J. Lee Grady

My mother died last week at age 93 after almost three years of dementia. My father died four years ago this week. And last year I lost three close friends. You’d think by now I’d be an expert in how to grieve a loss but I’ve felt quite helpless when it comes to how to

I’m not a cold-weather guy so I didn’t enjoy the snow we got this past Sunday in Georgia. Everyone here looks forward to the one-in-a-decade snowfall, but I dread it. I don’t like ice on the roads, power outages, flight cancellations or the kind of highway pile-ups that were reported during winter storm Izzy. I

At the beginning of every year, I set aside several days to tune out distractions and seek the Lord about the coming year. Usually God gives me a word, a phrase or a specific Scripture that provides hope and guidance. This year, the Lord dropped 2 Chronicles 20 in my heart, especially verse 22 (NASB1995),

How many copies of the Bible do you own? I have a shelf in my home office with different translations that I use for personal study. I’ll admit it’s easier to access these versions online, using the Blue Letter Bible or the YouVersion app, but I still prefer to hold a physical Bible in my

I recently shared a meal with a pastor who loves his congregation and works tirelessly to serve his community. But this man was in a spiritual battle. A small group of people in his church were dissatisfied with this pastor’s leadership, so they were busy plotting ways to get rid of him. I’m glad I

My 93-year-old mother, Jean, doesn’t talk anymore. Her dementia was already severe before the pandemic started. These days, I’m blessed if I can get her to smile when I visit her nursing home or when I bring her to my house for a meal. Her blank stares are a painful reminder that she is almost

I had very little to do in the delivery room when my four girls were born. My wife was the hero. She sweated, strained, pushed and gasped for hours. I stroked her arm a few times — and ate some doughnuts. There was a normal amount of blood but no serious complications. Our oldest daughter

So many of my pastor friends have trudged through 2021 as if they were slogging through mud. This hasn’t been an easy year. If we opened the church for meetings, we were accused of being uncaring. If we asked people to wear masks at church, we were criticized. If we didn’t talk about politics, or

A few months ago, I preached at a church in Michigan called New Life Christian Fellowship. At the conclusion of the service, while I was praying for the congregation, the Lord showed me that someone was struggling with a strong addiction. I shared this with the people and invited the unidentified person to reach out

The year 2021 was a painful year for me personally because I lost three good friends. Robert died of lymphoma in February; Fernando died last week after a heart attack he suffered while on an international flight; and James died suddenly last weekend of heart failure. All three men left grieving wives and families behind.