Church Life
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The One Communication Skill that Would Transform Social Media
By its very nature, social media is a quick-response forum. We see something and we react to it. From plays in a sporting event to natural disasters to political decisions, everything is burning for a response, and those responses are immediate. That is a good thing in many ways, but it also cries out for one change that I pray we will all consider making, and it is something that we were taught as children. In fact, if we would all implement this one thing online, social media would be immediately transformed into a kinder and more well-informed place. What is it? Don’t speak until you have all the facts.…
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Why God Shut the Door
It is probable that anyone who has read the historical account of the flood in the book of Genesis is probably familiar with what Moses wrote by inspiration concerning the closing of the ark. Genesis 7:16 – “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.” I’ve often wondered, as you most likely have, why God chose to close the door rather than have Noah and his family do it. He told Noah to do everything else, and every command Noah was given he obeyed (Gen. 6:22). So why not just tell Noah to close the…
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What Would You Do?
What would you do if a brand-new babe in the Lord used the wrong vocabulary? I am not talking about somebody who wears the name “Christian,” but who uses profanity. I am not talking about smutty stories and/or inappropriate remarks. In fact, “vocabulary” may not be the correct word to use. Maybe it would be more appropriate to speak of “terminology.” You see, I am talking about somebody who has yet to learn all of the scriptural and appropriate designations for various roles in the church. Maybe he/she has yet to learn exactly and precisely how God wishes to be worshiped. Maybe this person has a lot of maturing to do in these and other…
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Episode 109: Families Setting Priorities with Their Time [Podcast]
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Legacy_Podcast_109.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS(Player not displaying or working? Click here to listen.) Families are so busy, but are we always busy doing what is most important and valuable? On this week’s podcast, Adam and Leah talk about families setting priorities with their time, why it is a struggle to do so, but what it is absolutely necessary. This podcast is based upon Courtney Carver’s quotation, “If you don’t have time for things that matter, stop doing things that don’t.” 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…
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How Important Is It to Be a Woman of God?
A few weeks ago Jim and I were asked to come to a local congregation and speak for a Wednesday night Summer Series. Now before you get the wrong idea, they thought it would be different to have him speak to the men in the auditorium and me to speak to the ladies in another large classroom. It was not unusual for me to teach a ladies’ class, but to say I was on a Summer Series was a little different. I was allowed to select the topic I wanted to talk about, so I chose a lesson I enjoy doing which deals with being a woman of God entitled, “What Does…
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The Beautiful Sound of Silent Singing
As I write these words, I am engaged in a Gospel Meeting, and during the week, I have been reminded of something that has been on my mind quite a lot in recent months. It started back in February. One day during chapel at the annual Freed-Hardeman University Bible lectures, the speaker was a deaf minister. He signed his lesson, and a man sitting on the front row spoke it out loud for those (many) of us who do not know much, or any, American Sign Language. Then, when I moved to Paducah and began preaching at Central, we had a family who signed. They were in the process of…
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If Satan Can Convince You That You Are Not Happy…
It happens fairly innocently, the feelings of discontentment. Here we are in 2018, the most blessed people of any generation in the history of time, and we are dissatisfied. Usually, these tendencies of being discontented are closely related to being perfectly spoiled. Most of us are not poor. We have more creature comforts and conveniences than ever. We are parked right here in the Christian age with the manifold wisdom of God having been delivered to us. Our hearts, minds, and bodies should be full! The devil can work with spoiled rotten. He can work through privilege to convince us that what we have is not enough or not as…
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How Do I Help Somebody Who Has Lost a Loved One?
We’ve all been there or we’ll all be there. It may be that you are there right now. Somebody you know has lost a family member. You want to help, but you are not entirely sure how you can do that. In the most recent issue of the Gospel Advocate (Vol. 160, No. 9, September 2018), there was an informative article by a sister in the Lord. Michelle Moore wrote about the loss of her son and provided what I thought was some very practical advice. You may find her article on pages 14-16 of this issue. She wrote of things that many of us have thought of. For example, she suggested that ministering to those…
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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…
