2016 archive

Assume Sincerity

I attended the Better Conference back in September.  There was a round table discussion with five of our most respected and successful preachers.  All were veterans with ministry experience of 40-60 years.  They were discussing various ministry topics when a question was asked about how to handle those of other Christian faiths. One brother said …

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Emergency Workers Appreciation Night Report

This past Sunday night 7 Oaks Church of Christ honored the emergency workers of our community.  We invited all law enforcement, firemen, and EMT workers to our evening service and a meal.  We advertised on Facebook and the local paper for this event.  We personally invited many of our Emergency Workers and departments. The night …

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New Thoughts on Old Sacrifices

I am teaching a Wednesday night Bible class on the Old Law.  This week we are studying the sacrificial system.  We are all familiar with the foreshadowing of Christ in the sacrificial system.  But here are a few fresh thoughts I have from looking at this in an in-depth manner.  (I am not going to …

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Feeding the Problems and Starving the Star Performers in the Church

Mark Sanborn wrote about the extraordinary service of Fred the Postman in his best-selling book The Fred Factor in 2004.  The book tells about Fred’s generosity and commitment to excellence in the midst of normalcy.  The book encourages people to be a Fred.  The real Fred Shea gained some recognition from the book, but has …

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Allowing God to Interrupt Your Life

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologians who died under Nazi persecution wrote this in his book Life Together. “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our path with their demands and requests. We …

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Before You Go on Fall Break

It is that week!  It happens each spring and fall with the schools taking a week long break.  Families head out of town  for a week of vacation.  Our church attendance will likely be significantly down this Sunday as many of our people will be gone. Before you leave, or maybe while you are in …

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Group-Tipping Our Christian Duty

I don’t think anyone likes it, except the waiters, when restrauants add a mandatory percentage of tip when you are dining as a big group.  Likely the main reason for such is they have learned when people eat in big groups it requires more work from the servers and often people don’t tip like they …

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“Jesus a Friend to Sinners”: What Does It Mean?

We love the expression, “Jesus a friend to sinners.”  We have popularized it in songs and it appeals to our need of his love.  But it was originally applied by his enemies who were accusing him of sin.¹  What does this expression mean for our lives today? It does not mean . . .  Certainly …

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Drawing Faith Lines: A Lesson from Patent Shoes

We are called to live out an ancient faith in this modern world.  This means we often have to use biblical principles to make judgments about what we should and should not do in this world.  Christians often disagree on these judgements and controversy seems to surround these topics. We were discussing this idea in ladies’ …

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Family Vacation and Church Retreat Rolled into One

I had always thought about family vacations and church retreats being separate things.  A church retreat is usually just for a weekend get away.  It is intense and involves people spending most all of their time with church family.  It is typically within driving distance and often at some type of a camp or park. …

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