By Jim Nichols It was a conversation I had multiple times in my academic office at the university. A student (frequently in their second or third year of college) appears in my office. They have a serious expression on their face and, eventually, appear to be pushing back tears. A compressed version follows. “I came to college with a well-defined
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By Glenn Dromgoole I thought I was a better than average hitter in the City Church Slow Pitch Softball League, playing for the Methodists that summer. I was the catcher and leadoff hitter, but I wasn’t a Methodist (I was a Baptist), but then neither were our pitcher (Lutheran), first baseman (Church of Christ), shortstop (Catholic), left fielder (Agnostic) or
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By Nancy Patrick I think I have become more naïve in my senior years than I was in midlife. I ponder such ideas as motivation, value, family, forgiveness, understanding, and all the other virtues Galatians 5:22-23 lists as fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I want to believe that most people exhibit goodness.
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By Danny Minton Why do men and women quit the ministry?Why do church leaders resign?Why do members change congregations?Why do people, once active, give up? I’m sure we could all come up with our personal list of reasons. Chances are they’d all be different, and they’d all be right in one way or another. However, no matter what our lists
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International Sanctuary Ministries, Inc.sanctuaryministries.orgoffice@sanctuaryministries.orgPO Box 2238Abilene, TX 79604 By Loretta Fulton It started with a desire to do more, like most good ideas that eventually grow into something much larger. Back in 2011, Matt and Cheryl Merritt decided they wanted to do more than just support the ministries at their home church, Hillcrest Church of Christ. Specifically, they were looking
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By Loretta Fulton Aldersgate Methodist Church will soon begin the process of finding a new minister following the announcement that Dustin Wilhite will be leaving effective Thursday, July 24. Wilhite came to Aldersgate in 2019 from Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where he had served for five years. At the time, Aldersgate was a United Methodist congregation,
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Kristy McDonoughCommunication DirectorAbilene Texas Stake, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsFor more information, contact McDonough, ksmcdonough89@gmail.com or visit churchofjesuschrist.org San Angelo, Texas —On Saturday, July 12, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints were busy working to help relieve the suffering of neighbors in need. Heavy rains caused severe flooding in wide swaths of San
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By Jim Nichols The question from the church class leader sought to stimulate thinking and it certainly did at our table of four. Randomly arranged with three women that I knew only slightly, we were a group that surprised me with the number of ideas and consensus that we had. The consensus may reflect that our collective age was the
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By Marianne Wood I gain great pleasure by spending a morning focused on writing about one topic or another that has bounced around in my head, occupying many moments of my days. As I attempt to capture these bits, I improve them with research if necessary, and hone them until, as Owen Jones wrote in The Grammar of Ornament: I am
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Spirit Of Abilene 