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Christians, Grow Up, BUT…….
Hebrews 6:1 contains the command, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrines of Christ and go on to maturity.” Other passages, especially in the book of Hebrews, speak of Christian maturing. Now, before you stop reading, this is not a rant about growing up. We get a lot of that (and it is needed!), but there is another principle implied in this, and similar, verses that I want to stress in today’s post. First, to give us a little foundation, let’s think for a moment about maturing as a Christian. If you have been a Christian for some length of time, you should know more about the Bible and God…
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A Blog Update and Some Quick Reviews
If you read our blog regularly, you know that we have a bit of a “set” schedule currently that works for us. Today marks a “part-time” addition to that schedule. If you don’t check in regularly, here is what we are currently doing each day, including the update: Monday: Book Reviews. We used to put these on Wednesdays, but I am going to start reviewing books each Monday, when I have completed a book or multiple books in the previous week. Tuesday: Article. These are often about family or faith, but these are just brief and, hopefully, encouraging articles. Wednesday: Lists. From 5 to 30, we’ve listed all sorts of things.…
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Friday Links Roundup: Tell Someone Edition
Yep, it’s time for a shameless plug of our blog. The number of “hits” we get each day are far better than they were a year ago, but, over the last couple of months, they have stagnated. We aren’t about just getting numbers on the blog, but it is encouraging to see more folks coming and seeing what’s here. That’s where you come in. Would you please pass along a favorite post (or just our blog address) to 5 people? If each person who regularly comes would just tell 5 people, we could easily raise our numbers. If that person would like to be on our email list, just send me…
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Thursday Hymn Reflection: "I Need Thee Every Hour"
[On Thursdays, we “reflect” on hymns submitted by our readers. If you would like to add your favorites–no more than 3, please–to our upcoming list, leave the names of the songs in the comments.] Written by a housewife in 1872, the simple words of “I Need Thee Every Hour” continue to bring comfort to many folks each time they are sung. In his book Then Sings My Soul, Robert Morgan gives the Annie Hawks’ own words as to where the poem came from (from page 179): One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became…
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A Picture of Sacrifice
Sunday afternoon, the Lebanon Road congregation led a worship service at a local assisted living home. We do this several Sundays each month, and it is a joy to worship with these good folks. They encourage us as we encourage them. After the service, I was walking around the room with the kids. They were hugging, waving, and shaking hands. It was special to see many smiles, both on the faces of the residents and on our kids’ faces! (When you don’t attend services like these, you miss out on some special moments.) One of the residents took a special liking to our kids. He nearly always has a bag…
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Friday Links Roundup: Clear the Red Tape Edition
No, this is not a rant about our government or any political party. This “edition” is designed to spark some conversation that could help a lot of people. In the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Haiti, I was told that it was already being reported that one of the great needs from that country are parents to adopt Haitian children whose parents died (or will die) in these events. Being the daddy of an adopted daughter, that pulled at the strings of my heart. However, after doing some research, I found that the usual cost of adoption from Haiti is between $15,000 and $18,000, plus travel. You may have that…
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Thursday Hymn Reflection: "Ancient Words"
[Each Thursday, we give “reflections” on songs suggested by our readers. To add a song to our upcoming posts, leave no more than three suggestions in the comments.] A fairly new song, “Ancient Words” has found its way into more popular usage in the last couple of years. As older songs have done, “Ancient Words” celebrates God’s Word, but it also has a unique trait in that it celebrates the history of the Bible. The history of the Bible is a fascinating study. Most of us respect God’s Word and hold it as inspired, but many fail to see the connection between our day and when the Bible was actually…
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10 Ways to "Find" More Time During the Day
Each has but 24 hours and, unless you are at a lock-in, you spend some of those sleeping. I am constantly amazed at how some people accomplish so many things each day. I’ve had people ask me how I do all that I do, but there are so many other goals I have, and it often seems as if I’m like the hamster on the wheel. That being said, I have found a few things that work for me, so I can do as much as possible. Here are a few that I do, and a few I know I should do to make those 24 hours as filled as…
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The 12 Days of … Resolutions
Less than one month ago, we were enamored with Christmas tunes. They are everywhere. One of those is “The 12 Days of Christmas.” (Yes, it happens to be one of my favorites. I like lists!) After Christmas, many of us focused on making those resolutions for the new year. Some said they would lose weight, while others promised to learn a new skill. Some may have resolved to get a new job or to improve in the area of parenting. Some resolved to read through the Bible, and others resolved to study more deeply. We’re 12 days in. How are you doing? It’s amazing how many stores had sales on exercise…
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Friday Links Roundup: Thanks for the Warm-Up Edition
So, there was a football game last night. Congratulations to all my friends who are fans of Alabama and Boise State, the two undefeated teams. Alabama won a game that was bizarre in every way, while Boise out-defensed TCU. Both are deserving of their record. Now, if they could just play each other……… Now that the football season is over, everyone can move on to the real college sport: hoops! Football provides a great warmup to NCAA hoops, which I think is the greatest sport of them all. (If nothing else, they at least have a playoff!) I’m looking at three of the four unbeatens (Kansas, Texas, and Kentucky) to join Duke…
