Blog – Jeff Hampton, Writer

I finally asked the question I’ve wanted to ask a commercial business for a long time: “Do you play this music because you like it, or do you play it because you believe customers such as me like it?”

I’ve noticed over the past decade that many stores, restaurants, offices and even medical facilities have music playing in the background from the 1970s and ’80s. That’s my sweet spot for popular, secular music because that’s when I was in junior high, high school, college and young adulthood. The songs from those two decades are burned into my memory to the point that I’ve found it hard to warm up to current music.

April 16, 2026

Paying the Piper

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Well, it seems I’ve entered the skin-repair phase of my health care journey. It’s time to pay for my youthful carelessness, although back in the day I was just “getting some sunshine.”

My annual visit to the dermatologist indicates I have a couple of bad spots that need to come off, one on the notch at the top of my sternum and the other on top of my left ear. I’m thinking boxer Mike Tyson could take care of my ear in one quick chomp like he did to Evander Holyfield. Anyone remember that?

April 9, 2026

What Comes Next?

For Wilshire Baptist Church

It’s the eternal question; the question of all questions. It’s the question that’s sparked imaginations, delighted, puzzled and terrified humans since the beginning of time: What comes next after this life?

Easter Sunday was a good day to ask the question again, and that’s what we did in our Epiphany class at Wilshire. Led by Abby Adcox, missions and advocacy coordinator, we had a thoughtful discussion about “resurrection” and what it means. We started by reading 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, where Paul, who claimed to have seen the resurrected Christ, laid out the argument that if we believe Christ was raised from the dead, then we will be too, and if Christ was not raised, then our faith is in vain.