IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Fifth-grade violinists from Grandview Elementary School are accustomed to taking Branson, Missouri, by storm, but this year they wowed audiences despite the “double whammy” of rainstorms and a pandemic. Founder-director Vicki Nichols, who has taken the Zebra Strings to Branson for 15 consecutive years on a chartered bus, opted out last spring when COVID-19 dangers
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS I am a baseball fan. I liked playing it when I was young and have followed any major league team close to where I lived and could get on the radio. That would include the Kansas City Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, and now the Texas Rangers. There are certain lyrical
Read more
By WES CRAWFORD The headline of a March 2021 issue of The Washington Post grabbed the attention of many American Christian leaders by reporting that church membership in the United States dipped below 50 percent for the first time in this nation’s history. To put that statistic into perspective, the number of Americans claiming membership in a church, synagogue, or
Read moreKristy McDonoughChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints On Saturday, June 5, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were busy working to help people in Hamlin whose homes were damaged by flooding. Heavy rains caused creeks to overflow and sent muddy water into citizen’s homes, ruining walls, floors, and furnishings. Over 50 church members, many with large
Read more
Evangelical Environmental NetworkNews release A letter signed by more than 100 evangelical leaders was sent to members of Congress June 7 calling on them to include key climate and environmental provisions in a final infrastructure package. Since President Biden unveiled his road map for infrastructure spending in March, Congress has been stalled on how to translate the principles of the
Read more
By ROBIN SAYLORAbilene Christian University The COVID-19 pandemic might feel like déjà vu for ACU graduate Kent Brantly, who contracted the deadly Ebola virus in 2014 while serving as a medical missionary in Liberia. Six years later, Brantly and his family returned to Africa, where Kent works in Zambia at Mukinge Mission Hospital. Read a Q&A conducted in 2020 with Brantly
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS New Mexico recently became the tenth state (plus D.C.) to legalize a “right to die” process. Although using different descriptors, these “medically assisted suicide” laws (New Mexico calls theirs the “Life Options Act”) detail safeguards and procedures for legal steps for an individual to end his or her life voluntarily with the aid of the medical community.
Read moreTHE IDLE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Ever-deepening Christian faith is called upon by believers who sometimes are challenged by their “trust and obey” commitment. We need only point to COVID-19, which has laid claim to as many as seven million lives worldwide, and many times that number who have been affected greatly by the pandemic’s countless joy-sucking tentacles. We
Read moreACU’s Siburt Institute for Church Ministry recently announced leadership changes, including David Wray stepping down as director of the annul Summit. The 115th Summit will be held in the fall, with details to be announced. Known for years as Lectureship, the annual event changed to Summit in 2008. Leah Andrews, Wray’s Summit assistant, is now the Summit director. Wray will
Read more
Spirit Of Abilene 