Category Archives: History

TWO BROTHERS AND ONE MAD DOG

Christian Discipleship, History, Humor, Small Town America, Wisdom, , , , ,

I am eternally grateful for the spiritual heritage and upbringing I received from my family.  Passed down to me and to my siblings was the truth about Jesus Christ, and a solid faith in His Word.  My parents took seriously the biblical admonition from Deuteronomy 11:19: “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

But spiritual precepts are not all that my family passed down to us.  Oral history is a part of the fabric of our family.  The following is another excerpt from a book I am presently penning about my late father, Coolidge Sims.  His last days in an assisted living center gave me a brief season to hear him again rehearse the stories of his childhood that I had heard all of my life.  One evening in June of 2012, I joined Dad for supper in the dining hall of his final residence, The Oaks.

Our conversation that memorable evening includes his version of one of my favorite family stories.  Enjoy!

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SID IN THE SPIRIT

Biblical Truth, Christian Discipleship, History, Humor, Spiritual Growth, ,

“Make no mistake about it, I believe in the supernatural– miracles, dreams and visions.  Yes, to believe in the God of the Bible is to believe in His ability to do “anything.”  But not everything that God does looks like a miraculous healing, a dream or a vision. His agenda is much deeper than that.  He is most interested in transforming lives– resurrecting the spiritually dead to new life in Christ.

Here is the question:  If God can do anything, then can He also use anyone in getting His message across?  You’d better believe it!  Have you ever read the biblical story of Balaam and his donkey?  In the Autumn of 1978  I clearly saw it first hand.  I’ll never forget the night I had a brief encounter with a bona fide “hippy” named Sid.  Here’s the story.

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SNAKE DOCTORS, AND ALL THINGS SOUTHERN

History, Humor, Small Town America, ,

Recently I found myself enjoying the company of a friendly group of millennials relaxing together outdoors on a late summer afternoon. In the middle of our light conversation a duo of iridescent dragonflies made a sudden appearance.  The brilliant green and electric blue colors were dazzling in the afternoon sunlight.  For a few seconds no one said a word.  Then, before I could catch myself, I simply uttered out loud, “Look, snake doctors….”  

 It even surprised me.  I hadn’t said the two words “snake doctor” together in as sentence since my childhood.  The young people who heard me glanced at one another telegraphing giant question marks by their facial expressions.  All I could say was, “Oh, sorry, that’s what I called dragonflies when I was a child.”   Of course, a millennial had to ask the inevitable question, “Why?”

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MY BIG IDEA

Christian Discipleship, History, Small Town America, , , , , , ,

It was the Fall of 2005 when I first got the big idea.  In just over six months I would be celebrating a half-century of living and breathing on planet Earth.  One hundred years earlier life expectancy for a male in Alabama was only 39 years, so in the big scheme of things turning fifty as a healthy man was a milestone.  We Americans always extra-celebrate birthdays #1, #10, #13, #16, #21, #40, #50, #80, and hopefully #90.  After that, we celebrate the passing of months, not years.

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ANGELS IN THE DARK

Biblical Truth, Christian Discipleship, History, Spiritual Growth, , , , ,

My wife’s parents, Bill and Frances Skinner, were missionaries in Paraguay for 38 years.  They are both in their nineties today, sharp in mind and full of faith. Their incredible stories of seeing the hand of God at work while bringing the Good News of Jesus to the people of Paraguay strengthen my faith every time I hear them recounted.  In her book, Adventures in Paraguay, Frances Skinner reveals how faith is most powerful when exercised in the dark.

Her story begins in the small, rural village of Guayaybi, Paraguay.  Only accessible by primitive dirt roads, the missionaries had established a medical clinic near the village that they opened on weekends– offering medical help together with the gospel message of Jesus.  A dire situation occurred that required a trip back to civilization, but Dr. Bill was up to his neck in medical work so Fran agreed to make the trip for him, accompanied by a friend named Ruth– a German lady that Frances had randomly met on a trip to Argentina.  Ruth, just happened to unexpectedly show up for a visit to Paraguay, and so had gone with the Skinners to the clinic at Guayaybi.

There was a problem, a big problem!  It had rained a down-pouring tropical deluge  and main road had closed to all traffic.  Since Doctor Skinner was engaged in humanitarian services, he had been issued a permanent pass by the highway authorities to travel any road at anytime.  So Fran and Ruth took the pass and sallied forth.   In her own words, the following story is an excerpt from her book:

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