I recently held a conversation with someone I have known all my life. The subject of compassion came up and he expressed to me that he wished that he could have had compassion for others in his life. His lifetime is nearly gone, and now he is a sickly old man. On the one hand, he states that he laments the fact that he is completely devoid of compassion for others, and yet to listen to him it doesn’t sound like he has changed one iota and thus seems devoid of remorse and repentance . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/compassion-is-not-a-freckle/
My beloved brother Jim tragically took his own life several years ago, but it seems like only yesterday to me and it still grieves me and leaves me with a broken heart even today. I was going through his Bible this morning and reading his hand-written notes and saw one that read: “When on the edge, what would Jesus do?” Below it he had written: “Forgive – Don’t talk about others – Jesus wouldn’t.” . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/windshield-or-rear-view-mirror/
Ahhh . . . To be young again. Us old guys don’t recover so fast. My shoulder specialist said over the weekend that I need surgery immediately to repair my rotator cuff. He states that the muscle has separated entirely from the bone, and I have let it go for so long, opting to try and fight through the pain myself, that the muscle has atrophied . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/god-throws-me-a-bone/
I was traveling in India several years ago and saw for the first time people with leprosy. I shall never forget looking into the haunted eyes of a beggar who had lost his ears, fingers, and had other open wounds where the disease was ravaging his body. I stopped our taxi and gave the man some money as he stared blankly into my eyes, almost as though he was looking through me with his haunting expression . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/commonsense-the-lost-national-treasure/
I read an interesting article today about a lady who had her feet and hands amputated due to a surgery on her neck to allow her some relief from migraine headaches. She ended up with quadruple amputations! Twelve days after the procedure, Mrs. Adkins was airlifted to Dallas and put into a medically induced coma after she suffered sepsis due to strep on her incision. She was in a coma for 14 days before waking up and seeing that her hands and feet had turned black . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/dog-of-the-year/
Thanks for the many prayers for Jon, (my youngest son), and his surgery yesterday. It went great and it looks like he might even go home from the hospital later this afternoon. I asked his wife this morning to please tell him that I was praying for him night and day and lo and behold in about five minutes he called me. He sounded great! Now we must wait for the pathology report to see if the cancer has spread. I am prayerfully assuming that it has not, and I’m trusting that his next step will be dealing with recovery, without experiencing the side effects common to this surgery which can be numerous and can last for six weeks or God forbid even longer. I told him just to take it one step at a time and to know that God would be with him through it all . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/why-do-bad-things-happen/
My youngest son Jon is undergoing surgery at this very moment. He has prostate cancer, and they are removing it. I’m told the operation will take 3-4 hours. I’ve been praying for him for some time this morning and trust God will be with him every step of the way. I pray that the Lord will be with him and keep him safe and that He will guide the surgeons’ hands. I also pray that the cancer will not have spread and that he will recover quickly with no side effects . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/faith-to-the-end/
One time I wrote a treatise the size of War and Peace on the subject of praise music, and I expressed my low opinion of it. I love old-time gospel songs, especially those African American gospel blues songs. Subsequently several of you wrote and chastised me over it and one or two including my own wife have been almost militant in their staunch viewpoint that praise music should be loved by one and all. Well, la-de-da! Excu-u-u-u-se me for living! My mindset about this subject remains the same, I don’t like praise music and like my hero Forrest Gump, “That is all I have to say about that! . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/rolling-all-over-heaven-2/
Last night I got up and let out a groan as I stood. I had been running a piece of heavy equipment all day on my farm and my back hurt, as did my neuropathy-laden feet, and my shoulder with its torn rotator cuff. When I took my first step, I lost my balance and nearly fell. I went to get a glass of iced tea and I could barely see well enough to find a glass in the dark cupboard. Arghhh . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/beautiful-tapestries/
Change is inevitable. God desired a world of change and yet he does not change Himself because He is perfection. He says as much in Malachi 3:6, “I, the Lord, never change.” Change means a move in another direction. For God to change would mean that He either becomes better or worse, and God is ultimate perfection. He cannot change because He cannot be better than He already is; and He cannot fail or become less than perfect, so He cannot become worse than He is. God’s quality of never changing is called immutability. We on the other hand need to change and emulate His righteousness as best we know how . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/the-only-constant-is-change/
Just 7% of Americans have “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have “a fair amount.” Meanwhile, 28% of U.S. adults say they do not have very much confidence and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV, and radio. Notably, this is the first time that the percentage of Americans with no trust at all in the media is higher than the percentage with a great deal or a fair amount combined . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/deep-divide/
Like you I am concerned with the ever-increasing crime in this country. I have noticed that whenever anything less than flattering is said of the criminals especially those from the African American community, it is declared racist. So, if someone gives the actual statistics of the number of blacks committing crimes versus other races it is racist. Truth does not seem to enter the equation . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/truth-that-big-ol-racist/
One time when I was living on the island of Islamorada in the Keys, I went offshore fishing and had a truly spectacular day. The water was perfect, there was a cool breeze, the moon was perfect and the best fighting fish in the ocean, Wahoo or “Hoos” as we call them, were biting like crazy . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/the-hoos-the-bale-and-the-whale/
Not long ago I wrote a piece on the proverbial half-full/ half-empty glass question. A friend of mine wrote the following: “Have a buddy who is a recovering alcoholic. He always said it didn’t matter if the glass was half full or half empty, he was going to order another one anyway. Ha!” . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/opportunity-is-like-awaiting-a-taxicab/
One day I went turkey hunting and encountered every turkey hunter’s worst nightmare, a foggy morning. Gobblers don’t gobble much on those mornings; they prefer to just sit up high in a tree where they roost and sleep half the day until it burns off. I was sitting there disgusted and uncomfortable as all get out with my butt and legs going numb when several turkey hens flew down right in front of me . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/winning-aint-always-easy/
Prior to my recent trip to the keys, l was going bonkers from boredom. I’m sure I felt like many of you do sometimes. It seems like Groundhog Day as we get mired in a perpetual lazy lifestyle. Each new day repeats itself with torturous repetition . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/03/bonkers-from-boredom/
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that the “accident of evolution” had created. “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What Beautiful animals!” he said to himself . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/atheist-cries-out-to-god/
I rarely look at Facebook, but I keep getting messages through email that indicate I have numerous friend requests on it. So, I opened it up over the weekend and was astonished. I had hundreds if not thousands of requests to be friends. Unfortunately, I reached the 5000-friend limit and cannot accommodate them unless someone unfriends me, but I noticed that a number are “following” me, (whatever that entails) . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/worldwide-search-for-god/
Yesterday I was driving home from the keys. It was my second day of driving, and I was exhausted. As I was driving along, I decided to call an old friend who lived in the area. He was grouchy as a hibernating bear that had been awakened telling me he was old and hurt all over and blah blah blah. Ugh . . . I got off the phone in a couple of minutes, deciding I would rather stare ahead than listen to his old age woes . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/half-or-full/
A friend of mine owns a big exotic game ranch in Texas. He has African game roaming all over it that includes some of the rarest species in the world and hunters pay mega bucks to come hunt them. I asked him which species are the most popular with his guests and surprisingly to him (and to me); the whitetail deer topped the list. In Texas they grow world class whitetails, and it turns out that hunters pay huge amounts of money to hunt bucks with huge antlers . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/its-in-the-dna/
Yesterday I went Wahoo fishing in the Bahamas. It took three hours by boat each way, and we left at 4:00 a.m. and returned at 7:00 p.m. So, this morning I was wondering if maybe I thought I was still 30 years old or something. My entire body is sore all over from the boat banging through big waves, and upon our arrival muscling in big wahoo and other fish in the hot sun. My friends and I had a blast despite the arduous nature of the trip and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to go . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/live-life-to-its-fullest/
The Bible makes it clear that God hates sin. If you doubt this, look at Jesus on the cross. That’s what God truly thinks of our sin. The author persuades that God will never judge people for their sins because He is limited by His love. Neither will He enact eternal judgment upon those who reject Him or send anyone to torment in hell . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/shack-burns-2/
Recently a buddy, (Jack Parker), sent me a photo of himself and his new baby, (his dog). He is now 93 years old. His wife passed away several years ago from Alzheimer’s and he has been a bachelor ever since. So, the other day he went down to the DMV to take care of some business and as usual, it was packed. He took a seat at a table and across from him was a lady whom he described as a very young and pretty lady . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/young-woman/
I am deeply concerned that the truth is becoming obsolete in this country. Without truth, there are no boundaries. Nowhere is it more evident to the average person than in the media? They call it “spin”, but it is nothing but distortion of the truth or in plain words a lie . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/if-you-stand-for-nothing-you-will-fall-for-anything-2/
The Bible is clear that we should be humble. A famous song has lyrics that indicate “that it is hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way”. If someone is “beautiful” I imagine it would be impossible not to know it. I’m sure that every last one of them has been told that they are beautiful most of their lives beginning with when they were old enough to talk. The same holds true for being smart . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/hey-look-at-me-uh-maybe-not/
I met a man the other day who is quite the adventurer. He’s narrowly escaped death numerous times, (as have I), and we compared notes and couldn’t decide which of us has had the most near-death experiences. He assumed that all of mine occurred in my misspent youth overdosing on drugs, experiencing car and motorcycle crashes, and lethal fights, but my close encounters continued even after I found Christ . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/not-a-day-longer/
A friend of mine from the Florida Keys called me not long ago and told me had watched my testimony on the internet. He then began pouring his heart about his only daughter. She was doing well with her life, and he sent me a video of her promoting her fitness business. She was a beautiful girl and obviously had worked out and was incredibly fit. Unfortunately, she got into the wrong crowd and soon became a heroin addict . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/too-late/
I was running late for an important meeting one morning due to my having lost track of time while spending an inordinate amount of time trying to catch up on a boatload of e-mail that came in while out of town . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/how-to-get-high-2/
A friend of mine has been feeling awful about a few serious mistakes he made in life; one was particularly bad. The Bible warns against the behavior he exhibited and spells out in no uncertain terms that there are repercussions. I hate to see my friend grieve and have prayed that God would give him some relief from his guilty conscience . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/paying-the-price/
I was talking with a lady the other day about her strategy to lead others to Christ and she was adamant that she would not call herself a Christian or mention Jesus during the process of initially trying to convince a pre-believer to become a believer. Additionally, she would not proclaim the gospel . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/2023/02/call-me-crazy/