Early Marriage Tactical Error #2 (From Re:member)

Early Marriage Tactical Error #2 (Louisville, Illinois circa 1985) I had landed a job teaching and coaching at the Jr. High School of North Clay Unit 25 immediately upon my graduation from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  I taught seventh and eighth grade American history and coached baseball and basketball.  My teaching job paid about

A Room (for us) in the Inn

A Room in the Inn (Fairview Heights, Illinois, circa 1997) It was our first Christmas in Fairview Heights. Late December 1997. We had run down to DuQuoin for a holiday Friday/Saturday gift exchange with my mom and dad. When we arrived at the parsonage late Saturday night, it was clear something was wrong at 9

The Would Be Game Changer (From Re:member)

A The Would-Be Game Changer (Belleville, Illinois circa 2008)   It was late November 2008.  My son Zec and I were on our way to Olney, Illinois, for the first shotgun weekend of deer season and we were excited.  There was nothing better in those days than some serious guy time with our friends Jim

Early Marriage Tactical Error #1 (From Re:member)

Early Marriage Tactical Error #1 (DuQuoin, Illinois circa 1984) Melissa and I married young.  She was nineteen going on thirty-seven and I was twenty going on twelve and a half.  Despite our despairing maturity levels, Melissa had learned little about some of the basics of living.  We were married almost a year before I discovered

A Football Story (It’s Really About Dad and Me)

I was watching Monday Night Football tonight.  Here is a story from “Exactly As I Remember It” about the Dallas Cowbays, Dad and Me. A Football Story (It’s Really About Dad and Me) (San Antonio, Texas, circa 1974)   As a boy, there were three holy services of worship each Sunday.  There was Sunday morning

The Gifted One (For Grandparents)

Here is an excerpt from the new book “Re:member.”  And you thought YOUR grandchild was gifted?!? The Gifted One (Fairview Heights, Illinois circa 2013) There are few things I enjoy more than hanging out with my son Zec.  Zec and I have played about 75 softball games together each year for 10 years and I

A Christmas Miracle from “Exactly As I Remember It”

Here is one of my favorite Christmas stories from my first book “Exactly As I Remember It.”  It recounts a Christmas miracle that happened not in Bethlehem, but in the places our feet touch the ground.  Namely Arkansas… A Story about Jesus Turning Water into Teem (Somewhere in Arkansas, circa 1975)  Growing up the child

Re:member Final Excerpt Before Release

Here is my final excerpt before we release Re:member.  It should be available on line by Thanksgiving and I will be signing on Saturday, December 7 at 3:00 at the Grand Re-Opening of the Christ Church Bookstore at 339 Frank Scott Parkway, Fairview Heights, Illinois.   Crazy About Them (Fairview Heights, Illinois circa 2013)  Fridays

Re:member Excerpt #1

A Slice of Life  I am a part of the first generation of large church preachers to have amassed a huge amount of material on the internet.  Every message I have preached for the last several years is posted on our website, iTunes, Vimeo or some other free and easily accessible platform.  Tonight it occurred

Re:member Excerpts are Coming!

Each Monday until the release of Re:member, we will release a story on the Remember Books blog site. The photo chosen for the book cover was taken by Don Anderson in 2008.  In this shot in the upper Jordan River, Rev. Fred Bishop “remembered the baptism” of his son Rev. Shane L. Bishop. The new