THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury I, as well as most others who string words together, will never be confused with Robert Frost, the poetry genius from whose pen flowed marvelous words about his beloved New England. One of his best–published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1915–was “The Road Not Taken.” Actually, it was intended as a joke to
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Editor’s Note: Sept. 15-Oct. 15 is celebrated each year as Hispanic Heritage Month. Carlo Sosa-Ortiz, a pastoral assistant at First Central Presbyterian Church, wrote the following article on a 17th century Mexican nun named Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in honor the month. By CARLO SOSA-ORTIZ A young girl is invited to the home of a prominent Mexican family. At
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By LORETTA FULTON McMurry and Abilene Christian universities both saw enrollment increases for fall 2022, while Hardin-Simmons University recorded its third consecutive enrollment drop. ACU, affiliated with the Churches of Christ, hit a record high for the fifth consecutive year. Total enrollment for fall 2022 is 5,731 students. The university saw increases in all key areas: undergraduate enrollment, graduate enrollment
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By NANCY PATRICK I have recently mentioned that my church, First Baptist Abilene, has an interim pastor while the church seeks a new senior pastor to fill the position vacated by Dr. Phil Christopher last fall. Our interim, Dr. Matt Cook, works for an organization called The Center for Healthy Churches. Among many aspects of church needs, the Center helps
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By JIM NICHOLS The devotional scripture for the morning was from Psalm 91. It read, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Residents in the East Texas thicket where my Uncle Mort hangs out almost never leave, so welcoming a new family is quite a topic of conversation. Larger communities have welcome wagons delivering goodies to newbies, but it’s not every day that the guy bearing gifts drives up on a golf cart, carefully balancing one
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By JIM NICHOLS An elementary school principal told me about the most unusual phone call he had ever received. A father of students in his school asked his assistance in identifying a family with children in that same school. The request went something like this: Mr. Principal, our family recognizes that we have lots more physical things than some other
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“Broken, Renewed, Reshaped: Where Do We Go From Here?” will be the theme of the Texas Baptist Women in Ministry annual conference set for Sept. 16 at Abilene Christian University.The conference is hosted by ACU’s Baptist Studies Center, led by Myles Werntz, associate professor of theology at ACU. Sessions will be in the Biblical Studies Building. Click here to register
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Growing up, my family and I would watch a game show called “To Tell the Truth.” The show consisted of three people claiming to be a particular person, with only one being the actual individual. The moderator would give a synopsis of the person and what they did. Afterward, a panel of celebrities would take turns asking
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Spirit Of Abilene 