Letter to our grandsons on choosing a wife.
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing”(Proverbs 18:22). Let’s talk about finding a wife. The simplest thing to tell you two boys is to do what your dads did. My sons and your dads, Neil and Marty,...
View ArticleHow the preacher can do weddings he’ll not regret
My first wedding didn’t turn out too well. My sister and the fellow she chose for her life-mate asked me to marry them. I was ordained and trying to pastor a tiny church outside Birmingham, but other...
View ArticleThat urge to run someone else’s life
Some years ago when I was still pastoring, I received a phone call from the principal of a local religious school who wanted me to straighten out one of my members. The man was head of an independent...
View ArticleThe high cost of adultery and those who pay it
I get these sad notes from people who read something from this blog and tell me of some mess-up they’ve done and the unbearable pain they caused. My heart goes out to them and to their loved ones. My...
View ArticleThe mistake liberal churches make which God didn’t!
“For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5). Well, maybe the title is a misnomer. The typical...
View ArticleI want to tell you a story
It was mid-way through December and I was telling my friend in denominational service how I had preached on Joseph, the father of Jesus, the Sunday before. The message was all about obedience and...
View ArticlePecking orders and taking care of the little ones
On the farm, in the yard where we kept the chickens, you noticed something. Some poor hen ranked at the bottom of the pecking order–a real phenomenon, by the way–and could literally be pecked to death...
View ArticleIt’s always the 100th anniversary of something or other
On the 28th of this month, people across the world will celebrate–if that’s the word for it–the centennial of the start of the Great War. The First World War. We commemorate it. We acknowledge the...
View Article6 things I want my grandchildren to know about highway driving
I was 17 when the State of Alabama decided to take a chance and issue me a driver’s license. The trooper giving the test admitted he was not too sure about me at the time. Over these 57 years of...
View ArticleWhy my granddaughters “must” believe in God
The year was 1972 and the Vietnam war was raging. Daily news reports told of the horrible damage being done to the bodies of children when their villages were napalmed. Napalm is liquid fire, so use...
View ArticleToday my wife told me she loved me
“Herein is love, not that we loved God–but that God loved us and sent His Son…” (I John 4:10) I found the note today–five days after Margaret’s funeral–where she had listed in her handwriting some of...
View ArticleSigns of healing begin to appear
“He healeth all our diseases…” (Psalm 103:3) In the old Western novels, cowboys are taught that once a wound begins to itch, healing is on its way. On January 23, a little over two weeks ago, my wife...
View ArticleAbout my wife’s death: So much I’m thankful for
“A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her own hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs 31:30-31). (My wife Margaret collapsed around 11 am...
View ArticleMy love language was “being on the same side.” Here’s the story.
In an earlier article on this blog, we told how Judson Swihart’s book “How Do You Say I Love You?”was all the rage in the 70s and 80s, until Gary Chapman restated and refined his material down to...
View ArticleA fool-proof plan for those needing more frustration in their lives
You poor thing. Life has been boring for you lately, and you have been searching for a way to perk it up, to insert a little anxiety into your days and wakefulness into your nights. We have the answer...
View ArticleThe pictures we made at the hospital and cemetery
My daughter has been posting some photos which I would just as soon didn’t ever see the light of day. It’s not that they’re bad pictures or that I don’t love the people in them. They were shot either...
View ArticleWhat my dad said about fathers
“Who can find a virtuous man? For his price is far above diamonds” (Not Proverbs 31:10, but it well could be.) My father, Carl J. McKeever (1912-2007), was someone no one who met him ever forgot. Like...
View ArticleNo two marriages are alike, but some are amazingly like yours
“They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (Genesis 26:35). No marriage is perfect. The union of two godly well-intentioned disciples of Jesus Christ does not guarantee a successful marriage. And...
View ArticleSo, how would you write your obituary?
My son Neil and I had a few days to work on Margaret’s obituary. Understandably, he could not bring himself to think about it while she lingered in the hospital on life support. It was hard, but I...
View ArticleFor better or for worse: The power of a spouse
My friend Lydia was helping her 6-year-old daughter out of her Sunday clothes. “Honey,” she said, “Did anyone tell you how pretty you look in your new dress?” Little Holly said, “No. They thought it....
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