Church Life
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What to Bring to Bible Class
At Central, we are blessed to have restarted Bible classes this month. It has been an exciting time, and our congregation has handled things very well. Though we have had to change things a little (only one adult class, some children meeting in different–larger–rooms, masks required), it is such a blessing to be able to learn in these environments again. I am also excited to see other congregations restarting classes, or showing that they are headed that direction in the near future. For some, there have been no classes since March or April, meaning that students have not been in age-appropriate classes for half a year or more. However, with…
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“Give Attention to Reading”
I cannot do it! I think that almost every other member of my family can do it, but I can’t. I cannot read something (even a newspaper or magazine) while something else is going on. There is no such thing as something “playing in the background” for me. Before I realize it, whatever I’ve been reading is on the back burner and my attention is focused on the tube, the music, or whatever. I cannot even concentrate on what I’m trying to read if a conversation is going on in the same room in which I find myself. However, I have made an amazing discovery. Most of the things that can distract me from reading…
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Hate
Isn’t it a terrible word?!?! I have probably heard the words “hate” and “hatred” used more in the last few months than I have in most of the rest of my life. Sometimes it is used casually. We talk about things we hate: our weight, our hair, liver and onions, our job, Covid-19, and any number of other things which affect our lives. More seriously, it might even be someone’s behavior or attitude that we think we hate. However, there are other times we come in contact with hate or hatred and they are so recognizable that it is hard to miss. It could be something we feel, or something said or…
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Am I Trying for Even One?
It isn’t yet official, but it looks as if a fairly amazing Guinness World Record was broken last week. A professional fisherman broke his own record by catching an astonishing 2645 fish…in just twenty-four hours! (His old record was 2172 fish, so he didn’t just break the record, he shattered it.) [Source] I have to admit, I am not a fisherman. I have gone a handful of times, but I just do not enjoy it. And that is despite the fact that I have caught a few fish. Fishing is one of those activities that I can see why people enjoy it; it just does not appeal to me. But…
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For Shame
Many of us are familiar with the discussions we have from time to time about the little word “for.” Some people believe that “for” in Acts 2:38 means “because of” and that we are baptized because we are already saved. However, “for” can mean “in order to.” We need to understand that the same word (in Greek and English) is found in Matthew 26:28. It is very clear in that passage that Jesus’s blood was not shed because sins were already forgiven, but that His blood was shed in order that this might be the case. Lost in this discussion is the fact that “for” can have another meaning. When somebody says that he…
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Lessons from T-Shirts
There is a great T-shirt shop here in Cookeville that has gained pretty wide recognition. They are known for super soft tops with fun, local, positive, moral, or scriptural sayings. They have a “shirt of the week” to get people in the door and advertise it on local billboards for a discounted price for that week only. Recently, there was a shirt that I couldn’t totally read on the billboard but a coworker had it on not long after. It reads “You are Enough.” By the time I got myself there, it was no longer the shirt “of the week” and I wouldn’t pay the higher price … at least…
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How Close Are You?
How often have you heard a statement that “stopped you in your tracks” and really caused you to think? Please allow me to share with you one such statement that had that impact on me. The statement was only one sentence in a sermon delivered by a preacher, but the impact was so strong that I still remember it years after I heard it. It was also strong enough to make me forget everything else that was said during that sermon. Here, in its entirety is that statement: “You, at this very moment, are as close to God as you have chosen to be.” Could that possibly be true? Is it not…
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Have You Planted Any Seeds Lately?
I love Spring! It is full of new life that begins to pop out everywhere. If you’re a gardener, you love Springtime because it’s time to till up that ground and plan where you will plant those seeds you bought so they can grow and produce a crop. But wait — it’s not Spring. It’s almost Autumn. So why would I be asking you if you’ve planted any seeds lately? Because the kind of seeds I’m talking about are not the kind you plant in the ground. They are the kind you plant in hearts. It takes the same kind of conscious effort to plant seeds in a heart that it does to plant…
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Are We Distracted?
Covid-19. Social unrest. A Presidential election. And on and on and on it goes. Just thinking about all the “big” news stories of the last few weeks is amazing. We are living in times where many people are wondering if we can actually handle any more “big” news. (I hope we have seen enough to realize that “breaking news” needs to be more than just some celebrity marriage proposal!) Christians are in this world, and, as such, we have feelings and opinions on all these types of matters. We are thinking about how to handle an ongoing pandemic, and we are talking about it. We have thoughts on Black Lives…
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Have You Looked in the Mirror Lately?
Jim and I went out for breakfast recently and, while we were enjoying our breakfast, a woman came in who, I would guess, was middle aged. She was rather large and was wearing really short shorts and a skimpy top. The thought crossed my mind – have you looked in a mirror lately? However, this is not a post about immodest apparel or even one about judging people by what they are wearing or even what they are doing. It’s so easy to do that and come away from it thinking that we are better somehow than others. It is a post about something that has been occupying my mind a…
