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It Wasn’t a Home; It Was a House
Tuesday was a very sad day. I stood at the entrance of our church building and watched as the house we lived in for almost fifteen years was demolished and hauled away in big trucks. We haven’t lived in that house for almost seven years, but the memories we had there are etched on our hearts and minds. The Central church of Christ owned that house when Jim became their full-time minister in January of 2001. It hadn’t been lived in for about seven years and was in terrible shape, but my eyes could see what it could become with some love and care. It had always been a dream…
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ReConnect 2022
In 2019, Josh & Amanda Ketchum met Leah and me at a local restaurant and pitched an idea for a retreat designed for preachers and their wives. From that meeting–and about a zillion text messages–ReConnect was born. The first retreat, held that Fall, was very small (six couples attended), but the group that came was deeply encouraged. In 2020, we were not able to have the event due to covid, so the decision was made to have it as soon as we could, and ReConnect moved to Spring, so we could have it in 2021. Attendance went up tremendously, and plans were made to make this an annual event. So,…
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Some Shortcomings of Statistics
For the past couple of years or so, it seems that we’ve been consumed by statistics. This is particularly true with regard to the seemingly endless variants of the virus that people all over the world are dealing with. Our interest in and often our reliance upon statistics is not limited to the medical field. It is difficult to think of an area of our lives that is not affected in some way by statistics. We can find information about everything from our expected lifespan to the chances that our favorite athletic team has to win a game by using statistics. Both the weather report and the stock market report…
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Episode 158: Announcing ReConnect 2022 and Quit Blaming Your Spouse
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_158.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS(Player not displaying or working? Click here to listen.) Adam and Leah introduce you to the plans for ReConnect 2022–the retreat for preachers and wives. Then they take a look at how, too often, a spouse who has cheated blames his/her spouse, but how we each need to quit blaming our spouse and take personal responsibility for our choices. Resource Brad Harrub’s Facebook post Find our podcast on… Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn Radio RSS
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It’s Cold Outside
It’s cold outside! That is the current thought going through my head this cold winter evening. There are many days right now where I have trouble staying warm and I am not usually cold-blooded. That made me reflect on how I sounded. “How you sounded?” You may be wondering if I have finally gone around the bend. But I realized that I sound quite whiny when I keep commenting on how cold I am. After all, in just a few short months I will probably be saying how hot I am. And in reality, compared to many around me, I am neither overly cold nor overly hot. I am blessed.…
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Media Culture vs. Christian Distinctiveness
One of the struggles Christians in all times face is the balancing act of trying to live in a culture without just accepting anything and everything the culture throws our way. In our modern and hyper-connected world, one of those balancing acts is dealing with the media and how much it can overtake our morals sensibilities. From TV to internet to radio and beyond, we are inundated with entertainment. We can be amazed by athletic feats at all times, or we can listen to any song we want at any time. We can stream thousands of movies and TV shows for as long as we want. We can entertain ourselves nearly endlessly.…
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What’s Up With a Good Speech
A lot of people with whom I worship are involved in a training program for young people called Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes. As I type these words, we are in “full swing” in an effort to prepare for this year’s annual convention. My role in this is to help some young men prepare and present speeches. Most of what I’m doing could be identified as coaching. I am not there to write their speeches, but to suggest, encourage, critique, etc. Very early one morning I woke up with an idea about something “concrete” I could give them that might help. With a couple of exceptions, what follows is the material I…
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The One Thing You Can’t Deconstruct
I’ve read or listened to more of them than I care to count. Each one is instructive in its own way, but all are equally heartbreaking. They are often referred to as “deconstruction” stories. While there are other terms and descriptions, they are essentially the same things. These are personal accounts–often done on video through YouTube, or in written form through blogs or social media posts–in which a person shares that they are (or have) “deconstructed” their faith and are forging a new spiritual path. While each is different since it they are individual stories, it is remarkable to me how similar the ones I have seen or watched are.…
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“I’ve Got the Paperwork to Prove It”
It is a commercial for one of those companies that promises to negotiate with the IRS for people. The “target audience” seems to be individuals and families who owe a great amount of money in back taxes. As is often the case with services like this, the commercials feature testimonials from people who have successfully used the services of the company. One of those testimonials features a “satisfied customer” who had his debt to the IRS reduced significantly. He looks at the camera and confidently says, “I’ve got the paperwork to prove it.” Recently, Donna and I were in Cookeville, TN for a couple of reasons. We were there to…
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Lessons Learned from Moving
Jim and I helped our daughter and her children move a couple of weeks ago to a new (to them) house (see last Thursday’s Legacy post). We had several days of hard work, but nothing from which we couldn’t recuperate. She had hired movers to take care of the heavy furniture so we thought there wouldn’t be much for us to do. Before a move, as you sit and look at your belongings in the house, you really don’t think it will be that hard – especially if strong men with a big truck are coming to lift the big stuff! And then you begin opening the clothes closets, the…
