This video is really cool. I hope you dads enjoy it! My favorite part is the diaper instructions. Now THAT I could have understood!

No, I’m not starring in an upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I just had a frustrating moment last night, and thought I’d share my moment so you could laugh (or feel sorry for me…pouts). Anyway, Leah and I are really trying to do better about saving money while grocery shopping. We are clipping some coupons on items we use often, and we are comparing sales papers. We live very close (less than 5 miles) from Wal-Mart, Kroger, CVS, Walgreen’s, Dollar General Market, and Publix. Comparison shopping is not a problem! Yesterday was the last day of a sales paper for Publix, which included Welch’s juice at buy one get…

Julie Anderson’s 1999 book, Choosing Gladness, was meant for ladies, but we men might need to read it, too! The book’s subtitle, Letting God Occupy Your Heart, speaks to the nature of the book. I like the use of the word “choosing” in the title. Anderson does a good job of making the point that gladness is a choice, and she does so quite often in the book. That is something, I feel, those of us who preach need to present more often. The theme verse for the entire book is Ecclesiastes 5:20: He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of…

Another tremendous day on Lebanon Road/Pike! Despite June heat and a brief electrical glitch, things went wonderfully yesterday. During the opening prayer of our Sunday morning service, the microphone and PowerPoint projectors went out. Later, we learned that about 1/3 of the building was without power. We’re not sure what happened, but it affected the air conditioning on a day when it was 95+ degrees outside. It made for an interesting worship service! Thankfully, about half-way through my sermon, the power came back on. Those things happen, and the one leading the service did a great job of working without the microphone. We had great attendance yesterday, with 316 in…

A group from Lebanon Road leaves tomorrow morning for a mission trip to Winder, Georgia. There is a great group going, with 23 from our congregation! J.D. is in charge, and has put in many hours of preparation. The group will be doing some physical work during the day, and then holding a Vacation Bible School in the evenings. Please pray for them as they travel and as they work. We know they will do a great job. Speaking of VBS, ours is coming up soon: We hope you will plan to come and be with us! (More about that in the coming weeks.) On to the links for this…

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. Oddly, because of a mission trip and Maywood Christian Camp, this will be the first time we have ever gotten to go alone (without camp clothes on) on a date for our anniversary. The funny part is, since we haven’t done that in so long, we had trouble figuring out what to do! I love Leah. There are scores of reasons, but I want to list 9. Trey Morgan, on his blog, always lists the number of things he loves about his wife on her birthday. I love that idea, but I’m going to do that on our anniversary. Here are 9 things I…

Every church tries to put something humorous in the content every so often. Well, this little story can be used (as long as the blog address is mentioned!), and it is funny. The best part is, it’s real, because it happened to us Sunday morning. Mary Carol is old enough that we are trying to teach her the names of the different avenues of worship. She’s got singing and praying down. She basically knows what preaching is. However, as with most children, the Lord’s Supper and giving are still fuzzy. To try to help her understand giving, we let her put our family’s contribution in the plate when it is…

Uplifting. That’s the best word I can think of to describe yesterday. Our singing at Lebanon Road is always good, and we are blessed with so many great song leaders. For some reason, though, the singing yesterday just seemed to be outstanding. That makes a preacher ready to go! I began two series yesterday on church growth, and both were received quite well. I truly believe that Lebanon Road is set to grow. Our elders have challenged us to that end, and we will work under their leadership to make it happen. It was also a privilege yesterday to speak at Sycamore Terrace–a retirement home about 3 miles from the…

If you have read the original 21 Irrefutable Laws, you need to find the 10th Anniversary edition and read it. John Maxwell jokes in the introduction that, even though these laws are “irrefutable,” a couple of major changes have been made since the original printing. Also, many new illustrations have been added, including a couple dealing with Maxwell and his work. I tried to read 21 with a view toward the local congregation. Obviously, a person in any leadership position would benefit greatly from this work. It is a quick, easy read, but contains some profound truths. Deep down, I believe that most of us know the major sections of…

I mentioned in the last post that I’m on Twitter. I forgot, though, to tell you how to “follow” us if you’re on that site, too. If you want to add us on Twitter, click here, and then click on the “follow” button. Thanks, and enjoy!