Recently, I was officiating a high school basketball game that wasn't very competitive, but on the final play of the first half, a player for the home team drove hard to the basket and went up for a shot. With only a few seconds left on the clock, my partners and I were watching closely to ensure the shot got off before the buzzer and to confirm whether it went in. The shot was clearly released before the buzzer, and we were ready to count the basket. But just before the bal

As I write this article, a lot is going on around me. I’ve just come off two weeks of vacation , Christmas, New Year’s, the start of Upward Basketball & Cheer, officiating basketball games, a special election, family gatherings, a golf outing , and even some snow . However, there’s something bigger staring me dead in the face: tomorrow’s worship service at Mineral Baptist Church (MBC). I know some of the people reading this attend MBC and will be in attendance tomorrow, but

This is part two of my Panama reflection series . A few weeks ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. In preparation for my mission trip to Panama last month, my group and I were told we were going to preach revival services in various churches throughout the week. We would each be assigned to work with a particular church for

Have you ever spent time working on a plan for anything and then when it is time to execute that plan it does not work like you planned it? Many people know exactly what I am talking about. We all spend a considerable amount of time crafting up the perfect schedule just to get the random person interrupting it or constructing the perfect grocery list full of health and thrift just to smell the fresh baked doughnuts when you walk in the store or maybe organizing every detail