-
We’re On Our Way!
If you are reading these words on Thursday morning, we are on our way to PTP – Polishing the Pulpit – in Sevierville Tennessee. It is one of my favorite times of the year. We get to see so many people we love, and often this is the only time of the year we get to see them. I know I can’t adequately describe all that goes on there, but maybe my short list might make you check it out for next year if you have never attended. If you are reading this, I hope to see you tomorrow as PTP officially begins. If you are reading this and have never…
-
He’ll be Fine, If…
Saturday, our lives will change (again). It will be time for us to take Turner to Freed-Hardeman University. Being our youngest, this also means that Leah and I will become empty nesters. As any parent does, we worry. We can think of a million reasons why it could go well and a million more why it could go poorly. We love FHU and we are blessed to know a large number of faculty and staff there. That certainly helps. We know a lot of people who live in and around Henderson, so that certainly helps. Turner already knows his roommate and they have hit it off very well. That is…
-
Perfect Speech
Would you like to never say anything wrong again? No, seriously – would you like to never say anything out of turn again? Would you like to never sin or fall short of righteousness in your speech again? Would you like to never make a mistake in your relationships with God, others, or yourself ever again by way of words? Would you like to go the rest of your life saying everything 100% correctly? Think about how much nicer life would be if that were true! You’d never have to worry about unintentionally hurting someone through what you would say. You’d never have to worry about falling short in your…
-
“Time is Filled with Swift Transitions”
Those are the first words of a song I’ve sung with others numerous times in worship services. I was reminded of the truthfulness of those words in a humorous way. I ran into a man whom I had not seen in a number of years. He told me that he almost didn’t recognize me because he hadn’t seen me since I started “dying my hair gray.” I guess that my hair was still brown the last time he saw me (which was quite a while ago). This week, I am being reminded in a more serious way about how true those words are. Our two youngest grandchildren are planning to…
-
Restoration is Ongoing
[NOTE: Today’s post is the full script of a sermon I preached at Central recently. Since it is written more in “essay” form, I thought it might encourage our readers. –Adam] Tonight’s lesson is a little different in style. Even my notes look different. Typically, when I write a sermon, there is an introduction, body–with 3 or 4 points–and a conclusion. This lesson, though, is written more in essay style and, I hope, you will see why. I want to say that the idea for this lesson is not original to me, but the content is. The idea comes from a small portion of a lesson that Kirk Brothers gave…
-
Just Because
Well, summer break is almost over. We’ve had a lot of great moments as a youth group this summer. Camp was great, Horizons at FHU was great (the best year we’ve ever been to, according to several who came), our Youth and Family Day was a success, and almost all of the smaller events in between have gone off without a hitch. However, there is one moment that has been my favorite of the summer, and it certainly wasn’t on my planned schedule. A couple of weeks ago, the kids in my youth group gave me a gift that I wasn’t expecting. It was genuinely a surprise to me, which…
-
Only One
As I type these words, there are still news reports about a group of people in Cincinnati who participated in what was described as a “beatdown.” One headline that I saw was: 5 charged in horrifying viral Cincinnati brawl that left woman knocked out cold One interesting (and disturbing) report I saw indicated that there were about one hundred people who were at least in that area when this happened and that one of them called 9-1-1. My immediate thought when I heard this was – only one? That news story reminded me of something that was still somewhere in the cobwebs of my mind. I was almost certain that a…
-
Baby It’s Hot Outside
I don’t know why the old song that Dean Martin sang many years ago came to my mind. You remember it, don’t you? The one that is actually a duet entitled – “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” I’m certainly not a writer of lyrics, but that song came to my mind while watching a news report about just how HOT it is outside. I heard numbers like the heat index being up to 123 degrees in the bootheel of Missouri, and my mind, along with the title of this post, sang, “Baby It’s Hot Outside!” Something I read a short time ago prompted this post as much as the song did.…
-
Don’t Post It…Yet
One thing that is both a blessing and a curse about social media is that you can react to whatever you want. Your opinions can be shared. You can “like” and show support for anything. That can be a good thing. But a lot of people–me included–need to slow down before we post. In fact, my article today is a total redo. I had a post ready to go. What it says, I think, is right. I read it more than once and, while it could always be better, I think it told the truth about something that needs to be said. However, I also realized it could have been…
-
The Whole Counsel of God
I’m going to do something with this article that I don’t normally do. I’m not good at it, and it rarely works out when I try to do it. Nevertheless, I have a purpose in making the attempt this time, despite the weighty obstacle that this is for me. I’m going to try to do math. First, some context: I am in the process of reading the whole Bible in two and a half months. I know, I know – that’s a ton of reading (don’t worry, we’ll come back to that statement). Again, however, I have a purpose in doing so. For our fall quarter, I am teaching a…
