Note: I’m purposely writing this post before I know the results of the election. Although I have strong opinions about politics and I take my role as a voter very seriously, I have not publicly declared for either candidate. My comments apply, no matter which of the two men win...
Faith and Generosity at the Auto Dealer
Its rewarding to see Christianity at work at church, but its even more rewarding to see it in a business. Did you read about the retiring auto dealer? Howard Cooper of Ann Arbor, Michigan, did more than just say goodbye to his employees when he sold his dealership and retired....
Update on Racism Remains
On Sunday, the church I mentioned in my last blog (First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Mississsippi) read an apology decided upon by the leaders of the church admitting that they shouldn’t have asked a black family to move their wedding. While it was certainly a step in the right...
Racism Remains
Like many other Southern Baptists, I read with dismay of the situation that occured at First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. A black couple who had been attending the church wanted to get married. They scheduled the ceremony and even had the rehearsal on a Thursday night, just two days...
Murder and Mayhem in the USA
A news article arrested my attention this morning. It featured a Chicago Funeral Director proclaiming “These Kids Don’t Expect To Live a Full Life” anymore. In his neighborhood, violence and murder are so common that many kids he talks to expect to die young in a violent death. It’s just part of their...
The SBC and Racial Prejudice
It’s a dirty little secret that really isn’t much of a secret, but our denomination (the Southern Baptist Convention) was formed in a region and in an era of extreme racial prejudice. Many of our churches openly practiced discrimination and segregation for years, and many of our churches were on the...
Elda’s Story
There is always something going on at FSBCA designed to help people, and we don’t always take the time to tell the success stories we hear. For example, in April, our church was the host site for Project Connect, a ministry sponsored by our church and the Valley of the Sun United Way to...
Power Outage
As soon as I walked into the church office, I could tell we had power issues. Some lights burned dimly; others wouldn’t come on at all. Computers wouldn’t turn on. Telephones didn’t work. The burglar and fire alarms were beeping, as were various back-up batteries. There was little on my “to-do”...
The Man In The Dumpster . . . Updated
Some months ago, I blogged about a young man living in our dumpster. That was in January, and several of you have asked me for an update. The truth is that he has lived in our recycling dumpster for about 2 1/2 months. Our members made sure that he had food,...
Lessons From March Madness
I’m not a University of Kentucky fan. Those that know me best (or even know me casually) know that I am a fan of another group of Wildcats. Nevertheless, I learned some interesting things during March Madness about the University of Kentucky basketball team, and many of those things have...