June 23, 2022 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, June 23.

Yesterday afternoon, the lights went out in Center, Texas. For several hours, over a thousand homes and businesses (including First Baptist Church) had no power. At least we were able to go outside and enjoy the 100-degree breezes... yikes! But, by suppertime, order - and air conditioning - had been restored.

June 21, 2022 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, June 21.

On June 21, 1948, the Columbia Recording Company introduced a new product. Since the early 1920’s, the world had been listening to discs that were made from shellac and that played at the speed of 78 revolutions per minute. These “records” had a poor, scratchy quality and were only five minutes long. The new product, on vinyl, had five times that length and a smooth, clear sound. The world of music had changed forever.

June 18, 2022 - It’s Saturday, June 18.

My father was born on June 18, 1913, in North Zulch, Texas - a northern suburb of Greater Metropolitan Zulch. Just kidding. It was, and still is, a largely rural area about a hundred miles north of Houston. His father was a sharecropper, which means he worked incredibly hard, and someone else got most of the profits. At least my grandfather had a 16 member farm team - his 16 children! It was a culture built on hard work, with little opportunity for education. And then something happened that changed my dad's destiny.

June 16, 2022 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, June 16.

On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln was nominated to run for the U.S. Senate. On that day he delivered one of his most famous speeches, a speech that included the famous line, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”.  

But that phrase wasn’t original to Lincoln. Like so many of his memorable lines, it came from the Bible. In Mark 3 (and in Matthew and Luke, as well), Jesus speaks those words to the Pharisees. The more accurate translation of that word “house” is “household” or . . . “family”.

June 14, 2022 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, June 14.

In the 1700’s, Francis Hopkinson was a judge, author, musician, composer, member of the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. And on June 14, 1777, his design was accepted for the flag of the United States. And you always thought it was Betsy Ross who did that!