Heavenly Business
I would love to tell you that the most exciting and life-changing events on the church calendar are our bi-monthly church business conferences. I wish I could guarantee visions and mighty works of God just by showing up. I’m afraid I could be stretching the truth, maybe lying, if I said you would emerge from this meeting of the Baptist brethren and sistern with the glow Moses received after he met God on the mountain. For some church folks, the…
Curious Rocks
The following is an update of an old article I wrote back in 1997. Please forgive me for sharing old stuff. I realized a long time ago that I can’t re-preach a previously proclaimed message. I have a hard enough time preaching them the first time. But old newsletter articles are not a problem to re-submit if they are “good ‘uns.” Also, I was more creative and insightful in my earlier days. So here’s a reheated one for you: I…
Minister of Miscellaneous
The other day I ran across one of my favorite old newsletter articles from September 1998. I had been looking for it for years and in the big move, otherwise known as my personal “organizational apocalypse,” I discovered it among the chaos. I am going to use this “enhanced” word from the sayings of John the Baptist to justify my action today….reprint!!!!! From Your Minister of Miscellaneous… One day while “surfing” the radio, my attention was gripped by a country…
Revival
“Lord send a revival and let it begin in me.” We have all sung the words to that hymn at some time in our lives. It is a reminder that we all need times of spiritual renewal. Often when we mention a church revival, we perceive this as a time to reach out to all those sinners outside the church walls. It is seen as a time to harvest the lost souls out there who do not have a living,…
Lottie Moon
Looking into your box of offering envelopes this week, you will discover your Lottie Moon Christmas offering envelope. We often think that everyone knows who Lottie Moon was and as some have said…..will we ever pay her off? This is due to the fact that every year we give money to this person around Christmas. Time nor space will permit me to give a qualified description of Lottie Moon so you will have to settle for my summation and if…
Halloween
Halloween has a rich tradition at the Oliver house. It started about 25 years ago when our then young family was fairly new to Cleveland County. Some friends from outside of the city limits asked if they could give out candy on our front porch due to the lack of trick or treaters in their area and the abundance of young uns in ours. Some other friends heard about the affair and, with hurt in their eyes, said, “Why weren’t…
Check
It was in Mrs. Lanier’s Youth Sunday School where I was introduced to the Sunday School attendance checklist. Included on the list were these items: – Bible brought….. “check” – Bible read daily….. “check” – Visits made….. “check” – $$$$ Giving….. “check” – Etc….. “check” What was intended to be a record of our accountability became a checklist for me. It wasn’t intended for this purpose but for years my faith was a performance for the Sunday morning books. –…