Yesterday morning, we got a phone call from Billy and Cindy Hutchens. They are members of the Lebanon Road church of Christ. They got “the call” that we once waited on. They found out that a baby was up for adoption and they could come get the baby. The only thing was that they had to wait until today to go to Texas. So…. Some of our great young families at Lebanon Road through them a little surprise party to send them off. We prayed for this family and had a great time of fellowship. Many even were able to bring gifts (on short notice!). There weren’t a ton of…

A while back, I finished reading the 8 volumes I have of Swindoll’s “Great Lives from God’s Word” series. In a few weeks, I will begin teaching a class on Job in our Bible school program, so I decided to read that volume again cover-to-cover. Again, it has blessed my life. This will not be a full review, since you can find the review of the entire series elsewhere on this blog. Let it be sufficient to say that this book is one of my favorites in the series, but that comes with a little bias, since Job is one of my favorite Bible books. Swindoll, in this volume, is…

This week, we will feature two “scholarly level” podcasts to which I listen. Both feature in-depth sermons, but have distinctly different styles. Grace to You. John MacArthur speaks on this program, featuring his sermons recorded over the past 20+ years. One great feature of this podcast is that it is often done in series format, so you can expect to learn much about one topic over a one- or two-week period. Another great feature is the amount of Bible used in each sermon. MacArthur often preaches from the New Testament, but uses the Old Testament to illustrate; and he does so, in most cases, beautifully. However, MacArthur is also deeply…

I took this picture last evening as our family was driving back home. It’s a bit scary!!! Okay, so it’s a new gas station and they were just testing the sign, but we thought it was really funny. Or, maybe it wasn’t so funny that a gas sign could actually register that much per gallon!

Our family had the joy of having Dr. Gary McKnight as a guest last Sunday night. He was flying out of Nashville to a choral series in Utah on Monday morning and asked if he could spend the night at our house. We were honored to have him. If you don’t know Gary, you are missing out on a treat. He teaches at Freed-Hardeman University and directs one of the choruses there. When I was a student, he was the director of the Sonshine Singers–the group in which both Leah and I were involved. He also serves as an elder for the Henderson church of Christ. When I was a…

We had another wonderful day at Lebanon Road yesterday, and were once again blessed with scores of visitors. In fact, we had about 19 fill out visitors cards, and I personally know of at least 8 others who were with us last night! We also had 21 members of the Lebanon Road family away from us, working with the Pearlington, Mississippi, congregation. They knocked doors on Saturday, and then conducted the worship services yesterday morning. We are thankful they are back with us safely, and with such good news of a job well done. Even with their absence, we were blessed to have 335 in worship yesterday morning and 241…

The “Grrrr” this week comes about from two frustrating things that happened today. First, I was to attend a funeral, but I wrote down the wrong time and missed it. Thankfully, I was not to have a part in it; I was just going out of kindness. Then, I got home and tried to mow the yard, but I didn’t finish. Something’s wrong and I can’t fix it (which, of course, means that it’s more than being out of gas). The “Great” this week comes about because we had about 22 members of the Lebanon Road family leave today to help out in Pearlington, Mississippi. They will be knocking doors…

“Where do you get all this stuff for the Friday Links Roundup?” “How many blogs do you read?” Those are questions that, if you’ve never asked, I’m sure you’ve thought about. Okay, maybe not, but I have had some (defined as, “more than two”) ask me similar questions. So I have decided to update the blog a little bit. Instead of just listing a few of the blogs I read on the right-hand side, I’ve decided to list them all. You will see a feature called “In My Blog Reader.” Under that title are the blogs I read when they are updated, and you can click on any of them…

Okay, so this is just funny! Does your team lose often? Do they let great players go? Do they miss out on big moments? How can you, as a fan, deal with such mental anguish? A man in Europe has given the answer: sue the owner! (No, we don’t recommend this! We think it’s repulsive, but we’re surprised it hasn’t happened in America.) Here’s the story.

I am a big fan of Charles Swindoll’s books. I have the first eight volumes of the “Great Lives from God’s Word” series, and I have a couple of other books of his. If you have never read his books, you are missing out. While you will not agree with everything he writes (since he teaches that one must only believe in order to be saved), you will find his writing uplifting and illustrated beautifully. Also, I find his knowledge of Hebrew to be helpful. Since I enjoy his writings, I also enjoy his podcasts. There are three that have some connection to Swindoll to which I subscribe. 1. Insight…