The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice, but sometimes we need a little interesting way to “title” our message. While the message is the most important thing (and we should never get caught up in spending a ton of time looking for a title–as some of my sermons have shown!), there are still some great titles out there. Maybe you teach short devotionals on Wednesday nights, at retreats, or for youth groups. Here are some songs that make for great titles and can lead you to some wonderful Biblical lessons. (The links take you to a YouTube video of the song.) [One note: we are not, of…

As I type this, we are right in the middle of hosting a garage sale. It’s about 50 degrees and misting, but we are still selling a few things. I think we should start a trend to rename garage sales: “Funding Retirement, a Quarter at a Time.” Still lots of good stuff left, and we’ll be here tomorrow morning, too. Come buy something!!! On to the links for this week: 1. Daniel Hope gives a very simple recipe for our lives in his post “From Affluenza to Simplicitisfaction” (my spell checker just exploded!). 2. Drew Kizer (who is the proud daddy of a new little boy!!!) writes about a well-known passage…

I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend time with faithful Christians, and especially those who preach. Jeff Jenkins is in the middle of a weekly series on his blog where he shares some thoughts from preachers he knows. Find his blog here. One of the great treats that I, personally, get to enjoy is interviewing preachers on iPreach. Young and old, these preachers give me encouragement and help me see that preaching really is a great way to live! However, there are some preachers I only know by “legacy.” They passed on before I could interact with them. I’ll never know them except through books, online sermons, and stories told…

The preacher has been talking for 25 or 30 minutes and now he walks down from the pulpit area. It’s obvious that he’s about “done,” so what do people do? Of course, they put their Bibles away and grab the song books. The teaching part of the sermon is over, after all. Or, is it? I want to make two challenges in today’s post. This is something I have really been hitting hard at Lebanon Road lately, and I think is being received by the members as a way we can be more open to the lost. Challenge #1 is for the members who are listening to the sermon. Don’t…

I don’t stay up late very often. Usually, I lay down around 10:30 and am asleep by 11. (In case you’re wondering, I get up before 6AM.) Last night, however, I had to stay up a little later than normal. This is the 2nd-best sports time of the year. (The best is March Madness.) Baseball playoffs combined with college football (and the NFL) make this great! I stayed up last night to watch the Nebraska Cornhuskers come back from a 12-0 deficit to start the 4th quarter to beat Missouri, 27-12. It was amazing! I love espn360.com! Now, if the Yankees win today, and the Red Sox will lose again,…

[Today’s guest writer is John Dobbs. John preaches for the Forsythe Avenue church of Christ in Monroe, Louisiana, where he has served since February 2008. John is married to Maggie, and they have two children. Their daughter, Nicole, is married and has two children. Their son, John Robert, died in May 2008 at the age of 18. You may read more about that here. John is a self-described social network geek, and you may find him on Facebook, Twitter, or his personal blog. We are grateful for his time and thought in writing today’s 6th part of our “The Church and…” series.] A funeral home is a natural place to…

My friend Matt Reaves and I have agreed to do more sports previews throughout the year. We’re starting off with our preview of this year’s baseball playoffs. Before the predictions, here is some full disclosure. Matt is a St. Louis Cardinal fan while I pull for the New York Yankees. Since both are in the playoffs this year, that’s good for you to know. Matt’s LDS National League Phillies-Rockies: Outside of the Minnesota Twins, the Colorado Rockies were the hottest team going down the stretch.  Expect that to continue in this first round series.  This will end up being the best series in the first round as Colorado beats the…

“We’ve got a great youth group.” “Our older ladies are so involved.” “You’ll just love our single’s class.” These, and other statements like them, are often used to draw people to a particular congregation. The thought is that, by knowing there are others who have the same–or similar–place in life at a congregation, one will be more likely to visit and, potentially, identify. Obviously, having those ties helps. It does help the young adult with small children to know that others are facing that time in life. It is a great thing for a teen to know that their peers also care about the things of God. We need to…