March 2016 archive

A Church’s First Year at Lads-to-Leaders Convention

We just got back from our congregations first year to attend the Lads-to-Leaders Convention.  I know your congregation may be considering this ministry.  I wanted to write about our experience and how we went about it in the hope of helping you as a first-timer as well.  I am going to use a bullet list …

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“You Are the Trophy”

Austin, my 11 year old son, was disappointed at not placing in his speech competition at Lads-to-Leaders.  He rocked his speech!  He delivered it the best he had ever done.  He felt really good about it.  He enjoyed the lesson, put his heart out there, and felt like he would get a trophy. He understood …

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Are You Willing to Be Bored for Jesus?

All churches can have times where you get bored.  You may get bored with a Bible class teacher, or a person who makes too many comments in Bible class.  You may be bored with the same old youth group activities.  You may not like a song leader or a song that goes on endlessly like …

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Dealing with Information Overload

Do you ever leave a great class feeling worse about yourself than when it began?  The speaker didn’t want to communicate this message, but they presented such material that it overwhelms you! Being a preacher, I can feel like this sometimes when I go to a lectureship or conference.  The speakers do a good job and …

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Apps to Help Your Family Devotions

We try to do nightly family devotionals.  We typically keep ours pretty short (between 4 – 10 minutes).  For the last year or so we have just sung songs that the kids knew by memory, or occasionally pulled out a song book.  But we don’t have enough song books, and typically don’t want to take …

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The Choice of Faith

Why do some believe and others do not? That sounds like an academic question to be debated in a philosophy of religion class until it is your child who does not believe.  You raised them to believe.  You taught them the truth and made sure they were a part of the church.  But they don’t …

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Listening to Your Wife Might Make You a Golfing Legend (or Not!)

I am reading Byron Nelson’s autobiography.  Nelson is a golfing legend who still holds several records.  He was a member of the Church of Christ and known for being a great gentlemen.  I found this little story about him wanting a new driver amusing.  You see in golfing circles, and sometimes in my home, it …

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Red Letter Plan of Salvation

All of the Bible is inspired!  But some translations have indicated the words of Christ in red letters.  These are the sacred words of Jesus while he was here on earth. Do you know that you can find the plan of salvation in the words of Jesus.  While we typically use many of the passages …

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Your New Normal: What To Do When There is Nothing You Can Do!

I recently preached a series at 7 Oaks we called “Your New Normal.”  The series was taken primarily from a series of lessons originally done by Andy Stanley called “In the Meantime.”  My friend, Wes Hazel shared these lessons with me and his version of them as well. This series was well-received at 7 Oaks. …

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How The Bible is Like a Puzzle

When most people refer to the Bible as a puzzle they are talking about its mystery and difficulty, but I like to refer to it as a puzzle to illustrate how we come to  understand it. When studying with seekers who have little experience with the Bible, I like to refer them to putting together …

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