Lately, I have been hearing from a number of friends from my past with prayer requests. Knowing that I am a pastor, and a man of prayer, these people have reached out to me with specific prayer needs. Many of them involve family members who are dealing with serious health concerns. Some of these relationships go all the way back to my high school days, more than fifty years ago. Yet, we have remained friends across the years and the long distance between us. These recent co

had a most embarrassing moment last week. I went to introduce a long-time friend to someone else and called my friend by the wrong name. Okay, it was at a funeral and my mind was focused on the grieving family, but that is still no excuse. He was a fellow pastor, who was one of several pastors attending this service, but that is still no excuse. I even named the churches where he had served before his retirement, but that is still no excuse. While my friend was kind and forg

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! Holidays always make me reflect on celebrations from my past. From my childhood, I remember making our Valentine’s Day boxes for school. We would cover a shoe box with brightly colored paper. Then, we would cut a slot in the top to drop cards into the box. At home, on the night before, we would fill out our cards for our classmates. To some kids you wrote a message of friendship, while others you just signed your name. In class, the teacher would

I am always pleased and amazed when people from my past recognize me and speak to me in public places. We were having lunch in a nearby restaurant, after church on Sunday, when a man came up and called me by name. I was stumped and had to ask him to identify himself. As it turns out, I had ministered to him and his family in several ways, including officiating at his wedding and conducting his wife’s funeral. It always surprises me that people from my past find me readily re