COVER STORY “Full-Serve or Self-Serve?” by Jerry D. Hull As we enter later life, God calls us to more than fellowship and self-indulgence. The road to productive engagement, meaning, and significance lies before us. We dare not squander our years of greatest wisdom by thinking we ever retire from full service to God. Read this story now

FEATURES

• “Parenthood Revisited,” by Jeanette Gardner Littleton. Grandparenting is supposed to mean playing, doting, and spoiling. The golden years are not intended to be tinged with pink and blue. What happens when grandchildren move in and grandparents revisit parenthood?

• “The Road I Did Not Choose,” by Edna B. Hawkins. When life stole away much of her retirement dream, one woman opened her heart and her home and saw God miraculously fill both.

• “The Blessings of Aging,” by Jesse E. Pitts. Settling for too little or striving for the best? The way to face the prime-time years is up to you.

COLUMNS

• Essay:“Going Over the Edge,” by Gary Sivewright. Anyone can stand on top of a hill called “life” and look good. Faith is knowing where you’re headed.

• Editor' Forum: This month’s forum addresses questions about Ten Percent Giving and budget assessments for inner-city churches.

• In the Mirror:“ Oh, the Things People Say Now . . . and Then,” by Justine A. Knight. Things that are merely ho-hum to ordinary people are knee-slappers to preachers’ kids in church.

• Passport:“Serving at the Crossroads,” by Carmen J. Ringhiser. While it seems that Klaus and Martina Arnold’s responsibilities have taken them in many different directions, they are really traveling just one path: investing their lives in EuNC students.

• Portraits:“Jerry Decker: Retired to Work for God,” by Debbie Salter Goodwin. Will Jerry Decker ever retire? Probably not. But then, why should he? God keeps opening doors, and all Jerry knows to do is walk through them.

• The Deeper Way:“Watching Holiness Grow Old,” by Carl M. Leth. Only persons who have lived a significant number of years can demonstrate an answer to the critical question, “How does holiness age?”

• Front Line:“Missionaries in the Cockpit,” by Debbie Salter Goodwin. Aviation has been instrumental in church growth. As we fly more, the church is growing more. As the church grows, we fly more.

• Family Tree:“The Joy of Being a Swan,” by Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird. Hard times can still be good times when we are able to glimpse them against the backdrop of God’s great design.

• Commission:“Living on the Dark Side,” by Paul G. Cunningham. When we begin to see things as He does, it’s difficult to make a case for dark-side living. The glow and glory of His presence enables us to choose to rejoice.

• Metro: "Descent into Hell," by Fletcher L. Tink. To defend and care for God’s most abused children is to capture the essence of the holy heart of God.

NEXT MONTH – When Conflict Comes to Church

• “Following the Book on Church Dissension,” by Jeff Crosno. Since the recording of its establishment in Acts, the Church has been no stranger to conflict. How can we deal with it graciously? Dissension is resisted most effectively when congregations remain canonical, confessional, and Trinitarian.