Forney Charities
Improving communities by helping residents, one person at a time.
Category: Uncategorized
What Does the Lord Require
In our basic training post at Fort Sam in San Antonio, all of us in Company D-3 were conscientious objectors to be trained as Army Medics. Before going on to our medic training, we went through an 8-week course. Usually in the evening if… Continue Reading “What Does the Lord Require”
We’ve Been to the Mountain Top
It was a cold and rainy night in Memphis, Tennessee. As the sanitation workers were given no provision to get out of that weather, two Black workers had taken refuge in the bin at the back of their truck. Inadvertently, they were crushed to… Continue Reading “We’ve Been to the Mountain Top”
Our Baptismal Vows
I vividly remember a critical moment in our confirmation class when I served a medium-sized United Methodist Church out in Ridgecrest. As in the Episcopal Church, confirmation is that ritual wherein one claims for oneself the baptismal vows they made, or were made on… Continue Reading “Our Baptismal Vows”
Let Your Love-Light Shine
The story goes in Matthew that there was an anomaly in the sky, something ajar. More than a shooting star caught their attention. In a world beset by a great malaise, a wonder to behold. In that “bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan.” And… Continue Reading “Let Your Love-Light Shine”
Do Not be Afraid
We live in a fearful age. “Precarious” describes the situation of many folk these days. Many of us think the country is headed in the wrong direction, with a sociopathological narcisist at the helm. Heroid incarnate. Destitution is everywhere. On the streets you can… Continue Reading “Do Not be Afraid”
All Changed into Blessing
What’s in a name? As parents about to be at the rather advanced age of 40 and 41 we felt especially blessed that a first child was on the way. We had been married 17 years when we found out we were expecting. I’m… Continue Reading “All Changed into Blessing”
Holy Resilience
It is ever into a world torn asunder that faith is birthed. Isaiah speaks to a desolate people, brutally slaughtered, hauled off to exile. Sing us a song of Zion their captors taunted. “How can we sing the Lord’s song in this God-forsaken place,”… Continue Reading “Holy Resilience”
Fire From an Old Stump
As a young boy I was immersed in our family’s history. Both sides. From my father’s side, it was West Virginia and the Forneys who had been on that land since 1804. There’s where the family graveyard sits, on a small portion of those180… Continue Reading “Fire From an Old Stump”
Instruction Shall Go Forth
“Johnny, don’t go beyond the curb,” my mother would admonish me when I asked to go outside. And if the ball goes out into the street, let someone go get it for you. All instructions to keep me safe. Later there would be other… Continue Reading “Instruction Shall Go Forth”
The Day is Coming
At a student conference at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, I first encountered a mature, muscular understanding of the Christian faith I had received from Sunday school. The Rev. Joseph Wesley Matthews had been holding forth for several days on an… Continue Reading “The Day is Coming”
Forney Charities 