Church Life
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Where the Downhill Slide Started
Those who are familiar with the first chapter of the book of Romans will remember that it contains information about people characterized by their ungodliness and unrighteousness (v. 18). As one reads some of this material, he/she may think that they are reading descriptions of people, philosophies, and activities of our day. Maybe it would be appropriate at this point on our calendars to consider where the downhill slide into sin, degradation, and disobedience started. How did these people who, at one time “knew God” (v. 21) get to the point where they were objects of the “wrath of God?” (v.18) Where did the journey start that caused them to get to…
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The Tiny Crutches
When I was four years old, I was playing with some other children outside on a snowy day. What fun it was to play “follow the leader.” I was pretty small but thought I was as big as all of the other kids. When they jumped over an obstacle, I did the same thing. When they circled a tree, I did the same thing. When they climbed up on an old tree stump with a huge crack in the middle of it, I did the same thing…well, almost the same thing. They all jumped off on the other side of the stump, but I had on rubber boots, and when I jumped,…
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Gratitude…With Your Eyes Open
My favorite holiday is next week. Thanksgiving means a lot to me. Having kids, I like Christmas a lot, but Thanksgiving has been my favorite for a long time. (I not-so-jokingly call it “Christmas without the pressure!”) During this time of year, a lot of attention is given to gratitude. It is hard to scroll through social media, hear sermons, or do other things without someone eventually talking about how we should be grateful all the time. Certainly that is true, but it is also true that, at times, we need a little help. In our recent Gospel Meeting at Central, brother Hiram Kemp made a statement about gratitude that…
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Something Worse Than “The Bystander Effect”
I’m not usually in the habit of reproducing material from other sources here, but I’m making an exception this time. Most of what you will read below is from Quora Digest. I will add an application that I thought of as I read their material after I have reproduced what I read. ===== March 13, 1964. 3 a.m Catherine’s friends called her Kitty. She was young, just twenty-eight, and petite. Tiny really. And on this particular night, she was screaming for her life, as loudly as she could. After all, there were people all around. Someone would have to hear her. Right? Her shouts went on for thirty minutes, as her…
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The Most Important Vote Anyone Made on Tuesday
Before getting to my point, let me start with two things that today’s article is not meant to say. First, this post is not meant to say that politics are not important. They absolutely are. And I am a political nerd. I am very quiet about who I vote for, but I love the ins and outs of elections, even going so far as to think about how people in counties in other states will vote. Second, this post is not meant to be some holier-than-thou over-spiritualization type article. Instead, it is meant to cause us all to think about one simple thing. I hope it is read with that…
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Still Here, But Forgotten
We see it on tombstones, accompanying picture of loved ones, on cards expressing sympathy, etc.: Gone, but not forgotten Most of us can relate to this. In fact, I think that it would be difficult to find very many people who have lost somebody close to them, but who don’t continue to have memories of them. I am one of those fortunate ones for whom those memories are pleasant. The pain of losing family members and friends is tempered by the good times we were able to share. Since there is apparently not as much fear of personal interaction due to various strains of Covid, I’ve been trying to get back to doing…
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Vote For Me and I Will…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for quite a while, you probably know that various elections for political offices are just a little over a week away. There is absolutely no way of knowing how much time and effort has gone into trying to persuade voters to cast a ballot for this or that candidate, this or that proposition, this or that amendment, etc. According to one report I read, 9.3 billion dollars will be spent in this “election cycle” in an effort to garner votes. According to that same report, that staggering figure is the amount spent only on elections for offices on the federal level. It does not include the…
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6 Simple Things to Do When You Don’t Feel a “Part” of the Church
I love Central. If you have not figured that out from my posts here or on social media, you haven’t been paying attention. It really is a family, and it lifts my heart each time I am with any person or group from Central. But, no matter where you are, you may not feel connected. Someone (or a few someones) nearly anywhere will struggle to feel a part of things. If that’s you, this article is for you. Now, let me say from the outset: not everyone will feel as connected as everyone else all the time. Some of this is personality-driven. Some might have to do with where you…
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The Other Harry Truman
Those of us who have taken almost any class about the history of The United States surely recognize that one of our presidents was Harry S Truman. We may or may not know that he became president when Franklin Roosevelt died and that he upset the candidate for president that “conventional wisdom” thought would win the election of 1948, but we at least recognize his name. Recent events have caused me to remember another Harry Truman — Harry R. Truman. The news about Hurricane Ian brought him back into my mind. It had been forty-two years since I first heard about this Harry Truman. I’ll admit that I had to do a little digging…
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A Valuable Scripture When Teaching
I’m teaching a Wednesday night Bible class right now to some of my favorite students. I have 10th through 12th grade girls in a class on “The Roles of Women in the Home and the Church.” The class is designed to teach them leadership as God would have it. Whenever I am privileged to teach teen girls’ classes, I usually have a theme song and a prayer before we get into the actual study. The girls do a great job of leading in both of these areas. However, I changed things up a little bit this quarter. We still have our opening prayer, but this time I put a “theme” verse up…
