By JIM NICHOLS You have probably had this same experience in one form or another. That is, we realize that we are in familiar territory, but something seems oddly and disturbingly different. We recognize most of the pieces, but they are put in different positions and result in some new or different meaning. I was challenging myself by living a
Read more
By LORETTA FULTON As a junior in college, Priscilla Pope-Levison experienced what she called “friendship evangelism” that set her on a course to become what she is today– associate dean for external programs and professor of ministerial studies at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. The experience was so enriching for Pope-Levison that she, along with other Christians, was
Read more
By LORETTA FULTON As early as kindergarten, Kevin Lenius loved Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church, usually celebrated by Father Fred Nawarskas. He would even “play priest” at home, urging his parents to listen to him preach. Even on the swing set, gently swaying back and forth, Lenius felt God’s love and presence. When he got a little older, his
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON April 6, 1945, brought a fierce battle off the shore of Okinawa, Japan. The American fleet consisted of three large carriers, a dozen destroyers, four light cruisers, and a couple of light carriers. It also included three battleships, of which one was the USS North Carolina. Onboard the BB55, North Carolina, was my dad, Smitty Minton. The
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS It was a heavily traveled road, but a dangerous journey. You certainly did not want to walk it alone. It was not called the “way of blood” for nothing. It was a generally downhill trip from Jerusalem to Jericho with lots of twists and turns and rocks and boulders to try to avoid. However, the bandits were
Read more
By LORETTA FULTON As a real estate broker and owner of a local company, Vance Cooksey is used to putting people into houses. But an additional job as program coordinator for Work Again West Texas, in partnership with Goodwill-West Texas, is giving Cooksey an opportunity of a different sort to guide people into permanent housing. The program provides part-time jobs
Read more
U.S. Jews are culturally engaged, increasingly diverse, politically polarized and worried about anti-Semitism, according to the findings of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. The survey found that many Jewish Americans participate, at least occasionally, both in some traditional religious practices and in some Jewish cultural activities. Among young Jewish adults, however, two sharply divergent expressions of
Read more
By LORETTA FULTON Day One of a feeding ministry started by First Christian Church didn’t look promising, with bad weather causing a detour. But 25 years later, B.O.B.S., or Breakfast on Beech Street, is a testament to what faith and perseverance can do. “It was nothing short of an ordained miracle,” said Jane Hurley, who was in on the ground
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS Do you remember your first elementary school building? I do. I spent the first three-plus years of my education at Francis Willard Elementary in Kansas City. In kindergarten a boy held a crayon in his hand for a long time and it soon got softened and melted enough he could bend it into a curl; I was
Read more
Spirit Of Abilene 