The Discipline Of Prayer Is The Hardest

by Dane Massey    (Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)      Spent this week thinking on fervent, earnest, effectual, prevailing, passionate prayer.  It has taken God forty-some years, three godly women who are now with Him, and adversities without number to develop in …

Good News From the Math Classroom

by Kevin Burton    Today on Page 7 we do the math.    I found two math-related stories on the Good News Network. The first shows that students did better in math when music is incorporated into the lessons.    “A new study explored the causal role that music engagement has on student achievement in …

Giving The Gifts Of Love And Devotion

by Kevin Burton    The best jokes around our house don’t start with “knock knock” or “a guy walks into a bar.” They start with “what do you want for..”    On our calendar we have spaced birthdays, Christmas, and our anniversary so that at all times there is some kind of gifting occasion on …

Wobble Talk And Fighting Words In English

by Kevin Burton    Here’s one subject that never came up when I was teaching English in Mexico – thank God!    In English, when you see the vowel combination “ae” how do you pronounce it?    This was brought to my attention on an otherwise glorious Saturday morning by our friends at the Merriam-Webster …

Church Attendance Declining In United States

by Kevin Burton    Church attendance is down, way down, in the USA, reports the British newspaper The Guardian, citing two main reasons.    The worldwide Covid pandemic is the first, understandable reason. For a while there, few people were going anywhere. The second reason is more troubling: Americans are giving up on Christianity.     …

My Bilingual Doubletalk In Mexico

by Kevin Burton    My career as an English as a Second Language teacher came to an abrupt early end one night under the streetlights outside a small taco shop in Puebla.    To tell you how and why that happened, I first turn to BBC writer Nicole Chang, who recently wrote about what speaking …

American Emigration Over The Years

by Kevin Burton    It is conventional wisdom in the United States that a US passport is the prized possession.    It would be foolish to downplay the benefits of American citizenship to many who live here. But for some it may be wise to at least look into what some other places may have …

Why People Are Leaving The USA

by Kevin Burton    Leaving your home country is a foreign concept that pushes against everything you have known from earliest childhood.    At least for Americans it is.    What set of circumstances would cause you to think about relocating permanently?    Wednesday we told one woman’s story. Amber Blackmon moved from the United …

Could You Leave The United States?

by Kevin Burton    Amber Blackmon told her story Monday on insider.com, I wish she had told more of it.    Or maybe it’s better this way. Maybe we are meant to insert our own details into what she has given.    The story hit home because she did something I sort of did years …

Updates: Page 7’s Mexican Debut

by Kevin Burton    Within my general and ongoing shameless plea for readership, I got specific two months ago.    On the occasion of Mexican Independence Day I lamented that nobody in Mexico had ever read Page 7 (“Happy Birthday Mexico, Please Read This,” Sept. 15). That hurts, because I used to live in Mexico. …