By LORETTA FULTON In a perfect world, kids would be gearing up for Vacation Bible School right now. As COVID-19 has reminded us, this isn’t a perfect world. Instead of making sure there’s enough cookies and juice for snack time, children’s ministers are making sure they know how to log in to the Zoom app. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic,
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON If you had to choose one college football bowl game as the greatest one ever, which one would you choose? Maybe it would be the 1963 Rose Bowl when Wisconsin almost made a great comeback to beat USC, scoring 23 points in the last 12 minutes to close in on a 30 point deficit. Then there was
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS The previous article ended with a suggestion that competition between humans has significant negative consequences; collaboration and cooperation are preferable. As usual, however, suggesting alternatives (collaboration and cooperation) requires identification of their inherent problems also. Working with one another rather than against one another is difficult to accomplish because of our competitive nature. Whether that nature is
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By LORETTA FULTON Resumes poured in from California to South Africa, but in the end the best man for the job was right here in Abilene. In fact, he was in the building. “We bring to you the name of John Whitten to be the sixth senior pastor of Pioneer Drive Baptist Church.” John Whitten 10 months20 meetings46 resumes4 finalists1
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Editor’s Note: Laura Lacey Johnson is a former employee of KTXS-TV, the Community Foundation of Abilene, and Howard Payne University in Brownwood. She now lives in Missouri and is an author and creator of Christian videos. She will be an occasional contributor to Spirit of Abilene. Following is a brief bio and links to a book and videos. To see
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON I would like to share what is wrong with the music our young people play today. The answer is as simple as, you know, “the nose on your face.” It is so plain that it will make perfect common sense once I explain it below. The main issue with music today is that it is too loud,
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK Many people have suffered from boredom and lethargy during the COVID-19 quarantine. My husband, Mike, and I, both retired for several years, had already adjusted our schedules for more home time than younger families who suddenly had to miss work and school. With the time and limitations associated with social restrictions, we undertook a major DIY project
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS Here comes a compressed story, a punchline, and some reflections. A bit over twenty years ago I moved for a year from teaching to research responsibilities. I was engaged in a research laboratory in Atlanta and was one of several workers in what might be called a “research group.” The group had a boss who was about
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON When I was five years old, our garage almost caught on fire because of a burning mattress. Someone was playing with matches, throwing them behind the old mattress when it suddenly caught on fire. My brother, who was three years old, and I were sat down and interrogated by my dad. “Who started the fire?” “Gary did,”
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