All posts by Mark Sims

DOC

dr-1Our family is preparing to celebrate the 94h birthday of a true pioneer of world missions– my father-in-law Bill Skinner.  Already a member of the Greatest Generation by virtue of growing up during the Great Depression and then serving in the Navy during World War 2, he spent the next 39 years in the heart of South America as a medical missionary.  “Great” is an understatement.

The end of the war marked the beginning of the most profound missionary movement in history– sometimes called the “golden age of evangelical missions.”  He was not just a foot soldier in that movement– he was a pioneer, a pacesetter, and a role model.

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THROWBACK 1966 (Part 2)

Last week’s blog post began our throwback adventure to year 1966.  We looked at life through the eyes of a 10-year old boy– going to the movies, dreaming about toys, watching TV commercials, and going to school.  We also looked at how real life crashes in on a 10-year old when coming face-to-face with the real world. (Don’t miss Part 1 if you haven’t read it yet.)  Let’s keep looking at what life was like 50 years ago.  How about this for starters:

Anyone remember this?  I remember kids doing it in the school hallways.  A Teacher’s nightmare!!

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THROWBACK 1966 (Part 1)

mini-skirtI’m all about history.  It was one of my college majors; I taught it in school for almost a decade; I own multiple bookcases of history books (and have read most all of them);  and like Mark Twain once reflected about history, “We seem to have more of it now than we ever have.”  I love to study kings and queens, presidents and generals, war and peace, revolutions and revivals, and even (sigh) campaigns and elections.

But my FAVORITE is oral history.  I like to talk to people about their memories and experiences from the past.  I especially enjoy conversing with people who share the same memories as I do.  So, I have decided to throw out a random year from the past and see what my readers might remember together with me.  Perhaps those of you who are too young to remember the year will at least be entertained by our magical flashback.  So here goes.  Our first THROWBACK YEAR will be: 1966.  (Whoa!  That was a half-century ago!)

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THE MURAL AT MATT’S MARKET

for-god-so-lovedMike Slater stopped me in the church hallway right after service.  The year was 1998 and I had just preached a sermon entitled, “God’s Invasion of Love,” based on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians–

“Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!”

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LIVING ATTACHED

attached One might think that “living attached” refers to the bond between one person, and another person, or a place, or a thing.  For the past 38 years I have lived happily attached to the most incredible lady in the world– my wife Peggy.  Yes, marriage is definitely “living attached,” and is a really great idea.  Some live attached  to their hometown, or to their farms, or to their pet Chihuahua.  Sadly, others seem to live helplessly attached to alcohol and drugs, and don’t seem to ever be able to shake it.  But Jesus gave new meaning to the term, living attached.  He actually said that it’s the only way to live.  John 15 tells us all about it.

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