Dede LaRock

                There is something about our human nature that finds it difficult to believe in the good.  We seem to find it fairly easy to believe in the bad.  But the kind of faith that looks to the future with an expectation of good is rare indeed.                 This tendency is reflected in our speech.  We describe some things as “too good to be true.”  But how often have you heard something described as “too bad to be true?”  That is not how we think.  For many, the bad is readily believable, but […]

          It seems to me that our church, in the 21st century, has a golden opportunity to make the gospel real and relevant to a world that is weary of wars, terrorism, bondage, weary of emptiness, and increasingly weary of moral degradation. It is a time when we should prepare ourselves to be the church at its best. We must remind ourselves that the world is ready now for the message of God’s love, delivered by people like ourselves who demonstrate that loyalty in their own lives.           A large part of […]

          If we were to believe the statistical charts and reports so commonly quoted these days, a single conclusion is inescapable: we, the disciples of Jesus, are not winning the world, we are losing it! That is, of course, if we are to believe those statistical charts, because quite frankly, figures can be quoted, twisted, used, or misused, as we have seen in recent months, to prove virtually anything. It is never easy to know just how reliable or accurate any particular survey is, at least not until we know the background and bias of the agency or individual […]

          According to recent studies, Americans spend an average of two hours a day watching television. Others raise that figure to as much as four and a half hours. Add time spent reading newspapers and magazines, or listening to radio and stereo, or on the internet or video games, and we can see why the media is one of the most formative influences on our culture.           If these statistics on the extent of media’s influence are unsettling, an examination of what they contain should be even more so. All this advertising is overwhelmingly dedicated […]