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For Wilshire Baptist Church

On a recent Sunday at Wilshire we sang “To God Be the Glory,” an old hymn of the Baptist church written by Fanny Crosby in the 1870s. We don’t sing it often, but when we do it always triggers a memory of a Sunday morning in my childhood or youth when we sang that hymn and I was convicted by the words of the second verse:

Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

To every believer the promise of God;

The vilest offender who truly believes,

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

I don’t recall what was going on with me at the time. I’d always been a pretty good kid, but for some reason the words “vilest offender” troubled me deeply as if I was guilty of some heinous crime. And while the word “pardon” was supposed to give me hope and relief regarding the state of my immortal soul, I wasn’t so sure. Ever since then, whenever I hear that hymn, I sort of swallow hard.

Continue reading “I Beg Your Pardon, But . . .”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Monday was one of those long, busy days when you wake up to it and you’re not sure it’s do-able, but you gather yourself up and set out on the journey and see where it takes you.

It started with an omelet prepared by LeAnn because she knew I wouldn’t get another meal for a while. And then I was off to my annual physical where there was good news and bad news. The good news was aside from typical age-related complaints, I’m healthy with nothing that needs treating or watching. Vitals are normal, while blood counts are mostly where they should be after they were thrown off balance by cancer treatments.

Continue reading “One of Those Days”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“I wish I had been in the room when that song was written.”

Singer Gary Morris said that recently at a concert in downtown Garland just before he sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings.” Everyone knows Bette Midler turned the song into an international hit in conjunction with the movie “Beaches,” but Morris was one of eight artists to record it before Midler. His recording was a top 10 hit on the country charts and Song of the Year in 1984 at the Academy of Country Music. He didn’t write the song but apparently wished he had been part of that process or at least witnessed its creation.

So, is there a room you wish you had been in when something big was happening? Something noteworthy, even historic?

Continue reading “Wish You Were There?”