Today we are celebrating Hannah’s 3rd birthday.  She is excited!  She is looking forward to opening presents.  Her heart’s desire this birthday is a princess bicycle.  Guess what we bought her?  A Princess Bicycle!  I hope she doesn’t read this and spoil the surprise.

Tonight is the night she has been waiting for.  Chuck E. Cheese!  She has been telling us for days, Chuck E. Cheese is going to sing to her.  She loves Chuck E.  Now as for me, I like Chuck E. Cheese about as much as the dentist.  But I will be going to the party anyway, after all I am Hannah’s dad. 

Hannah has been a gift from God to us.  We were told that we could not have any more children and God miraculously worked on our behalf.  We are thankful for Hannah.

Happy Birthday Princess Hannah!  (For those of you that don’t know her, that is what she calls herself)

Most Americans will remember that fateful day in our history that changed this nation.  The terrorist attacks that gripped America and shed the blood of thousands of innocent lives impacted us greatly.

It’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since 9-11.  Our prayer should be that our nation would never have to endure that kind of attack again.  We should also cling to Christ just as we did after that day.  We should continue to hold onto Him as we seek God’s best for our nation.

God Bless America!

God is not moved or impressed with our worship until our hearts are moved and impressed by Him.

-Kelly Sparks-

Today was the fateful day that I knew would come but I did not want to face.  I handed over the keys to Lucille, my beloved.  She had many ailing problems that I could not fix and I had to make the decision to put her up for sale.  The sad part is I could find no takers, so I sold her to the Salvage “Junk” Yard.  I listened to the way the Junk Yard Dog talked about Lucille.  How she wasn’t worth much, how she had a lot of problems.  Nonetheless He took her!

When I drove off from the Salvage Yard it felt like I had just left one of my kids at an orphanage. There is a bright side , taking a car to the Salvage Yard is like being an organ donor.  Lucille will live on in 100 different cars.  At least she will leave a legacy.

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”  -Richard Sibbes-

HT: Ray Ortlund

Since Josh is fifteen we are bracing ourselves for driving.  We have already allowed him to drive short distances and around the church parking lot, but we are not ready for the “big” streets yet.  He is a conscientious kid but learning to drive often means mistakes.  I am not ready for that.  Also, I can’t bear the thought of turning him loose by himself in a car yet.  He is a good kid but I am very protective also. 

When I saw this cartoon, I was reminded of what learning to drive means.

Today we have been having a laid back holiday.  We decided that we would do no labor on Labor Day.  It seems like that is an oxymoron in itself to have a holiday called Labor Day and they let you off of work.  We woke up this morning with no agenda and late this morning we decided to head to our favorite cafe, Granny’s Kitchen in Huntsville.  What a meal!

When we headed back, we took a different route (on purpose) and took a lazy drive through the Ozark Mountains.  It was a beautiful drive.  It is nice just to hang out with the family.  It seems at times we are so busy and going in different directions, but I love to spend a day with Sonya and the kids.

Yesterday we had a great Sunday.  We kicked off our new Sunday School quarter with a breakfast and it was well attended.  In fact, new people came for the breakfast and got connected to a Sunday School class.  Service was also great yesterday morning.  The presence of the Lord was real!

Last night, we joined New Hope Assembly for their Labor Day picnic.  It was great to fellowship with Pastor Longmate and his church family.  They had a lot to do for the kids and Hannah really enjoyed herself.  In fact, when she woke up this morning, she said, “Is it morning?  All right let’s go to the picnic!”

As I went for my morning walk, I was thinking about how we as preachers evolve or at least should evolve.  We are to grow as preachers.  We are to become more accustomed to building quality messages as we mature in Christ.

Through the years, I have noticed something among preachers.  A quick disclaimer: I have been guilty of this on many occasions.  It appears that sometimes in our sermons, we spend more time developing a catchy title than we do writing quality content.  So my question is: Title or Content?  Sure the people can remember the title for a long time, but titles do not grow people.  Content does!

When I began preaching, I worked hard to build a great title.  In fact, I would get the title first and build a sermon around it.  As I was looking back over some of my old sermons I noticed a couple of titles that I had built a message around:

“Don’t Be A Weinie Christian!”
“Get Off Your Spiritual Buts”
“I’ve Fallen And Can Get Up”
“Oscar Meyer Christians”
“There Were No Easter Bunnies At Calvary”
“No Smoking Section”

Some of these sermon titles are remembered by some of my family, but they do not remember what it was about.  This is where content is key.  It is what is within the message that helps people grow spiritually.  It might be good advertising to have a catchy title, but word of mouth advertising is better when you have something important to say all the time.  What I mean is, if we preach with good content, people will invite their friends to hear more messages with good content.  When people learn something, they want to share it. 

I am challenged in my own life to prepare a message where people leave with something learned and gained from it.  If it is a slick title with a weak message they are sure to be disappointed.  Kind of like a great title on a “B” movie.