By Robert Wilkerson It is easy to be loved by Jesus. He loves each and every one of us. That is what he meant when he said, “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). God loves us, but that doesn’t mean that our sins have been forgiven, that we are rightly related to God, or that we have a heavenly home. Those things come to us only when we accept God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior. To be loved further, we m ...

By Zack Steele One of the most common complaints in eye care is the “floater.” Most people have seen them, a speck that meanders across the field of view and can be seen as a nuisance to some, but this may be a sign of a serious problem. Most of the eye's interior is filled with vitreous, a gel-like substance that helps the eye maintain a round shape. There are millions of fine fibers intertwined within the ...

By Dave Parrish Do you remember when, just a few short years ago, the government paid you $8,000 to buy a home if you hadn’t owned one in three years? How times have changed. Today’s headlines: Pending home sales increased to the highest level since April 2010. No government incentives today. But the market has improved enough to drive sales up to the sales level we were experiencing in those crazy days of ...

By June Mathews This month marks 34 years I’ve been sharing a bed with Jimmie (For those of you who don’t know who Jimmie is, he’s my husband, so sharing a bed with him is perfectly OK). That means it’s been just a little less than 34 years that I discovered Jimmie can be awfully entertaining when he’s asleep. I remember well the moment I discovered this. We were still living in our first home together, a t ...

By Gary Lloyd We weren’t off to a promising start in New York City. The hotel I had a reservation with since last summer put us in a closet of a room with non-working electrical outlets, unable to charge our cell phones, turn on the TV to check the weather or switch on the two lamps. Oh, and the old bed came equipped with two hairs on the sheets and one of the pillows. I told the night manager this was unac ...

By Robert Wilkerson “Do not be anxious about anything...” (Philippians 4:6) Have you ever had an anxiety attack? Most of us have. Anxiety is a feeling that we have when we fear the unknown, or fear something may go wrong, or doubt our ability to cope. If you’ve never had any of these feelings, call me. I’ve always wanted to meet Superman or Superwoman. Much of what we get from ministers or other would-be he ...

By June Mathews I recently attended funeral services for my first piano teacher, Mrs. Campbell, a bittersweet occasion, to say the least. While saying goodbye to an early influencer is never easy, sharing memories with old friends, some former students like me, was soothing to the soul. I had three other piano teachers as a kid, but if I had to name a favorite, Mrs. Campbell easily rises to the top of the l ...

By Channing King If you want to be healthy, you must learn to manage your stress. We know it's impossible to avoid stress altogether, but learning to manage it will lengthen your life and make it much better. This time, let’s focus on some things you can think about and do in order to have more peace in your life. The top three causes of death in our country are heart disease, cancer and adverse drug reacti ...

By Zack Steele I wanted to begin by giving a big shout-out to all of our area high school baseball teams, who all won area championships. Here’s hoping they all go a long way in the playoffs. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I am a big sports fan. I played sports growing up and played college baseball for about a week (actually, it was two years, but it felt like a week). I still like to watch s ...

By Robert Wilkerson The crucifixion of Christ was one of the cruelest acts of history, but from that evil act has come tremendous good. Christ crucified is one of the greatest revealers of God’s truth in the universe. The crucified Christ reveals the reality of sin. For those who cannot see the consequences of sin in the lives of others, look at Christ on the cross. See that brow pierced by long, cruel thor ...