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Articles by Jimmy Braswell
Why the fireworks?
Fireworks on July 4th have become something we take for granted. We expect to see them and plan a full holiday around the July 4th celebration, but do we remember why? Oh, yes we say because we remember freedom and it stands for freedom. But about the fireworks? Fireworks are a symbolic art to remind us of the battle necessary to gain freedom and that we had to do something to gain it. We had to act to gain our freedom.
BRASWELL: Falling in love
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Such a very important idea and experience, yet so often misunderstood. Hallmarks of true love for another person can parallel our love of God in disciplined following of Him: 1. A genuine interest in the other person in all that he or she says and does. This hallmark of love parallels our interest in “God’s story” in Bible study. 2. Common tastes, ideals, and standards with no serious clashes.
BRASWELL: The wonder of Christmas
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Luke 2:20: “And the shepherds returned glorifying God, praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.” Wonder opens the mind and heart to truth. What was it that the shepherds at the birth of Christ carried with them that would last? FIRST, they recognized that their highest happiness has its source in God.
BRASWELL: Thanksgiving for veterans
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa November is a month of celebration for our Veterans and Thanksgiving for our lives. It is a month to celebrate and be thankful for the life God has given us. For with all the trouble, hardships and suffering of our lives we can be thankful for the life God has given each of us. It is the one we were intended to have, even with all the difficulty – our life has a meaning and purpose way beyond what we can see or perceive.
BRASWELL: Halloween
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa October is the month for preparations for, and the experience of, Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday. The others are “Holy” days – but Halloween is just for fun. Why are we attracted to it? There are a variety of reasons, but my favorite is that it is so illustrative of life. Life is Scary!! Its full of the monstrous, the unexpected, and the frightening. We even love to be scared. We laugh or giggle after someone scares or startles us.
BRASWELL: The mystery of time
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Along with the changing of the seasons and all of its beauty, is a mystery which we contemplate four times a year. That mystery is the changing of the seasons and the time involved. It takes time to plant, nurture, and grow a garden. It takes time for the seasons to change. It takes time for any injury, physical or emotional, to heal. It takes time for fruit and vegetables to ripen. It takes time to grow up from a child to adulthood.
BRASWELL: Spring is here!
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa I had a great surprise the other day when a gardenia plant I have been growing for a year had its first bloom. Oh, so fragrant and beautiful! I like the color white. It is one example of a very productive spring this year. The floribunda roses are blooming abundantly and even the wildflowers seem to be cooperating in coming out in magnificent colors and quantities this year.
BRASWELL: A beautiful intersection
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa February is the month of love and we all look forward to Valentine’s Day on February 14th to show and express our love for those who are special in our lives – how serendipitous that February 14th will also be Ash Wednesday this year.
BRASWELL: A lesson from the Grinch
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa “The Grinch that Stole Christmas” is as well known as Santa Claus himself today. For me that’s really a surprise, because I remember when the story began to be popular. Yet, I’m really glad of that for the Grinch has much to teach us. He reminds us that we all have a little aversion to the “Commercialization” of Christmas. Now I’m not a critic of the glamour of Christmas. I love the lights, the presents, the food, and the celebration.
BRASWELL: Veteran’s Day
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Veteran’s Day is approaching. It will be a time to express appreciation to veterans living and to those who have died in service to our country. Two words come to mind and both are illustrated in the lives of my two brothers who are dead, but served in Vietnam. The first word is protection. My brother, Randy, exemplified it.
BRASWELL: Others make a difference
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa I read recently about a family who had a terrible loss of a loved one. The loss was made worse by harassment and mocking through social media. It is almost unbelievable that people can be so cruel as to harass people who are grieving with past disagreements or unsettled disputes, but here is the reality.
BRASWELL: Remembering
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Loss, a part of all our lives. We have physical loss, emotional, spiritual losses and often we feel alone in our recovery. Except for very few around us, and we are so grateful for them, it seems the world just goes on again and barely stops but for a moment to remember and acknowledge those who have died. As a result, we often have some complications in our lives.
BRASWELL: Real freedom
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa From the everyday coffee shops and doughnut houses across America to the church parking lots on Sundays — we all have the freedom to share what we really think. We solve the world’s problems from our chairs and stand firm in our opinions. As much as many are irritated by the opinions of others and complain of the complainers and all they have to say — thank God we are free to do so.
BRASWELL: Family time
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Appropriately during the months of May and June and into July, we remember our families, family life and country. We are reminded after that “family is important” and so it is. Whether a family is very close or not, family is still a big part of our whole life.
BRASWELL: Remembering mothers
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa As we approach Mother’s Day 2023 on May 14 let’s consider their significance. According to psychology, mothers instill a sense of HOPE into their children — The Balance of Grace with Law. How often have you seen a situation where a mother would not abandon her child but gracefully forgive every situation. Like many others, I lost my mother in death while still a child. I recall the sense of hopelessness and insignificance that remained.
BRASWELL: Spiritual laziness
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa When I was in high school, I worked in a plant nursery. I learned from orchard owners that there was a time when a plant was sickly, that you took a strong fertilizer and spread it on the plant. In their words, “it will bring it to health, or kill it.” The Bible warns us about a lot of things that can steal our spiritual growth. Among those, is what is referred to as the sin of sloth.
BRASWELL: Sour and sweet
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa The Lenten Season reminds us that there is a natural sweetness that covers the sour of life with a little salt added. When I was growing up in Odessa, our family was so large that there were few added snacks or deserts. We had iced tea for supper and there were halved lemons to add to it. We took turns eating the lemons after supper. It was a good treat.
BRASWELL: Love month
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa February is commonly known as love month since Valentine’s Day falls on the 14th. Love and its meaning is a constant pursuit – love songs and poems continue to be written and books target the meaning of love. In the summers of my high school years, I would go to my grandfather’s house for a couple of weeks and paint his house. He paid me $15 for the two weeks and I was satisfied – I really needed the money.
BRASWELL: The Revealing
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa This time of year, just after New Year’s, is The Epiphany Season – a “Time of Revealing.” The time we remember the coming of the Magi to visit Christ. The Three Kings. It is a time of revealing the Will of God in Christ Jesus. The salvation and reconciliation of man with God. We do resolutions at New Year’s with plans and goals for the new year.
BRASWELL: Why Christmas?
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Every year after Thanksgiving we begin dragging out the same old Christmas lights and decorations; we write Christmas cards to the same collection of friends and family; we again, sometimes for 24 hours straight, watch the same old Christmas movies; we sing the traditional Christmas songs and even new entertainers do variations of the old Christmas carols.
SULLUM: Judge accepts Biden Administration’s argument for banning gun possession by marijuana users
President Joe Biden, who recently issued a mass pardon for low-level marijuana offenders, says cannabis consumption should not be treated as a crime. His administration nevertheless defends the federal ban on gun possession by marijuana users, arguing that Second Amendment rights are limited to “law-abiding citizens.” Last week, a federal judge agreed, dismissing a challenge to that rule by medical marijuana patients in Florida.
BRASWELL: The unity of all
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa Conflict has been a given since the beginning of time. My brother shared a comical book called “It All Started With Rocks and Clubs” a satire on warfare and conflict throughout time. It seems to have always been a distant dream, but still a desired one, that mankind, or at least the body of Christ, the church, would find unity.
BRASWELL: Everyday deliverances
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa I recently purchased and read a book about the balance of light and darkness in the world, and surely if it weren’t for darkness, there would be no need of light. Being human is balanced with being a child of God. I sometimes muse that my two favorite phrases are “Damn It” and “Jesus, Help Me.” Usually, those two phrases are within only a few minutes of each other.
BRASWELL: Old clothes and new patches
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa One of the six parables included in all three of the synoptic gospels is the parable of the old clothes with new patches. The parable basically tells us that new patches on old garments don’t work. The patch just makes the tear in the garment worse. One of the accounts is found in the Gospel of Luke 5:33-36.
By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa On Sunday we celebrate, as every year, our appreciation for Mothers, living and dead. Every time I lead the memorial service for someone’s mother, I share the fact that we only get one. We may have other family members and even friends who have “been like” mothers to us and expressing thanks and love to them is not inappropriate on Mother’s Day. However, there is something very special and touches our heart in celebrating our birth mothers.
BRASWELL: The reality of the resurrection
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa One day last week I visited an old friend at the nursing home. She remembered another old friend from long ago school days visiting with her and the great fellowship and joy they shared for a little while remembering days past.
BRASWELL: Lent is come
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa The Christian Calendar has a “built in” time of renewal in its lectionary. Lent, beginning the week of Ash Wednesday and going through Easter is traditionally a time of repentance – renewal – and revival. Since it climaxes with Resurrection Sunday, it is so very appropriate to be designated as a time of renewal.
BRASWELL: Love month
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa February is the month of love, a celebration of love. How often do we question what is love? Sitting on the porch with my grandfather in summer, I took the opportunity to ask questions. I asked my grandfather how to know I was in love – he paused and shared his ancient wisdom “you’ll know.” So many ask the same question, but how many really discover true love?
BRASWELL: Manger tramps
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa As the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays come upon us, don’t try to create your own thankfulness. Don’t try to create a world of profit and performance to be thankful for, just be thankful for a relationship with God. Performance bandits try to make us feel we must be deserving to be thankful; as if, unless we have achieved a great deal or made a lot of money, we have nothing to be thankful for.
BRASWELL: Friends we need
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa While I was sick with COVID in August, my daughter decided I needed something to watch on TV.
BRASWELL: Catch your balance
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa As the summer moves on and we all try to get our lives back to some resemblance of normal, we realize more how much has changed since we began fighting this pandemic. Everything seems to be different and we are all grieving over the losses we have experienced — of people, of jobs, of opportunities, of our lives.
BRASWELL: A reset
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. There is a button on computers, televisions, electronic devices and even on some cars. It is a reset button. The “Reset” doesn’t eliminate problems, but it does give a fresh start and sometimes that’s all the device needs. We are the same way, now and then after a traumatic event, a world-shattering experience, or disappointment; we need a “reset.” The reset is a fresh breath, a concerted effort and attitude of beginning again.
BRASWELL: The craziness continues
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. The craziness that has resulted because of the COVID crisis manifests itself as impatience with the circumstances with which we are surrounded. The same elements of grief manifestation in the losses we experience in this life are being experienced by all of us.
BRASWELL: Being or doing
Jimmy Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. A recent article by a fellow pastor about the phenomenon of believers rethinking their faith and a deconstruction of their belief taking place caused me to reflect. I have witnessed this myself among other believers and even some ministers. When I read his article, it reminded me of an experience while I was on a sabbatical at my alma mater-seminary a few years ago.
Braswell: COVID craziness
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, April 3, 2021 5:30 am Braswell: COVID craziness By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American In the stories of the Old West is a documented account of many occurrences of a phenomenon on the stagecoaches traveling west; a condition called Stagecoach Craziness.
Braswell: Lent
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, March 6, 2021 5:30 am Braswell: Lent By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American We are in the middle of Lent, the celebration of Easter and a time of repentance. I’ve always wanted to preach a Lent-time revival to remind us of all the elements that combine to bring a spirit of repentance and revival to our spirits and lives.
Braswell: Patriot or pirate
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, February 6, 2021 5:30 am Braswell: Patriot or pirate By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American During the Revolutionary War, a great help was provided by Jean Lafayette, a pirate who turned patriot. Sunday during the Super Bowl will have one quarterback who was a patriot turned pirate. Why, how and when one is viewed as a hero or villain depends on the circumstance and the story turn of events.
Braswell: A chance to show up
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, January 9, 2021 5:30 am Braswell: A chance to show up By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American Why this trouble? Why the problem? Why the discouragement? Why the questions? When we are faced with challenge, questions, trouble and worry, it is only another chance for God to show up. When all these questions and worries come up, it is only another opportunity for God to reveal Himself and His miraculous ways.
Braswell: How valuable our faith is
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: How valuable our faith is By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American Christmas-time is to celebrate your faith. How very easy it is to take our faith and our journey with God’s fellowship for granted.
Braswell: We are walking with God through this life
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, November 7, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: We are walking with God through this life By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American What has been called God’s uncomfortable grace describes a process of God’s work in our lives that combines several characteristics of God’s plan of fellowship with us through it all.
Braswell: The death of a death
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, October 3, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: The death of a death By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American Fall is in the air — cooler temperatures, the changing of the seasons. Even though it is the season of dying of the leaves, it is my favorite season. It reminds me that death will itself one day die. There will one day be an end to discoloration, fading, loss, aging, hurting, pain, trouble and worry.
Braswell: A remembrance
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, September 5, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: A remembrance By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American The events this week at First United Methodist Church, by the City of Odessa, Connection Christian Church and others were not to bring back bad memories, or to glamorize an event, but to remember the lives of some beautiful people.
Braswell: Spiritual warfare
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, August 1, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: Spiritual warfare By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American It isn’t as explicit as a physical war, though it manifests itself that way eventually. We are constantly in a spiritual warfare. We live between the triumph of Christ on the Cross and the Second Coming — II Corinthians 10:3: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
Braswell: Conventional freedom
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, July 4, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: Conventional freedom By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American Conventionality, a word to be misspelled at the Spelling Bee. I finally found out what it means from interpreting a marriage compatibility test and was asked, “What does that mean?” To be compatible, to really know someone’s colors, you need to know their spirit of conventionality.
Braswell: The one thing
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, January 4, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: The one thing By Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American Most of us remember the movie “City Slickers.” The story of some city boys going on a cattle drive and discovering from an old cowboy that rediscovering the “one thing” in their lives most important was what they were really looking for.
Braswell: This is the day that the Lord has made
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, February 1, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: This is the day that the Lord has made By Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American When I was in college at Hardin-Simmons University, we had chapel twice a week. All students were required to attend Tuesday and Thursday.
Braswell: Something that doesn’t change
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, June 6, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: Something that doesn’t change By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American June 6th, D-Day, a turning point in World War II and a day that changed the face of the Earth. Europe and the whole world would change — be turned upside down and the lives of millions of people changed. Crisis tends to do that — change everything and as a result nothing on the earth can ever be the same.
Braswell: We need each other
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, May 2, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: We need each other By Dr. Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American When Jesus was asked about the law and the prophets and which commandment was the greatest, He responded that it was twofold: to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and our neighbor as ourselves.
Braswell: Look what has come into the world
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, April 4, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: Look what has come into the world By Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American I learned early in seminary that the definition of Grace through Love was one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Perhaps this virus crisis has reworded that to our beggar telling another beggar where to find toilet paper. We’ve seen some strange kind of hoardings going on haven’t we?
Braswell: This is the day that the Lord has made
Jimmy Braswell Braswell is chaplain with Home Hospice. Posted: Saturday, February 1, 2020 5:30 am Braswell: This is the day that the Lord has made By Jimmy Braswell Chaplain, Home Hospice Odessa American When I was in college at Hardin-Simmons University, we had chapel twice a week. All students were required to attend Tuesday and Thursday.
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