Church Life
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Trust and Obey
A couple of weekends ago was a special time for the Willow Avenue church family. It was time for our annual Family Retreat. If your congregation doesn’t already have a family retreat weekend or something like it, I highly recommend adding it to your busy schedule. Family Retreat is a time of fun, connection, study, praise, competition, and rest. On this weekend, it is not uncommon to see elders playing with babies of the congregation while parents take a break to play. You may see normally loving church members slapping a card down and saying “beat you!” as the card games get quite intense. The teens (and many adults) often sleep…
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What I “Like” Speaks Volumes
I know that I am going to step on some toes with this article. I know that because, as I have thought about writing it, my toes have been a bit tender Still, I felt this was something that needed to be said, as Christians seek to navigate living holy lives in every arena of life, including the social media world. It seems to happen constantly, and it truly concerns me. Someone puts a post on Facebook or a picture on Instagram, and the comments and “likes” (or “hearts”) start coming in. It’s great…or is it? Well, like so many other things, it depends. Too often, Christians feel like they…
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What Do You Want to Hear the Preacher Say?
Since I am no spring chicken anymore and I have been in the church all of my life I can honestly say that I have seen a thing or two happen in the church. This article may sound like it is being written by an old fuddy-duddy but I promise you this is not my intention. It is purely my intention to cause you to think and answer the question in the title for yourself. I grew up believing purely that the Bible was what preaching was all about. I admit that this was hammered into me my parents and grandparents, and my papa was my preacher and a missionary…
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Before the Cover-Up
If you are like me, you have probably read Genesis 2:25 more times than you can remember. It may very well be that, like me, you’ve never given much consideration to some of the implications of that verse. After we read about the creation of both Adam and Eve we read the following words: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (Gen. 2:25). As we read the very next verse in God’s Word (Gen. 3:1), we are reading the sad account of how sin entered into the world. In that same chapter, we also read about the first attempted “cover-up” of sin. After the first couple…
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Episode 108: Memories of PtP and Lessons Learned from Moving [Podcast]
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_108.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS(Player not displaying or working? Click here.) The podcast is back! After a little hiatus, Adam and Leah take the time to talk about why Polishing the Pulpit means so much to them. Then, after moving twice in about 6 weeks, they share four lessons for families from moving. We hope you will enjoy the program and subscribe! 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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Some Things I Hope I Never Forget
I know it’s risky to use a title like this. The reality is that if I live for several more years I may not be able to remember the things I really want to. My mother had severe dementia in her later years, and while there is no guarantee that I will follow in her footsteps, there is the real possibility that I might. I still want to share some things with you that I hope I never forget. hey are very special to me and were brought to my remembrance this last week by the first thing on my list. I hope I never forget: The feeling I had when I…
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When You Don’t Start a Problem, It Won’t Spread
Maybe the most often-quoted Chinese proverb is, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Nearly every time I have heard that proverb used, it has been in an encouraging way, but have we ever stopped to consider that the same statement is true in a negative sense, as well. If we ever start down a sinful path, we could find ourselves lost and without hope in some addiction or massive life upheaval due to that sin. In the mid-1400s, the nation of Portugal was sending out explorers to nearby islands to try to find land to take over and resources to use. One island was named…
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“Daddy, Why Don’t We Go to Church?”
The greatest evangelists in the church might very well be children. One child can get another child to agree to or at least try almost anything. This may include something like a visit to their home congregation. Children are also bold and opinionated and say things adults stopped saying when it became too socially awkward to do so. Kids ask straightforward questions. One of the most humbling questions a child may ask at home is, “Daddy, why don’t we go to church?” Let’s face it, if you are a daddy you have no good answer to that question. Receiving an inquiry like that is similar to the out of service church…
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A Trip or a Journey
Recently, I was reading a review of a book written by a man who, apparently, was basically recounting some of his childhood memories. Specifically, the memories dealt with a family tradition of loading up in a station wagon and taking off for a vacation destination. A combination of the high cost of flying, the size of the family, and the family’s financial status made traveling by road more economical and sensible than traveling by air. That changed as the years went by. According to the review I read, “Flying became so cheap that eventually even [the father] springs for a vacation by air.” What I found most interesting about the review was a…
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Growth Mindset
The concept of one’s mindset or having a growth mindset came from research done by psychologist Carol Dweck. Having a growth mindset is an important concept in school. Some might even call it one of education’s new buzzwords. As a teacher of students with special needs, this is a very important concept I stress to my students. We talk about the fact that mistakes are how we learn and we don’t say, “I can’t.” It is ok to say “I don’t know right now,” or even “I don’t know yet,” but it is not okay to say, “I can’t.” Why is this concept so important? The idea is that one…