Columnists

By Rosie Preston The timing is off by a day. My daughter celebrated her birthday on July 2, and this issue comes out on July 3. But that seems to be the story of my life lately. I often get confused concerning the day of the week. Staying at home does have specific issues, like

By John Larkins This Saturday, Gadsden is scheduled to celebrate the Fourth of July. The current times are so full of enormous changes that all of us are not keeping up, much less understanding, the consequences of the massive cultural changes that are underway. We are so accustomed to separating politics from religion that we

By Robert Halsey Pine “But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of

By Toni Ford Have you ever heard the saying, “I am too much in my head”? Well, that was me this past week. When I get too much in my own head, it usually leads to fear, anxiety, worrying about all the “what if’s” in the days ahead and on and on. The most harmful

By Andy Bedwell Sunday family dinners at houses in the South were a nourishing part of childhood years. We gathered at my mother’s home, where we were surrounded with the aroma of Southern cooking at its best. It was also a time for us to share in each other’s lives and reconnect with the people

By Vicki Scott Another project recently invaded my mind, and I was inspired to use the other three members of our Golden Girls team to do yet another creative mission at George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe. The inspiration took place during my time with God, which is first thing in the morning. I was

Gadsden State Community College President Dr. Martha Lavender recently announced her retirement. Lavender attended Gadsden State, where she pursued and achieved an Associates degree in nursing before obtaining a Bachelor of Science in nursing at Jacksonville State University. Lavender furthered her education with both a Master’s degree and doctorate in nursing from the University of

By Andy Bedwell Some of my favorite me-mories as a child were the weekend visits to my Grandmother Icy’s house. I would awaken to a sense of light coming from the kitchen. Then the smells and noises of pots and pans would draw me to the kitchen to spend some precious time alone with my

By Vicki Scott I have always heard it said that you never know who is watching you. What a burden to carry when someone is trying to be a Christian in every aspect of life. That idea spoke loudly to me during the season in my life when our children were growing up. It relates

By Danny Crownover One of the funniest things to happen in Gadsden during the 1890s was the purchase of a “dead man” by four of the leading farmers of Etowah County after having reached a decision to go into the show business. It was no fun for the farmers and even less fun to put

By Rosie Preston So many times, we continue to be updated about the coronavirus and how it is changing lives. I believe the past three days afforded me the opportunity to jump through a hurdle and find that I could indeed get interested again in cleaning my house. Last Sunday morning, Phil’s son called to

By Toni Ford Two of Paul’s earliest letters were written to a church of young believers that he helped start in Thessalonica, along with Timothy and Silas. These two letters were written to real people who were experiencing real problems. Most of us would say that we can identify with these people because we are

By John Larkins Shamefully, the problem of truth mattering is just as prevalent today as it was in Jesus’ time, and even before then. One source of truth is the Bible, but which version contains that truth? Then there is the question the Queen of Sheba’s eunuch asked of Philip after Philip asked if he

By Robert Halsey Pine “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end

By John Larkins You probably have many examples of the importance of truth. If you were fortunate enough to have at least one parent who nurtured you with love, you may have had experiences that made you respect truth and avoid lying. The society outside your family has demands on speaking the truth to avoid

By Toni Ford I think many would agree that we are definitely living in unique times. Lately, instead of waking up each morning with a not-a-worry-in-the-world mindset, it seems as if I wake up with a battle-ready mindset of preparing for the unknowns of the day ahead. I remember praying this past week, “Lord, please

By Robert Halsey Pine “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will

By Rosie Preston When the virus seemed to hit us like a slap in the face, I didn’t comprehend the changes it would bring to my household. For example, Phil and I decided to take some comforters and pillows to a laundromat. Within minutes of walking inside, I found myself laughing and conversing with strangers.

By Craig Ford The Republican and Democratic primary runoff elections are still scheduled to take place on July 14, and many voters are understandably concerned about trying to vote while Alabama is seeing record numbers of new coronavirus cases. Part of Alabama’s recent spike in cases of COVID-19 is the result of Memorial Day events

By Danny Crownover Gadsden’s very first architect was W. H. Willett, who located here around 1887. One of his big jobs was the new Episcopal Church in West Gadsden, which, it was claimed, took on the aspect of an English cathedral. That was quite natural, for Mr. Willett came from England where he attained distinction

By Vicki Scott Last week my husband, Alan, wanted me to write about Christmas. The subject on my mind was different, and I could not think of how to connect Christmas with a story on a hot day in June. Today I have been thinking about Christmas. We had to separate this last Christmas because

By Andy Bedwell The food we Southerners ate as children nourished our souls as well as our bodies. I still have fond memories of waking up to the aromas of bacon, eggs and grits. There is nothing any better than looking forward to fried catfish with the whole family for dinner. While we still enjoy the

By Toni Ford When things in the world seem crazy or when my own situations in life seem to be in chaos, the first two places I go for the Lord’s peace and comfort are worship and the Word of God. Over the past month, there is a song that I have had on repeat:

By Robert Halsey Pine “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith

By John Larkins There are many responses to the above question, especially today. In any discussion, it is well to get this question out on the table, because from young to old people, there is no consistent answer, and it is well to point out the consequences to the rule under which you are operating.

By Rosie Preston When I began this article, I chose to write a poem expressing my feelings and thoughts. The sky was gray, the thunder was rumbling and the trees were blowing outside my window. My mood matched the weather, as I knew the skies would clear. It was a perfect day to share my

By Danny Crownover In 1939, a tourist passing through Gadsden on his way home to Kentucky from a brief stay in Florida wanted to know if the locals really appreciated the wonderful white way of the Gadsden-Atalla Boulevard, for he said that it was the longest and most beautiful he had ever seen. The passerby

By Vicki Scott This last week, one of our senior volunteers shared a story with us that I want to share with you. Our director, Pat, here at George Wallace Senior Center was with me when I heard it, and we laughed so hard my jaw started hurting. I know I am not going to

By Andy Bedwell Let’s go from our gardens to our tables. I love to see the medley of vegetables appear at produce markets and roadside stands – baskets of fire-engine red tomatoes, bushels of corn with bright green husks and pods of okra that “snap” when broken. When we see all of these vegetables, we

By John Larkins The mission of the Redeemer, which was to establish a new covenant church and teach His leaders on their key part of His mission, became more difficult as Jesus leaves the Apostles to convert the whole world to His church. He sent His evangelization team first to the children of Israel. Now