Author Archive
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: There’s a Wrecking Ball Outside
When my wife and I bought our first house together, it was a cute little ranch-style home sitting high up on a ridge. We loved everything about it except the master bathroom. It was a hideous, dark, Barney-the-Dinosaur purple. ...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: School’s Out
Curtain climbers. Yard monkeys. Cherubs. Whippersnappers. Ankle biters. Urchins. I don’t know what you call them, but our children have been turned loose on the world. School is out for summer (at least it ends this week here w...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: Choose to be Happy
“There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.” That is a centuries old phrase from William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Hamlet.” Going back to your high school English class, you might remember that strange things were ind...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: He keeps them awake
Recently my father gave me a superb little book that contains three great speeches by past Native American chieftains. One speech was by Chief Joseph; one by Chief Seattle – both leaders of tribes in the American northwest; and...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: Simplicity
In Paulo Coelho’s brilliant little book, The Alchemist, the author tells of a young lad sent by his father to a wise man to discover the secret of happiness. The wise man lived in a magnificent, faraway castle complete with swe...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: Don’t quit, just finish
There is a vast difference, a world of difference, between saying “I quit” and saying “I’m finished.” Here is a case in point. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico, the last marathon runner entered Olympic stadium m...
Christian Living
Just Hang On
When I was a bit younger and a bit braver, a group of friends and I shot the rapids on the Ocoee River in southeast Tennessee. The Ocoee, which I think is the Cherokee word for “terrified rafter” is a world class whitewater adv...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: Really Walking Tall
Buford Pusser was born and raised in Adamsville, Tennessee. As a young man he moved to Chicago and began an aspiring career as a wrestler. He was known as “Buford the Bull” in the ring, and somehow the Bull gained the attention...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: The Power of “Now”
There is a Zen parable about a man who surprised a sleeping tiger while walking through the jungle. The ferocious animal pursued the man, causing him to throw down his bag and walking stick as he ran for his life. With the tig...
Christian Living
Keeping the Faith: No More “Chasing the Runs”
Bubba Ray played first base. Seriously, that was his name. His birth certificate might have read “Keith” Ray, but no one called him by that name – no one except his mama. We all called him Bubba. Brian Childs played second base...