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Intergenerational Respect
Titus 2 is a vital section of Scripture, as it pertains to how the church is to help one another. The emphasis is on generations and how they are to live in light of being followers of God. But there is also a clear emphasis on older generations teaching younger generations, and it seems that Paul had that especially in mind for older women to teach younger women. For that to happen at a deep and impactful level, though, there must be respect, and it must flow both ways. The older women must respect the stage of life those younger women are in, and seek to remember how difficult it…
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In Need of Help
On June 18, 2008, a woman named Esmin Green passed away due to blood clots in her legs. Sadly, deaths like this are common, but there is one thing about Green’s death that stands out to me. She was in a hospital waiting room when she died. Looking at the surveillance footage, it appears as if Green slumps over in her chair, and soon slips to the floor, struggling to get up. Others waiting in the room refuse to help; they barely even acknowledge her. Amazingly, a guard rolls in on his swivel chair, but, disgustingly, he doesn’t even get out of his chair. After a large amount of time,…
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A Losing Quarterback with a Winning Quote
It was not “just another” Army-Navy football game. There were many factors that contributed to this particular game being unique. This particular game was scheduled for November 30, 1963. That meant that, if it was played as scheduled, it would take place only eight days after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. There were questions about whether it would be advisable to cancel the game altogether. Ultimately, the decision was made to go ahead with the game, but to reschedule it for a week later. That meant that the game would be played on December 7th – the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. There were questions…
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His Eye is On the Sparrow
I don’t know where all of our readers live, but where this writer lives, it has been cold for the past 7 days! It has been so cold that memes on the internet about canceling our seven-day free trial of living in Alaska have circulated widely. Facebook has become not much more than “how are the roads?” During all of this beautiful – if brutal – cold, I noticed some of my neighbors and got to wondering how they survive. I’m talking about the birds that stick around and don’t migrate for the winter. It is not typical for us to spend so many days in a row below freezing,…
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Paul, Sports, and Preaching
Illustrating sermons is an artform. It is one that I have always struggled with. So this is not being written by some expert in that part of sermon preparation. However, there is something I have heard a fairly significant number of preachers say that bothers me. They will be getting ready to share a sermon illustration–maybe their second or third in a sermon–and they’ll say something like this: “Paul wrote about sports a lot, so I’m going to go back to the world of sports.” With that, they will launch into a story from some sport to illustrate the point they are making. Now, let me say this: I am…
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There’s Nothing to Do Here
I’ve never lived in a major metropolitan area. I grew up in a rural area outside the city limits of a town that, according to the latest census figures that I could find, has about 6,500 residents. After Donna and I married, we actually lived in that same town for the first eight years of our marriage. Since then, we have lived in (or just outside of) towns with populations of about 1,500, 8,000, and 27,000. That last figure is the population for Paducah, Kentucky, where we presently live. That figure may be a little misleading, though. That is the population for people who live within the actual city limits. There…
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VBS: Valley Bible Studies
Recently, Luke was part of helping a new work get off the ground for the congregation in Salem, Virginia where he is now the Youth and Family Minister. The work is called “Valley Bible Studies” (or, VBS) and is a multi-pronged effort. Below is a document he has shared with us about the various aspects of this online work. Click here to see the website and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app. Breaking-Down-Valley-Bible-StudiesDownload
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Skating on Thin Ice
The temperature the last few days has been frigid and, added to that, we have snow covering everything. It’s a beautiful sight to behold. Our house is located on a decorative pond with a fountain at one end. In spite of the sub zero temperatures, that fountain has continued to run and that end of the pond isn’t frozen solid. Our end looks like a beautiful ice skating rink, but it isn’t. While working in our office, I noticed two young people leaning down over the side of the pond and hitting the ice with a hammer. Then I noticed that they were wearing, not ice skates, but roller blades.…
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The Iowa Caucuses and Evangelism
As this post is being released, the first true results of the 2024 election cycle will be in. Iowa held caucuses and people let it be known which candidate they preferred. But this is not a political article. It’s about how the coverage of these events always works, and how we can’t let it infiltrate a congregation’s evangelistic efforts. Huh? Here’s what I mean: every four years, when these first-in-the-nation events happen in an election, there will be wall-to-wall coverage. We will hear about how long candidates have been in the state. We will hear about the tremendous amount of work they have done. We will hear about how much…
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From Three to Two to One
When you read that title, you may have thought of the last few seconds prior to the launching of a rocket, the end of a dramatic basketball game, or something else like these things. In reality, the title has nothing to do with any of those things. Instead, it has to do with how confusing our society is becoming. It is (or at least it used to be) normal during a wedding ceremony for a preacher to encourage the couple getting married to make sure that God was the third partner in their relationship. He might even spend some time explaining some of the benefits of that. Even if the…
