By LORETTA FULTON Anyone who knows Jean Kahenga and his son, Bonfils Babone, understand why both had much to celebrate on Sunday, June 20. A lot of fathers were smiling Sunday, as they got gifts from children–and maybe Mom–in honor of Father’s Day, an American tradition. But Jean and Bonfils had another reason to smile, too. Sunday, June 20, also
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Fellow writer Danny Minton wrote a recent article about how people sometimes feel alone and abandoned by God. When this happens to us, we often ask, “God, where are you?” Of course, we learn by going through the crisis that God remains present the entire time. Unfortunately, our human limitations can blind us to the reality of
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS He was a contract worker for a company that was installing new water meters throughout the city. Working in our front yard on a near 100-degree day, he used an assortment of wrenches, other tools, and impressive physical strength to remove our current meter from under the ground and replace it with a newer electronic one. He
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Dr. Phil Christopher, senior pastor of First Baptist Church since 1995, announced his retirement Sunday, June 13, during the morning worship service. His retirement is effective Sept. 26 of this year. The following letter was posted after the service. Some things don’t change…. An article about First Baptist Abilene in the 1954 Abilene Reporter News was titled “An evangelistic, progressive, and pioneering
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Of all the stories around the sinking of the Titanic, the co-owner of Macy’s, Isidor and Ida Straus, stands out as one of a couple’s love and commitment. It’s a scene depicted in various ways in every movie and book centered on the tragedy. On April 18, 1912, a story came out of New York, “Mr. and
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
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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
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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
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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
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Spirit Of Abilene 