Editor’s Note: Laura Lacey Johnson is a former employee of KTXS-TV, the Community Foundation of Abilene, and Howard Payne University in Brownwood. She now lives in Missouri and is an author and creator of Christian videos. She will be an occasional contributor to Spirit of Abilene. To see more, go to https://lauralaceyjohnson.com Scripture Passage: Mark 14:34 “My soul is overwhelmed with
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS One way to make people happy is to carry a baby into a store. Taking one of these little ones out of the house was one of my favorite events of being a father. Once they get to be two years old or so the pleasure wears off for everyone (including the two-year-old), but, until then, carrying
Read moreThe Bible quote “God is love” appears near the front of almost every sanctuary in Christian Science churches, including in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, the headquarters for the denomination. Editor’s Note: Shellie Evans, a member of the local Christian Science congregation, submitted the following news release concerning the annual meeting of the church in Boston. The
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON A book by Dr. Douglas A. Foster that was twelve years in the making now is in print. Foster first was approached by Eerdmans Publishing in 2008 and spent the last twelve years thinking about, researching, and writing A Life of Alexander Campbell. The book was released June 2, 2020, by Eerdmans. Campbell was born in 1788
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It is ironic that author/broadcasting legend Garrison Keillor’s mythical hometown of Lake Wobegon is only an hour’s “crow fly” journey from Minneapolis. I saunter in where angels fear to tread–this needless mixing make believe with reality in the same paint can–but serious news folks do so all the time, so why not? Once asked about
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By LORETTA FULTON The voices sometimes were loud, sometimes plaintive, sometimes pleading, sometimes angry, all from students, faculty, and associates of Abilene’s three church-affiliated universities. They joined the chorus of other voices across Abilene and the nation that have spoken in the same tones in recent days. All were spoken in the aftermath of the latest incident of police brutality
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Anne Frank, as most know, was a Jewish teenager who hid with her family in a secret attic to escape the Nazis during World War II. For over two years, she writes about things that you would expect any teenager to write. In her diary, Anne also writes about the time hiding, in a small cramped area,
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Describing the onion as a “lowly vegetable” didn’t set well with the late Othal Brand, for 20 years the McAllen, Texas, mayor who cleared many hurdles during his 90-year earthly pilgrimage. His beloved Rio Grande Valley is now a world center for vegetables in general and for onions in particular. Ever restless and ever persuasive,
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS Several mornings we pass each other, sometimes multiple times. I am in my running shoes, shirt, and shorts. The man is driving a white vehicle and the dog is running alongside or behind. This may irritate some of you, but I am not a dog person. This probably started when I was in junior high and had
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