January 9. This is a date that many have been waiting for for a long time. Some hope that it is a great success. Others hope that it is failure in every sense of the word. To be honest, I am in the second group. This morning at 6 AM Eastern time, Howard Stern began his radio talk show on Sirius satellite radio. The company is committed to paying Stern $500 million dollars and also gave him a $200 million bonus in company stock. The radio company is betting on the self-proclaimed “king of all media” being able to attract millions of new listeners over the next several months. But,…

An adage states, “you are what you eat.” Maybe, in our visual age, we need to change that adage to, “you become what you see.” Advertisers have known for years that, if they can make us think a particular activity is “cool,” we will eventually give in and agree–or, at least, we will tolerate it. Many right-thinking individuals have also known this and have argued that certain types of advertising should not be allowed on television. Many parents over the years have claimed that commercials involving alcohol were helping their children make the decision to drink. Those in the industry would then turn around with the tired line, “if you…

This book has been on my bedstand for many months, and, about once per week I would get it and “work my way” through it. This book will help any Bible student. Many of us like to make marks in our Bibles to help us study something further or remember a cross-reference, but, sometimes, we do not know how to write those things in such a way that they will “fit” in the margin and still be memorable. This book gives scores of entries you can put in your Bible to help you with nearly every book of the Bible. The articles are short, so you may decide to do…

I had several shorter items that, I felt, needed to be on here, but none of them warranted a full post. So, instead, I just decided to put them all on the last post of the week. Please read each short item carefully. And, this being the final post of the year, we want to say a quick “thank you” for coming to the blog from time-to-time. Please keep coming and please keep spreading the word as well. Our number of “hits” is increasing, and that is exciting to us. A survey is done every few years to determine how the internet is being used by different groups of people.…

What a beautiful word “forgiveness” is. We feel great relief when we have wronged someone and they grant us forgiveness. We understand that a person does not have to forgive, but, rather, they want to forgive. Also, we obviously feel the greatest relief when we know that our sins are forgiven by our heavenly Father. Let’s notice just 3 facts from the Bible about our forgiveness. First, we can learn from God’s Word that forgiveness is reciprocal; in other words, we can only gain forgiveness if we grant forgiveness. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive…

If all goes as scheduled this week, there will be a new publication released this Friday, and it will be free to anyone who wishes to receive it. The publication is called “For Youth Ministers, By Youth Ministers,” and it is a 10-page monthly newsletter sent via email. Youth ministers in the area where I live are putting this paper together. Each month, the paper will have certain features that are designed to encourage youth ministers specifically, but also anyone who works with young people. Some of those sections include: Ideas for devotionals for both Jr./Sr. High and elementary groups. A sermon outline (some will even feature PowerPoint slide pictures).…

This book, published in 1975 by Zondervan, is a wonderful work. Buy this book, even if you have to pay a “pretty penny,” since it is out of print. Distressing Days of the Judges, as its name implies, discusses the extremely important period of time between the death of Joshua and the beginning of the monarchy in Israel. However, it does not simply cover the book of Judges, it discusses the individual judges, including Eli and Samuel, whom we read about in First Samuel. Since it does not just “cover” one book of the Bible, it is difficult to call it a commentary, but you will want to put it…

Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, has announced that you can help them build their library simply by shopping online. College students must do a lot of research, so providing them with essential tools is a very important part of their education. So, how can you help? John Wilson, who works for FHU, wrote the following summary in this month’s “Alumnogram,” an e-newsletter sent to Freed-Hardeman alumni and friends: The Loden-Daniel Library has set up an affiliate account with Amazon.com. This means every time you make a purchase through Amazon.com, a percentage of it can be credited back to our library! This is a great way to support the library and…

Today, Yahoo! released its annual “Top Searches” lists. The “Top searches of 2005” can teach us many things about how Americans (primarily) are using the internet. Sadly, in many cases, it’s not good. Before showing some of the data, let me say that these lists do not meant that every person is searching for these things in an evil way. Some people are fans of certain movie stars, bands or singers and are searching for new information. Others are seeking concert dates, movie release times and other legitimate information. But for celebrities to top search lists is truly telling, for it takes an extraordinary number of searches to do so…