Submitted by Tim Perkins

Across the Preacher’s Desk: The Pain Passes

April 7, 2022 - You have no doubt heard of the French artist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He was a leader in the development of the impressionist style. In his later years, he developed Rheumatoid Arthritis which severely limited his mobility. During the advanced stages of his condition, he had to have an assistant place the brush in his hands so that he could paint.

We are told that one day, a friend came while he was forcing himself to

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Don’t Be A Quitter

March 31, 2022 - Jesus didn’t quit assembling with the disciples because Judas was a hypocrite, or because Peter was always “buttin in”. Nor did he quit because James and John “flew off the handle” occasionally. His interest in these men was not lessened because they were envious and jealous of each other at times. He did not quit teaching the high standard of life because some of his close associates failed miserably to live as they should. He did not refuse to teach others because they were unkind and unbelieving.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Selfishness

March 24, 2022 - Jesus said, in Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Phillips translation puts it this way, “If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps he must give up all right to himself.” The denial of self, the giving up rights to self is one of humanity’s most difficult problems. It is hard for us to come to the realization that “it’s not about me.” To be sure, it is one of the hardest lessons there is for us to learn.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Good Intentions

March 17, 2022 - My mother always was one who enjoyed doing “crafty” things. When we were cleaning out her house, we found numerous half-finished projects. Things like purses being made from lunch boxes, wooden trays to be painted, pictures she was going to decoupage and, well, you get the idea. If we are honest, all of us have a number of “unfinished projects” of our own. It seems we “run out of time.”

Across the Preacher’s Desk: In Remembrance

March 10, 2022 - It was one night a few weeks ago, my wife was watching Hallmark Movies and I just wasn’t in the mood for a Hallmark Movie. I was more in the mood for an old World War II Movie. Well, I started searching Amazon Prime and found an old movie I had only seen once before. I had watched it on the “Late Show” with my dad in the mid 1960’s. So I tuned in and watched the movie.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: The Brevity of Life

March 3, 2022 - I got a phone call this week informing me of the sudden passing of an old friend, someone I had known for more than 60 years. To be truthful, he was more family than friend and though I had not seen him in more than 10 years, I thought of him often. It made me think of a poem by Leigh Hodges, one I first read many years ago.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Do Others See Jesus in You?

February 24, 2022 - I read a story the other day that came out of an era when Passenger Trains were the primary mode of transportation. It seems a little lame boy was carrying a basket of candy and fruit as he hurried to the passenger gate at the train station as fast as his crutches would permit. As the passengers were rushing through the gate, a fast-moving young business executive accidentally hit the boy’s basket, knocking its contents in every direction. He paused only long enough to severely scold the crippled boy for being in his way.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Consider The Lilies

February 17, 2022 - Though it is February, in East Texas that means that spring is “just around the corner.” With springtime, the grass starts to turn green again, the trees bud and the flowers bloom. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus admonished his listeners to “consider the lilies of the field”. When you unpack that statement, there are two important things for us to consider.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Lost and Found

Tim Perkins February 10, 2022 - I remember in elementary school, in the school office we had a cardboard box that was the “lost and found” collection. In that box you were likely to find notebooks, gloves, sweaters, jackets and various other articles.

Across the Preacher’s Desk: Clutter On The Desk

February 3, 2022 - It’s probably a good thing you cannot really see what’s “across the preacher’s desk”! There are a couple of coffee cups, various file folders, several stacks of books, yellow legal pads with sermons and Bible class lessons in various stages of completion (or incompletion, depending on your point of view) and then assorted papers, trinkets, numerous pens, well, you get the idea. The “preacher’s desk is messy and cluttered. Truth be told, I have always said that a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind in my attempt to justify my mess.

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