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

     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 ...

     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...

     In 1990, I graduated from East Burke High School. Four years later my wife graduated from South Caldwell High School and now 22 two years later my daughter will soon be walking into South Caldwell as a freshman. I am not taking it very well. In fact, that may be a huge understatement. My stomach is in more knots than a fish has scales. (I guess that is a lot. I don't know how many scales a fish has but it sounded like a lot.) There is several factors that has contributed to these knots. One, my baby girl is going to High School. She is digging deeper and deeper into her teenage years and is shows. Those loving moments I used to treasure is now followed with, "Daddy, I need $$$$." The constant request for me to watch a movie in her room with her has been replaced with the constant request for friends to come over. The always smiling, giggly, sweet girl has been replaced with a moody, ever changing monster. With all that said she is still a wonderful young lady an...

     I am a big football fan. I can't get enough. I played it, I watch it, I play Fantasy Football, I talk about it and I even read about it. I have to admit I was looking forward to coming home after church last Sunday and watching the first preseason game of the year. I knew the starters may be done playing by the time I got home to watch and the guys playing I may never have heard of and may never see again but I didn't care. It was football. I was shocked when I turned it on and found out the game had been cancelled. Football never gets canceled. It doesn't matter how hot, how cold, how much rain or how much snow is on the field the NFL plays. I couldn't imagine what happened that would cause the game to be cancelled. I caught something scrolling at the bottom of the TV screen about the field. I figured for a game to be cancelled because of the field it must have caught on fire or a meteorite landed in the middle of it or something. Then as I watch...

     Sometimes you just need to get away. Get away from the stress and worries of the world. So you take a vacation. You know nothing fixes your worries about not having time to do all you need to do or the worry about paying for everything you need to pay for like taking a week off from doing anything but spending money. It is great! Seriously though, we do need vacations or staycations or just time away from everything. Just like our cell phones our batteries need recharging every so often. This is what vacation does for us. My family needed some battery charging.      So we took a vacation. We left on Friday afternoon and headed to Oak Island, NC, home of nothing. Just the way we like it. We began our vacation with our Friday evening Oak Island tradition with a meal at the Oak Island Restaurant for the Friday Flounder Special. Then we spent the next two days baking on the beach. Something different happened this year, I didn't get sunburned. U...

     Do you get offended? I do. I am offended that bacon doesn't come standard on all cheeseburgers. I am offended at the shampoo commercials that say you have to have to have good looking hair to feel good about yourself. I am offended when people pull for Duke or UNC. I get offended when people say, "No offence, but..." If you don't want to offend me don't say it. I get offended when people try to get me to agree with their reasoning for not going to church. I get offended at Mondays. I get offended when telemarketers call. I get offended when people assume I want to grow my hair back. I only keep what I got because my wife wants me to keep it. I get offended by all politicians no matter the party. I get offended by the weather when it gets over 75 degrees. I get offended by car commercials that want to rub it in my face that I can't afford them. I get offended when restaurants burn the outside of my rare steak. How do you do that?      I get o...

     I have watched the news over the past few months some. I have read a lot of the titles of posts on social media. I have actually read or watch only a few posts. I have heard the debates and interviews of the "experts" on the events that have taken place. I have heard some of the comments and messages that preachers have put out there. And the commentary everyone else has provided on it. I have read what my social media friends have had to say. A lot of them made me wonder when they became an "expert" on such things. Most of them made me wonder if they even researched what they were saying or posting because it was so obvious that it was made up. Anyway, we are all entitled to our opinion and for now we have the right to express it, no matter how profound or dumb it may be. The trouble with most of these opinions about the shootings, terrorist attacks, protest, elections, and animal troubles is that all we are doing is beating a dead horse. We know ther...