The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Sorted by date Results 97 - 121 of 229
It happened twice in recent months and taught me a lesson about priorities. I saw one lady at a political rally where she asked for support in an upcoming election. Her family joined our church when she was a child, and she reminded me, “Pastor, you baptized me at our church.” And I saw the second young lady at a 12-year-old football game. Her son and our grandson were on the same team. “You baptized me when I was a little girl,” she said. Few things are as important as taking time for boys an...
Many of my friends have been using every spare moment for the last several weeks, trying to fill their buck tag. Some are holding out for a certain deer, while others are not as picky. But no matter which type of hunter they are, there is one thing certain. Both are growing tired. The early mornings are becoming less exciting, and the cold weather makes even the preparation much more difficult. Some will lay their weapon down and wait until next year. For myself, I am also lingering a little lon...
I met him while visiting our daughter’s church lately, and we had a brief conversation. I asked about his lifework, and he said he was an attorney, but he’d considered Christian ministry as a young man. My response, conditioned on recent research I’ve seen, was, “You could do both!” He indicated he’d thought about this, but our conversation was interrupted before we could delve into details. Most denominations report a shortage of pastors, including a shortage of bi-vocational pastors--th...
The IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office is focusing the public's attention to antifraud awareness by highlighting how to choose a reputable tax preparer and avoiding cryptocurrency scams as part of the 2024 International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 17 – 23. "There are numerous schemes criminals are using to defraud and separate unsuspecting Americans from their hard-earned money," said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman, IRS-CI Atlanta Field Office. "While our special a...
My sister and I attended the Peter Noone concert last Christmas and heard "Herman" from the original Herman's Hermits who celebrated his 77th birthday recently. I remember he joked that at his concerts there was no danger of anyone rushing the stage. He said this as he looked out at our audience, many of us with knee replacements, bad backs and walking canes! My generation grew up with AM radio and rock and roll. And we still like both, though AM is getting harder to find. Research shows that...
It all started with “Facebook Live” that so many of us began to experiment with during Covid-19. The U.S. government forbade public gatherings, and churches were included in the order. Thus “two weeks to stop the spread” morphed into several months with no public meetings. Our church, like many others, was thrust into the broadcast business without warning. Our first efforts were feeble, indeed. We struggled with getting a good Internet connection in our worship place, and then we used my lapt...
I don’t get to attend other churches much, so it was nice to visit another church lately. I attend a hobby club every year in Georgia and have most often driven home Saturday night. However, last year I hit an obstacle on the darkened road and blew a tire, so no more night driving on unfamiliar roads! This church had the ambiance of other Baptist churches. People talked and visited before and after. Someone turned off the sanctuary lights at some point which is the Baptist way of saying, ...
We sang it recently in worship. It’s a beautiful song about the word of God. It was called “contemporary” years ago but now seen as mainstream. Our congregation sang it loud and proud. No one got upset about it, but I remembered a person who did. At the time, a number of years ago, the lyric writer, whose name was inscribed at the bottom of the page, had been in the news the week before. She had a very public separation from her husband, and reportedly was in love with someone else alrea...
We had this six-pointer on camera several times. However, he was not just any six. The sheds from last year measured 135 inches. My first evening I chose the wrong stand. He showed up at a different one. For the next few days, I hunted where he was last seen, every morning and evening. He still lives. And I really wanted him. Oh, sure I would have been happy to put an arrow through some other giant. But this guy was different. This guy had a different story. This guy made the most out of the...
One of the benefits of hunting is getting to see so many different animals and other things that one just doesn’t get to see otherwise. I have renamed one of my trail cameras, the zoo camera, because it always has pictures of so many different kinds of animals. On that one camera, within the last two months, I have pictures of deer, coyotes, bobcats, turkeys, raccoons, squirrels, and a bear. Not to mention the various birds. And not only do you get to see various creatures, but sometimes i...
One of my least favorite things to see when bow hunting is a bunch of doe that comes in within fifty yards of my stand. I know that eventually I’m going to get busted. If I’m looking to take a doe, I might get a shot off. But no matter what, if they stay there long enough, I’m going to be discovered. It doesn’t matter if I’m wearing a deer hide underneath the best camo, while elevated thirty feet in the air, that one lone momma deer is going to sniff me out and let every other deer in three cou...
Coyotes are not a friend of any farmer, rancher, or hunter. They are equal opportunity predators. They will pursue your cat or your cattle. They are satisfied with fish or fowl. And they love a young tasty fawn. Needless to say, every opportunity to get rid of one should be taken. The rest of creation will thank you. There are however some places that make it a sport to hunt these scavengers. Texas is one. I have had a few opportunities to go with those who know how to call in these critters to...
My ground blind leaks. Yours does too. Yeah, I know you have the top-of-the-line, largest, most cushy, made-of-the-best-waterproof-material-blind money can buy. I’m sure it’s nice. But it leaks. It may not leak as much as mine. It may not leak in the same places as mine. But it leaks. Those leaks may not show up until the hardest rain, but, you know, it leaks. I’m sorry. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can still claim superiority in ground blind wars. But it leaks. And sometimes those l...
I’ve written good-natured laments in recent months about young preachers. I was one, and was called on at 15 and 16 to speak God’s truth. One of my friends told me about his first sermon as a teenager. “I had three points,” he said. “Go to church, read the Bible and be good. That’s all I had!” I suppose, likewise, I spoke sincerely but with little profundity. I was interested to see a recent story in Baptist Press about the Francis Lake Baptist Church in Georgia. Not only is the congregation...
I showered and dressed on a recent Saturday and drove to nearby Hoover for a Christian fest event. However, the parking lot was sparse when I arrived a few minutes before the scheduled hour. The nice reception lady searched the calendar and told me the event was the following Saturday. I suppose in my eagerness to attend I neglected the important detail of verifying the date. But I’m not the only one who’s been dressed and ready and missed an appointment. History is replete with those who...
It’s a new day in book-reading since audio books and podcasts abound. And many bibliophiles now prefer e-books. Bookshelves can pile up with a lifetime of book purchases and handling boxes of books can be backbreaking when moving to a new place. I was interested in a discussion about books I heard in a recent ministers meeting. One participant said he listens to audio books, and sometimes listens to fiction audiobooks as he goes to sleep. I wondered if this particular reading counts in the n...
It was in 2007 after attending a continuing education event in Washington, D.C. that I had a little discretionary time on the weekend. I drove to Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va. to visit influential pastor Dr. Jerry Falwell’s church thinking I’d hear him and say “hello.” I attended the early service and heard his son speak and remained for the Bible study hour to hear Dr. Elmer Towns who I’d met and heard previously. Not knowing that the elder Falwell was only speaking in the later...
Emmitt was among the finest Christian men I’ve ever known. He was retired and available to help make pastoral calls when I was the new pastor learning my way around. He was also a Gideon and distributed Bibles regularly. As a successful businessman, he offered wise financial advice, and he served as treasurer for our church. But one thing Emmit wouldn’t do is attend any meeting at church when we ate, including coffee and cake at after-Sunday night fellowships. Accordingly, he didn’t favor spend...
I don’t how many times I have crossed a ridge thinking I was some place that I wasn’t. I don’t how many times I have crested a hill thinking I’ll be able to see something I didn’t. I don’t know how many times I have rounded a bend to discover an additional path to the place I was going. I recognize this truth weekly. One of my hobbies is cycling. I’ve been riding for several years, and sometimes the places I ride are difficult. As a result, I’m always looking around the corner thinking I have...
The late Robert Schuller noted that the way we treat the English language is terrible. We say, for example, “This is the worst thing that could ever happen,” or “I’ll never get over this.” Most of us have said this at some point, and, most often, after dreadful things have happened. We probably believed the truth of our immediate response, though in retrospection would admit neither is true. But we continue to misuse words. I read someone lately who cited another misuse; namely when we say to...
The rain in our area has been relentless. This coming week will be the first week in several where there is hardly any rain predicted. Everyone here is praying for the possibility of sunny days with temperatures to be in the 90’s. Yes, you read that right. We are praying for sunny days and sweltering humidity with highs in the mid 90’s. It’s funny how that works. Just a few weeks ago, I saw a sign on a church marquee that implored us to pray for rain. Now, if I were to go back by that churc...
I’ve often commented on our Baptist system whereby young ministers are sent to the pulpit immediately after announcing their call to divine service. Thus, some of us began to preach at 15 or 16 years old. And I have friends who began to pastor churches by age 18. Having young pastors might become more common since research shows a shortage of pastors. I’m yet searching for answers to this trend. A denominational official told me lately that he thought churches don’t encourage commitment to vo...
“The National Congregations Study of Expressive Worship,” in cooperation with Duke University, published some interesting research findings about American worship. In summary, worship has become more expressive in recent years. Those who raise their hands in the worship of God (churches, synagogues and mosques) are numbered in more than 62 percent of our congregations, up from around 25 percent in 1998. I can’t remember people raising their hands in my boyhood church, or in most of the churc...
I talked with her lately and she told me, good-naturedly, about her “divided” family. “I’m Episcopalian, and I married a Pentecostal,” she said. There’s nothing wrong with this. I’ve known several “divided” families who made it work. I think the main thing to consider is the children, whether they’re in dad’s church or mom’s church. The most unique blend I ever knew was when Aaron and Sarah showed up at our Baptist church. They made a point to ask me if they were welcomed. Then Aaron explained,...
He was a local business owner and a music director in a Baptist church. He asked to have a planning and prayer meeting at our church one evening to share an idea. I said fine. I’d be there and I’d host. Several of us met on the appointed night to hear him tell about the county-wide crusade he’d already planned. He said he called the local Baptist association and found nothing planned that week, and he called the high school about using their stadium that week and it was fine. He told us furth...
