Category: From the Heart!
-
A Homecoming Party like no other…
My mom died of breast cancer in November of 1975. I was only 16. My best friend at the time was Bill Ballance. He and I were inseparable. We both went to the same high school and trained at the same karate studio. I practically lived at his house. Bills mom, Marilyn was a financial…
-
What’s on your Christmas gift list?
When I worked as a commercial truck salesman at Trans West Ford in Fontana, One of my co-workers was an avid tennis player. A couple times per week we would go to a nearby park that had tennis courts and a full locker room. We could slip away from the office at lunchtime, play for…
-
It’s All About Focus…
When I was pastoring it was one of the most rewarding times of my life. Knowing that God was using me in marvelous ways was at times, overwhelming. I was living & breathing ministry. One evening at the alter I felt the Holy Spirt fill me and I declared, “Total Sanctification”. At that moment, carnal…
-
“Yes sir! You got game.”
I have to admit, I have a very unique tennis game. I patterned it after Jimmy Connors, one of the fiercest competitors to ever play the game. He’s the reason I fell in love with tennis and the reason I remain competitive with guys half my age. I play a style that went out of…
-
Dry Bones…
I was part of the pastoral leadership team for a church in Victorville, California some years ago. Without warning, our senior pastor announced he was leaving. Our denominational leadership began searching for a suitable replacement. After interviewing several candidates, the church board made a decision on a new senior pastor. However, the decision was not…
-
Talk is…well, cheap.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I have been approached by someone asking for money or to buy something to support a cause. How do you know who’s actually telling the truth and who are simply trying to scam you? My anxiety jumps every time someone approaches me. I bet yours does…
-
Confessions of a Chapel Pastor
I must confess…one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I’ve ever done was being a chapel pastor for a group of junior high and high school students at Liberty Christian School. Every Friday morning I would lead the students in worship (I put together and lead a student worship team) and then give a message. The…
-
A $5.00 Trophy…
In the late 1970’s I was officially bitten by the tennis bug. I would take a quick drive to the local high school and hit for hours against a wall in a handball court. On weekends, I would see people hitting on tennis courts and ask if I could join them. Typically, it wasn’t pretty.…
-
There was just something about him…
Back in the mid 1970’s there was a tennis boom happening. Players like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe turned the gentile, and refined sport into something entertaining and exciting to watch. I lived in San Bernardino where it was not uncommon for local tennis tournaments to have 600 entries. Players from all over the country…
-
Being ‘Pantsed’…
During the first week of junior high school, as a freshman you quickly learn to stay away from situations where older classmates could take advantage of you. I stayed away from the bathrooms, locker room (when it wasn’t PE), and around corners of the school hidden from plain sight. I always wanted to be where…
