Studies, Stories, and Songs

  It was my first summer at the Lighthouse.The year was 1969.  Many things come to mind when I recall those days. One of the fondest memories I have of that first summer was the friendship that I made with one of the boys. His name was   Ricky Banning.  Ricky came down to a lighthouse shortly after I did. He had been in some kind of trouble with the law up in the Dallas area. I never knew exactly what he had done. I suppose I never really cared. Ricky was a stout and chunky young man.  He was a little older than me, he had dark hair, dark eyes, and he was fair skinned. Ricky was about 5 foot and 8 inches tall.   I was pretty much Ricky's opposite. I was almost 6 feet tall, and lean. I had an olive complexion, blue eyes, and blond hair.  Ricky was all about doing everything full blast, while I, though not exactly a wallflower, was a bit lower key. I will never forget my first encounter with Rickey. The day he arrived at the lighthouse, happened to be a big day. It was the day that w

  The world counts reaching their lofty goals, As an ultimate, final conclusion. But each and every time a goal is reached, It often fades, like a fleeting an illusion, For the earthly things we have accrued, And goals we strive to archive, Many times leave us only emptiness, With no joy, no love, and no peace. Jesus said, wherever your heart is, Your treasure will be also there. So, when earth's riches, take wings and depart,  What is left, is but an aching despair. Then lay up for yourselves those riches, Which cannot be taken from you. Treasures way up in Glory above, Of things which you can never lose. For those things that our mortal eyes cannot see, Revealed only in the spiritual realm. Eternal life, Jesus Christ alone gives,  When we put our complete trust, in Him. Salvation by faith, God's amazing grace! By Christ's wounderous atonement for sin! Jesus died on the cross, then he arose the third day,  To atone for every last one of them! So set your affections, not on

Creaking springs of screen door hinges. The spring's  stretches  sets off it's singing And with the impact of the old door's closing. The hook latch rattles against it's catches, In just a second or two though, it finally settles down. Moms hollering, “You Kids! Get in or stay out!” Us heading “out”, with a whoop and then a shout! The crackling of an old AM radio, To the lightning flashes of a distant storm. Listening to a baseball game. While fiddling the turning dial, all around, Trying to catch, a little more of the game, As the thunder storm rolled on, and then it came The signal fading out, then wafting back stronger. And me hoping to catch the entire 9th inning, If the storm would hold off just a little longer, Ice cream freezer's, the old fashioned kind, With no annoying sounds, of an electric motor's whine. Parents talking across the neighbor's back fence, Us hearing, “Why don't y'all come on over then? Happy children playing a-way on down th

So, how does a man, or a woman, go from being “Joe Confident” Christian, or, “Jane Confident”, “Christian”? Or how did I get from an “I've Got this all down, Lord”, “Christian” to a “I am not sure of much of anything, except my salvation anymore”, Christian. And then, through it all, simply wondering if I would make it, at all, and if I did make it through, “Where was God in all of this senselessness?” So I found myself asking God constantly, “In all of this senselessness, how can Romans 8:28 possibly be true?” But, to “set the table” for how I went from an “I've got the tail by the world”, confident Christian, to a “something has me by the tail, and I wish it would let it go” Christian, let me say that I have learned a lot about Faith and forgiveness through it all. Yet it is hard for me to always practice what I learned. But let me share with you some “nuggets”, about faith that I became aware of, in a very real way. Yes, I am sure most of you know these things, and I had p