Posts from 2019 (Page 2)

My friend Richard was being recruited about 100 years ago by my college alma mater. He was a rather gifted athlete and the football team wanted to get to know some of the talent pool. The weekend event was basically a sales pitch, complete with meals and a variety of gatherings and Richard was allowed to bring buddies. He did not need to convince me that I needed to go with him when he asked. Free meals, hobnobbing with coaches,…

Take the time to read the inspired words of Paul in 1st Corinthians 12 this week. You will find that he informs the Roman Church and the church today about unity and giftedness in the church and in the process, confirms that…you can’t do it all. At one point in my life I was convinced I could, that was until my wife shared with me that this was not possible in a marriage that involved her and when my kids…

I was going to write concerning another topic until I typed in the date of today’s newsletter offering….9/11. Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing on that date, back in 2001. I was Minister of Youth at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church at the time and our church secretary was our own, Christa Harmon’s mother, Peggie Williamson. She brought a small TV from her home and was watching it. This was quite unusual for her because…

It took me a couple of years before consenting to participate in speech therapy. At first, I did not want to admit I needed it. I just needed to read a book or pray real hard and I would soon become the new 2020 version of Billy Graham. I had convinced myself that I was an old dawg unable to learn new tricks and that the aforementioned therapy would consist of gimmicks, tricks, and shortcuts that could be used to…

When Sharon Fisher told me that she was interviewing for a position at a neighboring congregation, I couldn’t blame her though I did consider, for very selfish reasons, contacting the aforementioned inquiring congregation and sharing some harmful or questionable information but I couldn’t dig up any dirt on our volunteer newsletter editor. I could always use innuendo and some incomplete information to keep her in our midst. She misspelled a word in my newsletter article once and I think she…

Happy Wednesday Poplar Springs 🙂 Andy is doing what he does best this week – driving all over the place and putting in 700% of the work we expect of him. He didn’t ask any of us to help him out but I’ve taken over the newsletter anyway in his absence to share a devotional thought with you as we wrap up the summer and begin looking ahead. Four extremely brave adults (David Bryson, Robert Callahan, Heather Wright, and Jessi…

I was a junior at CCU (Clemson Christian University) when I volunteered to teach a Sunday School class of eleven year old boys. I prayed about the situation, felt a calling to fill the vacancy and I reassured myself with these words, “How hard can it be?”  It did not take long for Ol’ Andy O. to realize he had taken on a God-sized task. The first Sunday I taught the class, I understood that there was more to preparation…

A group of Poplar Springs folks have been playing Ultimate Frisbee for quite a few years. My acquaintance with this rather small but welcoming, enthusiastic group of flying disc fanatics started about 10 years ago when I brought a group of youth group members from my former church to toss Frisbee at Gardner Webb. A friendly herd of youth and adults asked us to join them in a friendly game of Ultimate Frisbee and I was properly introduced to a…

As most of you already know, I was a minister of miscellaneous for 20 years. The proper titles I had at my prior places of ministry were Minister of Youth and Children, Minister of Youth, Children, and Senior Adults, Associate Pastor/Education, Youth, Children, and Adults. In other words, I did a lot of ministry with quite a few groups and I never felt like I gave any of my areas of ministry their proper attention. I remember thinking how pleasant…

I am gonna let you in on a little secret that does not need to get into the wrong hands. The “wrong hands” would be….the 3rd Saturday breakfast crew, the church staff or a couple of people I will only identify as “Tony B.” and “Hugh B.” Fortunately, not many folks read the weekly ramblings of yours truly. So I am fairly secure in sharing this privileged, personal information.  It drives me crazy when someone looks at me, places their…