You’ve heard the phrase before, because it seems to capture well how much of journalism works: “if it bleeds, it leads.” The fact is, bleeding things tend to be pretty newsworthy. Potholes in the streets and traffic violations are hardly enough to capture the attention of the...
A number of the words you may hear in church are unique to the Christian world. Words like “baptize” and “evangelize.” These words are used almost exclusively when speaking about Christianity or in a church context. Another such word is “psalm.” In the Old...
Since we were not able to meet together on Sunday, we are providing a simple note page from the passage Pastors Gary and Ben shared on Sunday (Nov. 15th): Philippians 4:8-9. Just click HERE for the notes.
“Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.” (Phil. 3:17) Is there a difference between personal heroes and mentors? I think of a hero as someone I admire, but I could never be like. I find...
It seems to me that the sky is falling every four years. Every time we have an election I hear that someone is going to move to Canada if their candidate of choice does not win. Every election things are much worse than they were before and the stakes are higher than they ever have been. It is a...
Is there any part of the American experience that does not involve competitive marketing? The American consumer is daily barraged with product claims and comparisons, with advertisements extolling the superior virtues of one soap over another. We are targeted as a potential jury to judge between...
The early days of the Baptist people in England were marked by disagreements. The disagreements were not necessarily loud and angry…but they did generate some debates and pamphlets. At one point in the early 1800s a new hymnal was written that did not include some of the older Baptist...
It is hard adjusting, I’ll admit it. The situation with Covid-19 is marginalizing the church experience. We are a long way from the 3 or 4 church service routine that some of us grew up with! At this point we meet once a week for over an hour. That’s a big change! On the other hand...
"but these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah..." (John 20:30) We take for granted that things are written down. So much is written today that we have difficulty discerning texts that are of value and those that are not. The phrase "fake...
Juneteenth. It sounds strange because it has not benefitted by being embraced by popular culture. But if there was ever a holiday that made sense, this would be it. I mean c’mon, we “celebrate” Halloween. But this date actually has meaning. My experience has been that white...