THE SUNDAY SERMON–Jesus wept
By Rev. Stephen Baldwin NT: John 11.1-45 This week’s story is the death of Lazarus. One of my absolute favorite stories. It contains the shortest verse in the Bible. “Jesus wept.” What made Jesus cry? Well let me ask you a question: When you cry, what leads you to that point? Usually it’s not just […]
THE SUNDAY SERMON–A change for good
By Rev. Stephen Baldwin OT: Psalm 23 NT: John 9.1-41 One day during my first year in the House of Delegates, a lawyer from the governor’s office came to my office. He was carrying a huge stack of folders. Uh oh, I thought. What have I done? Who did I anger this time? What law […]
THE BACK PEW–Quick rundown of which bills passed & which ones failed
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV March 16, 2023 The WV Legislature adjourned at midnight on March 11. Here’s a quick rundown of several bills we’ve been watching the last two months, along with whether the bill passed or failed. TAX CUT. Passed. Citizens will see a 21.25% reduction in income taxes. Rebates will also be available […]
SUNDAY SERMON—The woman at the well
By Rev. Stephen Baldwin John 4.1-52 So I went to WalMart this week. Not a good decision. But that’s beside the point. I was back in the electronics section waiting in line. There was this big rack of DVDs beside me, which struck me, because…that many people still watch DVDs? There was a whole row […]
BACK PEW–Breaking down the details
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV March 8, 2023 Last week, I wrote at length about how politics has become a performance. Right on cue, our leaders proceeded to hold a balloon drop photo op to celebrate a tax cut and pay raise for public employees…while quietly giving themselves a much larger raise and increasing employee insurance […]
Local students make plan to kick vaping
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV March 5, 2023 Two weeks before COVID hit West Virginia, a group of Greenbrier East High School students presented a lesson plan to combat opioid use to the WV Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Clayton Burch. He loved it, and wanted to take it statewide. The pandemic hit the pause button on […]
Early spring plants in danger
By Jason Christian, Blue Weather & RealWV Flowers and trees came out nearly twenty days early this year but now are in danger of freezing. Temps look to be more like winter most of March. Many people are ready for spring after getting teased with mild weather the last three weeks but we are going […]
BACK PEW–Lights, camera, action!
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV March 1, 2023 With 10 days to go in this legislative session, we’ve learned several important lessons about the state of our state. One, money still runs the show. Despite broken personal relationships, the House, Senate, and Governor compromised on the largest tax cut in state history…so they can say, “We […]
SUNDAY SERMON–Unprepared & Overwhelmed
Rev. Stephen Baldwin OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis 2.15-17, 3.1-7 NEW TESTAMENT: Matthew 4.1-11 When Jesus went into the unknown wilderness, he seemed so prepared. Like fasting that long was water off his back. No problem. And when the accuser tried to throw him for a loop, he seemed so underwhelmed. Like he already knew the temptations […]
THE BACK PEW–All hat, no cattle in Charleston
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV February 23, 2023 The 2023 regular legislative session is 3/4 complete. So far, it has been, “All hat, no cattle.” Lots of talk with little substance. The final few weeks will be busy, as a very small number of bills have completed the process at this point. Here are several noteworthy […]
