Church Life
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What are You Talking About?
The midterms are over. As I write these words, it is election day, but as they are being published, midterm election day is behind us. College basketball has started (thank goodness!). College football, the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL are all well underway in their seasons. Halloween is behind us, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming right up. On top of that, I’m sure there are new movies and new albums and new books being released that I just don’t know about. There is so much to talk about. There is so much that drives our larger conversations. We put in our two cents on Facebook. We share articles…
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A Poem to Remember the Next Time You Visit a Nursing Home
Recently, Ron and Don Williams presented some material the congregation where I serve as an elder. They provided some valuable information for people who are dealing with some diseases that most of us dread; specifically, cancer and various forms of dementia. The information was helpful for those who suffer from one of those diseases and for their caregivers. During one of his presentations, Don read the poem I am reproducing below. According to the information he provided, the poem was written by an elderly woman in a nursing home in Ireland and was found among her things when she died. With Don’s permission, I am sharing the poem with you. I am praying that,…
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Episode 111: What Parents Need to Look for in a Youth Program [Podcast]
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_111.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS(Player not displaying or working? Click here to listen.) Earlier this week, Adam wrote an article that dealt with the #1 thing that should be present in a youth program. On this week’s podcast, Adam and Leah sit down to discuss that from a parent’s point of view. More from A Legacy of Faith To subscribe to A Legacy of Faith by email for free click here. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes Subscribe via rss Find us on Stitcher Radio Visit the show archives
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The #1 Thing to Look for in a Youth Program
Congregations are told all the time that families are looking for “vibrant, healthy, exciting” youth programs. Far too often, however, what passes as “vibrant” and “healthy” and “exciting” is not what should take the place of highest priority. Before I go on, let me make two statements. First, I have been a youth minister, so this is not an article to bash these faithful workers. For about 2 years, I was the part-time youth minister in Somerville, Tennessee and for about 7 years, I was the youth minister at the 9th Avenue Church of Christ in Haleyville. Since then, I have done my best to work with young people and…
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When a Loved One Dies
This morning, my grandfather passed away. It is a Monday as I write this and typically on the blog my articles post on Tuesday and they appear in our bulletin later in the week. But today is still Monday and so fresh on my mind is the death of my grandfather. He was my hero, by the way. He was the missionary, the preacher, and (to me) he was the greatest man I have ever known. I am sure in the next several months my writing and preaching will be very reflective of what my grandfather means to me. But for the moment just one thought I would like to…
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Thinking Time
I recently watched and listened to a portion of a panel discussion involving individuals who had been involved in a number of political campaigns. All of them had worked for the same person. All had been with him during both losing and winning campaigns. I know that some of them (I think all of them) had also been with this man during his time as our president. As they talked and reminisced, one thing became abundantly clear. People in positions like the ones they had and who have the responsibilities they had absolutely do not work either an eight-hour day or a forty-hour workweek. Neither does the person for whom they work. The fact that…
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A Flood of Memories
Very recently our congregation hosted a seminar entitled “Facing Dreaded Diseases with Faith.” Ron and Don Williams came and held a series of classes designed to help anyone who attended be better equipped should you find yourself or a loved one in this position. I benefitted greatly from the sessions I attended, and learned much about not only the diseases, but also about how to handle these diseases. However, I had another reaction. Listening to all of the advice for the caregivers of those loved ones opened up my memory banks and brought back some feelings I had kept inside for quite some time. I hope that sharing with you those memories and…
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My Favorite Lord’s Supper Ever
The Lord’s Supper is sacred time. While the moments pass quickly, those few minutes are the centerpiece of the Christian’s week. It can be a struggle to do what we often pray about, and “remove all worldly thoughts from our minds,” but if and when we do, those few minutes are utterly soul-changing. To spend even a handful of minutes with our minds focused on nothing other than what Jesus has done and our hope in Him because of it should be what we look forward to the most each week. It is true that the Lord’s Supper is an individual act. I can’t eat this meal for anyone else,…
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But Did I Do What They Asked Me To Do?
If, like me, you are on Facebook, hardly a day goes by without it happening. In fact, on many days, it happens multiple times. The specific situations may be somewhat different, but the request is the same. It might be that the person posting on Facebook or somebody close to that person is very ill. Maybe a relative or close friend has passed from this life. It might be that some sort of economic reversal has taken place. Maybe somebody is traveling. A new chapter may be getting ready to open in somebody’s life. I think you get the idea. While the specifics may be different, there is a common request. That request is, “Please pray for…
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Hidden Influence
It happened again in this week’s ladies’ Bible class. We were reading from Genesis 17 when God reaffirms His covenant with Abram, changing his name to Abraham. This is also where God institutes the sign of the covenant – circumcision. The focus of our lesson was on the underlying meaning of circumcision as it is used throughout scripture. It represents a choice to obey and make ourselves more sensitive to God’s will over our own. But what I noticed (as I often do) was a side note. It’s found in verses 24-27: “Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old…
