Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Okay, I gave the FIFA World Cup a try. I watched one match – USA vs. Belgium – from start to finish. I saw every kick, pass, dribble and header; every goal and every miss; every injury whether real or flop. It was interesting but not electric, at least not for me.

It’s not that I don’t like soccer. I just don’t know the game, and that’s mostly because I didn’t grow up with it. And that, in turn, is because it wasn’t “fed” to me or instilled in me by my parents. I didn’t watch it and learn it because my parents hadn’t watched it and learned it.

Continue reading “Headers and Headscratchers”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

As our nation’s 250th anniversary has approached, I’ve heard the phrase “the American experiment” many times. It’s not a new phrase. One source traces it to George Washington’s first inaugural address, where he said the new government was an “experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” 

It’s a common-enough phrase, but I find it unsettling. I’m not sure I want to be living in the middle of an experiment. I don’t want to eat experimental food, take experimental medicine, drive experimental cars or fly in experimental airplanes, so why would I want to live under an experimental government. Unless like with food, medicine, cars and airplanes, there’s been enough tests and trials to get the glitches out and declare the country safe and ready for the masses.

Continue reading “Our Country ‘Tis of Thee”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Life lessons can come in unusual places. For example, when an unscheduled cemetery visit turns into an unexpected service project.

It was Father’s Day evening, and Cooper, our oldest nephew, wanted to visit his grandfather’s final resting place. He had missed the memorial service four years earlier when he was on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. He was in town now with a large group of family members for my mother’s birthday celebration, so we loaded up three cars and went to Restland.

Continue reading “A Lesson Under the Trees”