Church Life
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Why It’s Easy to Spot a Non-Conformist
I suppose that every generation has them. They are the ones who adamantly refuse to conform to whatever norms there are at a given time and/or place. My generation probably didn’t invent the idea, but many sure popularized it. Some of us did not buy into the entire agenda, but we were influenced in various ways. One of those ways was seen in what could very loosely be called a “wardrobe” back then. Anything that was deemed to be “dressy” or “formal” was frowned upon. We were determined to not look like our parents. If they wanted to get dressed up, that was fine with us, but we were intent…
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If, Then…
Cause and effect is something we work on quite a bit in elementary English and Language Arts. What may seem rather obvious to those of us who are older can sometimes trip up young readers. Because of the different construction options for these scenarios, they need to be reminded to always think about what happened first: the cause. For instance, “I studied hard and got good grades so I graduated” has the same meaning and cause as “I graduated because I studied hard and got good grades.” Even though they are said in reverse order, a careful reader understands which must happen first. Why do we know that in our…
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The Night Pronouns Mattered
Teens in the Word has become a real highlight for Central’s Youth Group. Each year, the group studies something different and the atmosphere is like nothing else this group does. For awhile, I was the “main” teacher (thankfully, Noah has taken that over and is doing a great job!) and came up with the theme for each year. So, for one year, we decided to handle some very tough subjects, but ones that these young people are facing from day-to-day. Among those subjects was transgenderism. We looked at it from a Biblical perspective as well as a practical, how-do-we-deal-with-it, perspective. At the end of the study, we built a list…
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The Numbers on the Board
51. 45. 37. Have you guessed what those numbers are? They are not (as far as I know) the combination needed to open a safe somewhere. They are not winning lottery numbers. They are not any number of things you may be thinking. We could go on and on with various possibilities, but it’s probably better not to do that. They are the numbers I observed on “the board” of a small rural church building not long ago. You do know what I mean by “the board,” don’t you? It is the board that is placed in the front of many places of worship. Sometimes, it is one of two boards.…
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The Highs and Lows of Life
If you have lived very much of your adult life, you have been through some “highs” and some “lows” in life. Even teenagers go through these periods of being on top of the world one day and down in the pits the next. Sometimes senior citizens feel as though all they have left are the lows of life and that all of the high points in life are passed and gone. This topic came to my mind as I have been studying through the book of Jeremiah, the prophet of God. You remember him, don’t you – the weeping prophet? God, in His infinite wisdom, knew Jeremiah before he was…
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It’s Almost As If…
When so-called “same sex marriage” was allowed in the United States, those who stood against it on moral grounds were made fun of for many reasons. One of those was that we said clearly that this would not be the only thing that we had to deal with. It was defamed as the “slippery slope” argument…as if that’s a total fallacy. On one hand, we said that the same (or similar) “logic” could be used for polygamy or other forms of “marriage.” That was blasted and we were told that the only thing that was desired was to change marriage in this one way. We knew that was not true…
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She’s Still There
Some who have read A Legacy of Faith for some length of time may (or may not) remember something I wrote in June of 2022. The title was A Universal Language. That “universal language” was/is a smile and a wave. We were in Cookeville, Tennessee during June of 2022 because our second grandson was graduating from Cookeville High School. Because of the policy of the school, seniors did not have to attend classes quite as long as the rest of the students. For some reason, our soon-to-be-graduate did not readily volunteer to provide the morning transportation for his younger sister as had been the case the rest of the year,…
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Unintended Message
Have you ever tried to communicate something that makes perfect sense in your mind, but someone else sees it totally “wrong?” I often ask my ladies’ Bible class if what I am communicating makes sense to them because I have come to understand that my brain sometimes puts thoughts together a little differently from others. Such is the case with my article a couple of weeks ago. While I got kind, positive feedback from some of you, one good friend told me it was depressing. Go figure. I was trying to encourage us to put in the work necessary to reach the highs of life that can only be found…
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A Picture That Made Me Ashamed
I doubt I’m in the minority of preachers when I say that I don’t really enjoy preaching on attendance. It would seem to be just about the most basic concept of the faith; after all, it’s just showing up. However, it seems that it was an issue even in the First Century. After all, the “attendance verse” that everyone seems to know–Hebrews 10:25–even says that, back then, “forsaking” was “the habit of some.” Still, even though I mention it in sermons at times, I don’t enjoy feeling like I have to do so. It would seem that just being present should be a given for those who claim to love…
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Smile for the Camera
The picture that accompanies this post may mean very little or nothing to most of the people reading this. I would ask you to take the time to allow me to explain why it is important to me on a personal level. The fact that the picture means something to me personally is not the only reason I am taking the time to type these words. I am hoping that the words you read will be both instructive and encouraging. Before I go any further with this, it might be helpful to provide a little background to the picture. It is more than a picture of a rose between two…
