• Church Life

    Truth And Freedom

    As I type these words, I am very aware of some of the risks in doing so. There is, for example, the risk of being misunderstood. There is also the risk of being perceived as being overly critical. I could be seen as being too “soft” or too “hard” in my assessment of preaching and/or preachers. The possibilities of negative consequences are almost endless. There is also a risk of people thinking that I am only concerned about preaching and/or preachers. It may be true that a lot of what follows has to do with that. However, I believe that if you will stay with this until the end, you will find that this is not…

  • Church Life,  Family

    Where the Downhill Slide Started

    Those who are familiar with the first chapter of the book of Romans will remember that it contains information about people characterized by their ungodliness and unrighteousness (v. 18). As one reads some of this material, he/she may think that they are reading descriptions of people, philosophies, and activities of our day.   Maybe it would be appropriate at this point on our calendars to consider where the downhill slide into sin, degradation, and disobedience started. How did these people who, at one time “knew God” (v. 21) get to the point where they were objects of the “wrath of God?” (v.18) Where did the journey start that caused them to get to…

  • Family,  Legacy of Faith Podcast

    Episode 165: Our 2022 Thankful List [Podcast]

    https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_165.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS (Player not displaying or working? Click here to listen.) It’s time for our annual family list, where each of the four of us share some things we are thankful for from the past year. We hope this encourages your family to think about your lists, as well! Find our podcast on… Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn Radio RSS

  • Church Life

    The Tiny Crutches

    When I was four years old, I was playing with some other children outside on a snowy day. What fun it was to play “follow the leader.” I was pretty small but thought I was as big as all of the other kids. When they jumped over an obstacle, I did the same thing. When they circled a tree, I did the same thing. When they climbed up on an old tree stump with a huge crack in the middle of it, I did the same thing…well, almost the same thing. They all jumped off on the other side of the stump, but I had on rubber boots, and when I jumped,…

  • Church Life,  Family

    Gratitude…With Your Eyes Open

    My favorite holiday is next week. Thanksgiving means a lot to me. Having kids, I like Christmas a lot, but Thanksgiving has been my favorite for a long time. (I not-so-jokingly call it “Christmas without the pressure!”) During this time of year, a lot of attention is given to gratitude. It is hard to scroll through social media, hear sermons, or do other things without someone eventually talking about how we should be grateful all the time. Certainly that is true, but it is also true that, at times, we need a little help. In our recent Gospel Meeting at Central, brother Hiram Kemp made a statement about gratitude that…

  • Church Life,  Evangelism

    Something Worse Than “The Bystander Effect”

    I’m not usually in the habit of reproducing material from other sources here, but I’m making an exception this time. Most of what you will read below is from Quora Digest. I will add an application that I thought of as I read their material after I have reproduced what I read. ===== March 13, 1964. 3 a.m Catherine’s friends called her Kitty. She was young, just twenty-eight, and petite. Tiny really. And on this particular night, she was screaming for her life, as loudly as she could. After all, there were people all around. Someone would have to hear her. Right? Her shouts went on for thirty minutes, as her…

  • Church Life

    The Most Important Vote Anyone Made on Tuesday

    Before getting to my point, let me start with two things that today’s article is not meant to say. First, this post is not meant to say that politics are not important. They absolutely are. And I am a political nerd. I am very quiet about who I vote for, but I love the ins and outs of elections, even going so far as to think about how people in counties in other states will vote. Second, this post is not meant to be some holier-than-thou over-spiritualization type article. Instead, it is meant to cause us all to think about one simple thing. I hope it is read with that…

  • Church Life,  Family

    Still Here, But Forgotten

    We see it on tombstones, accompanying picture of loved ones, on cards expressing sympathy, etc.: Gone, but not forgotten Most of us can relate to this. In fact, I think that it would be difficult to find very many people who have lost somebody close to them, but who don’t continue to have memories of them. I am one of those fortunate ones for whom those memories are pleasant. The pain of losing family members and friends is tempered by the good times we were able to share.   Since there is apparently not as much fear of personal interaction due to various strains of Covid, I’ve been trying to get back to doing…

  • Family

    Why I’m Voting “Yes” Next Tuesday

    One thing about our site that you may have noticed through the years is that we do not talk about political candidates or parties (except to mention both sides of an issue). We do not share how we are going to vote or how we did vote in elections for President, Senate, or any other position. However, next Tuesday in my home state of Kentucky, there is a vote–not for a candidate or an office–that is one of the most important votes I will ever cast in my lifetime. It is one that I have prayed to have the opportunity to vote on since I was able to vote. In…

  • Church Life,  Family

    Vote For Me and I Will…

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for quite a while, you probably know that various elections for political offices are just a little over a week away. There is absolutely no way of knowing how much time and effort has gone into trying to persuade voters to cast a ballot for this or that candidate, this or that proposition, this or that amendment, etc.  According to one report I read, 9.3 billion dollars will be spent in this “election cycle” in an effort to garner votes. According to that same report, that staggering figure is the amount spent only on elections for offices on the federal level. It does not include the…