As I’ve already mentioned on this blog, the nice folks at Marvin UMC in Tyler Texas invited me to come and speak there, which I was happy to do. And Doug Baker, the senior minister, and his side kick Russ, and my Asbury student David Dorn showed me around. For example, we went to AT+T stadium which houses remarkable things, including this wall…. And on the way to Tyler (which is east of Dallas about 2 hours), we stopped at... Read more
This picture courtesy of my Charlotte friends. That’s Steph Curry and Cam Newton before the game last week in Charlotte. Notice how much bigger Cam is, and Steph Curry is Six feet Three!!! Of course, it ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Go Panthers…. go Steph! And BTW, both are good Christian men. Read more
Of course I would never have been in High Point had my father not gotten a job there. This is him in that picture above on the right. He used to take me to Greensboro to see the Greensboro Yankees (including Mel Stottlemyre, Tommy Tresh, Bobby Mercer), but today they are…. wait for it, the Greensboro Grasshoppers! At least they have a nice little minor league park downtown, and you can hop right on the bus to get there or... Read more
Dear Mr. Bear: It has come to my attention that on the 29th day of this month there will be a bear-ram confrontation somewhere near Disney World. Inasmuch as this will be the first such confrontation in living memory, I would point out to you that bears do not fair well against rams with curly horns and a low center of gravity. In fact bears can’t even say “BA Ram U”, or so I am informed. I am also informed... Read more
My home church is Wesley Memorial Methodist, just off Westchester Dr. on the edge of High Point. When I was born, the church was actually downtown right across from another Methodist Church, First Methodist (the old Methodist Protestant Church), so wisely Wesley Memorial decided to move. The move transpired during the heyday of the furniture industry, and was financed to a large degree by the furniture folks of High Point. And they went all out, as you will now see.... Read more
John Coltrane lived his first 17 years of life in High Point, right through High School (he went to William Penn High, the black high school which was closed when the schools were integrated in the late 60s). His father ran a dry cleaning shop in High Point. What precipitated Coltrane moving to Philadelphia was a couple of things: 1) he wanted to further his musical education (having grown up playing the sax and the clarinet, he favored reed instruments);... Read more
High Point is the home town of yours truly, but also of the most famous sax man of all time— John Coltrane. This post and the next will be about him…… It took a lot of arm twisting, but eventually we got High Point to recognize they needed to recognize Coltrane. Here’s two solid citizens of that N.C. town…. Here is his home on Underhill St. which I gather will soon become a city museum. There is still a lady... Read more
There are lots of different kinds of fights that go on in life— mental fights, emotional fights, spiritual battles, family fights, fighting against one’s upbringing or shortcomings, and even when we are talking fights that are physical, like my friend who is currently battling cancer, it doesn’t necessarily involve violence. I’m no fan of violence as a way to solve human problems, indeed I think its unChristian. So, as you might imagine, I’m not much a fan of watching boxers... Read more
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