This afternoon, we are closing on our house here in Haleyville. Then we are travelling to Birmingham, where Leah’s mom is having surgery tomorrow morning. Then, we are travelling to Nashville, and closing on our house there on Monday. I’m tired already! So, the links roundup comes a day early. Enjoy the articles this week. 1. Kevin Beard, on his new blog, writes a thought-provoking article entitled “A Good Person? Really??” 2. Ever had one of those Sundays when the leaders wondered if church should be cancelled? Steve Higginbotham writes a great article entitled “Cancelling Church.” (Also, the comments are worth your time on this one.) 3. Drew Kizer writes…

We have so many young people involved in Lads to Leaders this year. Our group of 95 (over 40 young people) will be going to the Opryland Hotel in just a few weeks, and the young people are doing a great job with final preparations. We continue to be proud of their work and dedication. The theme verse for this year’s convention is First Timothy 4:12, which, in the King James Version, begins with these words: “Let no man despise thy youth.” Other translations give us the verse in these ways: “Let no one despise you for your youth” (ESV). “Don’t let people look down on you because you are…

I’m teaching the class on Revelation again Sunday morning. We are on Revelation 7, which is the first “interlude” in the book. I’m excited about teaching a chapter that many people in the religious world disagree on. Hopefully, we can have some good discussion about the 144,000, the Great Tribulation, etc. Here are the links for this week: 1. Finding time to pray. I know we should make time to pray, but finding the time to pray deeply and fervently can be a challenge. Becky Welch writes a deeply personal article that I think you will find interesting. Read “Waiting on God” over at The Welch Family. 2. Is it…

It has been a long time since we mentioned our church library in our bulletin. Our library contains a great number of materials for your use. It’s sad, though, that very few of the books ever get used. You may be reading a passage and wonder, “What exactly is this talking about?” Instead of waiting for a sermon on that one passage, why not do a little research on your own? It is amazing how a little hard work can reveal so much about a passage. Some of you may have been in our library and thought, “There aren’t too many books in here.” I will agree somewhat. There is…

Everyone makes mistakes. We all say something or do something that we know we shouldn’t. Other times, we know we should be doing something, but we fail to get it done. While we put forward the effort, we often fail. Sometimes, those mistakes happen because we “jump the gun.” In other words, we get ahead of ourselves and don’t really think. We jump into something before thinking it through. Sorry, guys, but you know we are very bad about that. But, just to make you feel a little better, I thought you might like to know that even large companies make mistakes. Yes, even big websites with hosts of editors…

Andy Kizer, the pulpit minister at 9th Avenue, has been teaching a six-month class on the book of Revelation. The class is going well and has been well-attended. On Sunday, though, Andy is going to be away. So, guess who gets to teach the class! I’m nervous, but excited. We’ll be looking at chapter 6 and the Four Horsemen. It should be interesting. Here are the links from this week: 1. Preaching Help gives us some insight into Placing Membership. 2. LemmonsAid gives us a link to a great article on “How the Apostles Taught.” 3. Drew Kizer has a new book available called Cast of the Cross. I have…

Yes, even Adam likes some love songs (emphasis on “some”). When I first heard this song, I didn’t pay attention to the singers. When I found out who it was, I was amazed. The blending is great, and the instrumentation couldn’t be better. Leah really likes this song, so this song is for “my valentine!” With the lyrics, here are Ewan McGreggor and Nicole Kidman.

For two hours of the recent Freed-Hardeman University Bible Lectures, Leah and I sat at the feet of brother Brad Harrub. You may have seen some of his writings in the past on the website of Apologetics Press. Brad now lives in Nashville and writes for Focus Press, publisher of THINK magazine (Brad serves as an editor and author for the magazine). He travels all over the country conducting seminars dealing with evidences. In one of his lectures, he mentioned something that I had read before, but he was able to expand upon it. He said that we should not use the phrase “Bible story” when teaching our smallest children.…

Last week Leah and I enjoyed the FHU Bible Lectures. It was a time of great learning and enjoyment. I was able to see many old friends (although I never ran into my good friend Wes) and also was able to make a few new friends. I was also able to spend time with some of my family. We are blessed to have so many in our family who are faithful Christians, and, with so many preachers, most of us can get together for at least part of the week. On Wednesday night, we were enjoying the evening lecture when Turner started to get fussy. I don’t blame him; weeks…

I was given a complete set of the James Burton Coffman Commentaries on the New Testament some time ago (thanks, dad!). I have used them several times for reference, but I had never read one from cover-to-cover until just a few days ago. Preparing to go to the Freed-Hardeman University lectures, I decided to read the commentary on John all the way through. Most who are familiar with Coffman’s New Testament commentaries know that they are not written on a scholarly level, but, instead are more for the regular Bible student. For that purpose, the commentary on John is good. If you are looking for a commentary you can understand…