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How will you remember the year 2020? I’ve come to refer to it as The Lost Summer. Actually, it’s been a lost Spring and Summer, and it appears that some of that reality could extend through the Fall and into Winter. The corona virus pandemic began to hit our nation in full force in early March, and within a couple of weeks most everything changed. Schools closed, at first supposedly for a few weeks, but that soon changed to encompass…

I had the great opportunity last week to visit my father in Mexico. He has been having a hard time since the passing away of my mother about eight months ago. I was encouraged to see him, and he also was encouraged as we spent a few days together. On the Sunday that I was there, I was invited to preach. I wanted to share something that would encourage my relatives and members of the church who were present at…

The following is a story of nature demonstrating the fact that struggles are a necessary part of growth and development for the Christian in this life. God places these struggles (or trials) before us to prepare us for that perfect home in heaven with Him. The Man And The Cocoon One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon. A man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little…

The story is told of a thrifty man who one day decided to save money on donkey feed. Every day, he would add increasing amounts of sawdust into the donkey’s feed. Because the process was gradual, the donkey did not notice any difference as he cleaned up his manger. The man’s plan was working well, until the donkey suddenly died because of living on 100% sawdust. Similarly, spiritual food that contains the pure Word of God, once mixed with worldly…

The following bulletin article was written by Brother Morris Thurman, former preacher for the Memorial Road congregation, on June 26, 1977. It’s a great human interest story about sacrifice that bears repeating today: Henry Penn, the Boston florist who originated the slogan, “Say It With Flowers,” told how one morning two boys and a girl came into his florist shop and said: “We’re the flower committee and we would like some nice yellow flowers, sir. Do you have any yellow…

I received the following thoughts by an unknown author via email. As I am about to celebrate another birthday, this article made me reflect about many things in my life. The thoughts expressed here are something to seriously think about this day and every day that God allow us to live (Acts 17:24-25): You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married…

In II Tim. 2:1-5, Paul tells Timothy what the world would be like in the last days. Even a cursory glance at today’s culture and we can see that Paul painted a pretty accurate picture of current Western civilization. One should not be surprised. Man has always been in rebellion against God and the rise and fall of civilizations attests to this. Christians trying to be faithful in the climate of today’s culture may find themselves becoming very discouraged. One…

Have you ever stopped to ponder the variety of ways in which God chooses to show us His love for us? I am highly confident that the ways and means He uses to show us His love are innumerable and as infinite as the stars of the sky or the sand of the seashore. Yet, sometimes we still wonder if He really, honestly, truly loves us. Flowers can speak to us of how He longs to whisper to us. Mountain…

I live in Decatur, Alabama, if you know me, you know that. What you may not know is that I have a giraffe for a neighbor. Seriously, one of my neighbors owns a giraffe. On a regular basis, as I turn the street to head to my house, there is a crowd gathered to see this strange sight. In fact, a few days ago, I stopped on my way home because the giraffe was near the fence line and got…

In 1969, the environmental group Friends of the Earth, had as its slogan, “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The basic message if this slogan was to encourage people to do what they could for the conservation of the entire world’s environment by taking action in their local area to help conserve and clean up the neighborhood environment – all the while maintaining an overall view of the rest of the world. They believed that if people in each locality would take…

Corinthians 15:58 in the New Living Translation says this, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that NOTHING YOU DO FOR THE LORD IS EVER USELESS.“ (emphasis mine) My guess is that you have a moment or even a season in your life when you felt like the things you did for the Lord were not accomplishing all that much. I have had many a young mother tell…

A husband and his wife walked into an office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and stated, “We want to become FBI agents.” “Well,” the agent who met them responded, “FBI agents usually do not just come off of the streets—there is a process of vigorous training to become an elite agent of the FBI.” Nevertheless, this did not deter them from their quest of becoming FBI agents. “All right,” said the agent, “let us see if you qualify to…