Category Archives: Discipleship

I’m facebook friends with a young lady, Becky René, who’s the daughter of gospel preacher, David Cambridge, who preaches in London, England.

I don’t remember how, when, or why I became one of Becky’s facebook friends, but I’m glad I did. She’s obviously a very spiritually minded and evangelistic young lady, who provides some encouraging and sometimes humorous posts on her page. Continue reading →

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

You recognize these words as the opening of President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address, which were delivered on this date in 1863. Continue reading →

David Brooks is a Canadian born opinion columnist who writes about social, political and cultural issues. In a recent issue of The New York Times ,writing about the political divide in the United States, Brooks commented that we are facing “a crisis of respect” in our country.

We have written a good deal about the Biblical attitude we should have leading up to last week’s election. In looking back, all the posts were based on the idea of respect. This is not another blog post about the election. It is however, an appeal for us to evaluate of our level of respect in all of our relationships. Continue reading →

Last Sunday, Norma Jean and I visited the church at Cosby, Tennessee, and enjoyed hearing our friend, 92-year old Olie Williamson, teach the Bible class and preach at the worship service.

Most of the class was centered around the text found in Hebrews 11:8-10. Continue reading →

Although he professed a personal faith, American humorist and author Samuel Clement, (a.k.a. Mark Twain) was known as an outspoken critic of organized religion and hypocrisy among religious leaders.

The story is told that Twain attended church one Sunday and informed the preacher at the door that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning.

The preacher assured Twain that his sermon was original and demanded to see the book. Twain said he would send it over. Continue reading →

It was on this date in 1872 that a woman, Susan B. Anthony, tried to vote in the Presidential election of Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greenly. She was arrested because at that time women were not allowed to vote. Later she would be tried, found guilty, and fined $100. Continue reading →

Theresa Gale was locking up the church building recently after a long day of volunteering when a young woman approached her, asking for water and bus fare. It was late and Gale was alone. But she gave the woman a bottle of water and $15 and offered her a ride to the bus stop. Continue reading →

Greetings from The Great Smoky Mountains,

Today ends our 2 weeks in this beautiful part of God’s creation.

It’s been a great time.  Not only enjoying the splendor of the Fall Foliage, but worshiping with and preaching for the brethren at Cosby; being with our good friends Olie and Mary Williamson; seeing several friends who were visiting the Smokies at the same time; and having Norma Jean’s cousin, Marsha and her husband Dick spend a few days with us.   Indeed, we feel blessed. Continue reading →

In the wake of Hurricane Helene which caused severe flooding from Florida to North Carolina, and Hurricane Milton which wreaked incredible destruction on Florida’s Gulf Coast, we’ve read of so many instances of neighbors, friends, and brethren helping each other.

The devastation in Western North Carolina is especially difficult given the mountainous terrain that must be traversed with entire towns being destroyed and roads being wiped out.

Of course, there are various charitable groups to which one can donate goods or money to help, but some of the most effective have been individual efforts. Continue reading →

On this day in history, “October 24, 1921, in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, an American sergeant selected the body of the first “Unknown Soldier” to be honored among the approximately 77,000 United States servicemen killed on the Western Front during World War I.”

The web page history.com relates the story of how this ”unknown soldier” was chosen by Sergeant Edward Younger. There were numerous bodies of soldiers recovered with no indication of name, rank, or organization. Four were chosen, placed in caskets and brought to the Hotel de Ville. Continue reading →