By Marianne Wood About a year ago, on my way home from Philadelphia bearing a freshly broken wrist encased in a huge splint, I sat down at a bar in the wrong terminal. The menu had attracted me, not the hope of wine or spirits, but the truth I found in this experience is worth telling: God sees us. He
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By Jim Nichols One of the most avoided human experiences is the feeling of vulnerability. We may make a mistake, but we can often recover from that. We may put our foot in our mouth, but an explanation or apology might smooth it over. We may even become angry, but we have learned that apologies work wonders there. When we
Read moreBy Danny Minton An official of a Mission Board, who knew that it takes more than desire to make a missionary, was appointed to examine a candidate. He told the young man to come to his house at six in the morning. The young man went to be examined at six in the morning, and the examiner kept him sitting in the room
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By Nancy Patrick Many things can fall—snow in avalanches, rocks on a mountain, water over a sudden drop in a river bed, and even people. People can actually fall both physically and morally. We all know the story of the fall of humanity reported in Genesis. This type of moral fall can result in loss of reputation, relationship, financial stability,
Read moreBy Carlo Sosa-Ortiz I remember taking a preaching class during my time in seminary, and all of us were fretting over our manuscripts. We were a classroom of aspiring preachers, and some of us had more experience than others when it came to proclaiming the Word. Needless to say, many of us wanted to leave some sort of mark on
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By Penny Biddy I didn’t know what Lent was until I was a teenager. My childhood church observed a few traditional celebrations (basically Christmas and Easter), but on the whole I grew up in a pretty “low-church” environment. Neither our roots in the traditional Disciples of Christ nor our experiences with the charismatic movement in the ’80s gave us any
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By Jim Nichols The wind can be frustrating. It often has an unpredictability as to its velocity and direction. One moment it seems calm and pleasant and the next it increases to what are dangerous angles and speeds. Airplane pilots pay high attention to the wind and its variabilities. The wind on a lake merits similar awareness; the variations in
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It’s an old joke from the 1990s, pulled from the files each time the Super Bowl rolls around. Late Congressman Charles Stenholm, a distinguished Christian statesman from Ericksdahl (near Stamford) popularized the yarn in Texas, claiming that it originated in Washington, D.C. It was during more civil times, when Republicans and Democrats not only talked
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By Loretta Fulton Abilenians will have numerous opportunities to observe Black History Month throughout February. Curtis House Cultural Center, 630 Washington St., features displays and memorabilia highlighting the contributions of Blacks to the history of Abilene. Andrew Penns, founder and director of the center, said a new exhibit features the football teams that played for Carter G. Woodson High School.
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Spirit Of Abilene 