Andy (Page 11)

Holy Week

A guy by the name of Wilfred A. Peterson wrote these words which I pasted in the front of one of my favorite books. I placed it there as a reminder that life is not always about snuggly puppies, fuzzy little kittens, hot donuts, inspirational sunsets and rainbows. At times life is a struggle and it isn’t always crisis related. There are times when life is uneventful with duties to fulfill and responsibilities to deal with. Oswald Chambers called this…
Basketball leaving basketball net

GOALS

In speaking with the wise and learned, and in my attendance at numerous conferences and continuing education events, I am convinced that setting goals is not a wasted effort. I think we over complicate the process occasionally and, at times, we put down an admirable list of hopeful accomplishments only to place the list in a safe place never to be considered again.I have had some admirable goals through the years. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, Kim and I…
sanctuary

Additional Sundays Needed

In Joshua chapter 10 you can read about God extending a day in order to facilitate His man Joshua’s victory over the Amorites. These Amorites are not to be confused with the dreaded stalactites who were always hanging around…..but that’s another story for another day. Well anyway, I was wondering if God was able to extend just one day if it would be possible for him to give us a couple of extra weeks in April and May due to…
inside a church

A Welcoming Congregation

In my feeble attempts to be funny I sometimes inadvertently offend the unsuspecting victims of my questionable humor and in my attempts to elicit giggles from folks of other cultures and countries, my record is quite blemished. In fact, it’s down-right scary when I throw caution to the wind, crack a little “southern funny” complete with a story or two told in my native tongue, “Gaffanese” (a form of English spoken by those of us from Gaffney, SC) only to…
clouds in the sky

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…
person walking on rocks

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…
Sheet Music

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…
welcome with blue background

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 envelope

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…