• Updated

Nearly one out of four United Methodist Churches have chosen to leave the denomination in the past four years over the issue of sexuality and gender identity. The issue of homosexuality is one in which many Christian churches — both other denominations and non-denominational — continue to wrestle.

“There was a village. Built of crumbling clay and rotting wood. And it squatted ugly under a broiling sun like a sick and mangy animal wanting to die.

  • Updated

Pentecostals of Carrollton The Refuge will host its sixth annual Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the church, located at 220 Port William Lane.

Every so often I’ll write a story about someone and then get an email or a phone call — or several — telling me “the rest of the story.”

So, we had a hurricane.The strange thing, as my pastor pointed out at church last week, most of our community got some rain and wind. But for those who live near the water, the storm surge devastated them.

Every morning I get an email called Word Daily, a word of the day to add to my vocabulary.

Last week, my mom, who will turn 90 in August, went into a home, as they say.

In one of my favorite books, “Blue Like Jazz,” author Donald Miller wrote about the time he and a group of Christian friends put a confession booth in the middle of their college campus, the very liberal Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

I love the story told frequently by Tim Keller, the beloved and well-respected New York City pastor who died recently from pancreatic cancer.

A few weeks ago I got a lengthy voicemail message from a reader of my column.

featured

Editor’s note: Nancy Kennedy took some time off this week to catch up. This column is adapted from one she wrote in 2012.

On Easter I attended worship services at two churches that couldn’t be more different from each other.

About 10 years ago I met a woman at a conference who, two weeks after marrying the man of her dreams, her new husband had surgery for a lump on his jaw and had nine-tenths of his tongue removed.

In 1967, when I was a wee lass, Dusty Springfield recorded the Burt Bacharach song, “The Look of Love.”

John20:19-31 records the disciples hiding in the upper room on Easter Sunday evening out of fear of the Jews. These are the men who had followed Jesus and listened to his parables and teaching, yet they all deserted Jesus in the garden on Holy Thursday as he was arrested. They all ran away a…

This year’s daily online Lent Project from Biola University Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts, is focusing on passages from the gospel of John. (ccca.biola.edu/lent/2023)

I have been blessed to live and see many parts on this world. I enjoy traveling in and outside the USA. But I love living in this great country. All my life I have lived in Midwest America, from Ohio to Kansas and in between. I enjoy seeing all four seasons of the year.

Let’s say you have a son who demands his inheritance, takes the money and runs far away.

Many years ago, the New Testament book of James fell out of my daughter Alison’s Bible.

Well … It’s all over … Christmas, it came and went just like that! Did you have a good Christmas? Amidst the hustle and bustle of the season I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends.

Christian Academy of Carrollton held its annual Live Nativity scene at the Carroll County Courthouse on December 2 and 3. Visitors enjoyed refreshments as Christmas music and the reading of the Christmas story were presented on the courthouse square in downtown Carrollton.

  • Updated

Did you ever hear the expression, “If you want to make God laugh just make a plan?” We read in Matthew’s gospel about one of the most important but little known men in our tradition, St Joseph who was engaged to Mary and had big plans for their life together.

More than 20 years ago, my husband and his older brother had an argument — and didn’t speak for 20 years.

Joy is a very popular word this time of year. We see it spelled out in lights on people’s houses. We hear it in songs as we listen to Christmas music. We sing about joy, ourselves, when we gather together for worship with our church families. We read the word “joy” on everything from Christm…

Do you ever wonder how much of your life is spent waiting?

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. Yet the leftovers are still left-over. But so should remain our expressions of gratitude. Thanksgiving is more than a one-day remembrance and celebration. Thanksgiving is more than a state of mind. Thanksgiving is an expression of our he…

I love the story about a synagogue in Eastern Europe where, as the Shema (“Hear O Israel, the Lord is one …”) was recited each week, half the congregation stood with hands raised and the other half remained seated.

Years ago, an internet blogger posted a story about the time she, her two children and her husband all came down with a 24-hour stomach virus, and she also had a kidney stone.

  • Updated

I love sports — always have. I love the Lord — have since I was 14 years old. I have pondered over the years of my earthly existence what will heaven be like. I am well aware and excited about the description in the Bible that tells us what heaven will be like — street of gold, a dozen pearl…

Note from Nancy: This week in Florida we've been preparing for a hurricane. By the time you read this, the storm will have passed and either we have escaped its danger or we haven't.

In my column last week I made a statement that "in Christ our sin, past, present and future, was forgiven at the Cross."

Many of us are concerned about our young people abandoning the faith. Data show that they participate in organized faith activities (go to church) less than we older Christians do. This can become an issue for us if we notice this in our own adult children. Once they leave home we have littl…

  • Updated

Recently, someone showed me a video that was recorded at a prison in South Florida, a project of gospel singer Kirk Franklin and Maverick City Music.

A little boy asked his mother what that thing was that his dad took to work each day. His mother told him that it was a thermos. The boy asked what it was used for, and she told him it was used to keep cold things cold and hot things hot. The boy asked his mother if she would buy him a therm…