January 13, 2020 - When I moved to the Big Woods Community near Vinton, Louisiana, I was located only one mile from Bearhead Creek, claimed by area anglers as a fisherman’s paradise. The church parsonage and was only a mile from the road that led to the creek and my old Toyota pickup would just barely make it through the rough road to the creek. On this particular morning, I was within a hundred yards of my fishing spot when my truck’s front tire hit a deep hole and broke a tie rod.

“Christ was born in Bethlehem…” Matt. 2:1
 
December 23, 2019 - When a pastor recently informed me that the Christmas celebration was sinful, it rang an all-too-familiar bell. His reasons were not new. Every year some well-meaning people encourage us to scratch the Christmas holiday. “We don’t know when Christ was born”… “Ivy and mistletoe were used in worship of the Greek god, Bacchus”… “Mistletoe was associated with Druidical rites”… “Ancient pagans decorated trees.”

December 9, 2019 - When I became pastor of the Fletcher Emmanuel Baptist Church in Lumberton, Texas, I found a church full of hunters. And the best hunters of the church were without doubt Junior Stanley and James Cannon. Their favorite hunting spot was on the Indian Reservation near Woodville, Texas and they invited me to deer hunt with them there one day. Junior and James both had Browning Auto Shotguns and I took a 6MM Custom Rifle that I had built.

November 18, 2019 - “You are the salt of the earth…”  Matt. 5:13
 
Mother was our neighborhood’s best cook. My aunts and uncles visited us often because they knew Mother would always have something to eat.  We usually had biscuits and syrup for breakfast and beans and cornbread for the other meals. We boys added rabbits, squirrels and fish to the menu when we could.