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Newspaper Articles

Below is a list of inspirational articles written for the Newport Plain Talk newspaper by our Pastor; Calvin Metcalf. Click on a title to bring up the full article, some are images scanned from the newspaper.

The Ark of Acceptance: July 27, 2010. The mentality which would eliminate or subdue those who are different is not from God. We are called to join a remnant of folk who have a world vision.
Jesus Is Lord: July 23, 2010. Sometimes we talk about "making Jesus Lord" as though it were a title we give Him. We approach His authority as if it were bestowed upon Him by majority vote. According to the scripture, however it is God who made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
What Other People Think: July 10, 2010. There is subtle insecurity about our human behavior that causes us stress; the compelling need to explain ourselves to others.
Patriotism: June 27, 2010. Patriotism is a vital aspect of any progressive nation. Love and loyalty to one's native land is a prerequisite for its survival.
Education Versus Indoctrination: June 23, 2010. Education and indoctrination share several traits, but indoctrination lacks one key factor.
Fanaticism: June 17, 2010. Because religion focuses our attention upon that which is best and calls forth the best from within us, it has a strange capacity to become fanatical.
Picky People: June 11, 2010. The kind of evaluations we make of others is usually the kind of evaluation we receive. Being judgmental implies a righteousness most of us do not have.
Growing Through Adversity: June 5, 2010. Although God does not cause our moments of depression, He is prepared to use them for our growth. With whatever it takes to get our attention, God is ready to lead us on a journey of grace.
On Being Family: May 30, 2010. Parents have the best chance to make a positive influence on the world by the way they rear their offspring. Moral and spiritual values are instilled early in life or they may never be instilled at all.
Death In Gospel Perspective: May 23, 2010. Twilight time is a peaceful interlude between life's rigorous demands and heaven's quiet repose. The closer we get to God the more we find the joy of somber thoughts in the expression of our praise.
Healing: May 22, 2010. Healing is a vital part of our Christian lifestyle. We have the awesome capacity either to heal or hurt those with whom we share life.
On Being Consistent: May 15, 2010. One of the most imposing challenges of the Christian life is the ability to be consistent. In many ways, we are all walking paradoxes.
A Closed Mind: May 6, 2010. There is a terrible tendency among most of us to assume that we are always right on every issue. We give little, if any, attention to another opinion because of our dogmatic commitment to our own ideas.
Money: Apr. 29, 2010. Money is a fickle "god" because it demands an awesome sacrifice in terms of time and energy to acquire it, but it never quite produces that for which we dream.
Perception: Apr. 21, 2010. Perception is the art of forming opinions and making evaluations based on what we believe to be the truth. The problem is that sometimes perception and reality are not the same.
Prayer: Apr. 12, 2010. There is something about us which longs to communicate with Him who is Creator and Lord. Even those with little or no spiritual ambition have moments when they want a word with Someone who is bigger than their unmanageable predicaments.
Forgiveness: Apr. 10, 2010. The ministry of forgiveness is our most potent Christian witness. Reaching out with kindness and grace toward those who have hurt us is our most God-like disposition.
Preparation For Spontaneity: Apr. 1, 2010. Preparation for the spontaneity of life is a daily assignment. Just as nourishment for our bodies keeps us physically fit, so the nourishment for our souls keeps us spiritually alert.
The Resurrection Event: Mar. 30, 2010. The real power and glory of the resurrection is that it transcends that first Easter morning. It is more than a historical event, it is a continuing experience.
The Death of Jesus: Mar. 22, 2010. Is it not ironic that the best God had to offer was terminated by the worst man could do?
His Presence, Our Peace: Mar. 20, 2010. Our Lord Jesus, while on this earth, did not say He had come to explain the world, but that He had overcome the world. There is a tremendous difference.
Self Denial: Mar. 15, 2010. The Christian life carries with it the awesome obligation of self-denial. It proposes that personal ambition and public glory are to be minimized in our struggle to achieve the Godly life.
Why??: Mar. 11, 2010. When things go wrong we are prone to ask "Why?" We want someone to give answers to the complicated issues of our lives.
Searchers and learners: Mar. 7, 2010. In contrast to those who rejected Jesus, his followers were free to let the winds of a fresh spirituality blow upon their minds. They were free to participate in a love that reached in all directions toward all kinds of people.
Confidence: Mar. 1, 2010. It is a tragic waste of spiritual and mental energy when we lose our confidence. We can never be all God wants us to be if our composure is limited.
Life: Feb. 20, 2010. One of our most obvious truths is that life is not an invention of human ingenuity. We merely cooperate with the process.
Growing Old With Grace: Feb. 11, 2010. The kind of person we are has a way of emerging to the surface. Character cannot be camouflaged indefinitely. Our true person comes to the surface by how we look, what we say, and how we say it.
Love's Power: Jan. 31, 2010. How do love, humility and selfless giving manifest themselves in our lives without becoming hatred, power, and greed?
Called To Participate: Jan. 25, 2010. At times we approach church attendance in the same way we go to the movies; expecting comfort and entertainment. If it does not produce to our liking we are disappointed.
"Is This All There Is?": Jan. 18, 2010. In a society which exaggerates excitement we often are made to feel we are missing something. The world of merchandising is always wanting to sell us something more than what we have.
What Are We Dying For?: Jan. 12, 2010. The Christian life is a risk-taking adventure. We cannot escape its call to death even as it offers the highest quality of life.
Holy, Holy, Holy: Jan. 8, 2010. Even in church we have handled holy things so much they have lost their holiness. We have carelessly attended to the things of God for so long we have lost respect and reverence for holy matters.
The Stewardship of Time: Jan. 3, 2010. Time is the stuff out of which life is made, and it can be either our enemy or our friend.
A Prayer For Year's End: Dec. 23, 2009. A prayer recapping the year just past and looking toward the year to come.
The Season of Christmas: Dec. 17, 2009. The paraphernalia of Christmas is an interesting study in human behavior. Whether we be saint or sinner, this time of the year seems to bring out the festive spirit in everyone.
Receivers and Givers: Dec. 11, 2009. Some people simply are not equipped to receive anything from anyone without making adequate compensation. This ought not to be.
Right and Wrong: Dec. 7, 2009. Is it all right to be wrong? It all depends on our capacity for grace.
Loving Ourselves: Dec. 4, 2009. It is a terrible thing when we do not feel secure in the opinion others have of us, but often our problem is more personal than social.
Poverty: Dec. 1, 2009. There are some spiritual lessons for us to learn from those caught in the throes of financial poverty.
God's Diversity: Nov. 23, 2009. There is an interesting diversity in my backyard. My backyard is a parable. It reminds me that I live in God's backyard.
A Worship Thought: Nov. 18, 2009. Should we always expect people to come to church with something as serious as God on their minds? Public worship is an interesting phenomenon of our spiritual lives.
Religious Intimidation: Nov. 11, 2009. Intimidation is a tool we use on one another to win arguments and to chastise those in disagreement with us. It is not a comfortable attitude for either the intimidator or the intimidated.
Impact Christians: Nov. 3, 2009. Jesus is calling all of us to be impact persons. He wants us to make a difference as Christians in our world. He equips and encourages us to be people of grace.
The Father's Will: Oct. 19, 2009. "Not everyone who saith 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." How do we know if the things we do please the Lord?
Memories: Oct. 14, 2009. One of the significant features of life as we grow older is a set of dear memories which we establish along the way. We are all in the process of building memories, how blessed we will be in years to come if we can look back and call them "precious."
Supernatural Power: Oct 6, 2009. The possibility that God can abide within us is an exciting truth of many dimensions. There is a sober concern, however, about this spiritual ambition.
Peace With Our Past: Oct. 2, 2009. The past tends to leave us with an assortment of mistakes, mistreatments, and missed opportunities. The accumulation of guilt, resentment, and fear can become a burden too heavy to carry at times.
The Christian Advantage: Sept. 25, 2009. What is our advantage as Christians? Do we have a special protection from the pains and penalties of life? Are we somehow exempt from war, pestilence, famine and disease? The answer is "no" because life does not seem to have favorites.
Silver or Rusty Spoons: Sept. 21, 2009. We sometimes refer to people with an abundance of material resources as having been born "with silver spoons in their mouths." Perhaps many of us feel as if we were born with rusty spoons in our mouths. Whether we come into the world with a silver spoon or a rusty spoon we still have a purpose.
Polarities vs. Problems: Sept. 9, 2009. Life is filled with many complicated issues. We are challenged to do the best we can with what we have as we find responsible ways to cope with life's agenda.
The Gift of Work: Aug. 28, 2009. One's career is a way of fulfilling the need to be a participant and not a spectator of life. There is a sense in which our work focuses upon God and country as well as ourselves.
Escape The Gloom: Aug. 25, 2009. We live in a day that spreads sadness with ever increasing effectiveness. We are inundated with news that focuses upon the tragic, the destructive, and the evil aspects of our society. But Simon Peter, comes to our rescue...
Coloring Outside the Lines: August 21, 2009. For the most part, the people who challenge the way things have always been, offering us new ways of facing old problems are also those who give us new inventions and better solutions. But not always.
In God We Trust: June 26, 2009. While it is good to have money and the things money can buy we must never lose the things money cannot buy.
Father's Day Thoughts: June. 10, 2009. A father is not always the emotionless side of parenthood who substitutes toughness for tears and firmness for feelings. The masculine side of the human family is quite capable of tenderness, love and sympathetic understanding.
Hope For Our Day: May 13, 2009. With hope we see beyond the temporary to that which is permanent. We focus our attention on things eternal. The vision of the heart leads us where our natural eyes do not see.
Motherhood-Womanhood: May 3, 2009. Although God is often perceived as a paternal being there are scriptures which suggest God is both mother and father of us all.
Playing God: Mar.24, 2009. It is hard work for these critics to sneak around and make sure everyone who teaches and preaches is doing so according to their own prejudices.
Tough Questions, Imperfect Answers: Mar. 23, 2009. How do we keep on keeping on when keeping on leads us to a pointless frustration?
Diversity: Mar. 11, 2009. It is intriguing how God has created variety among those made in His own image.
Feeding A Hungry World: Feb. 18, 2009. One of the great challenges to the Christian conscience is to feed a hungry world. Living in a country where we waste enough food to feed the starving masses is a guilt-producing reality.
Anguish Dispelled: Feb. 8, 2009. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Dishes or Devotion: Jan. 22, 2009. The Christian life is a matter of priorities. The "less than best" is always sacrificed for the best.
I Too Must Give: Jan. 21, 2009. In relieving another's thirst I found the fountain of living water.
Doing What We Do, Being Who We Are: Jan. 11, 2009. We will soon outlive our usefulness if production is the only word that defines us. There is deeper meaning to "who we are" than "what we do."
A Day of Judgment: Jan 5, 2009. Living in this life under the influence of grace with God's daily benefits, we are prone to forget that "His spirit does not always strive with humankind."
Life Worth Living: Dec. 22, 2008. The meaning of our days is measured not so much by numbers as by character. The quality of our existence is of far greater significance than the quantity of our years.
A New Years Prayer: Dec. 20, 2008. New Years is a time for looking back, looking forward, and looking inward.
Parent's Christmas Prayer: Dec 12, 2008. "Peace on earth, good will to all men" is not only the hope of our world, it is likewise the hope of every Christian home.
A Sound of Christmas: Dec. 2008. When asked about the sounds of Christmas, many will mention tinkling bells, carols being sung and children giggling. And these are all good things, but many neglect the most important sound of Christmas.
Satan Is Wrong: Nov. 25, 2008. We are still tempted to win the world by the ways of the world. How strange that Satan's friendship is used to gain friends and influence people, even in church.
A Thankful Thanksgiving: Nov. 18, 2008. God has created us with the ability to be grateful. We either cultivate this gift or we lose it in selfishness and pride.
Healing Humor: Nov. 2008. "Rejoicing" is a recurring theme throughout the New Testament as persecuted and misunderstood Christians were encouraged to laugh and enjoy their relationship to Christ and to one another.
Pioneers And Settlers: Nov. 8, 2008. Although we tend to think of pioneers and settlers as people of the past, we still have them and we still need them.
A Case For Heaven: Oct. 26, 2008. We are created with much more capacity than the proverbial fourscore years and ten can produce. Our dreams will always outlast our life.
A Citizen's Dream: Oct. 16, 2008. It must have been a dream, but it was as though I were talking to George Washington himself. There he was as big as life...white hair, knee pants, buckle shoes, and all. What words of wisdom would he have for me?
The Energy Of Anger: Oct 08, 2008. Misdirected anger can be one of our most harmful emotions. Yet, it does not always need to be bad.
Cross or Feeding Trough?: Sept. 24, 2008. Just as our physical growth is dependent on good food, so is it essential that we expose ourselves to that which gives us a healthy understanding of God.
Spirit Versus Matter: Sept. 14, 2008. Technology may give us relief from tedious chores and add hours of free time to our lives, but only God can add peace to our pastime.
Extremism: Aug. 25, 2008. Although there are political and economic extremists, perhaps the misguided religious zealots are the worst. When persons assume God has told them something or even presume to speak like God, they are armed with a fanatical power.
The Sacredness Of Work: Aug. 24, 2008. Whatever we do for the betterment of humankind is our work whether we draw a salary for it or not, and it is sacred unto God.
Guilt: Aug. 20, 2008. What is this inner urging which keeps us constantly dissatisfied with our behavior? Where does the voice come from that sometimes shouts, "Shame, shame?" Is there no relief from the annoying pain of who we are?
God of the Bible: July 27, 2008. The Bible is our most tangible exposure to God's past activity. We learn of God back then so we may know of God now.
An Impartial God: July 20, 2008. Some of the penalties life has a way of imposing upon us seem to be deserved and others undeserved. Yet we must never allow life's injustices to create doubt about the ultimate justice of God.
The Risk Factor: July 13, 2008. It would be great if life came with a solid guarantee that nothing unpredictable would arise, but life is not put together that way.
Church At Its Best: July 6, 2008. Church at its best is a fellowship of people equipping themselves for ministry and witness. If we are serious about God we cannot leave church in the same way we leave the theater.
One Nation Under God: June 29, 2008. When majority opinion rules out divisive and subversive elements, our country can function as a united people. "One nation under God" gives our nation a rallying point.
Coloring Outside the Lines: June 22, 2008. For the most part, the people who give us new inventions are those who challenge the way things have always been, offering us new ways of facing old problems.
A Day For Fathers: June 15, 2008. There is a masculine dimension to life that is often highlighted on Father's Day.
The Cost of Friendship: June 9, 2008. The truth is that in every serious friendship we lay down some of our life. We give up something for the good of another.
Ill-Gotten Gain: June 1, 2008. The cost of ill-gotten gain is a heavy item on the ledger sheet of life.
Keepership: May 18, 2008. Throughout the scriptures we sense a call to "keepership," which we do well to adhere. We cannot neglect a fellow human being with an easy conscience.
Mothers Day: May 11, 2008. Mother's Day comes again to call attention to that special person in our birthing process. It is fitting that we celebrate this maternal contribution to our existence.
Pride: May 4, 2008. Pride has a way of becoming the dominant source of motivation in everything we do and has strong possibilities for serving God, yet it often becomes the tool of Satan.
Our Way Of Seeing Things: April 27, 2008. There is emotional and spiritual strength in knowing what we believe and why we believe it. At some point along the journey we must stop living like religious parasites trying to imitate the faith of our fathers.
Talking with God: April 20, 2008. Communication with God is our most helpful resource in facing the issues of life. No human privilege is more valuable than the opportunity for intimate contact with our heavenly Father.
Seasonal Change: April 13, 2008. Just as the change from winter to spring can be tumultuous, so can our Christian life.
Fact or Fiction: April 5, 2008. One of the most consistent frailties of our human nature is a tendency to make evaluations without knowing all the facts.
ZACCHAEUS (Monologue): March 30, 2008. What can turn a man from greedy tax collector to Philanthropist?
Sensible Belief: March 16, 2008. What is reasonable for us to expect from God?
Walking With God: Dec. 2nd, 2007. Walking with God is a beautiful way of describing our Christian pilgrimage.
Objectivity: Oct. 14th, 2007. Objectivity is an elusive virtue; no matter how hard we try to be flexible and open we end up seeing what we want to see.
The challenge of people: Oct. 7th, 2007. One of life's biggest adjustments is to the populated world in which we live.
Giving Vs. Getting: Sept. 30th, 2007. There are two approaches we can take toward life: that of getting and that of giving. Sometimes they get out of balance.
The truth about ignorance: Sept. 23rd, 2007. Why is it that some folk who appear to know nothing have the answers to everything?
Learning to survive: Sept. 16th, 2007. Life is filled with many complicated issue; we live in a world in which we can be hurt, yet can also bring great satisfaction.
The Bible: Sept. 9th, 2007. A look at what the Bible is and how we can benefit from it.
My Lord and my labor: Sept. 2nd. 2007. It is essential to our human health and happiness to have a wholesome sense of productivity...
See also, sermon: "Work as Worry or Worship"