What a beautiful word “home” is! For so many it brings out memories of laughter and joy. It can bring tears to the eyes when thinking of traditions from a childhood or of one who has gone on. It can cause us to smile when thinking of some prank pulled as a child or of a favorite place where a family got together to pray. “Home” is also a word Leah and I were wanting to hear so very much over the past few days. While we very much enjoyed spending time with “grammy and grampy” (mom and dad), we had trouble being patient waiting for the phone to ring.…

Note: The following article originally appeared in the bulletin for the Main Street church of Christ in Manchester, Tennessee. It was written by the minister, Wes Hazel. It is reprinted here with his permission. Dave Ramsey counsels many people on his daily radio show that the secret to financial success is not to fall into the same traps that the majority of our society falls into. The secret to success is to live like no one else. When we live like no one else is living (in his case, not taking on debt), this enables us to build wealth over time. This wealth gives us a standard of living that…

It is almost certain that Solomon was the richest man who ever lived. We have several passages that tell us of his vast wealth and income. He gained money from taxes as well as from gifts, and there can be little doubt that he also gained great interest from investments. Solomon wrote much about money, too. He always warned his readers to be very careful when handling wealth and money. He warned against greed. In Ecclesiastes 5:10 he wrote, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.” How often have we seen this verse come true. When…

The “Great Lives from God’s Word” series by Charles Swindoll is a seven-volume biographical series, mostly written of Old Testament men and women. The seven biographies are of David, Esther, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Paul and Job. Having read all seven volumes, I would like to give you some information about the books. First, the books are very personal. Mr. Swindoll does a very good job about bringing points from the lives of these men and women into modern-day living. Anyone of nearly any age can find something in each volume that will help them. Mr. Swindoll teaches at a seminary, so he has much to say to those of college…

Jesus could have been just another “great man” who stood on top of a mountain somewhere to hand down rules for people. Instead, while it is true that Jesus gave many rules and precepts for us to live by, He also did something further. Jesus lived out what He taught. If, as most scholars suppose, Luke wrote the great book of Acts, the beloved doctor gives us a beautiful peek into what kind of man Jesus was. In the first verse of Acts, Luke writes, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (New King James Version, emphasis added). Jesus was…

Most of you know the contents of this article already. On Friday, October 7, at 4:19 AM, we welcomed Mary Carol into the world. She is perfect! Today, we learned that the birth parents had signed the release forms, so that major hurdle is behind us. We are now waiting for the states of Alabama and Kentucky to “sign off” on the adoption. It could take anywhere from 7 days to 4 weeks. While none of us can exlpain how God works in the world today, Mary Carol is living proof that He does. Mommy and Daddy could not be any more proud. To all of you who prayed or…

Any of you who have preached have had this experience before. If you are trying to preach “the whole counsel of God,” then you have to preach about things that you have never, personally, experienced before. Nearly every young preacher has felt compelled to preach on the home. When you do not have children, you can get “that” look or certain comments like, “Just wait until you have children.” People just do not seem to respect the lesson as much from a source without practical experience. However, if we are preaching God’s Word, then we still have the obligation to put the truth out there. When I have preached on…

In my work with the 9th Avenue church of Christ, I have been asked by the elders to help “set” the curriculum for our classes from 5th-12th grades. If you think finding material for teens is hard, try finding material for 5th-6th graders! Most material for that very important age is either watered-down, or is way too difficult. It is sad, but we seem to have very few writers who can appeal to that age group. However, beginning with this quarter (which started with the first Sunday in September), we have started using the Exploroer Series from Apologetics Press. After only a few Sundays, the teachers could not be any…

Many people “kid” about their memories. We joke about being too old to remember certain things or we say that we are too young to start forgetting important information. If the truth is known, however, we all forget things and (sometimes) remember very odd things. One thing that stays with us for many years is music. We can recall songs from our youth nearly instantly when we hear them. This was brought to my attention in a very strong way a few days ago. Visiting with my grandparents in an assisted living home, we decided to sing “together” (which usually means we sing and they listen). That particular day was…

With summer winding down, the weather is starting to get comfortable again. We are still experiencing hot weather in the evenings, though. And, with that warm weather, clothing—or lack of it—remains an issue. Many Christians continue to wear shorts that are much too short, shirts that are low-cut or that show the midriff, and skirts and pants that are far too tight. Talking with parents, one complaint seems to be the lack of product on the market that would qualify as “modest.” Many parents come back from shopping trips and act defeated. They often say, “There’s nothing modest out there. There is nothing to buy!” Having looked at shopping malls…