21
Jun 2018
Dear Senators Burr and Tillis: As a young person, I was always interested in history. And while many historical events have impacted my understanding of the world, two stand out. The first is the Civil Rights Movement, and particularly the use of fire hoses and police dogs to deter, humiliate, and dehumanize the school children of Birmingham. I know this happened. I’ve seen the pictures, and I’ve read the accounts. But I’ve still never been able to really believe that people could be so cruel. And I’ve never been able to believe......
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19
Jun 2018
It’s not an understatement to say that prayer, especially spoken prayer, can be awkward. What do I say? How do I say it? Which things should we pray for, and which things should we keep to ourselves? One of the things we try to do at Sardis is to make prayer feel comfortable. But admittedly, it may feel awkward before it feels comfortable. We aren’t a huge congregation. That means you don’t have to call the church office 48 hours in advance of the next worship service to ensure a deacon or......
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11
Jun 2018
I want to tell you a story about a church as it nears its thirtieth birthday. It’s a healthy church, or at least, it fits my definition of healthy. Its debts are paid. All of them. It owns its building and property outright. Its budget is met faithfully every year. Its committees have been filled with relative ease. It has five staff members, all devoted and called to its mission, and all collegial – actually better than collegial – friends who love and respect one another, and challenge one another, too. It......
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