Church Life
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Please Leave a (Positive) Message
Remember answering machines? For many of our younger people, it may be difficult to relate to anything other than voice mail. It may surprise them to learn that there was, in fact, a way to leave a message with somebody before the invention of cell phones and voice mail. However, answering machines have not quite yet gone the way of the horse and buggy. It is still possible to call something we now call a landline and leave a message on one of those devices. I was reminded recently of an experience I had a number of years ago with an answering machine. I dialed the telephone number of a woman who had lost…
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5 Questions Elders Should Regularly Ask Deacons and Preachers [Video]
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F.R.O.G.
My friend Sonnie passed from this life recently. I have been blessed with many friends as a minister’s wife, and they are like sisters to me because I never had any earthly sisters. Sonnie was not only my sister in Christ but also the closest (along with a few others) I have ever come to feeling like I had an earthly sister. She was a few years older than me, and I looked up to her like you would an older sister. There were so many things that made her special and I would like to share a few of those things with you. They are attributes I believe would help all of us as…
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Studying Matthew with Your Children [Free Printable]
Need a resource to help with your family Bible study? Then today’s post is for you! At the 2016 Lads to Leaders convention, the book to study for the Bible Bowl event was Matthew. Knowing that, we decided to study that book in our Family Bible Time at night. Matthew is a fairly lengthy book (28 chapters), so to help our kids study, we made little worksheets for each of the chapters. Today, we are pleased to share them with you…for free! For each of the chapters, there are four things on the worksheet: 1. A box with the two or three major events or stories found in that chapter,…
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Romans 11
A heavenly gardener once planted a tree and called it Israel. The seed of the tree was a man named Abraham, and through him came the roots. The roots gave way to a trunk and limbs and branches. The limbs and branches came to be known as the Jews. The limbs and branches grew and became spectacular and glorious. But there was a problem. The limbs and branches themselves thought they were the life of the tree. But they were mistaken. They were only limbs and branches. What made the tree special and alive could only be found in the very center of the trunk of the tree. It was what started…
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I Believe He’d Go for You
He was a good husband. He loved his wife. He was loyal to her and provided for her. He was not only a good husband; he was a good man. However, he was not a Christian. He made sure that his wife got to church regularly, but he had no interest in attending with her. A son was born. The father shared his name with his son. He shared his entire name with his son, not merely the last name. From the time “junior” was born until the day that “senior” died, their relationship was, in the best sense of the term, a mutual admiration society. The father now made sure that both his wife and his…
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Episode 52: Taking “The Lunch Ladies” Congregation-Wide (Guest: Philip Jenkins) [Podcast]
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_052.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS(Player not displaying or working? Click here to listen.) The Lunch Ladies was written in 2015 to tell the story of how one youth group began to share the love of Christ in a clear, unmistakable way. Philip Jenkins, the writer of the book, joins Adam on this week’s podcast to talk about the program, but also how this can be done by anyone in any congregation. If you want your congregation to be more loving and to grow, this is a program you’ll want to hear! Get the Book The Lunch Ladies: Cultivating an Actsmosphere by Philip Jenkins [Amazon] More from A…
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The Flu!
How does someone who works in a germ factory (AKA an elementary school) get sick on spring break when away from the germ makers? I’m not sure, but I managed to do so last week. The first part of the week saw me spending more than my fair share of quality time with both my bed and my recliner. While much of that time was spent sound asleep, I was awake enough to think about two things I thought worthy of consideration: 1. Don’t wish for things without carefully considering the possible ramifications. When caught in the whirlwind of our “normal” life, I sometimes find myself wishing for some down…
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What Romans 8:28 Does–and Does Not–Say
There is no way for me to know how many times I have heard Romans 8:28 quoted or read. It simply has to be one of the most well-known and beloved verses in the New Testament. In that great verse, Paul wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (ESV). That verse is packed with meaning, and there is no way in a short post to unpack it all. However, for some people, that verse has turned into something that turns them off of following Christ and trusting in God. The reason is simple:…
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Negative Communication
One of the fastest ways to tear a local body of Christ apart is with your mouth. If you want to split the church, use your tongue. Negativity is one of the worst things that can come upon a family of believers. If you engage in negative talk about a brother or sister in Christ, you should be ashamed. I have been guilty of this sin myself. It is easy to get pulled into this pit by your closest friends in Christ. It starts innocently, with just the remarks about a person’s habits or weaknesses. But before you know it, you stop looking for the good in people and you…
