Ramblings from the Ol' Broadcaster

I was in Taco Bell last night.  I was going to drive thru but nature called so I went in.  As I came out of the rest room I saw 4 people standing at the counter laughing and talking about a gentleman in the back corner.  Mind you, these weren't teenagers, they were adults.  I knew all 4 of those people laughing.  I wish I could say they were laughing because the gentleman had told them a joke, but they were laughing because he was crying.  The sad thing to me, I had attended church with 3 of the 4, one of which was an officer in the church. Well, to those who were laughing, that man who as weeping in the back corner of Taco Bell has (in the past 7 months) lost a wife to cancer, a daughter to a heroin overdose and had all his money stolen from a stepson who was "helping him take care of the funeral expenses so he didn't have to worry about it." How do I know?  Because I asked him.  Yes, I got my order to go, but I couldn't stand there ...

In honor of April being Parkinson’s Awareness Month,  I want to share some things that Parkinson’s has either taught me, or reminded me about every now and then. One of the activities I enjoyed prior to being diagnosed with PD was golf (if you can call what I did golf).  I was never very good and some people didn’t like to play with me because any sport I try to play or broadcast, I was an avid rulebook reader.  When I would try to enforce a rule, I was often told to hush and just have fun and play golf. One “rule” (it is actually more of a courtesy) concerns replacing ball marks on the green from your ball hitting the green in flight.  I rarely had to worry about this but I was prepared if I ever did.  I studied the proper way to do it, carried around a divot repair tool in my pocket to practice.  One day!  One day I would hit a green from the fairway and make a ball mark and would need my divot repair tool. I am sure if you look in some peop...

I think I might be the king of the buffet.  I mean, really what is better than a good buffet.  What's not to like?  You go in, they give you as many plates you want and you go around picking and choosing from everything they have.  It is truly amazing. And the great thing is, you don't have to eat something if you don't like it.  When I was a kid, if we went to someone's house for dinner, my brother and I knew no matter what they served, we HAD to eat it.  It was being polite and showing respect to the hospitable person who welcomed us into their home.  I sometimes didn't like that part of being a kid.  So today, at the buffet, if I don't want beets, I don't have to eat beets.  If I don't want liver and onions I don't have to eat it. I mean, let's face it, there isn't someone at the exit door saying, "Hey, you didn't eat the liver and you didn't eat any beets.  You can't leave until you have eaten everything." Some...

I remember in every new vocational journey in my life, there was always someone who had advice for me.  When I was younger, I thought I didn’t advice from that “old guy” what could he know?  And why would he just throw out advice like I don’t know what I am doing?  As I later would discover, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  Those guys just wanted to see me succeed and not make the same mistakes they did.  They weren’t being arrogant or smug, they were being kind and loving.  As time went on I found out most of the time, if I had followed their advice things would have been better.   Whether it was construction, radio or ministry, there was always someone willing to help me out with some advice.  And whether I wanted it or not, I appreciated it.  Whether I followed it or not, I was humbled by it.  One day, a man I admired a great deal told me to listen more and I would learn more. That’s when I started really talking to ...

For quite some time I have struggled with what exactly my responsibility is as a brother in Christ. I mean, I know but really had a hard time boiling it down or how to express. I could never find a way to say it simply.  I have tried to preach sermons on it, teach classes on it, but I just couldn’t come up with how to explain what I was supposed to be to my fellow brothers and sister in Christ. Over the past few weeks I have been reading heavily in the 3 books of John toward in the end of the New Testament. Today, Brother Jeff Garrett had an amazing sermon from First John and it had me thinking all the way home from church, during lunch and even interrupted my nap time. Thanks Jeff! One of the themes of I John is simply love. Over and over from chapter 1 throughout the book John tells us to love each other. I love how in chapter 4 he says that love comes from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But if you don’t love, you don’t know God for God is love, so...

A few years back I was asked what my favorite passage about Christmas was.  I think when I said Galatians 4:4-7 people listening were shocked.  I am sure they were expecting Matthew 1 or Luke 2 or maybe even Isaiah 7.  I could see their heads almost spinning trying to figure what Paul said about Christmas in Galatians 4. So you don’t have to look it up, here it is: But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.  (NLT) The reason I love this passage when it comes to Christmas is that it plainly spells out what Christmas is all about.  God was in complete control, when He saw th...

This past summer I took up a new hobby to help with my Parkinson’s Disease. I have wanted to make fishing lures, so I decided to get a cheap airbrush, watch some YouTube videos and see what I could do. One thing I found out quickly was that it takes a lot of practice and you will ruin a lot of stuff. I also found out after ruining several lures that part of my problem after painting was the need for a rotating drying wheel so the lures could the clear coat over the paint could “cure” evenly. Those things are expensive and I didn’t have the funds to buy one. Then I remembered something my Pa Rube (my grandfather) told me one time. He had little education, but was the wisest man I ever knew. He said one day, “Son, never buy something until you try to make it. Store bought don’t mean it’s better, just probably looks it.” So I went out to our shed and found an old microwave that was pretty much shot. But in it was a motor that turned the plate around as things cooked. I quickly to...