By LORETTA FULTON A funny thing happened after Abilene Hope Haven lost 70 percent of its funding. The loss of $278,000 in Department of Housing and Urban Development funding didn’t force Abilene Hope Haven to close. Instead, it forced its leaders to take a fresh look. While Hope Haven was receiving HUD money, it operated under certain rules. Without that
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Have you ever lost anything and couldn’t find it? Have you ever worked on something only to have it get destroyed in the blink of an eye? Well, that’s what happened to me recently. I had spent an hour writing my Thursday Thoughts for Southern Hill Church of Christ and went to
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON The title of an exhibit that runs through May 19 at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature is “Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards.” But on the evening of Feb. 12, the NCCIL became “Our Voice: Celebrating the Life of the Rev. Dr. Leo Scott.” Choirs from local African-American congregations
Read moreEcumenism and interfaith share many of the same attributes and goals as guests at the February meeting of the Abilene Interfaith Council learned. Guest speaker was Douglas Foster, professor of church history in the Graduate School of Theology and director of the Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene Christian University. Foster, a popular speaker at various venues in Abilene, spoke
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON This time of year made me think of a story I read in “Chicken Soup for the Soul” by Dale Galloway. It’s about a young boy named Chad. Chad decided that he wanted to make Valentines for all his classmates. His mother had wished he wouldn’t because she knew others treated him as an outcast. She’d noticed him
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON Father Joseph Huneycutt sometimes has to fight back the urge to say what’s on his mind, like when a teenager asks why there are no longer any miracles. “I want to say, ‘you are a miracle,’” Huneycutt, pastor of St. Joseph Orthodox Church in Houston, said during a talk Feb. 6 at Abilene’s St. Luke Orthodox Church.
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON “The battle to be like Christ is won or lost in a millisecond.” It happens as quickly as looking away from someone in need–or looking at them. Everyone knows the story of the Good Samaritan, Richard Beck said to a group Feb. 7 at First Central Presbyterian Church. But we don’t become the Good Samaritan ourselves because
Read moreGolf is a great game for teaching humility; yeah, but who needs that?
Read moreBy JANICE SIX As the season of Lent draws near, even Christians from non-liturgical denominations and traditions can be heard discussing what they plan to “give up” during the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter morning. It’s baffling to me what people choose to “give up” as a spiritual practice during Lent. For example: Chocolate. Yes, it’s considered to
Read more
Spirit Of Abilene 