Last year, I walked into a nursing home looking for my aunt (one of the last surviving members of my extended family) and could not find her. I had not seen her for about three years, but I expected to see her much as I had left her some years earlier. When she was finally [...]
Editor’s Journal: A painful end
As renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens dies a very public death from cancer, he has declared any idea that might be reported of a deathbed conversion to Christ should be relegated to a man under duress from drugs and a disease that has attacked his brain. In an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, he made [...]
Supplied to Serve: Henderson Hills 2010 School Supply Drive
When Sarah Cervantes moved to Edmond from Michigan one year ago, she knew no one outside of some relatives who lived in the area. The 29 year-old single mother of 6-year-old twins Aiden and Norah was battling cancer and often wondered how she would survive—both physically and financially. She had no job, and school was [...]
Editor’s Journal: A nation still at risk
If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.
—A Nation At Risk – 1983
The education system in the United States has become [...]
Editor’s Journal: The competence factor
Yale University historian Harry S. Stout identified the dominant influence in colonial New England as the local church. In his book, The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in New England, he reveals that the local pastor wielded great authority in the early communities across America precisely because his sermons were heard and later [...]
Editor’s Journal: When the mourning comes
O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!
—Psalm 39:4-5
Having worked at a funeral home during [...]
A Life for the Master: Avery T. Willis (1934-2010)
When the decision was made to host a dinner on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) in honor of Avery Willis earlier this year, many were concerned that he either would not be able to make the trip or that he would die before March 4— the date chosen for the event.
Only weeks earlier, [...]
Editor’s Journal: Music matters
One of the most famous images of the United States Naval Academy is not the dome of the chapel, the Tecumseh statue on the Yard or the beauty of Bancroft Hall.
The Men’s Glee Club is, by far, one of the most powerful sights and sounds of an institution that demands physical fitness, fortitude and courage [...]
Resonate seeks musical impact
Less than 20 years ago, children were introduced to music in multiple places and many ways. Public schools included music education in their curriculum, and musical groups were seen as positive learning experiences during the early years. As students aged, many were involved during high school with choirs, bands and orchestras that provided an outlet [...]
Dutton’s music matters: theology and worship
The morning of Oct. 20, 2005 began like any normal Sunday at University Church (UBC) in Waco, Texas. David Crowder, a nationally known worship leader who served on the staff of UBC, was out of the city that day as Logan Walter, Nathan Jennings and Shane Wilson had been tapped to lead worship in his [...]
