Change Your Mind

by   June 15, 2026 with No Comments

Max Lucado tells us how to change our lives by changing our minds. God wants our minds to work for us not against us. Listen as Max explains how you can tame your thoughts.

Re-creating Through Recreation

by   June 14, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

“Have a great summer!” If you dig up an old school yearbook, someone at some point likely wrote that in the front or end pages of yours. Although it’s in the middle of the year, summer comes at a closure and seasonal “goodbye” for many people. We wish a “great summer” in a way that we do not proclaim any other season, except perhaps the Christmas holiday. While each season has its gift, does any season provide as much time for recreation, leisure, and renewal?

Swimming, running, and pickleball, hiking and camping in the great outdoors, attending games, outdoor concerts, movies in the park, grilling at the neighbor’s (Northern or Cali transplants, do not call this a barbecue, please), block parties, summer-themed festivals, and even the quieter hobbies of bird watching and gardening all bid us outside. Or maybe you escape the humidity and enjoy the air conditioning by catching up on puzzles, watching Christmas movies in July, completing the work-in-progress hobby or task, or reading.

Many also find a fire reignited, not just by sitting around a campfire and sharing stories and thoughts, but perhaps as students attending a camp or children at a Vacation Bible School. I remember the days of hot camp meetings as choirs joined together and preachers preached under a large tent over a sawdust-laden ground. 

Attendees of VBS, youth camps, and seasonal church meetings often leave with a sense of renewal, rededication, or recommitment to what (or Who) matters most. 

Even work can seem less like the exhausting tedium of toil in this season for some (with apologies to landscapers and road-workers). Extended hours of daylight can provide more opportunities for recreation after hours. 

The season can be a life-giving recharge before schedules for many resume or take an upswing in September. Recreation lives up to the name of RE-creating life and vibrancy within us.

Summer often takes us back to the memory of Eden – the garden of the dawn of the ages that held such promise, but was spoiled by mankind’s will, desire, and lack of contentment, trust, and obedience. The place of walking in intimate communion with God. 

We look to re-create such things through moments of leisure. Maybe if we spend enough time appreciating nature, we will learn something about ourselves or something greater beyond ourselves, if such things exist. Perhaps if we make time to connect with our neighbors, friends, or community, a hole of deep communion will be filled. If we are lucky, maybe some focused solitude on a worthwhile project will make work feel purposeful, beautiful, and enjoyable for once. But summer will end, and there may still be desires unsatisfied. C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Let’s not pretend that we can recreate Eden or heaven on earth through our recreation this summer, but if such pleasures and pauses bring a greater awareness of creation, our Creator, and a need to return to such things, we truly can “have a great summer!”

In a Moment, Everything Changes

by   June 13, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

In a Moment, Everything Changes

            You know what I am talking about…life is going along at a normal pace. There are the daily hiccups, the usual hassles, the slow drivers, and that crazy person at work. You are home and glad to be in your refuge. Then your phone rings and everything changes…

            Last week in Salisbury at an apartment complex everything was fine one moment and then the next moment a fire broke out, leaving a number of families homeless. One moment you are doing something normal and routine like eating dinner or maybe watching TV with your family and then something happens.

            Most of us can remember a time when life was normal and then our phone rang. We answer and receive news we don’t want to hear. There has been an accident and a loved one is in the hospital. I received a text like that last evening. My mom fell and went to the ER. It leaves us feeling helpless. We pray and watch the clock. I’ve been at the ER with people before; time moves slowly while you are waiting for answers. You sit. You pace. News comes slowly.

            In our case, my Mom waited a long time before they sent her home. She should make a full recovery. The news is not always that good for some folks. For some, the news goes from bad to worse. A hospital stay is followed by a long recovery, or maybe the loved one continues to decline. That phone call or text that interrupted your normal day changed everything.

            Phone calls and texts don’t always bring bad news. Sometimes our lives change for the better. Your child calls to tell you that they are engaged and you burst at the seams for joy. The phone rings and you find out that you are a grandparent! You find out that your child got a big promotion at work. Maybe you are the one spreading good news and a family celebration ensues. You got the dream beach house and you couldn’t be happier. These are moments when we welcome life’s changes with open arms. We are excited and filled with joy and can’t wait to let the world know our great news.

            Whether your phone call or text was bad or good your world changed in a moment. One moment everything seems normal and then the next moment everything changes. Your world is different and it may never return to the normal that you used to know. Your life has changed for the better, or maybe for worse.

            I believe that the idea that everything can change in a moment needs to be carried with us when we go to prayer. We need to enter God’s presence knowing that everything can and might change in just one moment. I believe that God is still in the healing business. I believe and have seen with my own eyes the Lord touch and bring healing. Everything changes in a moment.

            I believe that God is still in the business of changing lives. He can take a broken sinner and restore them. He can take impossible situations and make them right again. He can heal broken relationships. He can deliver a person who is addicted. He can set people free from brokenness, bitterness, and anger. He can heal someone struggling with anxiety or depression. In a moment He can change everything!

            I believe that nothing is impossible with God. He can change financial situations. In the Bible, one day Joseph is sleeping in a dungeon and the next he is second in command to Pharaoh and sleeping in a palace. God rescued Daniel from hungry lions. He saved three men who refused to bow to an idol from burning in a fiery furnace. Nothing is too difficult for Him. No one has strayed too far from His love. In a moment, everything can change!

            I want to encourage you to believe in a God who still does impossible things. He sees you and He knows everything about you…even the number of hairs on your head. He loves you and is pursuing you, wanting your heart and a deeper more intimate relationship with YOU! There is nothing too difficult for Him. There is no sin He won’t forgive. There is no pain He can’t heal. There is nothing you are worried about that He can’t fix. He can do it in a moment or sometimes He moves more slowly, building your faith and trust in Him along the way. Bring your situation to Him because I still believe that in a moment everything can change!

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Waiting

by   June 12, 2026 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Psalms 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

  • God is never in a hurry, but certainly is sudden.
  • Waiting is a growth and development of patients and faith.
  • We ‘take heart’ because we know the Lord will hear and answer.  We just need to wait.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit help me to be patient to wait for Him even though He does not move fast, He moves suddenly and He will come to my aid.  Help me to be patient and not be reactionary or stressful today.  Amen.
 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

A Summer Life Reset

by   June 11, 2026 with No Comments

Mel Robbins walks you through a reset… She offers steps you can take to reset life and have a good year. It is a longer video but I hope it helps you.

Success at Bare Bones

by   June 11, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Success at Bare Bones and more!

  The Salisbury Rowan Runners own four races each year and partner in a bunch of others, projected to total about 32 in 2026. This is truly a running community, just as the signs remind us at the major entrances to Salisbury. A Runner Friendly Community, nationally designated by Road Runners of America, makes my heart sing each time I see them.  

   One of those SRR races is the Bare Bones 5K, presented for the last several years by Cathy Griffin Century 21 Realty. Other significant sponsors include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Novant Health, Carter Law Group, the Trophy House, Ralph Baker Shoes, Cheerwine and the City of Salisbury. Bare Bones itself was often one of the lesser known of our races, and how it even came to be makes a good story. About 26 years ago, one of the area’s early races was sponsored by a large local company and they tried to cancel it the day before. At the time, races were not as common as they are now. The internet and cellphones weren’t a real factor, so it was impossible for us to notify all the runners including those already registered or those planning to attend.

     The easy solution was for SRR to take over the race with an afternoon’s notice, make something of it with homemade awards and shirts from other races. And with quickly rounded up refreshments. The club at the time was very small and almost every member had something to do with getting things done.

    On race day, a good crowd of runners began to arrive. They were surprised that no mention was made of the large company that had cancelled, and that the race was going to happen. We had shirts left over from other races and they got to choose one. The race awards were also left over from other races, plus the entry fee was very small. SRR announced, “We are doing this for the running community, as a thank you for supporting us!”

     The practice was so cool that we kept using other races’ shirts for a few years and reworked awards too! One year that stood out to me was when awards for a late May race were giant Christmas ornaments reclaimed from our Santa Run. It was all a bunch of fun. The first races were run at Catawba using the grass on what is now the softball field and the soccer and football practice fields. Bob and Judy Zirt headed the show.

     For many years, afterward, Bare Bones was headquartered at Knox Middle School, now itself in transition. Overton has had the race the last two years, and Saturday’s event was unusual with a cool 61 degrees and a misty morning in late May. SRR’s most popular runner, Wayne Crowder, and upcoming race planner, Lynn Furr, managed the event.

     We had 90 runners registered, many of them graduates of SRR’s latest beginning running class. Others were competing because they hardly ever miss a local event. SRR still has great races, and at Bare Bones they got classy shirts, ice cream from Aqua 14 truck, other refreshments and nice awards afterwards, along with Dick’s Sporting Goods door prizes. They got expertly measured 5K and fun run courses and the knowledge that they were contributing to proceeds that went to Rowan County Relay for Life. About 25 volunteers, with support from the City of Salisbury and Parks and Recreation, made the race happen.

     Justin Sink of Lexington was the overall winner in 17 minutes and 2 seconds. He was followed by Froilan Frutos in 18:35 for second and Zach Livengood was third in 20:24. Top women were Jessica King in 24:15, Rebecca DeMoura in 25:32 and Olivia London in 26:00. Winning the half-mile fun run was Benjamin Starrett in 4:33. Possibly the most significant performance was by my 6-year-old granddaughter Monroe “Booper” Bishop, who ran her first 5K in 38:13 for first in the 10 and under females.

     Our next race is the Myles for Mission 5K and Fun Run at Grace Lutheran Church on June 13th. Look for it and other upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: Success at Bare Bones and more!
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