The 9th Avenue church of Christ in Haleyville, Alabama, holds such a special place in my heart. After working with that congregation for almost seven years, we still have many friends there, and we wish to see her grow and prosper. I am pleased to mention here that Jim Lampley has been selected by the elders at 9th Avenue to work as the new youth minister. If you are on Facebook, Jim is as well; add him as a friend and encourage him. He will be blessed with his work in Haleyville, and I know he will be a blessing. Please continue to pray for the transition there. Jim will…

I got home on Friday and remembered, “Oh, yeah, the Friday Links Roundup.” Oops. Sorry. The links are below. We had another great day at Lebanon Road yesterday. While our worship attendance has been fantastic, our Bible school attendance has been off a bit. So, I preached a sermon about the importance of Bible school. Thankfully, it was very well-received. Many were thankful that I was willing to “tackle” that. Their comments were very welcomed. We had a guest speaker last night. Brother John Gross from Winder, Georgia, presented a short review of the work in that community and then presented a powerful lesson from Psalm 130. You might recall…

I love to preach about the family. I think families are so important to every aspect of life, and I am trying to help my family be the best it can be. Knowing that, it should come as know surprise that I subscribe to five different podcasts about family. 1. Focus on the Family. It is amazing that this radio show has been on the air for over 30 years. Dr. James Dobson’s program continues to put information out that is helpful and Bible-based. Of course, I disagree with his teaching as to how a person becomes a Christian (which he often asks guests), but this does not come to…

I’m sorry this is a couple of days late, but I’ve been enjoying myself at camp since Sunday afternoon. (Pictures below) We have a lot of people at Valley View camp, as this is Lebanon Road’s week. Every adult volunteer is from Lebanon Road, and they are counseling, teaching classes, cooking, helping with facilities, etc. It is great to see so many helping with this great program. And it is paying off! We just got word that Jakobe Reed was baptized last night, and Courtney Roberts asked for prayers. What great news to pass along! Wonderful things are happening at camp this week. Those responses follow a response Sunday morning…

It’s amazing, but the summer is winding down. We have had VBS and next week we will enjoy a week of church camp here at Lebanon Road. We have a great group going. At my last count, there were over 50 young people from Lebanon Road who will be camping! I’m excited to be going for part of the week. I’ll leave Sunday afternoon and come back Tuesday night. I enjoy camp, and I’m appreciative that I get to have some part in the week. It will also be an honor to speak Monday night. I will do my best to take some pictures during the week, but we’ll see.…

Michael Reagan’s book Twice Adopted is an absolute must-read. I bought it for my dad for Father’s Day. After he finished it, he thought I would like it, and he let me borrow it. I’m thankful he did. I was drawn to the book by both the author and the title. As much as dad helped with our adoption of Mary Carol, I thought the title was beautiful. Also, the Reagans have always been “Faughn favorites.” Michael’s past, though, is covered with dark spots, some of which he still has trouble with. He is grown up and mature, but he still feels moments of heartbrokenness over some things in his…

I love the podcasts from Quick and Dirty Tips. I subscribe to several and really enjoy all of them. Here is a rundown of the ones to which I subscribe, followed by a general comment about the entire group. 1. Get it Done Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More. This may sound like a “lazy man’s” podcast, but it really is not. While the podcast is more for those who are in the business world, the tips are universal. Each episode deals with items such as organization (so needed by me!), delegation, and contacts. If you can listen with your particular line of work in…

Of all the All-Star games, the Major League Baseball All-Star game is the greatest. MLB always does such a great job of celebrating baseball, and that was so true last night. In this final year of Yankee Stadium, the pre-game was amazing. 49 Hall of Fame players were on the field. The only negative was the Nolan Ryan was not there. There may have never been a greater collection of players on one field. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ralph Kiner, Yogi Berra, Brooks Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, and many more were all represented. Yankee Stadium is a special place, and I’m sad to see it go in a few…

I mentioned that we had an open house last Saturday night. If my count was correct, we had 102 attend in a “come and go” fashion. There may have been more. I was trying to visit with folks and count at the same time, so I may have missed a few. We truly enjoyed the night. The fellowship was great. Here are some pictures of that night. Our official greeter

Actually, this report begins on the 12th. We had an open house at the Faughn house on Saturday night. We wanted the congregation to know that we enjoy having people over and we wanted a great night of fellowship. We got it! Over 100 people from Lebanon Road came by our house. Leah did a fantastic job having everything ready (as I knew she would), and the evening was filled with joy and togetherness. Then, on Sunday, we had another tremendous day. I began a series on Sunday morning on first principles. I’m calling the series “Christianity 101.” The lesson, “Is There a God?” was well-received (especially the part where…