Leah’s sister, Heather, lives in Olive Branch, Mississippi. She and her husband, Brian, worship with the Southaven church of Christ. They enjoy raising Smitty–their dog. Her favorite song is “Where We Gonna Go from Here” by Mat Kearney. The song became really popular after being featured on the ABC show Kyle XY. Here’s the song:

Pure Religion: A Study of James is the third book designed for Bible class study written by brother David Bragg, a long-time preacher in Missouri. This volume was published earlier this year by the Gospel Advocate Company. Pure Religion is close to my heart for two reasons. First, I love the book of James. Filled with practical teaching, the epistle reminds us how to live day-to-day. While there are some passages that are not “easy” to understand, overall James may very well be the most easily understood book of the New Testament. Christians need to know how to live not just on Sunday, but from Monday-Saturday. James addresses that subject.…

This psalm, containing just 5 verses, is nearly identical to verses 13-17 of Psalm 40. For that reason, I am linking to the comments for Psalm 40 instead of republishing them here. Psalm 40 David prays for deliverance in both psalms, probably using the same words for two different situations.

As Paul closed his letter to the congregation in Rome, he told them of his great desire to evangelize the area now known as Spain. In Romans 15:23-24, Paul wrote, “But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, for a while.” Later in the same chapter, Paul penned, “Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of…

I had to wait to put this one on here, because we waited until 7:44 Tuesday morning for Lyssabeth Grace Tatum to be born… …but she’s here! Here she is: Now, I know she doesn’t have a favorite song yet, but I still wanted to post one for her. So, I’m posting a song that I often sing to Mary Carol when she has trouble sleeping. Maybe Lyssabeth’s uncle Adam will get to sing this song to her sometime, too.

In June, I gave a short review of the first book in this series by Joseph Parker. That book was called “The Inner Life of Christ.” You may read that review (and order the book from Amazon) by clicking here. Volume 2 of this three-volume set of sermons is entitled “Servant of All,” and it covers Matthew chapters 8-16. Overall, I liked this book more than the first volume, but it carried over many of the same problems that I had with the first volume. First of all, the language is “up there.” Maybe I’m just not that smart, but I can’t imagine preaching the way Parker does. There are…

I can’t believe I’m putting this on my blog. Jason is a huge Alabama Crimson Tide fan (good luck finding them in the college football preview!), so his favorite song is “Sweet Home, Alabama.” His good traits include preaching for the Memorial Parkway church of Christ in Huntsville. Here’s a video of Lynard Skynard performing the song in the 70s. I know I live in Alabama, but when you’re not a fan of the team, that song gets old…fast! (Sorry, Jason)

Candi’s favorite song is “Back When” by Tim McGraw. This song expresses what so many people think about. While we should always guard what we say, certain “mundane” words and phrases change to mean things that are not nice at all, and it makes for difficulty in communication. Here’s a video I found of the song that uses pictures to portray the lyrics.

Nicolas is my nephew from Huntsville, Alabama. He loves some 80s and 90s music, and this song is a great choice for his favorite!

1. As our thoughts on Psalm 68 pointed out, most of the longer psalms are psalms of praise. Psalm 69 is one of the exceptions. This 36-verse psalm is a desperate prayer, wherein David realizes he may soon be assassinated. Even under these extremely trying circumstances, David still ends the psalm with praise. As we’ve said before in these posts, “what an example!” 2. Verses 1-2 set the scene with an utter cry of hopelessness. David feels as though waters (verses 1 and 2) and deep mire (verse 2) have come over him. He is overwhelmed and unable to climb out of this danger. 3. In verse 3, David admits…