Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, NC, a widely traveled evangelist, and the author of several books. His books are available on Amazon and at www.wordofhismouth.com

It has been several months since I have taken the time to round up all of my loose mental squirrels, so here goes once again. And thank you in advance for bearing with me once again as I decidedly deviate from a singular-thought column into another set of random access musings.

One: There is no longer any need to talk about using duct tape for anything you do not want to move. Gorilla tape is as far superior to duct tape as filet mignon is to Spam. In theological terms, it is the eternal security of the tape world.

Two: One of the recent high school graduates in my youth group, having matured beyond such immature things, gave me his Captain America shield fidget spinner. I am not sure what bothers me more, the fact that he thought I was still juvenile enough to play with such a thing or the fact that he was absolutely correct. It is sitting beside me as I type this, spinning smoothly along. It will go for about a minute and a half without stopping if spun well enough.

Three: I am genuinely curious how churches around the country are recovering in all facets from Covidpocalypse, and would love to hear how yours did and is doing. Ours (to God be the glory) is substantially bigger than pre-covid, as are many (but certainly not all) of the churches I am invited to come and preach in. I am grateful for people who came back after all of the pandemic scare, even more grateful for those new folks who came during all of it, and even more grateful than that for those who stayed faithful and never missed a beat the entire time.

Four: I am a bit of a fitness fanatic. I (mostly) eat right, and I work out pretty hard four or five days a week. I say that for a bit of context for what I am about to say. A “fitness guru” in his thirties just died. And it did not take me long into reading his story to find that he was “getting chemical help” to achieve his impressive physique, “help” that very likely contributed to his early demise. I mourn his death; please understand that. But for any of you who truly want to be fit and strong and are not simply trying to amass millions of Instagram followers that you can then monetize, please pay attention. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that your body belongs to God; it is His property. As such, being stupid on the “Take unneeded shortcuts and hope you can avoid the consequences” side of things is as bad and wrong as being stupid on the “Eat like a moose/lay around/get obese/post about body positivity” side of things. No, you probably won’t become Instagram famous if you do things naturally. The most successful workout video I have ever done got around three thousand views. But you will almost certainly live a long and healthy life. And for any thinking person, that is the better option anyway.

Five: In addition to being a pastor and evangelist and author and columnist, I am also a high school teacher. I am blessed to teach first-period Bible Monday through Thursday to about twenty-five awesome kids. And I do not discuss my sexuality with those kids, at all. Not because I am in a Christian school, but because I am not a complete and utter weirdo, which is exactly what an adult has to be to go around discussing their sexuality with children.

Six: In earlier years, I wasted a lot of money by saving money. I finally learned that spending a bit more to get something decent saved money in the long run over buying and rebuying and re-rebuying junk. And that is why, as I sit in my church office typing this, I see about a dozen yellow Dewalt tools laying in the floor to help with projects I am doing here. Pay attention, whippersnappers; there are lots of good places to save money. Tools are not one of them.

Seven: As I write this, we are getting ready to do the concessions/outreach for our town’s Fourth of July fireworks. We will be serving food to roughly 3000 people, the very definition of stressful. I said that to say this: I do not drink, ever. But if I did, now would be the time.

Eight: If you want to learn a foreign language, a good way to practice is by praying in it. I am currently learning Spanish, and each morning, I try to begin the day by praying in that language first. It is pretty cool because God never laughs at me, and He understands what I mean when I get it wrong.

Nine: My newest book, a verse-by-verse commentary and study of Galatians, will be available about the time this goes to press. It will be the tenth book of the Bible I have done a commentary on in the ten years I have been working on them. So I either need to speed up or live to be 109 to finish all sixty-six books.

Ten: Wouldn’t it be cool if all Democrat and Republican voters could get together, in the absence of any politicians, and say something like, “Okay, tell you what. From now on, both sides agree to only nominate people that are not completely embarrassing, inept, decrepit, creepy, or on the take. That way, no matter which side wins, all of us win.”

Eleven: There are a lot of times that I go to meetings where lots of different preachers will be preaching. Sometimes, it is clear that a preacher is cruising on down the tracks. Sometimes, it is clear that a preacher is about to jump the tracks. Sometimes, it is clear that a preacher is unaware that there is even such a thing as the tracks.

Twelve: I saw a recent video in which a preacher taped a Bible to a baseball bat, used it to demolish a dollhouse, and then bombastically tossed the bat and Bible onto the ground. That display of disrespect grieved me to the core. Trying to emphatically make a point is one thing. Doing so by treating God’s Word in that manner is quite another. It sort of made me want to go kiss my Bible and tell God thank you for providing it for me and for all of the people who gave their lives through the centuries to make sure all of us could have a copy of it.

Pastor Wagner can be contacted by email at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org, and his books are available by clicking the “Store” link above.

Feature photo by Pastor Bo Wagner