Andy (Page 2)
Discovering Your Purpose in Hindsight
I have been doing evaluations of my call from God for many years now, often asking the question, “God, what was the purpose in that particular ministry?” I will be the first to tell you that I probably spent 20 of my 40-plus years of service to God trying to figure out if I needed to do something else. But He continually brought me back to church as I felt Him saying, “You may be done with organized religion and…
MISSION DIGNITY
Our own Rachel Hamrick has taken a special interest in Mission Dignity, a ministry that provides financial support to retirement-aged Southern Baptist ministers and surviving spouses who are experiencing financial difficulties due to economic hardships like medical bills and other unexpected expenditures. Many of these individuals served smaller churches that lacked the resources to fully cover retirement benefits for these pastors and spouses and families who ventured out in faith to serve these smaller congregations. Mission Dignity is an avenue…
Generosity
I believe it was William Barclay in his study of Jesus’s Sermon On The Mount who offered some tremendous insights concerning the importance of giving and generosity as it pertains to time, talent, service, material, and monetary possessions. He moves from preaching to meddling as he dares to venture into the realm of motivation. He talks about the objectives of some of us at times when we practice this much-needed and appreciated attribute today …. generosity. Why do we give…
A Blind Date Gone Good
My future sister-in-law, Pam, attended Appalachian State University with Kim Hodges who later became Kim Oliver. In fact, they were roommates for a period of time. It was Pam who arranged the blind date that led to our marriage three years later! It all started when Pam suggested to Kim, who had been in a rather lengthy relationship, that she might want to meet her boyfriend’s brother who was coming out of a serious two-month Myrtle Beach romance. She suggested…
Help Me
As you pass my office door do not see all the artwork as clutter. These are valued kids’ creations that I have come to cherish through the years. These are the masterpieces of our little ones here at Poplar Springs that I have plastered and hidden throughout my workspace. They remind me each day how wise, caring, and loving our children can be, not to mention how fun they are. As I did last week, I will try to preserve…
We All Need Help
As most of you know, I am fairly new to the world of technology and computers. For the longest time I thought a modem was a bathroom device and a monitor was a lizard. I thought a keyboard was where auto mechanics placed these small ignition utensils on the wall when you took your car in for repairs. I spent thirty years avoiding computers. They grew in popularity but I was worried about getting hooked on solitaire or pressing the…
Clean Your Glasses
When I was a youngster, I was always told to clean my glasses. I could never see out of them, and I discovered that the best view was over the top of the corrective lenses. So, my spectacles which not only cleared my vision and corrected a condition known as “attractive nose syndrome” (my nasal appendage was so pleasant to observe that my eyes liked to look at it) did very little good. I simply was not using them. There,…
Some Further Thoughts On…The Body
In the Rob Reiner film, Stand By Me, three adolescent (or close to it) young men go on the search for a body that was reported to be in the woods outside of their small town. Yes, it was a human body and not a body of water. I will not focus on how the body got there. Nor will I elaborate on some of the language in the movie. I will simply say …they are adolescent boys on a…
Trial and Error
Since November, I have been in a season of trial and error as I sought different ways (with the guidance of the fine medical staff at Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem) to get my rather suspect brain back into working order. The process has been frustrating and at times quite discouraging. Medicine has always been a challenge. But now I am trying to figure out the proper combination of medication and machinery since I am now battery operated. Needless to…
Redemptive Listening
I have decided that I am a rather sensitive, drama loving movie buff with a heart for redemptive films for the most part. I discovered that as Kim and I recently became customers of “complicated television” requiring two controllers and a computer science degree. But I have choices. Kim is without options because she no longer knows how to operate the TV. But there is hope for her. Her wonderful husband is in touch with his sensitive side so we…