The Faughn Family of Four

One More Time

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Adam Faughn • 0 Comments

One of my favorite people was able to be at worship at Lebanon Road yesterday. For about 3 months, his health has declined, and he knows that his time on the earth is likely quite short.

I have kept in touch with him some in the past few weeks and months, but it was not just out of “duty.” This man is one of my favorites. He didn’t always compliment me, but he has always encouraged me to preach the truth. He was able to “speak the truth in love,” and encourage me to always seek that truth. His input in my Wednesday night class was always focused on following “the Word” (the phrase he used constantly), and I have missed it over the past few months.

He has not been able to attend worship for about 3 months, until yesterday. Much of his family was here, and helped him get ready and come to worship. He wasn’t quite as dressed up as he used to be, but that’s quite alright. He also needed a walker to help him stabilize while shuffling to his place, but there’s no shame in that.

As he came in, I walked up to him, shook his hand and told him how glad I was to see him. He told me that he had to come back to “check in on me” (one of our common jokes), and wanted to see everyone.

Then he said words that caused me to go near tears.

He said, “I knew I had to come one more time.”

One more time.

There’s no way to be absolutely sure, but he is fairly certain that his health will prevent him from coming again. Just being present yesterday took a stronger effort than I can fathom. But this man was not going to miss worship. Declining health or not, he was going to assemble before God and with his Christian family.

You may think this post is going to be about worship attendance. Certainly, we could talk about those faithful Christians who overcome aches, pains, and even depression to attend. They come in with walkers, canes, wheelchairs, or with shuffling feet, because they are not going to miss worship.

But I want to make another observation to encourage us all to examine our lives.

This man knows that he may or may not enter a “house of worship” again in this life. He knows that the sermon he heard yesterday may have been the last one he hears in person. He may have sung his last hymn (“O Will You Not Tell It Today,” which he has lived out countless times) in corporate worship. He may have eaten the Lord’s Supper with his brothers and sisters at Lebanon Road for the final time. I pray that’s not true. I want him to be able to come back and worship again and again, but that’s not in my hands, nor his.

But as I reflect on his words, I’m thinking about a different “one more time,” both for myself and for my friend.

You see, there is coming a day, and we know not when it will be, that some will worship “one more time,” and that “one time” will never end. The moment is coming when none of us will enter another house of worship on this earth, because time will be no more. Our “one more time” will be eternal, and around the throne of God. It will last and last, and we will never grow weary of praising and honoring the One who gave us time and blessed us in eternity.

I want to find my friend around the throne of God and lovingly tell him, “Bill, you were wrong. You got yet another ‘one more time,’ and it’s even better than either of us thought.”

Friend, will I see you there?

QUESTION: What about worship in heaven encourages you the most?

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Photo credit: Greg Westfall on Creative Commons

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Filed Under: Church Life

Motivation for Worship from a Wedding

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Adam Faughn • 0 Comments

I have weddings on my mind. Tomorrow, I will be performing the wedding ceremony for a great young couple at the Lebanon Road building. They are both recent college graduates (she in December, he just a couple of weeks ago), and their dedication to one another is clear. I am excited about their future.

As I have been preparing for their ceremony (with the express direction, “Keep it short!”), I have reviewed several Scriptures about marriage, and chosen a couple to weave throughout the “charge” in the ceremony.

Of course, one of those that I keep returning to is Ephesians 5, where Paul tells husbands to love their wives even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for her. As a husband, that passage provides one of the strongest challenges for me each time I honestly read it. To equal the love of Christ is impossible, but that does not excuse me from trying.

This morning, though, as I was reflecting a bit on that passage, it occurred to me: Shouldn’t that verse be a great motivator as I worship the Lord this Sunday?

I just wonder if that passage has ever been used that way. When we come into the assembly, we reflect on the Lord’s sacrifice, but I wonder how often we think of that phrase, “And gave himself for her,” when we worship. We are able to worship because of that concept. We have the honor of standing in the presence of God due to that love.

So, tomorrow I’ll stand before a bride and groom and see a new home formed due to love.

But then, on Sunday, I’ll stand before God in worship due to the highest form of love.

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Have a wonderful Lord’s Day!

If that doesn’t motivate me to worship, nothing will.

Filed Under: Church Life, Family

Friday Links Roundup: Time with Daddy Edition

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Adam Faughn • 2 Comments

Maybe I'll Earn a Card Like This One This Weekend!

Our ladies are having their annual retreat this weekend. That means I get the kids all to myself for the weekend, from this afternoon through Sunday afternoon. (Yes, I will need your prayers!)

I am looking forward to the time with the kids, and I hope we grow closer together by our time. I love my kids, and time with them is very precious. While being with them alone is hard work (just ask Leah, since she does it all the time), it is worth the effort and time. We’re going out tonight, and will hopefully have a little time at home tomorrow to play and laugh.

……oh, and to pray that Leah comes home on time Sunday, because we will ALL want her back with us!!!!!!!!

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On to the links for this week:

1. Balancing worship and entertainment is difficult. While entertainment is most surely not our focus, many of us do find some entertainment in worship! So, how do we explain that? A Conquering Faith shares a brief article and a simple chart that helps us in their article, “You Can Call It Entertainment, but If It’s Worship, It Must be Pleasing to God.”

2. It is amazing how many “artists” (define however you’d like!) claim to be Christian, but their “acts” defy that description. A rap group, The Insane Clown Posse, took that a step further recently. Study Your Bible Online shares some interesting thoughts on their site in “Insane Clown Posse and Christianity.”

3. What should we wear to worship? That is a common question, and is often answered with a simple, “Your best.” There is more to that question, though. Read prayerfully from Cindy Colley’s post, “What about Attire for Worship?” Ladies, please take some time to focus on the section dealing with young ladies wearing suggestive clothing to worship. It is a problem in many locations.

4. Many of you have heard of the Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, a document that played a major role in the American Restoration movement. Thanks to my friend, Mark Adams, you can read this short document in pamphlet form. If you like Church history, take a few minutes and read this important document by clicking here.

5. One news item that is creating a buzz this week is the recent shut down of several pornographic studios on the West Coast, due to an unnamed “actor/actress” (not even the gender has been disclosed) testing positive for HIV. This happened several years ago and shut down the industry for some time while workers were tested, but the industry came back and now, according to some sources, is the 7th-largest industry in America. This news item should be enough to remind us of how trashy (not to mention, immoral) this industry is, when one positive test shuts down multiple studios. Just think about what that implies! Here is the Fox News article from Wednesday on the story.

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We hope you have a wonderful weekend. I know that our ladies’ retreat will go well, as so much work has been put into the weekend. They will hear several good lessons (including a great lesson from Leah, who is speaking Saturday afternoon!) and will enjoy wonderful periods of fellowship.

Make sure you give this weekend to the Lord, too, and make sure you are with His people on His Day!

Filed Under: Links Roundups

When “Reality” Sets In

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Adam Faughn • 1 Comment

I love being a dad! There are days when it is difficult, but, as we look at the “big picture,” it is a very rewarding work. As children age, though, there are certain things that are harder to explain.

Recently, my family got in our car and headed toward the church building for our evening worship assembly. We left at about our usual time, backed down our driveway, and started down the street. My two children usually sing or just enjoy the regular sights.

On this trip, however, we got a teachable moment that I wish we didn’t have to have. My daughter, age 4, spoke up and said, “Daddy, why are so many people still at home?”

I wanted to say:

“We’re leaving a little earlier than usual (what was true, by about five minutes), and they’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”
“They go to another faithful congregation that starts at a later time than we do.”
“They are ill and simply can’t go tonight.”

I couldn’t say those things, though. After thinking for just a moment, I gave this response: “Honey, not everyone goes to church. We want them to, though, don’t we? We want them to learn about God, don’t we?” Her response was a loud and meaningful, “Yes!”

For the rest of our short commute, I thought about her question. It made me want to do better about inviting our neighbors and friends. It made me desire to teach our kids to be evangelistic and encouraging. It made me sad in some ways, because there may be a day coming when our children want to do what “everyone else” is doing, although I pray that day doesn’t come.

Then, though, my mind turned in a different direction. So many parents have had to answer a similar question, and it’s a question that has to be more difficult to answer. It’s a question that I’m sure will be coming sooner rather than later. It’s a moment when reality will be hard on our precious children, but when we will have an opportunity to instill higher values in our kids.

It’s the moment when they ask, “Daddy, why doesn’t every Christian come to more than just the morning worship?”

Are you causing that question to be asked?

Filed Under: Family

Thursday Hymn Reflection: "I Need Thee Every Hour"

Posted on January 21, 2010 by faughnfamilyof4 • 2 Comments

[On Thursdays, we "reflect" on hymns submitted by our readers. If you would like to add your favorites--no more than 3, please--to our upcoming list, leave the names of the songs in the comments.]

Written by a housewife in 1872, the simple words of “I Need Thee Every Hour” continue to bring comfort to many folks each time they are sung. In his book Then Sings My Soul, Robert Morgan gives the Annie Hawks’ own words as to where the poem came from (from page 179):

One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, ‘I need thee every hour,’ were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me.

To me, the greatest line in the song is in the 2nd verse, where Hawks wrote, “Temptations lose their power / When Thou art nigh.” While it is true that we need the Lord at all times, there is nothing more comforting to me than knowing He is near when I am fighting a temptation. That knowledge always makes the fight easier to win.

Millions have gained comfort from these words at other times, though, as they speak to nearly any difficult situation. It would be hard to think of the number of funerals at which I’ve sung this song of simple comfort, and it has, no doubt, been sung at the bedside of those passing from this life into the next, as well.

One thing I take from this song is the final line of the chorus, where we sing, “O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.” I take from this line that there is nothing wrong with asking for a blessing. We can often cower from doing so, but, if we are walking near to God, we will be blessed!

For many, the best part of this song, though, is the line that says, “No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.” What a beautiful statement about God. Not a “booming” voice, as in the movies. Not a “harsh” voice, when we are hurting. His is a “tender” voice that brings peace in the midst of storms. What a great God, in that He doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He is nearby, and we do need Him.

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Enjoy this good version a classic hymn:

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tag Archives: worship

One More Time

Motivation for Worship from a Wedding

Friday Links Roundup: Time with Daddy Edition

When “Reality” Sets In

Thursday Hymn Reflection: "I Need Thee Every Hour"