Three years ago, about

three months after we had helped to plant a new church,

my wife Cindy asked me why I didn't resume writing a

newspaper column.

It had been years since I

had penned an article on a regular basis, although I had

previously written a religion column for several

newspapers. Over the years, my articles appeared in

nearly two dozen publications, primarily magazines, but I

wasn't the least bit interested in doing a religion

column for any newspaper.

"To be honest," I

replied, "I don't want to. I never enjoyed writing a

religion column."

Cindy was surprised and

asked, "Why not?"

"Well," I

replied, "for one thing, I'm not sure anybody

reads them. For another thing, some editors require

religion columns to be written in such a way that no one

is ever offended. I don't want to write a weak `feel

good' column and I'm long past weary with attempting to

placate whining, complaining church people."

Besides, I reasoned, the

best columns are often those that inspire, inform, humor,

and, once in a while, stir up people... maybe even make

them angry. So, she dropped the matter.

Two weeks later, I was in

the offices of The Citizen newspapers in Fayetteville,

paying for our church advertising. As I was about to

leave, Cal Beverly, the editor and the driving force

behind The Citizen, came out of his office and, to my

great surprise, asked if I would be interested in being a

local columnist.

As we talked, he made it

clear that he would allow me the freedom to write on any

issue (even religious issues!) and submit articles that

might fit into any genre.

I was excited and my

first column for The Citizen went to press just

before Christmas 1996.

It has been interesting, in

these three years, to see the results of my experiment to

write on any subject that comes to mind. Early on, we

lost a church member who objected to the pro-life stance

in one of my articles.

When I supported capital

punishment for the vilest offenders, the e-mail was

clogged with people who didn't understand how a "man

of the cloth" could advocate such a... well... Old

Testament concept.

One county commissioner

refused to speak to me in public after I wrote a biting

tongue-in-cheek article about the commission's efforts to

protect the Fayette County citizenry from the dangers of

"fortress mailboxes."

One waitress, who read my

column on "the look" that women give men (my

wife holds a black belt in "the look"),

whispered to me at lunch, "I'm surprised you're

still alive!"

Democrats took me to

task when I wrote that I could not vote for bona fide

war hero Senator Max Cleland because of his endorsement

of the pro-abortion Democratic platform.

Others were disturbed when

I pounded on the "character issue" when

referring to President Clinton. Republicans were equally

riled when I expressed profound disgust and

disappointment with Newt Gingrich's betrayal of both his

wife's trust and of his wedding vows.

After my article on Mother

Teresa, some Romaphobes complained that I was too

"pro-Catholic" while, at other times,

especially when I wrote about the liberal heresies of

some mainline denominations, some from the historic

liturgical churches blasted me for being "too

evangelical and not a real Catholic (or

Episcopalian)."

Oh, well. At least people

are reading.

Yet, only a small

minority of the articles have dealt with controversy.

I have had the honor of introducing in my column

hard-working Americans like the man and wife team who

founded The Big Orange Salvage Company, beginning with

just a pickup truck.

I have written about the

heroics of individual police officers and emergency

services personnel and the tragedy of those, like Lt.

Chip Williams, who die suddenly and violently.

I have penned columns to

honor several of those brave men, like Marine Joe Meade,

who have fallen in battle in far off lands in service to

their country.

I have written about local

honorable and godly men like Pastors Chuck Griffith, John

Weber, Harold Allen, John Holloway and others who have

faithfully and loyally served their flocks without the

slightest trace of scandal or selfishness.

I have introduced you to

members of my own family and shared a few of our triumphs

and highlights and have pulled the curtain back and

exposed some of our heartaches.

The greatest

satisfaction, however, is in receiving feedback from

those who read the column, even if the reader doesn't

agree with the article. Intelligent people will differ on

important issues and the readers of The Citizen are

intelligent.

Over the last three years,

hundreds of you have stopped me in the post office, in

the supermarket, at a restaurant, or at the gas station

to tell me your are reading (if not enjoying) the

columns. Some have posted the columns on the fridge or

even on the bulletin board at work.

One poor pastor received a

truck load of criticism because he posted several of the

columns on the bulletin board at church. I only hope that

didn't hasten his untimely departure from the church.

A few articles, to my

surprise, have been reprinted in church newsletters and a

couple, unbeknownst to me, have even been submitted to

and reprinted in other newspapers.

One pastor in another

town, a reader related to me, even retold one of the

articles in a sermon, substituting himself in the story

in my place, as though the event involved him (which, of

course, it didn't!). Where he got the article, I have no

idea. I'm just glad he found the story useful.

A number of people in the

community have visited our church (some have even become

members!), perhaps expecting the sermons to be like the

articles: short and entertaining. Oops! My sermons aren't

that short (30 minutes is the norm) and I don't preach to

entertain. Challenge, inform, motivate, encourage, and

enlighten, maybe (hopefully). But not to entertain. Been

there, done that.

But I have said all that to

say this: Thank you for sharing these three years with

me. Thank you for sharing your stories (some of which

have appeared in the articles) your comments, your

encouragement, and your criticisms. Thank you for

allowing me into your home each week. Thank you for

reading.

May God bless you and your

families as this century winds to a close and may you

have a very Merry Christmas and a joy-filled and

prosperous New Year! Non nobis Domine.

[David Epps

is rector of Christ the King Church. He may be contacted

online at [email protected] or at P. O. Box 2192,

Peachtree City, GA 30269.