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One Thing We Must Never Cancel
Over the last few months, the word “cancel” has been heard more times than I can remember. Young people had graduations cancelled. Youth groups across the country had Lads to Leaders cancelled. Camps, vacations, dentist appointments…cancelled, cancelled, cancelled. Even worship services–either in-person or even all together–were cancelled. Then, of course, the term leapt into our social world with the so-called “cancel culture.” As political and social unrest have seemingly come in waves, everything from actors to cartoons have been “cancelled.” It seems as if everything around us has been cancelled in some fashion over the past few months, or has threatened to be shut down anyway. Some, in the long…
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What I Cannot — And Can — Do
As I type these words, it seems like our world is coming apart at the seams. Nations are at odds with one another. Our own nation is divided in too many ways to try to mention here or discuss in any meaningful way. I’ve been doing a little thinking about some things I cannot do and what I can do about all of this. While there is a long list of things that, by myself, I cannot do, I’ve thought of a few things that I definitely can do. Let me suggest just a few. I cannot decide the economic, military, social, etc. policies for our nation. I can, and in fact am commanded to,…
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“Who Are You?”
In 2 Kings 1, the wicked king Ahaziah has taken the throne following his father’s death. The names of his parents, Ahab and Jezebel, have become synonymous with the corruption, idolatry, and evil that dragged the northern kingdom of Israel away from God and towards destruction for centuries. Now that Ahab has been killed, the first book of Kings ends and the second book of Kings begins with statements of his son’s wickedness. Ahaziah’s reign was brief; 1 Kings 22:51 states that he was king for only 2 years, and 2 Kings 1:2 opens the narrative by describing an injury that would eventually prove fatal. Following said injury, Ahaziah makes…
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The Thing With The Low Point
…is you don’t usually know where it is. It was on this date in 1932 that the United States, in the midst of the Great Depression, hit one low point in that awful series of events. On July 8, 1932 the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its lowest point of the entire Great Depression. It closed that day at 41.22 (By way of comparison, during the major plunge at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak of this year, the same index–the DJIA–never closed at a level lower than 18,000 and now sits at around 26,000.) But I just have to wonder, when that amazingly low number was hit in 1932,…
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Do I Really…?
Various social media have changed our world in ways far too numerous to even attempt to deal with here. It seems to me that one of the most obvious of those ways has to do with the people we now refer to as “friends.” Before Facebook, Twitter, etc. I’m not sure I ever had a friend I’d never met. I guess that those who have had penpals have had that experience, but I have not. Now, at least on Facebook, I have over 2,000 “friends.” I do not follow all of them and I’m sure that not all of them follow me. Nevertheless, we are categorized as “friends.” As I type these words, my concern…
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Color Design
I have finally had a summer where I had time to paint and enjoy decorating again! Most summers are so packed with camps, mission trip, vacation, and other activities that I feel like any time at home is needed for rest before the rush of the next school year begins. So far this summer, I have painted the family room, two hallways, a bathroom, and whitewashed the brick fireplace. It has been great! Ahead of the actual painting time is the planning time – a time where you look at colors that work together. “Colors that work together” has been a very interesting concept this summer hasn’t it? In our…
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Run with Endurance
Over the past few weeks and months, we have all had to try to find things to do that might have been different. Some have done nothing but binge shows on TV or Disney+, while others have landscaped as if they were trying out for a new show on HGTV. For one woman in Florida, though, the lockdowns in that state led her to set a new record. She has run a marathon…every day…for over 80 consecutive days. She shattered the old record of 61 consecutive days running a marathon and claims that her plan is to run 100 days in a row. At first, due to lockdowns, she ran…
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Sky Pilot
In 1968, our nation was divided because of the continuing involvement in the war in Vietnam. In that same year, Eric Burden & The Animals released a song entitled “Sky Pilot.” At best, that song poked fun at the role of military chaplains. It probably is not much of an exaggeration to suggest that the song made those who served in that capacity the objects of outright ridicule and derision. The song strongly suggested that the role of military chaplains basically was to speak platitudes to those who were going into harm’s way. Those who heard the platitudes might be going on a mission from which they would never return alive while the…
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I’m Not Getting Anywhere!
Five mornings a week I go to the gym and exercise. One of the things I do is ride a recumbent bicycle. Following my knee surgery, that was my surgeon’s recommendation to keep the joints moving. I climb up on that thing and pedal as hard as I can for a pretty long period of time…but I don’t get anywhere!! Miles go by on the screen, but I’m still sitting in the same place. My only consolation is that my knee is making progress and the joint is feeling better. Do you ever feel like you aren’t getting anywhere in other areas of your life? Maybe it’s your family life, or your prayer life, or…
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Building Evangelism Into Your Building
Before all the coronavirus shutdowns, Central spent some time emphasizing personal evangelism in a very important series. We spent a few Sunday nights with sermons–the subjects of which you would likely expect. Then, though, we spent a few Sunday nights demonstrating a few methods that we feel are simple but effective. Then…the shutdowns happened, and we are praying we don’t lose all our momentum! But, before the shutdowns, we were also involved in a building project. We have been expanded our lobby space and moving things around to make a new nursery and creating a small balcony (where the nursery used to be). This Sunday, Lord willing, we’ll meet in…
