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Long Live the Queen

By Eddie Pipkin On the passing of Queen Elizabeth, the news was filled with special coverage which reviewed her extraordinary life and 70-year reign.  What stood out was the astonishing historical and cultural change that transpired during her time on the throne.  She presided over a period of great turmoil and transition – and probably [...]

Long Live the Queen2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

The Sociable Church

By Eddie Pipkin Everybody needs friends.  They are essential to our health and happiness.  We’ve written about this topic on more than one occasion, because it’s one of those topics that pops back into the news cycle on a regular basis.  Americans are lonelier than ever!  Men have no friends!  Senior citizens are despairing of [...]

The Sociable Church2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

Accountability Counts (Part 2)

By Eddie Pipkin Football season begins in earnest this weekend, and if you’ve read any of my blogs for any length of time, you’ll know that I love sports in general and football in particular, so I’m happy to renew my fall obsession with teams and contests.  Last week I wrote about accountability, and one [...]

Accountability Counts (Part 2)2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

Accountability Counts

By Eddie Pipkin I wrote last week about my latest Colorado adventure and how, despite the distinct possibility of failure, my excursion team and I made it to the top of our designated peak.  The key word in that last sentence is team, because none of us was likely to attempt such a feat on [...]

Accountability Counts2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

Prepare to Fail

by Eddie Pipkin I’m in Colorado this week, and some buddies and I are going to attempt to check off one of my bucket list items: hiking to the top of a 14,000 foot peak.  It’s a thing in Colorado to see just how many 14ers you can hike (“fourteeners” in local speak).  The state [...]

Prepare to Fail2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

Adios Choco Taco

By Eddie Pipkin I haven’t seen an ice cream truck in the neighborhood in a long time, but whenever I hear that inimitable high-pitched, tinny tune (usually ‘Turkey in the Straw”), I can’t help but grab some cash and run out into the street, and one of my all-time favorite ice cream truck treats: the [...]

Adios Choco Taco2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

The Multiplying Dimension

By Eddie Pipkin My mom loves the Cracker Barrel.  She can’t get enough of those biscuits and gravy and that sweet, iced tea.  She’s partial to the pinto beans and collards lunch combo.  It’s far and away her favorite restaurant, and anybody who’s not sure what gift to get her for a holiday occasion can [...]

The Multiplying Dimension2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

The Maturing Dimension

By Eddie Pipkin The kids and I bought my wife a very cool raised bed gardening platform for Mother’s Day.  It was something she had talked about wanting for a while, a space out on the deck to grow her own herbs.  Her plantings have flourished, and we have all enjoyed the fresh, homegrown basil, [...]

The Maturing Dimension2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

The Gathering Dimension

By Eddie Pipkin If you’re looking for the secret sauce that makes local congregations effective, the mortar that binds the ministry foundation of vital and purposeful institutions of faith, it’s relationships.  Even when churches lose their way and times are troubled, faith-based friendships preserve bonds that might otherwise crumble and collapse.  Those relationships of mutual [...]

The Gathering Dimension2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00

The Discipling Dimension

By Eddie Pipkin Christians identify themselves as followers of Christ.  The term by which we are identified is disciple.  It was used to describe those first literal followers – those who walked from town to town, covered in the dust of the same roads as Jesus walked – and it applies as readily across the [...]

The Discipling Dimension2024-05-10T14:41:44-04:00