Sep 27
Another school year is in full swing; teachers are hard at work trying to educate the next generation of America. I appreciate and sympathize with the great task laid before them. I was once a licensed teacher myself. I taught for a short time before going full-time into ministry. My wife is a trained teacher as …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/our-teachers-predicament/
Sep 24
As Christians it is tempting for us to envy sinners and their choices. We look at the half-full side of their lives focusing on their pleasure and freedom. We secretly believe they have it better, but we keep living right today because we know it is best and everyone expects it from us. When our …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/jealous-saints/
Sep 22
I often get to talk to parents and kids about baptism. I try to give the best spiritual counsel and direction to the kids and parents as a I can. The questions generally center around the child’s readiness to be baptized. But things are somewhat different when you are the parent, as I experienced over …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/kids-and-baptism/
Sep 18
If you have ever built a house, you have probably heard this phrase a few thousand times! This is why most folks don’t come close to their budget. Contractors and salesmen use this line to get you to upgrade which makes them more money. I have been thinking about this concept a bunch the last …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/if-you-are-going-to-do-it-do-it-now/
Sep 15
I didn’t get to publish a blog post last week as there was so much going on in my life. If I could, let me share with you a an update on our life. It seems that death has been an all too common unwelcome visitor in our family the last couple of years. This …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/whats-going-on-in-my-life-now/
Aug 30
Caleb, our baby in the family who is almost 3 years old, was worried. Caleb had a long nap so he was amped up before bed on Wednesday night. Amanda was talking to him about the next day going to coop with the older kids and him going to his classes. The week before he …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/caleb-illustrates-our-trivial-worries/
Aug 16
Adam Faughn, a fellow blogger and preacher, asked me to write a guest post for his site A Legacy of Faith. He assigned the interesting topic of “10 Lessons on Parenting from a Small Family Farm.” Adam wrote a post for me this past week on “3 Ways To Turn Off Guests at Worship.” Check …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/10-lessons-on-parenting-from-a-small-family-farm/
Aug 13
We don’t want to be judged by others, yet we can be guilty of constantly comparing ourselves to others. We go through our days holding up measuring sticks to ourselves based on what we assume about others. We think things like this . . . We are the same age, yet they look much younger …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/dont-constantly-compare-yourself-to-others/
Aug 06
I am a first generation preacher. I never really planned or expected to be a preacher. I was lead that way through a series of events which I wrote about yesterday. I am thankful to be a preacher. I tend to think preachers can exaggerate in their own minds the difficulties and burdens of the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/reasons-i-love-preaching/
Aug 05
My decision to become a preacher cannot be pinpointed to one specific moment, but rather was a series of events and experiences that took place over several years. I grew up in the church and got some experience speaking at my home congregation and with Lads-to-Leaders. I went to Freed-Hardeman intending on being a farmer, my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/how-i-became-a-preacher/
