Church Life
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A Vaccine and Thorny Soil
Over the last couple of weeks, news has been encouraging about a potential vaccine for coronavirus. While, certainly, there are still many hoops that pharmaceutical companies will have to jump through to finish it out and get it distributed, it is the first hopeful news about this virus that we have gotten–consistently–in a long time. So, let’s play along with the hope. After all, we need some encouraging news, don’t we! Let’s just say that the companies are able to get it going, as they claim, by the end of this year, and then the distribution numbers grow in early 2021, on into March and April. Let’s just say that,…
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Every Day is Election Day
I am typing these words in the middle of a hotly contested and very contentious “election season.” Before too much longer millions of people will go to the polls all over our nation and make a choice about their preferences for the people they would like to serve in a variety of national, state, and local political offices. The greatest amount of national interest seems to be on who will win the election for the highest office in our land. That fact does not, in any way, diminish the importance of every election for every office. Some who read this may know that my major in college was government. My understanding…
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At a Loss for Words
Have you ever been at a loss for words? There have been a few times in my life when that has been the case. I know that’s shocking to some of you reading this, because most of the time I have too many words to say! When I was little and living at home, my parents used to tell me that I talked too much…and I probably did. In high school, one of my favorite classes was speech (imagine that) and I went on to major in communication in college and began my career teaching, of all things, basic speech to high school students. Over the course of my life I have…
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The Message Remains the Same
An older gentleman in Canada was working on his property recently when he noticed something stuck in the mud by a lake. He decided to pick it up, since it was obviously just trash, but noticed something about the object. It was a simple green bottle, but there was a sheet of paper inside. After opening the bottle, he read the note, which was written by a then-13-year-old girl who had vacationed on the other side of the lake and was simply putting a “message in a bottle” out there for the fun of it. It was written 32 years ago, but the man read the note and actually found…
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You Won’t Find It On HGTV
There is an automobile dealer in our area that informs people on radio commercials that, if you buy a car or truck from him, you’ll get a warranty “forever.” He then adds, “and that’s a very long time.” Indeed it is! Most of us have heard the word “forever” used when people try to describe a very long time. You know what I’m talking about – “I stood in line forever at Walmart” – or – “It took forever to get to grandma’s house”- or some similar expression. Lately, I’ve been hearing that word used in another sense. As some of you know, I (to put it kindly) tolerate HGTV. I don’t care much…
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Mom’s Advice
Moms are known for giving good advice: Eat your vegetables. Brush your teeth. Iron that shirt before you go on a date! 🙂 As a Mom, I hope some of my advice is useful and as a daughter, I know most (if not all) of my mom’s is! The mother in question here, however, is not just any mother. She is not deity nor, at the time in her life we are examining, is she a saint, though she became one the same way we all can (Ephesians 2:19). She was special, partially for her own personal characteristics, but mostly because of Who her Son is. He is deity (John…
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What Will We Talk About Now?
I am writing this on Election Day 2020. Scanning social media just before I started writing, I saw post after post after post about the election (I even wrote one). It’s been that way for weeks, if not months. Additionally, there have been a slew of posts about the virus, and, in fits and starts, about social justice and unrest. If you were to think back for, say, the last 6 months, wouldn’t you agree that those topics have utterly dominated your social media timeline, as well as, likely, your face-to-face conversations? And, that’s fine. They are all huge stories and have vast importance to our personal lives as well…
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None, Some, or Sum
There is a book that I’m fairly confident is owned by everybody reading these words. In fact, I’m fairly certain that most of us have more than one copy. The book is actually a collection of sixty-six books. Collectively, these books are known by most at The Holy Bible. Sometimes we just shorten that to The Bible. It seems to me that there are some serious questions that need to be considered about this volume. Each of us needs to ask ourselves such questions as: How much (if any) of this book is actually inspired by God?How much (if any) is accurate?How much (if any) is helpful in my own personal life, my family, my…
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We Are All At Risk
I know. I know. You probably don’t want to read another blog post about the coronavirus or Covid-19. I get it. Neither do I, and I certainly don’t want to write another one! However, I have heard this sentence used over and over again concerning the virus. Sometimes it has been talking about those with serious underlying health issues, but when we try to explain that to another person, what we hear is “We’re all at risk.” And that is most certainly true. As I contemplated that sentence the last time I heard it, my mind went in an entirely different direction. I’d like to share some of those thoughts for your contemplation. Some of these…
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An Election Day To-Do List for Christians
A staggering number of people all across the country have already voted, but there is still something special about “the day.” That day–the day of the general election in the United States of America–now stands less than a week away. For weeks and months, we have been wearied by news coverage and social media posts about it. Christians have commented on posts, shared their views, read articles, watched coverage, and tried to think through how to vote. But, let’s be honest, not everything that Christians have said and done leading up to the election has been reflective of people of faith. Sometimes their tone has been dismissive or even mean.…
