-
Friday Links Roundup: Snow, Buzz and Corinthians Edition
I’m typing the links roundup from home this week. As I look out my window, a little snow has started to fall, but we are expecting quite a bit more later in the day. That’s not the reason I’m at home, though. Leah has an appointment this morning, so I’m watching the kids. While I’m excited about it, there could be some interesting challenges. You see, we are also going to record iPreach this morning. Along with guests Billy Smith, Marlin Connelly, and Clarence DeLoach, Dale and I will be previewing the Freed-Hardeman University Bible lectures. So, while we discuss the lectures and their theme books of First and Second Corinthians, the…
-
Thursday Hymn Reflection: "In Christ Alone"
[On Thursdays, we “reflect” on a hymn suggested by our readers. To add your favorites (no more than 3, please) to the list, simply leave a comment.] What a fantastic new hymn! “In Christ Alone,” in my opinion, will stand the test of time because it is a simple melody in the usual construction of four verses. The beauty of this song is that it builds together (1) the sacrifice of Jesus and (2) our response to it. The song begins with a verse of praise to Jesus. With that verse, we sing that our full faith is in Him, then we move to the reason why. Verse one uses…
-
20 Family Bond Builders for Less than $5
Taking the family to a ball game can be expensive. So can going to an amusement park or the zoo. With two small children, though, we try to do several things to build up our family, while not breaking the bank (Baby Step 3!). Here are some we have done or that we’ve thought about and may do in the future that your entire family can do for $5 or less. 1. Play Outside. Not only is it good for the kids health, it’s fun and free. It doesn’t matter if you have a huge swing set or just a small patch of grass, the kids will find things to…
-
Christians, Grow Up, BUT…….
Hebrews 6:1 contains the command, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrines of Christ and go on to maturity.” Other passages, especially in the book of Hebrews, speak of Christian maturing. Now, before you stop reading, this is not a rant about growing up. We get a lot of that (and it is needed!), but there is another principle implied in this, and similar, verses that I want to stress in today’s post. First, to give us a little foundation, let’s think for a moment about maturing as a Christian. If you have been a Christian for some length of time, you should know more about the Bible and God…
-
A Blog Update and Some Quick Reviews
If you read our blog regularly, you know that we have a bit of a “set” schedule currently that works for us. Today marks a “part-time” addition to that schedule. If you don’t check in regularly, here is what we are currently doing each day, including the update: Monday: Book Reviews. We used to put these on Wednesdays, but I am going to start reviewing books each Monday, when I have completed a book or multiple books in the previous week. Tuesday: Article. These are often about family or faith, but these are just brief and, hopefully, encouraging articles. Wednesday: Lists. From 5 to 30, we’ve listed all sorts of things.…
-
Friday Links Roundup: Tell Someone Edition
Yep, it’s time for a shameless plug of our blog. The number of “hits” we get each day are far better than they were a year ago, but, over the last couple of months, they have stagnated. We aren’t about just getting numbers on the blog, but it is encouraging to see more folks coming and seeing what’s here. That’s where you come in. Would you please pass along a favorite post (or just our blog address) to 5 people? If each person who regularly comes would just tell 5 people, we could easily raise our numbers. If that person would like to be on our email list, just send me…
-
Thursday Hymn Reflection: "I Need Thee Every Hour"
[On Thursdays, we “reflect” on hymns submitted by our readers. If you would like to add your favorites–no more than 3, please–to our upcoming list, leave the names of the songs in the comments.] Written by a housewife in 1872, the simple words of “I Need Thee Every Hour” continue to bring comfort to many folks each time they are sung. In his book Then Sings My Soul, Robert Morgan gives the Annie Hawks’ own words as to where the poem came from (from page 179): One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became…
-
7 "P's" That Will Improve Your Home
We are involved in a series on the home at Lebanon Road, and so most of what we are doing is promoting the use of our home life to glorify God. (The picture is of our PowerPoint title slide.) We have looked at the God-ordained fact of marriage, some principles for dating, and some encouraging words for those who are single. On Sunday, Lord willing, we will look at marriage. Since we are focused on that subject, I thought of some things for our Wednesday list that might help improve your home. To help, they all start with “P.” I hope you’ll add to the list in the comments! 1. Prayer.…
-
A Picture of Sacrifice
Sunday afternoon, the Lebanon Road congregation led a worship service at a local assisted living home. We do this several Sundays each month, and it is a joy to worship with these good folks. They encourage us as we encourage them. After the service, I was walking around the room with the kids. They were hugging, waving, and shaking hands. It was special to see many smiles, both on the faces of the residents and on our kids’ faces! (When you don’t attend services like these, you miss out on some special moments.) One of the residents took a special liking to our kids. He nearly always has a bag…
-
Friday Links Roundup: Clear the Red Tape Edition
No, this is not a rant about our government or any political party. This “edition” is designed to spark some conversation that could help a lot of people. In the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Haiti, I was told that it was already being reported that one of the great needs from that country are parents to adopt Haitian children whose parents died (or will die) in these events. Being the daddy of an adopted daughter, that pulled at the strings of my heart. However, after doing some research, I found that the usual cost of adoption from Haiti is between $15,000 and $18,000, plus travel. You may have that…
