Advent: A Baptist View, or “So…when exactly is New Year’s Eve this year?”

Did you know that Saturday, November 29 is the Christian “New Year’s Eve?” Easy there–the Parson hasn’t slipped a cog.
I know that the Civil Year doesn’t end until December 31, but in the Christian reckoning of the year, November 29 is the CHRISTIAN YEAR’S “New Year Eve.” What meaneth this? Is this some kind of [...]

Poll Winner Declared…

The votes are in…and dressing (stuffing) has won the first-ever Baptist Parson poll for favorite traditional Thanksgiving food. There were no dangling chads or butterfly ballots, so every vote was counted.
Thanks for participating!

The Ephesian Example…

Ephesians 1:15-23  For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and which ye shew toward all the saints,  (16)  cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;  (17)  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of [...]

New Poll…just for fun

I’m adding “polls” from time to time to the blog. Here is one just for fun and for a test:

“Extracts from Old Writers” on Thanksgiving

Yesterday’s Sunday Morning Sermon was based on Psalm 92:1, “It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord” (ESV)
I included several quotations from notable Christian pastors and writers from generations past. Here are a few of them:
Charles Spurgeon:
“It is good [to give thanks] ethically, for it is the Lord’s right; it is good [...]

Where old engines go to …rust…

Back Lot Rusted Engines

The Parson’s wife got this shot of a rail yard where old diesels are parked. It is amazing to note how many different rail lines are represented in this one angle. We thought of the song “City of New Orleans” as we passed this yard. Kind of a melancholy image, isn’t it, [...]

Thanksgiving…

Thanksgiving is one of our nation’s most important holidays.  President George Washington originally set aside November 26, 1789 as a day reserved for “Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer.”  This day hailed back to a similar festival and day of worship observed by the Pilgrims.  These English immigrants to America set aside a day to give thanks [...]

All Steamed Up: The Mikado & Railroad History

The Illinois Central Railroad company donated this Mikado type steam engine, to the city of Paducah in 1963, to be a “reminder” of the days of steam locomotives and their importance to the River City. The steam era of trains died out in this country in the 1960s, as diesel engines became the mainstays of the rail [...]

Gulls A-Plenty

Over the weekend, the Parson and family went on a trek Westward. While there, we spotted some gulls along the Ohio River and I had to check them out.
These are Ring-Billed Gulls, which are fairly common birds. They are similar in appearance to the Herring Gull, but the yellow legs are a give-a-way for the Ring-Billed Gull. Herring [...]

How much time is enough?

 
Andrew W. Blackwood (featured in this month’s Christian biography page) wrote Preaching From the Bible.  Blackwood’s book offers insights on how to carry out a truly BIBLE-based ministry in the Church. In the first chapter of this book he wrote about some representative preachers from the church’s past and for him, present. In writing about [...]