By DANNY MINTON Churches are made up of all kinds of people, people with various social status, people with a wide variety of financial stability, inherently kind-hearted people, people who worship God on Sunday and the ways of the world on Monday, spiritually strong people, people who struggle with their faith, people who are needy and asking for help and
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(Editor’s Note: Five people were stabbed during a Hanukkah party in New York on Saturday. During Sunday morning services, two members of West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement were shot to death by a gunman, who also was killed. Cliff Stewart, president of the Abilene Association of Congregations, provided the following comments.) By CLIFF STEWART President, Abilene Association
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By LORETTA FULTON A large stone with the engraving, “Jesus, For You,” seemed an appropriate keepsake as an old garage was cleared from land recently acquired for an expansion of Brian Massey’s Houses for Healing. Massey had been looking for land to add 16 more tiny houses to the four already built on North Hickory Street. As it turned out,
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By LORETTA FULTON At 35, DeOri Newman may seem a little young to preach a Watch Night service, a tradition in predominantly African-American churches dating to the days of slavery. But Newman grew up attending the service, and its history and significance were passed on to him. “We would all go as a family,” Newman said. This year’s service will
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By LORETTA FULTON Churches joining forces to solve problems, the death of First Baptist Church stalwart Virginia Connally, the reassignment of a longtime priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the return of medical missionary Kent Brantly and his family to Africa five years after he contracted the deadly Ebola virus there, a national humanitarian award, and women preachers popping up
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS In my more introspective moments, I consider how I have changed in my life. This is normal, of course, and it can be an instructive activity. Many wonderful people have enriched me and cared for me; indeed, many have sacrificed for me. I have had a blessed life compared to virtually everyone I know. When I consider
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON A young man sat down one day and viewed his life. It was a life of despair. At one time, he was a man of wealth. He had friends, dined in the nicest places, and was respected by each person he met. Then, in what seemed like an instant, it was all gone. He reached into his
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Upon recollection of 2019, what are considered “top-of-the-heap” memories depend on who is doing the recollecting. This has to be one of the most brain-scrambling beginnings ever unleashed during 17 years of column-writing. Completing what I thought to be an “OK” discourse to a convention audience long ago, I experienced a “bubble-bursting.” The
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Even novices in U.S. history know that discovery of our part of the world was made by Christopher Columbus in 1492. On a far more personal note, Beverly Hindman–an 82-year-old widow in Burleson, Texas, has collected important “puzzle pieces” this year to greatly clarify her family history. Now, 527 years after Columbus landed,
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Spirit Of Abilene 