I remember how clear and cold it was on that New Mexico morning as I sat sipping coffee with two pastors at the Glorieta Conference Center. At the time, in the mid-1980s, I was editing The Deacon, a publication of…
Payday, some day?
RICHMOND — If you could make 390 percent on your investment, would you be interested? Sure — who wouldn't? But what if you knew your return on investment came in the form of exorbitant loan shark tactics that trap people…
EDITORIAL: Aunt Ida plants a seed
Dear Jimmy, Well, I don't have much to say, but since I hadn't bent your ear in a good long while, I decided to put off my laundry and write you a long letter. Your Uncle Orley and I just…
Ministers hear call through many voices
God uses a variety of voices in calling people to Christian service, veteran ministers agreed, pointing to their own experience. In Joel Thielepape's case, two voices figured prominently—a representative of the New York Yankees who delivered a discouraging word and…
EDITORIAL: The sustaining power of a call
Earlier this month a kind of posthumous autobiography was published: Mother Teresa: Come, Be My Light. Have you ever wondered what in heaven's name God was up to? Of course you have. During the periods of your life when your…
EDITORIAL: Greed vs. creed
The stage is being set for a showdown. In this corner, Goliath of Gath oozing greed from every pore. In the opposite corner, Little David who has only a sense of right and wrong going for him. Chances are you…
EDITORIAL: Love your enemies and pray for …
Wiley Drake, former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and has requested prayer for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and particularly for two staff members. For those who may not be aware, Americans United…
EDITORIAL: Pewboy decries injustice
Altarego: Hey, Pewboy, I didn't know you were a golfer? What's your handicap? Pewboy: (Without breaking his concentration on the ball on the tee before him) Those who have played with me claim my handicap is no particular aptitude for…
EDITORIAL: Aunt Ida confronts the INS
Dear Jimmy, Your poor uncle is as confused as a termite in a yo yo. We thought we were helping a young couple and at the same time gettin' some needed work done around the place, but now it seems…