Being an elder in the Lord’s Church is the highest office any man could ever hold in this life. Shepherding a local congregation is a responsibility that has such weight to it, and it is essential to the health of a congregation. But the office is not just for anyone. Twice in the writings of Paul–in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1–he gives inspired qualifications these men are to have to become elders, and that they should continue to have to remain in that important office. Many have pointed out to me over the years that the first of the qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 might be the hardest–or,…

[Editor’s Note: The lady mentioned in this article lost her battle with cancer since the article was written. We held the article back from publication for some time and we pray this is seen as an appropriate time to share it. We continue to pray for her family.] As I type these words, a sister in the Lord is fighting cancer. There are many things which the two of us do not have in common. She is much younger than I am and has a two-year-old child, while my youngest grandchild is about to celebrate her thirteenth birthday. The pigmentation of our skin is quite different. We do not share the same family background,…

Hello from Short Mountain! If you follow me on Facebook, you have seen some random pictures of the first couple of days of a great week at Bible camp, including one where I repented for not having wanted to come. For some reason, most years I get very nervous about being here and ruin my first night. But this year, I turned that over to God and have enjoyed every minute (except the showers…although I’m thankful we have running water).  As one might expect, I have been getting a lot of great spiritual food this week from God’s word. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share parts of that in the…

Recently, Jim was honored to speak on a Wednesday night in Louisville, Kentucky. We arrived there on Wednesday afternoon and checked into our motel. We were supposed to meet some dear friends for dinner at 5:30. She had sent me the name of the restaurant with the address, so we left the motel about 5:00 and headed for the restaurant. I had looked up the name of the restaurant and started the directions on my phone, so we had no trouble finding it. We got there and were seated, just waiting for our friends. She called to say they were almost there, so we were expecting them in just a few minutes. About five…

There’s an old adage that is typically good life advice: “When in doubt, don’t.” The idea is basically that, if you are confronted with a moral question and you aren’t sure about what to choose, choose not to do it. It’s sort of like saying “err on the side of caution,” but it is good advice much of the time. “Should I watch this movie? I know it has some language in it…” If you’re in doubt, don’t. However, there are other situations in life when maybe we need to take the opposite advice. I want to share one of those with you that has to do with church activities.…

As our frequent readers know, I don’t do a lot of things the “normal” way. For instance, most people engage in spring cleaning or fall cleaning, but as a teacher and mom, I do summer cleaning. I have been going through a lesser-used cabinet in my kitchen that is above my desk, and let’s just say it was past time for a thorough cleansing. Some items I found, I kept. They are still useful, they just needed to be organized better so I can see them and they are readily available for use. Others I ditched immediately in the trash heap. I could see no real value to anyone. They…