I recently re-read Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6. Usually we stop at verse 8, where, when God asks, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah volunteers and says, “Here am I. Send me.” This time, however, I read further. I read to what Isaiah was called.

Recently, someone suggested that I was a racist. The charge came, of course, from someone I do not know, who disagreed with something I said in an article, and who sent a comment to the newspaper anonymously.

When Twin Brother Mark pulled the string tight and talked, I was blown away. With the can cupped to my ear, I heard everything he said. It didn’t matter the span was only 20 feet between us and I could’ve heard him perfectly without the use of our new communication device. For us kids at the time, a soup can and string was the cutting edge of technology.

There was a recent flap because three different members of the Obama administration, on three different Sunday television talk shows, gave three widely differing estimates of how many jobs the president has created.

President Obama was right to converse with congressional Republicans last Friday in Baltimore. Cynics may label it as political theater, but I suspect the public appreciated the give-and-take.

John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, in an hour-long television documentary titled “Global Warming: The Other Side,” presents evidence that our National Climatic Data Center has been manipulating weather data just as the now disgraced and under investigation British University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit.

Education and transportation are high priorities with the public and Governor Sonny Perdue should be disappointed in Georgia’s accomplishments in these two critical areas during his seven years in office.

I am the chairman of the school council for J.C. Booth Middle School in Peachtree City. So what is a school council?

Every public school in the state is required by state law to have a school council consisting of the school principal, parents of students enrolled in the school, members of the business community, certified teachers and students.

This past week the Georgia Department of Education approved new regulations that will change the way students transition from high school to college. The process is now easier than ever for motivated high school students to take one or more college courses that count towards their high school graduation requirements.

This week the Georgia General Assembly convened for days 5-8 of the 40-day session. The majority of the work this week was done in committee rooms around the Capitol as bills begin moving through the committee process so that they may be considered by the full House and Senate later in the session.

When our friendship was new and still most interesting, Poet sought to impress me. But when the new wore off, Poet cast me into the ring with his other friends who are familiar and comfortable so there is no longer a need to impress.

Of the trickle of sightseers who had heard or read about Peachtree City and Fayette County, most landed here singing essentially the same chorus: There’s nothing here. Lovely trees and a sparkling lake, yes, but no library, no middle and high schools, no police department except for a fellow who cruised around town like a night watchman. Virtually no bad guys who made it all the way to Peachtree City either.

Not too long ago Jeff Foxworthy and his Blue Collar Comedy buddies did a segment entitled, “I believe.” They took turns finishing the phrase “I believe.”

A few days ago, I was having lunch with a fellow pastor in another town and we were discussing the terrible situation in Haiti. He was saying that his church was going to be receiving an offering and investigating what they could do to offer assistance.

It’s jobs, jobs, jobs now for the Obama team, rather than healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. You have to call it progress, particularly if you’re jobless, or fearful of becoming so at a time when 17 million Americans are either non- or underemployed.

The 6-year-old boy looked up with eyes full of admiration at the giant of a man and said, “When I grow up, I want to be just like you, Dad.”

Among the interesting arguments in last week’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision granting corporations First Amendment protections when making campaign contributions was the majority’s decision to effectively treat corporations as persons.

It’s not at all uncommon to watch a college basketball game and see that 90 to 100 percent of the players are black. According to the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport report titled “The 2008 Racial and Gender Report Card,” the percentage of black male basketball players in Division I was an all-time high at 60.4 percent. It was 45.9 percent in football and 6.0 percent in baseball.

The first month of the year is not yet up, but I'm guessing that many of your New Year's resolutions are already history. There isn't anything wrong with making resolutions and there isn't anything wrong with adjusting or abandoning them. Sometimes those goals are unrealistic or just plain wrong for you.

Readers’ response to how our daughter Jean’s working with her mildly autistic son Samuel has been gratifying indeed, and makes me believe that there are lots of other first-time mothers and grandmas holding each others’ – and their children’s – hands as they navigate the treacherous waters of the childhood years together.

It is well known that the Constitution of the state of Georgia requires the legislature to adopt a balanced budget. A balanced budget is one where the projected revenues and the projected expenses are practically equal.

I was in attendance for the Jan. 21 Peachtree City Council meeting and was thoroughly pleased. It appears the new group manning the helm is quite capable of piloting our ship.

Kailani Serapion is a 9-year-old softball player, and a fourth-grader this year at Huddleston Elementary. Her softball experience is a good example of what the Peachtree City Girls Softball League strives for, and the dad she misses a lot is a key part of our league.

There is a friend I have who cannot, for the life of her, tell a story.

Sadly, she thinks she can.

This often leads to drawn out phone conversations, dinners and afternoons over coffee that can be nothing less than a yawning bore.

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are some questions that I’ve gotten over the years of my ministry and via email for this column.

I am a self-described independent voter who tends to lean toward conservatism. If this were the 1960s, I would be a John F. Kennedy liberal. JFK promoted civil rights, women’s rights, a hand up for the disadvantaged, educational programs that would improve the lot of motivated youth who yearned for success, inspiration to achieve, and the opportunity to serve one’s country and community — this type of liberalism I could buy.

On the rude arch that spanned the flood
In the April breeze their flag unfurled
Here the embattled farmer stood

The receding water tugged at the corners of the magnificent castle he had built. As each wave folded back onto itself, it took with it handfuls of sand. The sand was pulled under the water and reclaimed by the tide’s relentless force.

Some expect Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake death toll to reach over 200,000 lives. Why the high death toll? Northern California’s 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was more violent, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, resulting in 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, about eight times more violent than Haiti’s, and cost 3,000 lives.