Category Archives: Fathers and Sons

The Nazarene Thing and Melted Butter

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Mark

I didn’t know my grandfather well. As the youngest of my three brothers, I got to know grandpa mostly while a college student at NNC. He and Grandma Jewel live on Ivy street—a short walk from the campus. Even so, … Continue reading →

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The Third Prodigal

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Mark

Most of us know the first prodigal in Jesus’ parable (Luke 15). We know this so guy well because he all of us, all of humankind, every son and daughter that has fled God and wallowed in sin. Adam and … Continue reading →

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Uncalculating Love

Posted on May 22, 2022 by Mark

Times have been hard, finances tight, stress high, and our energy low—so we got a dog. Not just a dog—Pharoah, a large male Doberman that our son Claude and his wife, Katie, shipped us from Illinois. Claude and Katie had … Continue reading →

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How Grandchildren Save the World and Our Souls

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Mark

I am convinced that grandchildren save the world. No matter how cynical, skeptical, and jaded we senior citizens become, our hearts still melt when a grandchild slips their hand in ours, places a kiss on our cheek, or squeaks out, … Continue reading →

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Praying for Wes

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Mark

Recently my friend Wes Adams died. In some ways, of all the ways death has made itself known recently, his death has moved me the most. Teckla and I got to know Wes when I took a teaching position at … Continue reading →

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Stanley Harmon Wilson: A Life Blighted and Blessed

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Mark

Stanley was born in Vallejo, California in 1943. He was the first child of Beatrice and Archie Wilson and was surrounded by love. As a boy, Stanley moved a lot as Dad pastored one Nazarene church after another. The first … Continue reading →

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But You Love Jesus, Right?

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Mark

Most Christians have been alerted to lies against the love of God. This lie lays siege to our faith on different fronts. Sometimes it attacks by insisting that God could never love someone as insignificant and mired in sin as … Continue reading →

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Do Dat Again!

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Mark

“Do dat again!” is often the joyous plea of my Ari, my four-year grandson. It may be in response to me catching him and giving him “an uggy kiss” or chasing him while singing, Teckla says, a wrong version of … Continue reading →

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Watch Me, Pa!

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Mark

“Watch me, Pa!,” is the frequent cry of my four-year old grandson, Ari. Occasionally, this makes sense because he really is doing something new or dangerous, but often he really isn’t doing much at all. And sometimes I am pretty … Continue reading →

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Hupomone

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Mark

When you read large hunks of Scripture regularly, you see major themes that you might miss during five-minute devotionals. This last year I have been clinging to God’s word like a guy lost at sea. During this time, I keep … Continue reading →

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