Family
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He Gave Me a Song
Our family moved to Cookeville, Tennessee from Lawrenceburg when I was young, and while I have few clear memories of our life before that transition, those that remain are special to me. My first friends in elementary school, my first watchthrough of the original Star Wars trilogy (a core memory), the building where I first remember attending church, and many others standout in my mind. However, there is one memory that I hope I will have for the rest of my life. Actually, the image in my head is a composite of many similar days throughout the years. It always includes the swing-set in our backyard, with the woods behind…
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You Can’t Do It for Them
Donna sometimes tells about an incident that dates back to the days very early in our marriage when both of us taught in a public high school. She had given her class an assignment and had refused to accept what one boy turned in. The reason for the rejection (and the failing grade) was that the boy had submitted something that was very inappropriate. When the boy’s mother learned about this, she called Donna and let her know (in no uncertain terms), “I’ll have you know, that I did that assignment.” I suppose that she thought this would give some sort of legitimacy to her son’s project, could “bully” Donna…
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Bible School Excuses
A few weeks ago at Central, I preached a sermon on parenting. In part of the sermon, I mentioned that parents miss out on a powerful blessing when they do not “take the help” that Bible school provides. After all, parents who are striving to instill God’s Word into the hearts of their children should be utterly grateful for those kind and good teachers who provide instruction to their children. After mentioning that, I gave some excuses that I have heard over the years as to why parents do not bring their kids to class. I mentioned four in the sermon, but I want to list five commonly-heard ones here.…
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Modern Molechs
Depending on the translation of the Bible with which you are familiar and/or the resource you are using his (its) name may be spelled and pronounced differently. He (it) was a god called “Molech,” “Moloch,” or “Molek.” According to britannica.com, this was “…a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice.” We will not get into the gruesome details about how those sacrifices were carried out. I would be surprised (and disappointed) if those who are reading this are not appalled by that information. I can almost hear the incredulous reactions. Most of those reactions would have to do with how barbaric it would be to…
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Slow Down, Relax, and Enjoy
It snowed yesterday and apparently all night (judging from the amount of snow on the ground). It had been predicted for days before the event finally took place. We gathered extra food supplies along with all the other masses at the grocery store. (Jim actually followed a woman to her car and helped her unload her groceries just so he could have her cart!) We watched The Weather Channel as well as our local television station and saw the totals fluctuate between a dusting of snow to at least a foot. Our 4 to 8 inches turned out to be 5 inches of snow on the ground. And I love it!…
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The Final Score Didn’t Matter
A couple of weeks ago, I went with our son, our daughter-in-law, their son, and one of his friends to see The Harlem Globetrotters. From time to time during the “game” (performance actually), I watched the two young boys sitting right in front of me. The younger boy looked to be about six or seven years old and his older brother could not have been much older than that. If I am correct about the age of the younger boy, I never got to see The Harlem Globetrotters when I was his age – not even on television. The reason for that is that my family did not have a…
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Decluttering Your Life
Some of the time spent on my phone or my iPad is spent looking at houses that need to be decluttered. There will be closets that are so full of junk that you can’t get to anything you might want to use. There are kitchens that have counters so full of items that there is no room to place another thing or from which you could work. I like to read about the methods used to help with this problem and see the finished product. You know the method: boxes for keep, donate, throw away. Call me crazy if you want to, but there is something satisfying about seeing the…
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It’s Not Just about Coaching Styles
A recent conversation about a couple of basketball coaches made me do some thinking. It didn’t take long for my thinking to go way beyond college basketball. I started thinking about how parents relate to their children, how elders and preachers relate to the congregations they serve, how bosses relate to employees, etc. As I thought about all of that, I began to realize that some individuals who are in positions of some authority focus on mistakes. The emphasis seems to be on what was done wrong, how someone didn’t live up to expectations, etc. A great deal of emphasis is put on things done, not done, or not done correctly.…
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The Leading Cause of Death
[NOTE: It is very rare that I reproduce my bulletin article for Central as a post on our site. However, I felt this article was one that would benefit the thinking of both, so this article is also my bulletin article for this coming Sunday at Central. I hope it makes us all think. –Adam] At the end of each year, a mountain of statistics is released, giving a snapshot of the state of various aspects of the world. One of those statistics that can a little difficult to read, but which is still helpful, is to see what the leading causes of death were around the world for the…
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Remember Who You Are and Whose You Are
I’m thinking back to a time several years ago when our children were still living at home with us, but were old enough to go out on their own with friends, or attend some church activity without us with them. I can still remember, to this day, what was said to them almost (if not every time) they left the house. It serves as the title for this post today – “Remember who you are and Whose you are.” I think both of them would tell you they remember this statement. You see, for all of the years they were being raised in our home we were trying our best to instill…
