The more thought I give to the universe around me, the more preposterous I realize it is to argue that this came into existence by random happenstance. Yes, I’ve said all this before. We must never forget that removing God from the picture removes any concept of plan, design, purpose or instigator for any of what you see around you. There can be no “why?” There is no reason for anything that ever happened to have happened. The idea that a billion changes all took place, leadi

On October 31, 1517, an, at that time, relatively obscure Catholic priest nailed a document containing 95 theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These theses were really propositions for debate. Having no idea at the time what he had unintentionally done, Martin Luther is credited for thus starting what would become the Protestant Reformation. The spark of contention between Luther and the Roman Catholic Church was the sale of Indulgences by which t

When was the last time you wanted to do something, but you just couldn’t get it done? Maybe you wanted to go to a concert or a football game, but you just didn’t have the money. Maybe you wanted to spend a week in the Smoky Mountains but you weren’t able to schedule that many days away from work. Even God is not able to do all the things He might want to do. 2 Peter 3:9, tells us, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

I have just spent the weekend at the 2026 Challenge Youth Conference in Pigeon Forge, TN. Those of you who were there as I was heard David Shannon suggest the idea that I have borrowed for the title of this blog. I start by giving credit to David Shannon for offering the concept we will be discussing. Do we believe in God? Do we believe God? These are two different concepts. One can consent to the idea that there is a God, and even that the one true God is the God of the Bib

I was asked by a subscriber to write about various world religions that we might say are “competing” with Christianity. This is quite a challenge for a 1200 - 1600 word article. There is not space to “make a deep dive,” so my goal is to present enough information to see why I have chosen Christianity. Yes, I will be quite partial . Hindu Hindu is the oldest of these religions, some say orginating about 2000 BC. However, it is actually very difficult to put a date on it becaus

In 1866, American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, wrote a lengthy poem entitled “Snow-Bound.” I’m not sure if this is taught in school anymore, but I remember studying about it during my high school days. Whittier was born in Massachusetts and died in New Hampshire so I’m guessing he was well acquainted with snow. Whittier was an important figure in American literature. (As such, he deserves much more serious treatment than this, but forgive me for noticing that this man who’

[ Trying to Walk will now be published biweekly, 1st and 3rd Monday of every month.] If you read my prior blog, you are aware that I spent a good bit of time in the hospital recently. This blog is not about that time, but it is born out of that time. During almost a week of that time, I was confined to a bed in the CCICU. I observed much of the activities in the ICU in that week. It was a busy place with nurses tending to the patients in every way imaginable, and other hosp

The year under consideration is 1972, and the day is the very first day of that year, New Year's Day. It was a day that the college football picture would be completely colored in and we would know who was number one and who was number two and so on. It was a day when many men, and some women, would be comfortably settled in their favorite chairs to watch football games all day long. The 1971 football season, as many others, had been a great one for Alabama. They were undefea

For the past few days I have been in the hospital undergoing tests and procedures. I have not been able to focus on writing an article so there will be no blog this week. Also I am making the decision not to publish an article during the month of December. Look for my next blog on the first Monday of January. I will be fine. I hope you will be as well. I’ll leave you with some beautiful mountain scenery.

In Colossians 2 Paul begins a section on baptism by mentioning circumcision. He makes a puzzling reference to a circumcision not made with hands. This is curious because by definition circumcision is something done "with hands," in particular, the cutting off and removal of a section of skin from a male human. How, especially in the first century AD, could anyone accomplish this without hands? What is Paul talking about? In Ephesians 2 Paul also mentions circumcision in a ver

“Whatever you want men to do to you do you also to them, “ Matt. 7:12. These words of Jesus are known as the Golden Rule of Christianity. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Matt. 5:9 is another statement of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. Paul instructed Christians, in Rom. 12:17-19, “Repay no one evil for evil . . . If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath.” Christians ar

Chapters 23 and 24 of Joshua contain his farewell address to the nation of Israel. In that address Joshua recounts the history of Israel from before they were a nation, and in fact before the birth of Abraham. Joshua brings the history all the way to the current situation Israel was then facing, the process of taking possession of the promised land of Canaan and God living up to His promises of overcoming their enemies and giving them the land. At the conclusion of the histor

At this point in my life, it must be said that I am much closer to finishing than I am to starting. That is a sobering point to reach. I can remember during my college years an occasion when several of my friends and I had decided to go to Ma’s Truck Stop late at night for some biscuits and gravy and hash browns. Every one seemed to be dithering around, wasting time, and I was ready to be there. I said, “Come on guys. I’ve only got 60 more years to live.” I meant to be faceti

The sacrifice Jesus made in being crucified for our sins, and thus our salvation, is the super ultimate example of a loving sacrifice and Christians speak of it reverentially, as they should. But Jesus made a huge sacrifice for us before he was crucified. “[Christ Jesus], being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearan

Paul says in Romans 1:18-22, “ . . . what may be known of God is manifest in [mankind] for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew Him as God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were dark

Sometimes a man gets run over by a truck. Sometimes he is freed from such a terrible situation. Not everyone agrees on how that might happen. This blog is a response to some comments I received in regard to last week’s blog (not necessarily in the comment section that follows the article.) To fully understand what is being said, it will be helpful if you are familiar with last week‘s blog, “What Saves You?”, In Trying to Walk, which you will be able to find at tryingtowalk.c

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