By Judy A. Bates, GuideStone Financial Resources A father’s love will shape a man’s life—even if it doesn’t come from his own dad. Just ask Elvis Durrill. Elvis was born in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. One of nine children born to Otha Earl and Minnie Durrill, his young life on the farm was hard and filled with manual labor. His father was not a religious man, but taught his children not to lie, steal or cheat. It was from his mother that Elvis learned of God’s loving care. However, it was the pretty blond girl sitting a few pews ahead of him that had drawn him to church that day. By the time the preacher finished the sermon, Elvis forgot about the girl because God had gotten ahold of his heart. He made a profession of faith and 12-year-old Elvis ran home to tell his mom about his salvation experience. His excitement was short-lived. As Elvis burst through the door shouting with exhilaration, he heard his dad in the backroom laughing at him. “I told you he was simple-minded,” Elvis remembers his dad saying to his mom. The joy in his heart was immediately doused and it would be many years before Elvis would be open to God’s tug on his heart. A short year later, Elvis found himself living on the … [Read more...]

By Martha Bailey Demented. Deranged. Unhinged. Hatred. These were the type words used in the news I heard the day after an attempted assassin brutally wounded Congressman Steve Scalise and three others. Sadly, it seems he intended to leave much more carnage. It was premeditated and deliberate. Had it not been for two valiant police officers on the scene, he would have succeeded. How sad. How evil. What has happened to America? When did we forget that there are lines over which we dare not step? What happened to good manners and common decency? When did everything become gray where we don’t know what is right and what is wrong? When did truth mean whatever we want it to mean? Our country crossed the line when it compromised its values many decades ago and has been on a slippery slope ever since. Morality went out the window as did respect for other Christian principles. In his instructions to Timothy, a young minister, the apostle Paul warned him about what would happen to men’s hearts as the time grew closer to the Second Coming. Look at Paul’s description in his letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-5): ~There will be terrible times in the last days. ~People will be lovers of themselves. ~People will … [Read more...]