Voice of Hope

Anyone who is around me for any length of time will realize that I am a proud veteran of the United States Army, having served six years of active duty.  I served at posts in the United States and I served overseas.  Those six years in my young life (enlisted at 18-years-old) shaped the rest of it, up to and including today.  My body bears the strain of those years and my mind and soul do too.  I possess two honorable discharges (one at the end of my initial service of three years and one at the end of service) which I proudly keep stored for my children and grandchildren. I served in an era of great difficulty and an unpopular war.  It was an era that saw the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and only five years later saw the murder of his brother Robert while on the campaign trail.  The era of an attempt of the life of Governor Wallace of Alabama and the murder of one of the great orators of the 20th century, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. ...

I am writing this post on a Sunday night, after a day of ministry and travel.  As with most such nights, I have fallen into my recliner, and allowed my mind to go back over the last week.  Usually, there is no rhyme or reason to the thought process, I am simply trying to unwind from the past week of decision making that goes with my ministry. As I sit listening to the mindless chatter of the television set I realize that I'm not paying attention to anything going on.  Even when watching the news I have to ask my wife what was said in a certain story, although I was staring straight at the television. Sitting here tonight, my thoughts have centered on people who are not in relationship with God.  These are people who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, or people who have broken fellowship with Him. When most people think about the unsaved, their minds go to the drunk in the tavern or in the gutter, the crack addict, the prostitute or the profane. ...

This morning my Debra and I, along with Lindsey and Andy attended the homecoming services and decoration day at the Roberts Tabernacle church. We were reminded that the our heavenly Father loves us with an everlasting love and never takes His eyes off His children.

Matthew 6:9-13 9  "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." (KJV) Over the years, a commonly held view is that these passages should be referred to as "The Lord's Prayer."  I believe the reasoning is that since Jesus gave this example, it is only appropriate to credit it to Him.  Much like an author is credited when quoting his/her work. For years I have held a different view.  I contend that this is actually the believer's prayer which contains all of the elements of proper prayer, and because Jesus said, "When you pray...pray this way." I know there are various views, but I personally beli...

"When the storms of life are raging stand by me." Tonight I am thinking of this old song made popular in our church by Bishop Harper Hunter (1922-2012). It was a song that I heard Bishop Hunter sing, and that I played often on the old 33/1/3 rpm record player in my room. It was a song I heard my mother sing when she was facing some of the greatest storms of life that would have broken most people. She sang from her heart and she sang it with joy! This song has been going over in my mind because I drove through a severe storm on Interstate 40 today that brought traffic to a standstill. The wind was howling and the rain was blowing in sheets, at times the rain seemed to be coming from every direction. The storm lasted quite a while and grew worse the farther I traveled. Two or three times I thought about stopping alongside the road, but I realized the possibility of another motorist hitting my car was elevated, and it seemed to be best to just keep driving into the storm....