The Almanac

  • How to Read the Bible in Church

    ByJames Butler

    “Finders Keepers!” John Huddleston was known by his Arkansas neighbors as a “son of a sharecropper” and a “dreamy backwoodsman.” John and Sarah purchased their 49 acre home farm in 1889 for $100, later expanded to 243 acres.  One day while walking a road through his property he found two crystals which were shortly identified…

  • “Amen!” or “Oh, Me!”?

    ByJames Butler

    “Amen!” … or “Oh, Me! I could write a book about church fights I mediated (or instigated) Chapter 1 – Change of worship time … Chapter 2- Install a PowerPoint projector in the sanctuary … 3- Launch any building project … 4-Clean out and toss all the junk in an unused classroom and destroy the…

  • The Liver & Onions Test

    ByJames Butler

    As Walmart steaks run $30 for a package of two, folks turn stares of disbelief to beef liver as the affordable cut of meat. The $300 grocery tab reinforces a gut punch that politicians delivered a message, “Let them eat liver!” Applying the liver & onions test to the church, what one ministry stands as…

  • RV Nation: Border Crisis Solution

    ByJames Butler

    How can the church, while sitting on prime real estate, recover its prophetic voice on affordable housing? RV parks raise rates over $100 per night as cities forbid public camping As the U.S. faces a double crisis of affordable housing and mass border crossings, a solution may be to create RV Nation, stretching entirely across…

  • Windfall

    ByJames Butler

    Time to visit my financial planner to maximize my $600 windfall. Thankfully he reduced his fee to $700.

  • Plan B?: Security Equity for Schools

    ByJames Butler

    The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, unless the bad guy gets the drop on the good guy. Then choose Plan B. What? No Plan B? To enter a sports arena, security frisks fans for bottled water. To enter a school, a maniac strolls…