The year was 1965 and the place was on New York Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. A 16-year-old girl, on October 26, was found by a policeman dead in the house of Gertrude Baniszewski. Sylvia Marie Likens and her sister Jenny were teenagers who had been left with Gertrude “Gertie” Baniszewski for the summer so thatContinue reading “Killing Fields”
Author Archives: Dr. Anthony Slutz
Lisa’s Story
I’ll just call her Lisa since that is her real name and since she gave me permission to do so. Ellen and I first met this special lady about 7 years ago when, after she and her husband, Dirk, had visited a church service at Thompson Road Baptist Church, having accepted the invitation to attendContinue reading “Lisa’s Story”
The Heart of the Matter
We are living in a power point age, so imagine with me that in one 24-hour period you were able to construct a power point that visually displayed everything you did in that time frame. Were that possible, it would no doubt reveal how you had spent the day, indicating probably where your special interestsContinue reading “The Heart of the Matter”
To Have and to Hold
There was a wedding a week ago Saturday, at Thompson Road Baptist Church. Pastor Joel Stevens officiated and the bride and groom exchanged their vows in a beautiful double ring ceremony witnessed by maybe 125 people on a late winter/early spring day here in south central Indiana that brought cardinals and robins out of theirContinue reading “To Have and to Hold”
To Ukraine with Love
Like yours, my heart is breaking over the travesty and tragic turn of events that the wonderful people of Ukraine are now suffering through. It is unspeakable and, as millions of God’s people worldwide, we are praying that God, who holds the hearts of kings in His hands, in ways known and knowable only toContinue reading “To Ukraine with Love”
Pastor, Priest and Providence
Recently, I had an experience during an hour-long flight from Indianapolis to Charlotte that I could have only dreamed of that I’d like to share with you. It was another of the myriad of moments in one’s life of the providential working of God in arranging divine appointments for His own: Ellen and I hadContinue reading “Pastor, Priest and Providence”
Shaken Saint Syndrome, Part 2
In my first full-time pastorate in Wichita, Kansas, a thirteen-year-old boy, with life’s dreams looming large on his youthful horizon, died after a brief bout with cancer. His faithful father and mother had to have been shaken to the core of their being; but as this young fresh out of seminary and not yet 30Continue reading “Shaken Saint Syndrome, Part 2”
Shaken Saint Syndrome
My life has been without much physical suffering; mental and emotional, plenty; but personally very little as I have visited the sick and suffering for half a century as any pastor who loves his flock would do, offering prayers and support and encouraging words as long as was possible, then comforting their loved ones whenContinue reading “Shaken Saint Syndrome“
“Will You Also Go Away?”
“Burn out, zone out, cop out, drop out” are expressions not unfamiliar to us as they describe a psychological, sociological or spiritual phenomenon not new to the 21st century. We are living in a stress-ridden world and the toll that stress takes upon today’s citizenry seems to increase, multiply or magnify with each passing currentContinue reading ““Will You Also Go Away?””
A Major Baptist Doctrine
A preacher once attended a big convention and heard a message in which the speaker used the word “procrastination” several times. So fascinated by the word, a new word to the novice, he determined then and there to use it in one of his upcoming sermons. He did just that, incorporating the word “procrastination” threeContinue reading “A Major Baptist Doctrine”
YOU and GOD 