Faith
Praying for our leaders
The Roman god Janus was the god of two faces. A mature face looked back with reflection. A youthful face looked forward with anticipation. How fitting the first month of the year is named for him in the sense that we do both things. I looked back at 2025 in my inaugural sermon this year suggesting…
Read MoreJesus will never leave us
Ginger was more than a mere pet to my in-laws. The tiny peekapoo was considered as a family member. She went everywhere with Frank and Linda Lewis. When Frank and Linda were hospitalized two years ago with RSV, Ginger stayed at home and was out of sorts without them there. It was Christmas, and…
Read MoreChurch Briefs
January 21 St. James AME Church is offering a twice-monthly food pantry! We invite you to Food Pantry every third and fourth Wednesday at Saint James AME Church, located at 376 Coosa County Road 7 in Goodwater, beginning January 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Weekly “Journey Through the Bible!” We have now…
Read MoreWhat is saving faith?
The Bible defines faith as, “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Verse 6 of the same chapter reads, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that…
Read MoreCertifiably old
Our Alabama Baptist campsite at Shocco Springs is a gorgeous place, and I’ve enjoyed every event I’ve attended there. Several years ago, I attended a two-day training course for pastors. A conference for senior adults was on site at the same time. I saw that the other group was having a concert that night when…
Read MoreChurch of the open door
While at Judson College I was summoned to an evening meeting at the National Guard Armory in nearby Demopolis. The organizer forgot to confirm the meeting with guard personnel. We couldn’t find an open door. We tried them all. Someone suggested we find an unlatched window, but we quickly decided it probably wasn’t a…
Read MoreGod’s presence will be with us in the new year
When the children of Israel had nearly completed 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God provided beautiful descriptions of the promised land they would soon enter. It was far superior to the land of Egypt from which they came out! God also reminded the Israelites of the importance of keeping His commandments, which…
Read MoreThe God box
She called and asked if I’d like to look through her father’s library since she needed to empty the house. I found some old classics, and a book by Millard Fuller that I thought was unavailable. Fuller established Habitat for Humanity after his time at Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia. Koinonia was founded by Clarence…
Read MoreThe uncertainty of life
We would all agree that life is uncertain! We see it every day. Just as surely as we have been born, one day we will die. Even though death is a subject that we generally do not like to discuss, it is a reality! “And as it is appointed to men once to die,…
Read MoreGraveyard humor
My long-time mentor and friend, Pastor Jim Auchmuty, died this summer. He had a unique ministry in his later years conducting countless memorial services for families without local pastors. I’d talked with Jim earlier in the summer about superintending my funeral, so this matter is yet out for bid. I must admit I’d not read…
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