People are like horses – they can’t be really used until they’re broken.
I’m a semi-educated Redneck, born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. I got my undergraduate degree from Mississippi State and went on to get a law degree from Ole Miss. While there, I served on the Editorial Board of the Law Review as well as President of the Law School.
I went on to practice law in Mississippi, and I’ve tried cases in at least nine other states. In the federal appellate system, I’ve practiced before five different Federal Courts of Appeal as well as the United States Supreme Court.
None of that highfalutin, mumbo jumbo qualifies me to write this series; nor does it tell you who I am.
I have no formal seminary training and I’m not a preacher. Thus, these stories do not purport to be scholarly treatises on the Bible.
However, I, like you, am enrolled in the school of life. Sometimes I get “A’s;” sometimes I get “F’s.” Most of the time it’s somewhere in between. But even this does not qualify me to write this series.
My failures, and how God has used them, do.
You see, I’m no stranger to failure. I know what it’s like to experience brokenness. All kinds of brokenness – personal, financial, even spiritual.
People are like horses – they can’t be really used until they’re broken. God can’t really use us until we’re broken. This is what qualifies me to write this series. I have been given the gift of experiencing this life, especially my own brokenness while walking with Christ.
Each of us who accepts Christ is priests entrusted with God’s precious Word. I can go to God directly; to question, even argue. And in so doing, my eyes are sometimes opened to brief glimpses into God’s beautiful truths. Most often, we end up laughing or crying together – me and my God – who also just happens to be my brother and my best friend, Jesus Christ.
While it is true that I have no formal theological training, I do not come to the writing desk without credentials. For many years, I have enjoyed serving on mission trips to many different countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, parts of the former Soviet Union, East Asia, and Latin America. On many occasions, it is an understatement to say that the country in which I served did not welcome Christians. I actually find this quite exhilarating and exciting. To me, as with any Redneck, there is nothing more fun than being somewhere you ain’t supposed to be; doin’ something you ain’t supposed to be doin’. On such trips I don’t actually “serve” as that term is generally understood, it’s more like I walk by Christ as he says, “Hold my beer and watch this.”
I also walk by him at home. For many years now I have participated in a local prison ministry. In my opinion, these are the most neglected people in our country and by our modern-day churches. That is especially true post-Covid-19. In a more mundane, but no less satisfying way, I’ve taught adult Sunday School for so many years that I can’t remember when I didn’t. Finally, I’ve written one Christian novel, Death Pledge.
I once heard a missionary explain his role as, “one beggar trying to tell another beggar where he can find a crumb to eat.” Well, that’s all I’m trying to do.
From one beggar to another, I hope you enjoy the series If Jesus Spoke Southern.