(ROCKWALL, TX — March 5, 2018) I was reminded this week of how important it is for us to decide how we are going to respond to bad news before it happens. I guess we should ‘practice’ receiving that dreaded midnight phone call or rehearsing our words as we see the look on the doctor’s […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — March 5, 2018) The phone rang as I sat proof-reading articles in the office of a Christian monthly in San Antonio. I only knew the caller, Martha Fanning, as the wife of the locally well-known pastor Buckner Fanning. She wanted to ask about publishing a personal faith story she had shared at […]
ROCKWALL/ HEATH, TX. (June 27, 2014) For several months I walked my dog along the farm road that crosses the creek bordering our neighborhood. Barricades had closed the road to traffic while a road crew worked to replace an old, unsafe bridge with a better one. Without trucks and SUV’s whizzing by, it felt like […]
Editor’s Note: Originally published in January 2012, we thought we’d share Blue Ribbon News special contributor Patti Richter’s review of Heaven is for Real, as folks anxiously await the release of the movie. Heaven is for Real—by Todd Burpo, with Lynn Vincent A review by Patti Richter “Over Five Million Copies in Print” provides sufficient […]
(August 26, 2012) – Reading the book of Jonah for the first time troubled me. Not the miraculous aspect—I easily digested the man-gets-swallowed-by-fish part. But Jonah’s stubborn response to God bothered me. I couldn’t relate to the prophet’s attitude—until I found myself following his example. Wednesdays meant prayer meeting at our church on the edge […]
Dallas yards featured wide cracks in the summer of 2011. This summer, they’re more likely to display roofing company signs—hundreds dot some neighborhoods. There’s been relief from extreme drought in parts of Texas, though the extreme remains. As in too many places across the U.S. in recent months, rains come by way of dangerous storms […]
United Kingdom, British Commonwealth commemorate Queen’s long reign A thousand vessels paraded up the River Thames under dark and rainy skies on the first Sunday of June. The spectacular flotilla included the Queen of England on a royally decorated barge, surrounded by family members and a thousand flowers from her own garden. Throngs of celebrants […]
The public is welcome as the First United Methodist Church of Rockwall Wesley Arts Lecture Series presents Dr. J. Matthew Wilson, editor of From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17. Dr. Wilson, Associate Professor of Political Science at SMU, will address the impact of […]
My friend has experienced God’s very present help in trouble. But Ann has a problem. After seeing so many signs and wonders, she worries that people might not believe her testimony. Last year proved the most difficult one of Ann’s life. A corporate calamity loomed overhead for months on end. Meanwhile, both her parents’ health […]
A depressed soul and a holiday make a poor pair. I sat down to pray about my unhappy condition on a mid-November morning. I had my health, my family, and a new home. I could have written a turkey-size list of things to be thankful for. But instead, complaints ran through my mind like newsfeed […]