Andy (Page 7)

Last week I shared with you my fondness for The Apostle Paul’s words to the Colossian church found in the letter he sent to them about 60 AD. I have been preparing my sermons for the coming weeks on Colossians 3:1-17 and discovered these words of bible translator Eugene Peterson to be quite helpful in summing up the purpose of this inspiring letter. Peterson wrote, “Paul is writing to the Colossians in an attempt to restore Jesus, the Messiah, to…

In Colossians 3: 1-17 the Apostle Paul offers the readers of his letter what some have called “Rules For Holy Living”. Within this passage are a couple of verses which have been life changing for me, as I have over the past ten or twelve years adopted verses 12-14 in this chapter as one of my foundational favorites: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. BEAR WITH EACH OTHER…

Yesterday morning during worship, we culminated our Cornerstone Campaign with a commitment Sunday where we asked everyone to commit to 3 more years of financial giving towards our building fund. A few things about this commitment: 1. If you turned in your commitment card during worship yesterday, thank you! 2. If you weren’t able to be here yesterday and would still like to submit a commitment card, there is still time!! You can come by the church to pick up…

I am getting old and I know it . The realization becomes evident in numerous gridiron situations. For instance I took the Clemson National Championship loss in stride. I summed it up with these assessments: We lost to a superior team … that night. The pressure of maintaining a winning streak is over. Character is determined clearly in a loss well taken. And it’s a game. Someone wins. Someone loses. That’s why it’s played. The Super Bowl is another case…

I am devoting my space to informing you about an upcoming event happening at good old PSBC February 16 – 18, 2020. It has to be some pretty special stuff because I truly enjoy putting my curious insights and observations on paper each week. It’s my therapy and my way to convey something that not only might assist you , or make you laugh , or make you wonder …”what is he thinking?”…but it’s also my clear Today I want…

I have spent my 40 years of ministry asking for assistance in a variety of ways: “You wouldn’t be able to… would you?”“I’ll bet you couldn’t… could you?”“I will go ahead and do that… unless you want to.” “I’ve got time… I’ll just do that” (This statement comes with an intentional, overworked, overwhelmed voice tone). This past week, I was recovering from an already memorable Christmas health-wise, when my week began to deteriorate. It soon became apparent that Thee Most…

Take a moment if you will and read Hebrews Chapter 11. I and numerous others through the years have identified this passage as, “The Faith Hall of Fame” and it is an accounting of numerous biblical figures and the acts of faith they performed as they simply decided to trust God. Each comment on these characters is preceded with this empathetic phrase…”by faith”. As an example and as the starting point for my article this week, I will use my…

Today will go down in the official Rev. B. Andrew Oliver archives as a truly great day for at least two reasons. Number one, I think with God’s help I have returned to the sunnyside of life after a couple of weeks in the clouds. I will confess to you I am not a giant Christmas person. I am a Thanksgiving guy. Now don’t go telling everybody in town that your pastor doesn’t love Baby Jesus because he does. It’s…

December arrived like a thief in the night this year and the Oliver family in a quandary. In younger years, I despised the times when Thanksgiving was a week to ten days before the arrival of December. This was when Christmas seemed so slow in arriving and simply being in December meant that Santa has his sleigh packed and he was ready to ride. It was also in December when we could officially start playing Christmas music. Today, Christmas tunes…

My friend Justin texted me with some welcomed and appreciated words this morning ……”Wanna get sushi today?” My first response was, “No Justin, it’s Monday and I have too much to do.” It was then that I experienced the conviction of turning down a young man who probably needed to talk to a wise and seasoned clergy figure. God was calling me to eat sushi and help Justin find one of those figures. Not wanting to disappoint God or miss…