honest I did not calculate the days, hours, minutes, and seconds till Christmas. (Which currently stands at 99 days 13 hours 23 minutes 45 seconds.) From my Google search I found lots of Christmas countdown sites. Some of

     A nurse was working at the local hospital when the phone began to ring. She answered the phone to find an elderly woman on the other end. The woman asked about the condition of Mrs. Johnson in room 405. The nurse checked a few papers and on the computer to find out the condition of Mrs. Johnson before replying. The woman waited patiently on the phone. The nurse returned to the phone to tell the woman that Mrs. Johnson was doing great. She informed her that they would soon be removing her IV and that the doctor had already signed the discharge papers for her to be discharged the next morning. The woman on the phone thanked the nurse for the information. The nurse then asked, "Is Mrs. Johnson a family member of yours?" The woman on the phone answered, "No, this is Mrs. Johnson in 405. I wanted to know how I was doing since nobody has time to come to my room to tell me."      Have you ever felt like Mrs. Johnson in room 405? You needed some information but the pe

     I can say after being out of High School for 26 years I finally used Algebra. So I want to thank all of my Algebra teachers for teaching it to me. How did I use Algebra you ask? I used it last night helping my daughter with her Algebra homework. See it did come in handy. If only I knew then I would actually use it I may have tried harder to learn it. When I asked my teachers when and how I would use it they would name off all of these professions that I had no intention of pursing. Which told me I didn't need it. I had a strict rule in high school, if I didn't think I would need it past the test I didn't put it into life long memory. I didn't always put it into short term memory to be honest.      There were things in school that you just knew you were going to use. Map reading for example. That to me was one of the most important skills high school taught me. How else would you be able to find out where you are when you are lost or how to get somewhere you

     I have always like to think of myself as a manly man. Most men do. We like to do manly things. We like to get dirty, eat meat off a bone, watch sports, play with the TV remote control and grunt a lot. It makes us feel manly to do these things. We have no fear that we will admit to except snakes. I can admit that with not problem. Even though we don't admit to many fears all men have that one fear that makes our knees weak and hands sweat. I had mine. Luckily for me, it was one I had never had to face before so it was easy to hide. But after 44 years, 7 months and 12 days I had to face it. It was surgery. I had never had one before and I was glad because it scared me to death. Before this past week I only had one hospital stay and it was sugary free. Even the thought of surgery made me want to run and hide.      Where did my fear come from? Like most fears it come from the unknown and not based on any facts or real possibilities. I feared not going to sleep or waking up in