By Jim Nichols He unrolled a long section of white paper with heights marked off on it with a black felt pen. The marks were in feet and inches. After taping it in the correct position on the back of a bedroom door, he used snapshots of previous years to add dates such as “1-1-54” and “1-1-55” on smaller pieces
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By Danny Minton If you can’t be a wave, be a ripple.If you can’t be a forest, be a tree.If you can’t be a rock, be a pebble;But the thing most important is to “Be.” If you can’t be a king, be a peasant.If you can’t be an “A,” then be a “Z.”For the joy after all is not lessened,If
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My friend–call him Barney–has jumped through hoops and negotiated mazes that are part and parcel of a long and successful professional communications career. Now, he is spending well-earned retirement years on an East Texas farm. He’s learning to be a “yes” man to his wife and daughter, and he’s said “yes” repeatedly to
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By Glenn Dromgoole The first thing I do when I get to church on Sunday is check the bulletin to see what hymns we’re singing that day. Scanning the list on a recent Sunday, I noticed that we were singing two of the hymns that I’ve included in a not-so-serious list of what I call “occupational hymns” – hymn titles
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By Jim Nichols My parents subscribed to Reader’s Digest when I was growing up. This small magazine has articles that do what the title says—they digest/summarize written items from a wide variety of sources. For some years there was even a book-sized version for purchase in which famous full books were reduced to more quickly readable sizes. Even as boy,
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By Nancy Patrick I recently watched a movie with the strange title The Minute You Wake Up Dead and immediately questioned the writer’s sobriety when he wrote that title. However, as the plot progresses, the point becomes clear that the question refers to a person’s eternal destination when that time comes. The movie is by no means spiritual or even
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By Loretta Fulton Love & Care Ministries will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its fall revival Oct. 12-15 at the Abilene Convention Center. Beginning in 1995, Love & Care pitched a tent and filled it with worshippers who were seeking revival and a little tender loving care. The revival moved from a tent to the convention center in 2015, but
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By Loretta Fulton Among the highlights at Abilene Christian University’s Summit will be the renaming of a center on campus to honor Jeanene Reese, associate professor emerita at ACU. During the Community of Women Ministers dinner on Wednesday evening, Oct. 8, the Center for Women in Christian Ministry will be named in honor of Reese. Click here for a story
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICAN THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury If a vote were taken, Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers likely would score landslide wins for memorable musical compositions, many of which live on. One hit song–featured in the 1946 Broadway hit, “Annie Get Your Gun”–was unforgettable. Remember Ethel Merman belting out, “There’s No Business Like Show Business?” After 1,147 performances,
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Spirit Of Abilene 