When it comes to committing time and money for what we believe is important, family is still a significant commitment in our lives. I say “still” because early in our marriage, as a young couple and then as parents, we…
In 1964 Bob Dylan wrote and recorded a song called My Back Pages. I was just a little kid then, but its chorus has haunted me ever since the age of my body has become significantly older than the person…
When I was in my early teens I hated going to church, but that didn’t matter to my parents. They forced me to go anyway. Every Sunday. So I made it work for me. Once we arrived at church, my…
As a pastor, I work on Sundays. I know some of you think that’s the only day of the week that pastors work. That would be awesome if it was true! The fact is, being a pastor keeps me really…
There are a lot of things in life that aren’t easy to learn. For me, one of them is golf. I’ve been trying to learn to play better golf for forty years. The fact is, I still don’t have that…
Joy comes to those who take hold of it. Just like enjoyment comes to the Gudgels when we spend time at the beach. Over the course of our adult lives, Bernice and I have lived near the Pacific Ocean twice.…
Thanksgiving is a time when we stop to focus on the things in our life that we are thankful for. For many of us, that list comes very easy. For others, not so much. But whatever the current circumstances of…
For almost thirty years now I’ve taught a variety of Live Events for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. Usually that means WTB sends me to teach an Old Testament or New Testament seminar at a church, school, or conference somewhere…
This Fall I’m studying and teaching through the book of Philippians. It’s not a long book – just 104 verses. You can pretty much read through the whole letter in 10-15 minutes. But don’t let its size fool you. The…
When things don’t go as planned, if we’re not conscious of our focus we could easily respond like Eeyore and end up overwhelmed by gloom and doom. Almost 4,000 years before A.A. Milne brought the character of Eeyore into the…