One great thing about having 10 grandkids is that I am able to watch kids’ movies over and over. Another great thing about grandkids is taillights. There is a movie about talking cars called “Cars.” It involves the hotshot rookie race car called Lightning McQueen. He is living life in the fast lane until he […]
Wholly Healthy: Heart Attacks on the Rise
You never know what the news will bring in an age of spy balloons and UFOs. However, on the medical front, healthcare problems have changed in the wake of the pandemic. Mental health and addiction issues have exploded. Depression and suicidal thoughts in children are higher than I’ve seen in my entire career. It appears […]
President’s Perspective: Going There
She was born into a disadvantaged and poor ethnic minority in the rural interior of Asia. She was the apple of her hard-working father’s eye, and he saw to it that she received a college education and a master’s degree. After concluding her studies in a large, distant city, she returned to her home prefecture […]
Legislative Update: What do Chinese surveillance balloons have to do with culture?
OK … now that I have your attention, let me tell you what is going on at the Statehouse before I dive into explaining my headline. Early in February, the South Carolina Senate passed an updated version of the Heartbeat Bill that would protect life once a heartbeat is detected. The bill contains several exceptions, […]
Outside the Walls: March Madness
Madness. It happens every March. Sixty-eight NCAA men’s basketball teams compete to be a champion. However, it is not simply the number of games played in March that leads to insanity. The madness comes from the possibility of some obscure, unknown team to upset a champ that no one is betting on. The world waits […]
Editor’s Word: Tim Clark — Great Servant Leader
In 1980, I preached in revival services at Martha Drive Baptist Church (Pleasant View today) in Anderson. I met a young, outgoing college student at Anderson University named Tim Clark. He was a vibrant and dedicated follower of Jesus and grew to be a great servant leader. Fast forward to today: He has retired after […]
First Person: A Low View of Pastors
A recent Gallup survey had some very bad news for pastors — and, by extension, for the church in America. In the survey, only 34 percent rated the honesty and integrity of pastors as very high. Among respondents under age 30, the rate was a much lower 20 percent. These numbers are the lowest since […]
President’s Perspective: Let’s Leave!
Nobody was going to heaven from Thessalonica. It was a spiritual wasteland: no Jesus, no hope. Jesus had come into the world, done His amazing work, and returned to the Father; but the folks way over in Thessalonica were completely oblivious. It was a long way from Bethlehem, Golgotha, and the empty tomb. Somehow, though, […]
Wholly Healthy: Healthcare Prayer List
Our church has initiated a new plan for prayer. We will have an unofficial schedule during which we are advised to pray wherever we are three times daily. I like this idea. It seems an appropriate discipline in a time when the idea of spiritual discipline is often viewed as too rigid or antiquated. While […]
Outside the Walls: ‘Do You Believe in Miracles? Yes!’
Al Michaels fought back tears to get these words out as the 1980 United States Olympics hockey team mounted an unbelievable comeback in the final period of play to defeat a powerful Soviet Union team 4-3. The U.S. went on to secure the gold, but it was much more than a hockey game. For decades, […]