by vfcadmin | Oct 15, 2025 | Year of Reflection
Preaching is More than Words Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer I have had a courtside view of the church in action for the last couple of years as a dear friend, her family, and their church came alongside a number of low-income residents in an apartment complex in...
by vfcadmin | Oct 8, 2025 | Year of Reflection
I’ve Been to Mother Jones’s Grave Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer One June many years ago I was driving through southern Illinois and happened on the Union Miners Cemetery, near Mount Olive, and the monument to Mother Jones. Mary Harris Jones was, to quote her page on...
by vfcadmin | Oct 1, 2025 | Year of Reflection
Psalms and Conversation Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer One of the most memorable spiritual experiences of my life occurred on the campus of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. I was attending a conference at the school when a tornado warning sent us to the basement...
by vfcadmin | Sep 24, 2025 | Year of Reflection
Stepping on Legos Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer Not long ago at our church Pastor David Montgomery was preaching on the salt and light verses in Matthew 5. Among his many other talents, Pastor Dave makes use of apt illustrations. In this case he was talking about...
by vfcadmin | Sep 17, 2025 | Year of Reflection
God Loves Righteousness Too Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer A friend and I were discussing the response of some people to the Old Testament accounts of the wrath of God. Her pastor preaches from the Old Testament, but some people “step outside” when he touches on such...
by vfcadmin | Sep 10, 2025 | Year of Reflection
The Gift of Simplicity Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer Some 250 years ago the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, a.k.a. The Shakers, settled in America. The sect was an offshoot of English Quakers founded by Ann Lee and known for their communal...
