This 389-page collection of radio addresses from Winford Claiborne is a wonderful book to add to your library. Each lessons stays very connected to the title and is filled with information. There are two things I appreciated most about this book. First, Claiborne points out several times that “preaching Christ” does not only mean preaching about love and forgiveness. Certainly those things are included, but Christ preached some hard things and Paul, who wrote those words in First Corinthians, definitely preached some hard things. There are also some preacher pointers you will find helpful. Also, I liked that, since these were originally radio addresses, each took about the same amount…

With new coach Bo, the Cornhuskers are looking to at least begin to move back up to respectability in college football. It was nice to see a win on Saturday over Western Michigan. This video played on the huge screen at Memorial Stadium before the game. The song is fitting! It’s impossible to get enough of the catch by Davidson against Missouri, or the run by Tommy Frazier against Florida!

What a way to end a month and move into September! As with any holiday weekend, you never really know what to expect. We thought our numbers would be down a bit, partly because we had 24 people at a young family’s retreat that lasted from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Also, we thought maybe some of our folks might be traveling away. We did have some folks away… …but… we were still blessed to have 379 in attendance Sunday morning! If you add in the 24 that were on our retreat, we had 403 Sunday morning! In addition, with the 24 counted in, we had 301 in Bible classes.…

Sunday night after our worship services, some of our guys will be meeting to have a fantasy football draft. Last Saturday was so much fun, drafting with “the Hitmen.” My team is already being made fun of through emails and games haven’t even started yet. This can’t be a good sign. Is anybody else excited that college football has kicked off? Most of the games last night were terrible, but Saturday’s games look to be better. In local news, I may actually get heard on Sunday since Vanderbilt played Thursday night (instead of the night before Sunday), and Tennessee doesn’t play until Monday. I’d better make this sermon a good…

Above these posts, there is a poll that I would really like all readers to participate in. Here is the premise: I have found a website where I can have conversations with folks and have them digitally recorded for free. Also, after two shows are done, the shows can be uploaded to iTunes. After the first episode the shows could be listed here and on my Facebook page for anyone to listen to. I am thinking of having a weekly program (although I’m leaning toward bi-weekly) where I simply interview preachers about the Bible, the life of a preacher, current events, etc. My goal would be to have each episode…

Last year, Matt Reaves and I did a college football top 25 together. Reaves just got married a couple of weeks ago, so we’re not doing that this year. We’ll probably do an NCAA tournament preview in March together. I’m not going to give you the top 25. I’m just going to give you the major conference champions and a couple storylines to watch. Then I’ll give you the major bowl game predictions. Here you go: ACC Champion: Clemson. I know this is the “hot” pick, but this team is, by far, the most talented in the conference. If they don’t produce, Tommy could be in severe trouble. Also watch:…

Ron Mehl wrote this book 10 years ago. Though it can be somewhat hard to find, you would do well to add The Ten(der) Commands to your library. I was lucky enough to find this volume at a Christian bookstore outlet a few years ago. I read it then (about 5 years ago), and finally got around to reading it again. The basis of this book is that the 10 Commandments are not meant only to confine God’s people. The subtitle of the book, “Reflections on the Father’s Love,” gives you some idea as to the leaning of the book. We often tell people that God’s commands are, yes, to…

When we study sin, we often turn to First John 2:16, where we are told of the three “types” of sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride (or vainglory) of life. Sadly, for some, that’s the end of the discussion of sin this brief letter. However, there is more in chapter 3. In fact, in verses 4-10, John gives 5 descriptions of sin and the consequences of it. 1. Sin is Lawlessness (verse 4). The verse is pretty explicit: “Sin is lawlessness.” The word we have for lawlessness means two similar things. It means either being without (or apart from) law, or having…

Since the attempt to have a financial blog went down the tubes (it was a good idea, just didn’t pan out), I have not stopped enjoying gathering and using financial information. As you see on the Friday Links Roundup from time-to-time, I still read several financial blogs. Additionally, I subscribe to three financial podcasts. As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I used to subscribe to Dave Ramsey as well, but just couldn’t find the time to listen to a 5-day-per week, 45 minute podcast. If you have that time, I still highly recommend the podcast. Also, as I mentioned in the post on Quick and Dirty…

We had a good weekend on “the Pike.” On Saturday night, our elders honored our teachers with an appreciation banquet at one of our local restaurants. It was a great evening of fellowship, and we were truly made to feel appreciated and honored. Brother Steve Higginbotham, from Glasgow, Kentucky, was our speaker, and he did a tremendous job lifting up our teachers and encouraging us to do our best. The Bible school program at Lebanon Road is truly amazing. It is one of the most well-organized programs I have ever seen, and teachers have literally hundreds of resources available and organized for their use on every lesson. Our children are…