Only God Knows The Whole Song

Posted on Apr 15th, 2013

Several weeks ago, a few of us attended a short recital of Christian music by a handbell choir. The large group that performed was made up of a number of smaller handbell choirs from all over the state, who had come together for a "handbell clinic." The brief concert was very enjoyable; there's nothing quite like the sound of a handbell chorus, especially when their music is praising the Lord. On another level, we found there were some interesting spiritual lessons to be learned from it as well.

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Don't Say The Three-Letter Word!

Posted on Mar 4th, 2013

Imagine trying to teach a class on the importance of smoke detectors, without ever mentioning the word fire. No matter how persuasive or eloquent you might be, your audience would still be left wondering why they should care. While this scenario may sound a bit ridiculous, it is often played out in real life, and with a subject far more important than fire safety. We try to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ while omitting one very small but incredibly important word – sin.

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"Are You Sleeping?" - Brother John

Posted on Jan 1st, 2013

Many years ago, the Lord showed our mother, who has since gone on to be with Him, a little hidden message in Revelation, chapters 2-3. In this passage, the Lord Jesus gives messages to the Apostle John for the seven churches of Asia Minor. Five of the seven seem to have backslidden in one way or another: Ephesus has left its first love, Pergamos and Thyatira are entertaining false teachers, Sardis is dead, and Laodicea is lukewarm and utterly deluded. (Do any of these sound familiar?)

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Which Tree Are You?

Posted on Nov 11th, 2012

Just outside our Missouri home, there are several small trees. One remained green and leafy though early October, while another, less than twenty feet away, had already gone brown many weeks before.

As readers in the Midwestern U.S. know, this past summer saw the worst regional drought in 75 years. From the middle of June to the end of August, the rain gauge in our yard showed less than four inches, total. Temperatures were brutal as well, stuck in three digits as the sun scorched the earth through a cloudless sky day after day.

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Waking Up Different

Posted on Sep 12th, 2012

There is an experience to be had through the Holy Spirit that is at least the equal of any other for sheer miraculous joy. It is the sudden awareness that you are different from the person you were yesterday. Not just better at learning and keeping rules, but really different - at the deepest level of your character. The thrill of this realization is difficult to describe. There is nothing else quite like it, because there is nothing so utterly impossible, from a natural standpoint, as changing a person's heart.

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Mother's Last Message: Jesus Doeth All Things Well

Posted on Jul 1st, 2012

Regular visitors to this site may already be aware that our mother, Jettie Hitchcock, was called to her eternal home on May 31st. Her race is finished, her battles won. As we move on from here with our own journey, we are daily grateful for the foundation she laid in our lives, and the example she set in her own walk - right down to the very last day.

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A Tribute To My Sister, Jettie Laura Paschall Hitchcock

Posted on Jun 2nd, 2012

Jettie Hitchcock, the author of these Scripture songs and the Mother of our family, was called home on May 31, 2012 - her 66th birthday.

To her husband, Michael, she was completely devoted. For over 42 years of marriage, they remained not only deeply in love, but totally one in a life laid down for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Free Online Books

Posted on Mar 20th, 2012

During the years when the children of our family were little, they enjoyed illustrating several rhyming books that we wrote based on Bible stories. After storing these books for over two decades, we decided to scan them into the computer and offer them in their entirety for free download. To the three original books we added The Ballad of Jesus, which was illustrated by the now-adult artists of our family in 2007.

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One Ticket to Heaven, Please

Posted on Jan 1st, 2012

There is a long-running debate in Christianity about the question of "eternal security" - whether a Christian who was at one time saved can fall away. The problem isn't so much with the alternative answers to this question, both of which are plausibly supportable with Scripture, but with the question itself, which postulates a misconception about the nature of salvation.

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Come Unto Him And Rest

Posted on Dec 7th, 2011

The holiday season is here again, and as usual, it's hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. Time moves on, and we are reminded to consider how well we are using the days and hours we've been allotted on this earth. Unfortunately, we are often inclined to gauge the fruitfulness of our lives by how busy we are, especially when it comes to the things we are "doing for God." We should remember, though, that the tasks we have to do and the challenges we face are not an end in themselves; they are simply the tools God uses to shape us into the image of Jesus. His ultimate goal is not that we should accomplish something for Him, but that we should enter into what He has accomplished for us.

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