Dig Deep

On The Run

Paul Harvey’s voice and delivery were exceptional, not to mention the mandatory ending to his daily broadcast. I take monthly license with these articles by utilizing his familiar format; a personal experience followed by a weaving tale until we get to “the end of the story.” And today will be more of the same. Run in the relay There I was in the afternoon gym class prepared to give it all for the team. The coach had broken us into four groups of four for a relay race only available to the swiftest. We were running dead last as I […]

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We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Box

Box of mystery Years ago, when our children were younger, we used to schedule “mystery family vacations.” The idea was a brilliant one, I might add. The concept was simple. Lisa and I would devise a fun family vacation but keep it a secret. We would simply share with our children the date of departure, the date of return and provide them a packing list, inserted with a few decoys to throw them off. The first year our children complained that we were terrible parents trying our best to ruin their lives, (jury is still out on that one) but […]

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All’s Well That Ends Well

Manuel Sibila and I entered his Rambler, dialed WKIZ/AM and prepared to start celebrating the end of another school week by listening to tunes. Instead we heard chaotic reporting of an ongoing event that shook the world. As a high school freshman and a recent arrival to this country, it seemed inconceivable to me that the President had been shot and killed that November afternoon. The loss of JFK was a reality check for baby boomers. All of us would always remember where we were when we heard the news; it would never be the same again.  Tradition, transgression and […]

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Make Time to Grieve

Summer is a fun time for families. There are visits and visiting, playing at the splash park, going to the beach, vacation Bible school and many other activities to keep the body and mind busy. It is good when the mind is busy, and if you are like me, your mind may be far too busy. Most of us do not like to think about, much less talk about our grief, but the reality is that we all have loss, and we all grieve. We also carry that grief with us to work, school and the marketplace even when we […]

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Never Cut What You Can Untie

During my childhood days, we had a vacant lot that became the gathering place for all the neighborhood kids. We had some great ball games on that old vacant lot. It was like Yankee Stadium to me and my pals on Crenshaw Street. Recently, I drove through that old neighborhood on the east side of Fort Worth, Texas. The houses and yards that once were so manicured and pristine are mostly unkempt and in disrepair these days. In fact, several of the houses on my block are vacant and boarded up, and the ones still inhabited have iron bars over […]

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Celebrating the 4th of July

On the 4th of July, 1776, 56 delegates to the Continental Congress voted to approve the final wording of the Declaration of Independence, our national birth certificate.  The Declaration declared independence from Great Britain, while at the same declaring dependence upon Almighty God. Four times, the document mentions God.    God-given rights Fast forward to today. Why do people from many other countries try to come to America – even in some cases, risking their lives to do so? What is the source of this nation’s greatness? I think the single biggest thing that makes this country so great gets […]

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Eternal Excuse Exterminator

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6). Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! Since sin entered into humanity during the Fall in the Garden of Eden, we have become experts at making excuses for not listening to God’s voice and answering God’s call in our lives. Excuses are self-crippling defense mechanisms that we use to justify our refusal to respond to God’s call. On the surface, the excuses we make can seem reasonable and right. But make no mistake, excuses are the enemy from living a life of Christian excellence. Did you know the […]

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Finding Jesus in 1 and 2 Thessalonians

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with […]

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The Prayer that Gets Results

“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with […]

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