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…

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…

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…

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…

Do you recognize the young man in the picture? Does his name, Frank Wills, help at all? What about the fact that he is wearing some kind of uniform? Does the picture of the lock help at all? You may be interested to know that Jeff Bezos recently thought that it was valuable enough to pay $62,500 for it at an auction. Those of us who have been around a while probably easily recognize names like John Dean,  H. R. Haldeman, John Erlichman, John Mitchell, G. Gordon Liddy, Chuck Colson, and, of course. Richard M. Nixon. We probably would have a fairly easy time identifying most of them by their pictures as well. Although half…