I missed Lebanon Road yesterday. I’m holding a meeting in Vienna, Illinois, this week, and getting an opportunity to spend some time with my family during the day.

JD Buckner, our youth minister, preached yesterday and, from all reports, did a great job. He also announced that he and his wife–Maria–will have a second child in November. James David will get to be a big brother! Please pray for this good family as they prepare to bring another life into the world.

There were 331 in attendance yesterday morning, and 251 stayed for Bible classes. I know they all heard a good sermon and learned much in Bible class.

In Vienna, 52 were present for the AM service. While that number may not sound like a lot, there were just 33 last week, so 52 is a tremendous number! We’re looking forward to many visitors tonight.

I sometimes wonder what is wrong with me. Okay, I wonder that quite often.

One of the ways I struggle is with saying, “no.” I want to speak as often as possible to help those who need to hear (and myself, through study and preparation), but sometimes those speaking engagements run together, and life gets tiring.

These next few days are an example of that. Here’s what I have coming up:

I’ll be speaking three times at the Youth Day for the Central church of Christ in Paducah, Kentucky, on Saturday. The three topics are “Where Have You Been?”, “Where Are You Now?” and “Where Are You Going?” If you are near Paducah, come by for an uplifting day with some good young people.

Then, from Sunday through Wednesday, I’ll be speaking in a series of Gospel Meetings for the church of Christ in Vienna, Illinois. My family moved to Vienna when I was less than one-year-old, and moved away in 1985. Though it has been many years, there are still several people there I remember, and I look forward to seeing again. I’m excited to spend some time with the pulpit minister, Bill Brandstader, as well. Services are Sunday at 9:30; 10:30; and 6:00, and Monday through Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

Finally (and more about this next week), I’ll be leading singing for the Englighten Youth Rally in Henderson, Kentucky, next Friday and Saturday.

All told, we’ll be gone from this afternoon through next Saturday night, then I’ll preach and teach at Lebanon Road on Sunday, May 4. Who makes that schedule?

One of the great things about this trip is that we’ll be able to stay with my parents in Paducah for most of it. Leah and the kids are going with me (which I always enjoy!), and that’s so good for them. We’ll miss our place in Nashville, but we’ll also enjoy seeing family and speaking the great news of Jesus!

On to the links for this week:

1. Each of us only gets 24 hours in a day. How do we make the most of it? Jeff Foster provides some tips.

2. Abilene Christian University made a controversial change recently dealing with drinking alcohol. Steve Higgenbothem’s blog led me to this article from Brotherhood News about the policy change.

3. Benevolence is one of the hardest things about “church work,” but it also yields some of the most touching stories. Drew Kizer shares one of those stories.

4. The Journey of Life makes a confession about reading through the entire Bible. I like this article because it is so “human,” and it helps us see that we can make time for reading all 66 books.

I hope you have a great weekend. I’ll do my best to post a few things next week. Remember the Lord, especially on His day.

Another uplifting day at Lebanon Road! The weather provided us with a “Chamber of Commerce” day. It was about 75 and there were just a few clouds in the sky. It was amazing.

But that wasn’t the best part of the day. We had a baptism on Sunday morning! Larry Rowen, who was visiting with us on his way to Virginia, decided that the time was right to put on Christ in baptism. So many met him after services and encouraged him. We pray that he will find a good church home wherever his travels lead him.

We had a ton of visitors yesterday. Several were from Pearlington, Mississippi. Lebanon Road recently became the “lead” congregation in overseeing that work. The preacher from Pearlington preached last night. The message was uplifting. Besides those from Mississippi, though, we were blessed with many other visitors. We had folks from Alabama, Indiana, and several places in Tennessee. Many were from the Nashville area.

All told, 349 were with us for morning worship and a great number–278–stayed for Bible class.

I will be away next Sunday, holding a Gospel Meeting in Vienna, Illinois (more about that later), so the weekly report may be brief.

Please continue to pray that things will go well on Lebanon Pike!

Allen Webster, who is quite widely known as the editor of House to House/Heart to Heart has brought together a great study. One series of tracts published by HTH is on the subject of the seven things God hates, listed in Proverbs 6.

Now, much of the material from those tracts has been placed into book form. Make no mistake, though; even though based upon tracts, there is “meat” in this book.

Written in 13 chapters, Webster makes very modern-day, practical applications of each of the “seven.” In fact, when it comes to “hands that shed innocent blood,” three chapters are filled with information. As you might expect, two of those chapters deal with abortion–the modern-day shedding of innocent blood that is far to common in our society.

If you are a preacher, you will find the material highly “preachable.” Each chapter is filled with illustrations (both humorous and serious), statistics, and quotes. More than that, many chapters are covered with Scripture, both written out and referenced. To say that brother Webster “did his homework” would be a great understatement.

This book, due to having 13 chapters, would make an excellent Bible class book. As mentioned, it is practically-written, and books with that in mind make great discussion starters.

To purchase a copy for just $7.95, click here.