Seeing all of the Operation Christmas Child boxes stacked on stage this past Sunday gave each of us a feeling of community.  This is one of those events, like VBS, where every person in the church has a part to play.  Over 200 boxes collected to send to boys and girls around the world, represent a spirit of contentment with our material possessions and a need to share with others out of our abunda...  Read More

Just a few minutes ago, I saw the President and President-elect shake hands in the Oval Office.  In previous days, their words for the other were harsh, hateful and cruel.  Today, somehow, they can move on from what has become a political game to the players, but the tension lives on in their “fans” after the game is over.  The problem is that this is not a game.  It’s been a week and there are pe...  Read More

My two favorite headlines of the day:No more sad lunches! Make a better sandwich with chef-approved tips and toolshttps://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/no-more-sad-lunches-make-a-better-sandwich-with-chef-approved-tips-and-tools-155337068.htmlThis Is The Secret Ingredient For The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookieshttps://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/secret-ingredient-perfect-chocolate-chip-115819293.htmlTwo solu...  Read More

Here are some facts from www.candystore.com. Americans are expected to spend 3.5 billion on Halloween candy this year. 12 billion over all. M&Ms have taken over the top candy for the first time, knocking Reese's Cup to second. In Tennessee, Reese's are still number one.  While Maine Kansas and New Hampshire prefer candy corn? Halloween Candy Quick Facts-172 million Americans celebrate Halloween-32...  Read More

Reading over the headlines for today, one caught my attention. The NYPost:  “Star Wars’ unveils first transgender Stormtrooper, Sister — and fans are divided”  The story reports:   The first transgender Stormtrooper, named Sister, appears in the new book “Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers.” According to the X account Star Wars Holocron, the character Captain Rex gives a description of S...  Read More

Back in 2017, the internet was shocked to learn that seven percent of Americans were found to believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows; 48 percent of respondents said they don’t know where chocolate milk comes from. The same research reported that another agriculture study had discovered that four out of 10 fourth, fifth and sixth-graders didn't realize cows are used to make hamburgers and thr...  Read More

The Christian Post reports the findings of a new study out of The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University which was released on Tuesday.  Their findings report the rise in mental health issues for young people, such as anxiety, depression and fear, might have more to do with the lack of Biblical Worldview rather than “psychological or chemical imbalances.” https://www.christianpos...  Read More

Our school aged students have been back in the routine for a couple of months now.  By now, the “newness” has worn off and the routine has set in.  One of the things that I looked forward to at the beginning of a school year was new writing utensils.  In elementary school, the cool ones were those that had some type of theme printed on them.  NFL teams were my favorite to have pencil wars with.  I...  Read More

Economists tell us that The Federal Reserve is preparing to report today its first interest rate cut since March 2020. They guess between a 0.25 or 0.5 percentage point reduction.  Financial folks tell us that this could mean cheaper borrowing at the bank, credit card balance relief on interest, lower returns on savings accounts and the potential for even lower rates in the months to come.  So, wh...  Read More

The Lord designed the human body in amazing ways.  We have the ability to go back in time, in our memory by having one of our senses stimulated.  Upon hearing, seeing, smelling or simply feeling something, you can be immediately transported back to where you were years before when an event took place.  I was reminded of this while reading an article about sounds we do not hear anymore.  On the lis...  Read More

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  We all grew up hearing that from our moms after some bully kid said something to us on the playground that hurt our feelings.  As we got older, what we discovered was that learning to have a thick skin, take criticism from trusted advisors and ignore the rest serves us well.  However, back then and today, we know that words do ...  Read More

The Wilson County / Tennessee State Fair is going on in our area, and several of our members have won ribbons.  Kevin and Elijah Fisher both have Blue Ribbons to add to their collection! Saylor Mitchell is a ribbon winner for her fresh chicken eggs! I’m sure there are several others that brought home prizes, and we congratulate and rejoice with them.  There is something about seeing people we know...  Read More