Church Life
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7 Reasons Why We’ll be in Worship on Christmas Day
It happens every few years. Christmas day falls on a Sunday. Amazingly (and tragically) there are churches that cancel all services on that day or move services to a weeknight. Other congregations decide to only have one worship service or to move the time of services, but they are still meeting on the Lord’s Day to worship the Lord. Still, a lot of families decide that “since it’s Christmas” they do not have to attend services on that day. After all, it’s a day for family and traditions and it only comes once each year. So, many people will stay at home while the church meets. However, barring illness or some other…
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Dobermans for the Lord
Jesus once told a parable about wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30). In a certain field, there were those who were sowing wheat while others sowed tares. Wheat is a desired crop and tares are basically just weeds. The kingdom of heaven is the field. The differing seeds represent good and bad doctrine. The harvest is judgment. The reapers are the angels of heaven who will be with Christ at His coming and will help to separate the saved and the lost. The question of the parable is should the laborers (faithful Christians today who are sowing good seed) pull out the tares that have been sown among the wheat? Jesus…
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The Problem with “Sending Prayers Your Way”
I see it virtually every day, and each time I see it, I cringe. It goes this way: someone puts a post on Facebook, seeking prayers for some situation in life. Maybe a relative is facing surgery, or maybe it is because of a job loss. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with that. It is good to ask for others to carry our burdens, including in prayer. Then, once the request is posted, people begin to put comments. You might see the following: “Praying for you.” “I’m praying for your family.” “We will be praying.” “Sending prayers your way.” Wait, what? Did you read that last one? “Sending prayers your way.”…
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According to Jesus, You are Richer than You Think
When Jesus told the parable of the talents he expressed something most people overlook. While the main teaching of the parable likely pertains to stewardship, accountability, or our need to be prepared for the judgment, we have probably never thought about one subtle truth that I believe he also implied. There were three servants. The first was given 5 talents, the second was given 2 talents, and the third was given 1 talent. They were entrusted with these talents and their master expected them to do something with them. We have all been given something by God, some blessing, some responsibility for which we must give account. I think most…
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Post-Truth: Can I Be Sure about the 2016 Word of the Year?
I listened in disbelief. This latest news couldn’t possibly be true – could it? I did a little research. Apparently, it is true. At least I think it is true. It has been reported as true. I’m still wondering, though, if it truly is true. Here’s the headline that I found on the website of The Washington Post: ‘Post-truth’ named 2016 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries Post-truth? What in the world is that? Thankfully, the website provided this information: The dictionary defines “post-truth” as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” So – facts and objective truths…
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He Knows
It happened to me again. I reread a familiar passage and something new jumped out at me. To me, that’s proof that the Bible comes from a Divine Creator. Who else could craft a book where people who are reading for the first time can understand it yet is complicated enough to reveal treasures of wisdom throughout lifetimes? But that thought is for another day. Today I want to share what jumped out at me. I was reading from Luke 22. I had read about Peter’s denials and how the Lord turned and looked at Peter. In the next 3 verses, I read: Now the men who were holding Jesus…
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What to Do When Someone Else Gets What You Wanted
Everyone has had it happen, and it hurts. It is when you worked for something, you put yourself out there, and someone else was chosen for what you wanted. You applied for your dream job…but were passed over. You wanted to get into that graduate school…but you didn’t make the cut. You sought a promotion…but someone else got it. You tried out for the team…and were left to be in the stands instead of on the bench. We know the feeling. It is painful–because we wanted it so much–to be told “no,” or even possibly, “you’re not good enough.” (By the way, as an aside, I have often wondered about the…
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Informing, Not Enforcing: Some Thoughts about The Salvation Army
I fully realized that this may be one of my most controversial contributions to A Legacy of Faith. I have no interest in enforcing my practices or the practices of my family on anybody else. I would not presume to do so, even if I thought I had that right. A few weeks ago, while I was out doing some visiting, I drove by the local Salvation Army building. I took the time to stop and take a picture (which is reproduced below). I am doing this for one reason – and one reason only. I believe that there are many good people who donate to and/or buy from this organization without realizing that…
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Our 2016 Holiday Gift Guide
In past years, we have released a couple of gift guides that were very random (one year, we even included a toy car-making machine!). This year’s gift guide is meant to be more focused, as most of the ideas listed below are meant to instill the Word of God in the hearts of your family. A couple of things are for more specific groups of people, but we hope you find everything below to be helpful in learning God’s Word. [Disclaimer: Any links below that take you to Amazon are affiliate links. All other links are not affiliate links.] Polishing the Pulpit Flash Drives. In past years, Polishing the Pulpit has…
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You Don’t Have to be Famous to Have True Influence
In the past 9 days, I have spoken at two funerals. The two services were for two ladies who meant a lot to me. One was in Nashville, and the other in Haleyville. It was a high honor to be asked to speak at each of the services, and in reflecting on the lives of these ladies, I was reminded of a powerful principle that every Christian needs to have in mind throughout our life. See, unless you were near to these ladies, you probably would not have known of their passing. Their deaths did not make national news. No radio talk show is going to talk for hours about…
