Month: April 2025

Eggs have certainly been in the news lately. Prices have flown the coop due to the bird flu and the euthanizing of some fifty million chickens, but the good news for egg connoisseurs is that the free-range brown eggs, with richer yolks, now cost less than the regular supermarket white eggs.

The price increase may have kept some from making it to breakfast tables, but it didn’t keep 30,000 hard-boiled eggs from making it to the White House lawn for the Easter Egg Roll. Those who won the lottery, and were invited to attend, were given the opportunity to decorate 4,500 of the eggs before the roll began, but no religious symbols were allowed. Maybe they should just call it an egg roll.

So how did the egg come to be associated with Easter anyway? In many ancient cultures eggs were seen as symbols of new life, fertility, and the arrival of spring, and the church saw in eggs a picture of the resurrection. The shell could be seen as a tomb, and a chick coming out of an egg could represent Jesus emerging from the tomb.

That may answer how the egg came to be connected with Easter, but there’s an even bigger question about the egg that needs to be answered. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

This is not a new question, but a philosophical conundrum that Aristotle first wrestled with in the 4th century BC. The Australian Academy of Science, however, claims to have finally solved it.

“It’s that old riddle that’s sparked many arguments through the ages: was it the chicken or the egg that came first? It’s such a tricky question because you need a chicken to lay an egg, but chickens come from eggs, leaving us with an intractable circle of clucky, feathery life that apparently has no clear starting point.”

Their answer is found in the supposed evolution of eggs. But as is coming more clear in scientific circles every day, evolution simply raises more questions than it answers.

The correct answer is that neither came first. God did.

God Bless, Rick

The following was shared by the elders during our worship service on March 9th.

“When Jack and Bonnie passed away, they left behind a surprisingly large estate of over $2,000,000. At Bonnie’s passing approximately half of it went directly to Ozark Christian College, and around a fourth to Good News Productions. A small amount was to go to the Chatham Library, and the remaining funds and property were bequeathed to us. She did not want it to be used for the general operation of the church, and the elders were tasked with how to best use the funds in keeping with her desires, especially those that focused on her love for young people. After considering several options, the decision was made to use it to begin a totally new ministry at Chatham Christian Church.

Zach, who is currently a campus minister at ISU and very active in the sports ministry of Eastview Christian Church, has made us aware of the effectiveness of using sports as an outreach to youth in the community, and has expressed a willingness to help us lay the groundwork for such a ministry here. We have therefore decided to use the funds to build a gymnasium.

After searching for a local contractor, we found an Amish company in Tuscola, Hersberger Construction, and have signed a contract with them to oversee the building and furnishing of a gym. Our plan is to build a 60 x 120 foot heated and air-conditioned steel building that will be located behind, and attached to, our fellowship hall.

We are planning to begin ground prep for the building after VBS and a large wedding scheduled for the middle of July. Hopefully it will be completed sometime next fall, and we will then be able to use it for basketball, volleyball, pickle ball, and other sporting events, as well as a much larger place for dinners and receptions.”

The elders answered questions during Sunday School, and found nothing but excitement about the new ministry this unexpected gift will make possible.

God Bless, Rick