Blog (Page 11)
What to Do With Proverbs?
As we continue in our study of the Book of Proverbs together this Sunday, I wish to teach you a new word: Paremiologist. You and I are not Proverbians or Proverbers. You and I are paremiologists. Paremiology is the study of proverbs and a paremiologist is someone who dedicates himself to the study of proverbs. There, my work is done here. Please don’t be impressed. I just learned it recently myself. What would you say about the Book of Proverbs?…
This Fall at LifeWay
This Sunday is Labor Day weekend, and then next Sunday, September 12, we officially launch into the new academic year. Where are we going this new year? you might ask. What will Fall at LifeWay look like? What is our new schedule? What are we teaching? Read and find out! 3 Doors to LifeWay Church When COVID-19 began, we moved our worship gathering time to 10 a.m. each Sunday, which will continue for both in-person and online worship this fall.…
An Overview of Our Summer Study in Proverbs
We have spent twelve Sundays over the course of the summer taking a good look at the book of Proverbs. You may not have spent much time in this book of the Bible before this summer, but I do pray that the series has helped opened up a wealth of wisdom for you. If it has, then mission accomplished! If you missed any of these summer services, you can find them in the sermon archive (or in the list below).…
The Word of God—How Does It Shape You?
Proverbs 30:5-6 (NIV) Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. We are nearing the end of our summer series focused on Proverbs, and God’s wisdom merged with our real lives. This Sunday we are coming into what I consider one of the most important proverbs, all about the wisdom of God’s Word. To shape…
What I Learned Visiting Eternal Anchor
Last week I had the privilege of visiting Eternal Anchor, LifeWay’s missions partner in Baja California, Mexico. In many ways, it was probably a pretty typical missions trip—a high-poverty area, a mix of manual labor and time with kids, sleeping on bunk beds…but let me assure you, this was not a typical place. Here are several things I learned visiting Eternal Anchor: Eternal Anchor is a life-saving ministry. While many people with disabilities sadly still suffer discrimination and difficulties in…
Remembering Elgin Taylor
RECOGNITION OF A LIFE OF COMMITMENT AND SURRENDER TO CHRIST A few days ago, LifeWay Church lost one of its dear church members, Elgin Taylor. Elgin and Dorothy Taylor came into our church family about 9 years ago, and this was his final earthly church to be part of. This coming Monday, August 23, at 1 p.m. at LifeWay Church, we will be holding a celebration of his life and a “glory to God” memorial service. Everyone is invited to…
Iron Sharpens Iron
Have you ever worked with a dull tool? I have a chainsaw. In fact, I have had many chainsaws in my life. My friend always warned me to be careful to keep the chain away from the dirt because it will grow dull quickly. I have struggled with heeding his warning. The last time I used the saw, it seemed like it took forever to cut through a piece of firewood that normally would have taken me just a quick…
A Theology About Tithes
What if I were to tell you that you don’t need to tithe when you come to church, ever? There, I said it. It’s true. But allow me to explain. If you guessed that tithing is a teaching from God in the Old Testament, you have guessed correctly. God commanded the Israelites, through the requirement of the Mosaic Law, to give ten percent of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised to the tabernacle/temple. Leviticus 27:30 Thus all…
Eternal Anchor: Day 6
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily highlights and experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Friday, August 13 Sometimes when your group gathers for an activity you just need to sit in a ball pit—and everyone is cool with that. The end of the week feels like a big celebration before everyone goes home for the weekend. Come experience Eternal Anchor for yourself! We’re accepting applications through August 15 for the next short-term mission trip in…
Eternal Anchor: Day 5
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily highlights and experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Thursday, August 12 Sam gets messy with the kids at Eternal Anchor. Shaving cream is a simple sensory tool used for drawing—and playing!! Each day the kids have a Bible story time. They often act out the story with costumes and repeat the story all week so they get lots of chances to learn it. Normal games like bowling are simply…
Making Plans: Does It Really Matter?
If we have learned anything over the last 17 months, it’s that when we make a plan of any kind, we’d better be prepared for the reality of needing to change those plans. Just about every plan you’ve made over the course of this year and half has probably needed to change. We’ve changed vacation plans, financial plans, school plans, work location plans, wedding venue plans, and more. Our summer study in Proverbs is all about learning to merge God’s…
Eternal Anchor: Day 4
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. WednESDAY, AUGUST 11 Painting with shaving cream is one of many simple sensory activities the kids at Eternal Anchor enjoy. Not only do they dance and have fun, but members of the adult program learn by participating in everyday activities like cleaning up and setting up snack time. One of my favorite things about Eternal Anchor’s program is that they encourage kids to…
Eternal Anchor: Day 3
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. TuesDAY, AUGUST 10 We spent some time helping Eternal Anchor begin their move to a new school campus. A local community center is allowing them to use their space for the next 5 years. This will allow them to expand the residential program at their current campus. Stella and Emilie help Raul work on strengthening his legs for walking. Game time at the…
Eternal Anchor: Days 1-2
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Sunday, August 8 Wow, they always tell you to be flexible on a mission trip, and we got to practice that right away. A 3 a.m. wake-up call, 5-hour flight delays, canceled Uber rides, and confused van rentals left the team killing time in San Diego—which, honestly, is not a bad place to kill some time. However, we still ended up hitting the…
Who is the Angel of the Lord?
Have you heard of the name, “Angel of the Lord,” in the Bible? I think you have. It appears a total of 64 times. It is always mentioned in the singular. You will not find the name mentioned in the plural anywhere. There are not “angels of the Lord” in the Bible. Written with the definite article before the name, “the angel of the Lord” appears a total of 53 times. That leaves “angel of the Lord,” without the definite…
Wisdom and Wealth
How impressed with money are you? Imagine for a moment that you are at a large gathering of people—a wedding, or some kind of party. Then a wealthy person walks into the room, someone famous and super-rich! (Insert a name here.) Would you notice? Would you be impressed? Most of us would. But why? I think it is because we are impressed with money and those who make lots and lots of it. Somehow we equate wisdom and success with the accumulation…
God’s Wisdom in My Parenting
We are continuing to study Proverbs all summer, which is a merging of God’s wisdom with our real lives. Many of the proverbs we have highlighted are not well known at all. I encourage you to continue to read through the book of Proverbs for the summer, and highlight some that stand out to you. Some you will find interesting—and a few you will even find odd-sounding. But this coming Sunday’s focus verse is actually one of the most famous…
Talking in the Proverbs
There are more than 7.7 billion people living on this planet, but as you know, there is not one culture. There are many different cultures, and this makes our planet a most interesting place to live. Because there are many different cultures, we do many things differently, of which one is how we talk to each other. Did you know that not everyone talks in the same way Americans do? People from different parts of the world talk with each…
Gossip
In a 2019 study published in a journal named Social Psychological and Personality Science, 467 adults were asked to wear electronic devices on their bodies that recorded their verbal conversations over the course of several days. The researchers listened to the recorded audio files and hunted for conversations or anything that could be identified as gossip. The results were very interesting. Practically everyone engaged in some form of gossip. Only 34 individuals showed no evidence of gossip at all. Seventy-five…
God’s Wisdom and My Pleasure
What does God’s wisdom say about my pleasure and leisure? Rarely do we discuss what God says about “pleasure” and “leisure” in church—but Proverbs does have a quote about it. Proverbs 21:17 (NIV) Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich. There it is. We have already learned that Proverbs has many wise sayings about many subjects that are all over the board. Some make perfect sense to us logically; some challenge…
Integrity in the Proverbs
One day, a mother brought her young boy to an old man, and asked him to tell her boy how he was never to eat sugar again because of its harmful effects on his teeth and overall health. The old man didn’t say anything to the little boy that day. However, he asked the mother to bring the boy back again to him one month later. When she returned with her boy, the old man did what he was asked…
The Doors to LifeWay Church: An Update
An Update on LifeWay’s Services — Summer 2021 When we went into government-called lockdown in March 2020 (15 months ago!), we were not only in shock a good bit, but like everyone else, we never dreamed this would go on like it has. Within a short time, we created a phrase and a plan, “3 Doors to LifeWay Church,” that helped us all understand how to stay connected both to worship and to the rest of the church family. We…
A Proverb of Personal Alignment
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. I have many, many Bible passages that I review, pray through, think about, and from which I apply truth at different times in my life’s journey. But this passage, Proverbs 3:5-6, ranks in the Top 2 for me. (The other is 1 Peter 5:6-11.) This proverb is a cornerstone. It seems to…
Merging God’s Wisdom with Real Life
Merging God’s Wisdom with Real Life: Our summer study in the Proverbs Have you ever read the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament? There’s lots of quotes and sayings that go all over the place. But do you know why Proverbs is in the Bible? Here’s how the book opens to help us understand why this is here for us: Proverbs 1:1-7 (NIV) The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight;…
Until We Walk Again
Well, we’re almost there! It’s been a slow (but hopefully good!) walk through 2 John—a book that many of us have probably overlooked for most of our Christian walk. We have so far seen that the elect are those who remain in obedience to walk in truth and love and who will receive the reward of Christ. Through our faithfulness to allow God’s Word and our relationship with him to change every aspect of our lives, we will receive the…