I feel led to share some of my Christian testimony thus far in hopes that it may encourage someone.
I am thankful to have grown up in a Christian family, and I don't ever recall not being in church. That was due to my mother's influence. Although my father grew up in the church, as an adult (and for the majority of my life), he did not attend church and rarely spoke of spiritual things. Because of that, in terms of my own spirituality, I have often felt a kinship to Timothy, whose faith,...
In the winter of 1892, a letter written by a Blowing Rock, North Carolina school teacher to a friend in Hemingford, Nebraska ignited quite the firestorm.
The letter was a private correspondence but became public when the author’s friend permitted extracts to be published in the Hemingford Guide in a February 12, 1892 article titled “From the South: A Superior Being in North Carolina Writes to a Friend in Nebraska.” A gentleman living in Nebraska – a former North Carolina resident – sent a...
In A History of Watauga County, North Carolina, John Preston Arthur makes a few passing mentions of an early merchant of Boone: “Jacob Rintels, who had been in copartnership wth Samuel Witkowsky [sic] above Elkville on the Yadkin River, came to Boone and rented Sheriff Jack Horton’s store room, where he remained for about one year, removing his stock of goods to the store room and residence which had been built by Jordan Councill, Jr., for his son, James W. Councill, on the land now occupied...
Saturday was the culmination of a very emotional week for our family as we celebrated the life and legacy of my sister-in-law, Tracy Harmon. The stories that were shared about Tracy brought both tears and laughter, but beyond those memories, the most touching and powerful moment of the service, in my estimation, was when one or more individuals affirmed that they had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior in response to the pastor's invitation to do so. This was Tracy's hope. It was...
In Luke 5:1-6, we read of Jesus' first encounter with Simon Peter, who had just experienced an unsuccessful fishing venture. After Jesus had spoken from Peter's boat to the crowd gathered at the Sea of Galilee, He instructed Peter to cast his nets once more. Peter told Jesus he and his companions had worked hard all night without catching anything, "but because you say so, I will let down the nets."
I like that - "BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO."
How I wish I more often lived my life that way in...
In 2012, I salvaged the following humorous letter from a local abandoned house - perhaps a 19th century version of on-line dating.
Nashville, Tenn.
Sept. 30th, 1888
Dear Unknown
Valle Crucis, NC
“I see in my late Cincinnati Enquirer that you wish to open correspondence with gentlemen. I select you from a number of others because you reside near my own state. Virginia is my home, or rather has been, but Tenn. is my adopted state. This being my first letter of the kind, I hope it may fall in good...
Hate is exhausting. Hate, negativity, unforgiveness, a critical spirit…they all require excessive amounts of energy and only serve to drain us.
In Mark 11 and 12, the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees all bombarded Jesus with questions. Not questions being asked out of a sincere desire to know God’s truth, but questions meant to trick or entrap Jesus…as Mark 12:13 says, “to catch him in his words.” These questions were rooted in...
This morning, while reading the story of Bartimaeus in the 10th chapter of Mark, Jesus' healing of Bartimaeus' blindness revealed to me some parallels to the salvation process.
First, although Bartimaeus called out to Jesus for mercy, nothing life-changing transpired until Jesus called for him. His situation, his circumstances, his blindness could not be altered until Jesus did His part. As the people in the crowd said to Bartimaeus, "He's calling you."
And so it is with our salvation. It is...
I’ve always been fascinated by passages of scripture in which Satanic forces recognized Jesus, sometimes even before His own people knew his true identity.
In Matthew 8:28-29, Jesus was met by two violent, demon-possessed men who shouted at Him, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
In Mark 1:21-24, Jesus encountered a man possessed by an evil spirit. The spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come...
Perhaps the single most outstanding characteristic of Jesus' earthly ministry was His never wavering commitment to obeying the will of His Father. In Matthew 26, as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his arrest and crucifixion, He dreaded the upcoming wrath and separation from God that He knew would be necessary in order for Him to successfully pay the sin penalty for all of mankind once and forever, and, according to the Gospel of Luke, the unimaginable stress and mental...
In Matthew 26, Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (v. 15), Peter, James, and John failed to watch and pray with Him (vv. 36-45), the disciples deserted Him and fled (v. 56), and Peter disowned and denied Him three times (vv. 69-75). These unsettling events are reminders that even the most committed followers of Jesus have the capacity to fail Him. As Jesus said in verse 41, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."...
As I continue re-reading the Book of Matthew, chapter 20 and verses 29-34 are impressed upon me. In this passage, Jesus is leaving Jericho, followed by a large crowd, when He encounters two blind men who are crying out to Him to have mercy on them. Although the crowd rebukes the men, trying to quiet them, they cry all the louder. Jesus then stops and asks them, "What do you want me to do for you?" The men ask for their sight to be restored, and Jesus, having compassion on them, grants their...
Matthew 18 is one scripture among many that commands us to forgive others. Forgiveness is a requirement...a non-negotiable for Christians, but what about forgetting? We often hear the phrase "forgive and forget," but there is no verse in the Bible that uses this exact pairing of the two words. If we are to forgive like our Heavenly Father, then it would stand to reason that we should forget like Him as well. But does God forget or doesn't He? In Hebrews 8:12, God says, "I will forgive their...
Jesus asked, "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." (Matthew 16:15&16)
This question and answer exchange between Jesus and Peter, although brief and almost easy to gloss over, is one of the most profound passages in all of Scripture. Pause for a moment and consider what God has revealed to Peter at this moment. It is the truth that Jesus is not merely a good man or a teacher or a prophet, but that he is the Christ...the Son of God....
I began rereading the New Testament tonight and was particularly impressed by Matthew 3:8 - "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."
If we have repented of our sins and have been saved, are our lives outwardly demonstrating what we have proclaimed to believe? Are our words and actions bearing witness to the One in whom we say we have placed our faith? Do we claim to have repented of our sins yet conduct ourselves in an unrepentant fashion? Are we nominal Christians with no outward...
While recently reading through Matthew 8 & 9, the emphasis on faith stood out to me – the faith of the leper (8:2), the faith of the centurion (8:5-13), the lack of faith of the disciples (8:26), the faith of the dead girl’s father (9:18), the faith of the bleeding woman (9:20-22), and the faith of the two blind men (9:27-29). In these two chapters alone, faith is mentioned in at least six instances. Later, in chapter 17, Jesus teaches that, even with a small amount of faith, we can move...
The commemorative 1972 Centennial Edition of my hometown newspaper, the Watauga Democrat, contained an article titled “Circus Leaves Girl in Boone Cemetery,” and, from the time I was a boy, I was intrigued by the story of Rita Sheridan, whose broken tombstone now lies flat in the Boone (North Carolina) City Cemetery. News articles from the Watauga Democrat in 1908 and 1912, as well as census and other records, provide additional details of the story.
Rita was born circa 1877. Her maiden name...
"...be quick to listen, slow to speak...." (James 1:19)
Have you ever listened to a friend in need as they shared some concern with you and, even though you didn't say anything in response, they thanked you at the end of the conversation for your helpful advice?
Oftentimes, people just need a sounding board...someone to bounce their innermost thoughts off of. In fact, I am convinced from my own experience of being on both ends of the conversation that one of the most basic human needs is to be...
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." (James 1:2)
Say what?? Think of trials as pure joy??!! Isn't that going a bit overboard? How many of us respond to the trials of life this way? It seems very much against our human proclivity to do so. Who wants trials? And when they come, who likes them? Yet, James instructs us to change our mindsets and to think differently about the tough times. Why? Because, as he goes on to share, trials test our faith and...
Something that has been on my mind for the past week is the underestimation I sometimes give to my salvation. Although I do realize that salvation is a blessing and I am very thankful for it, I occasionally find myself wishing God would bless my life additionally in this way or that way or thinking that if He would only grant me X, Y, or Z, my life would be so happy and complete.
Of course, it is natural to want many/all of God’s blessings, great and small, and in every aspect of our lives....