Amos: God Cares

Amos, the farmer-turned-prophet, preached during a time of surging national optimism: business was booming, and boundaries were growing.  But Amos saw through the façade and preached against the greed, hypocrisy, and false worship.  As our world comes to grips with a pandemic that has devastated booming economies, will we go back to putting our hope in ourselves or will we place our hope in God?

Watch the whole series: God Speaks

(c) 2020 Brentwood Baptist Church. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Once and Future King

November 24, 2019 | “The Once and Future King” | Luke 1:26-33 | The Church at Station Hill

The angel tells Mary not just that she will bear a holy Child but that he will sit on the throne of his father David and that the reign of his kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:32-33). Jesus wasn’t born in some safe and sanitized holiday scene, but in a war zone in which He died with a sign over his head which read, “King of the Jews.”

Watch the whole series: Come Lord Jesus

(c) 2019 Brentwood Baptist Church. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Understanding Present Heaven

July 28, 2019 | “Understanding Present Heaven” | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | The Church at Station Hill


“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope…encourage each other with these words.” Much of our confusion about heaven stems from our understanding about the present and future nature of heaven. While the intermediate or present heaven is a wonderful place, the present heaven is not where we will live forever: we are destined for eternal life as resurrected beings on a resurrected earth.

Watch the full series, Destination: Eternity.

(c) 2019 Brentwood Baptist Church. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Workflowy Guest Blogger

Workflowy Guest Blogger

Workflowy posted a screen cast I made showcasing how I use their tool to outline fiction. Check out the post below, as well as the original article I wrote on The Writing Cooperative.

Read the original article.

Here’s the original article on The Writing Cooperative.

Get the outlines

Also, you can grab all the outlines mentioned in this post directly from my Workflowy account.

And She Fell at His Feet

And She Fell at His Feet

Mary of Bethany as a Model of Christian Discipleship

Mary’s brother was dead, and there was nothing she could do to change it. A few days earlier, she and her sister, Martha, had sent for their friend. He was a known healer, but he had yet to arrive. Now, the time for healing had come and gone. All that was left was to sit and to grieve. That’s what Mary was doing when her sister found her.

“He’s here,” Martha said. “And he’s asking for you.”

If He came to heal, He was four days late. Mary went out to meet him, to ask him why he took so long. She would tell Him if He had been here, none of this would have happened. But before she could say any of this, she fell at His feet and wept.

Read the full devotion at Koinonia.

Road Trip

Road Trip

“Rerouting,” Siri said for the third time.

“Honey, why don’t you just do what she says?”

Rick glared at his wife. “No. I’m not getting us lost because some nerd in Cupertino thinks he knows the backroads of Escambia County better than I do.”

“But we are lost,” Patti said.

“We are not lost.” Rick turned off the GPS. He had listened to the persistent droning of female voices since Nashville and was tired of it. At least he could put Siri in silent mode. “Once we drop Uncle Glenn in Brewton, it’s a straight shot to your sister’s house.” He pointed to the digital clock in the dash. “See? It’s not even midnight. We’re making great time. We just need to find some gas soon. That’s all.”

Read the full story on Lit Up.

Falling

Falling

The old man sat alone on the bench and watched the family from a distance. Four of them picnicked in the center of the park, beneath a massive oak near a playground and a pond. The father’s tie hung loosely around his neck. His leather loafers and dress socks sat discarded on a nearby quilt. A shirttail escaped the back of his slacks as he ran barefoot through the grass and tackled a boy holding a football. A toddler in a princess dress cheered them on, her red curls bouncing as she jumped up and down.

Clouds were coming. Maybe rain. The old man felt it in his hands and knees. Across the lawn, the father chased his children, unaware of the weather ahead. In the shadow of the oak, the mother looked on and laughed, at least on the outside. The old man imagined her hidden tears as she wondered how on earth she would tell them about the tumor and the treatment and the time she might have left . . .

Read the full story at Literally Literary.

How An Online Writing Community Changed My Perspective

How An Online Writing Community Changed My Perspective

I once worked for a small record label. Believe me when I say you’ve never heard of it. My role had little to do with music, and my influence was minimal. But that didn’t stop my friends from pitching their material.

“Hey, man. I wrote this song,” they’d say. “Love to get your thoughts.”

There’s this thing called the “Nashville No.” Basically, it’s when someone says, “Okay. I’ll listen to it and get back to you.” Then they don’t. It’s pretty effective. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have a name.

That doesn’t work so well with friends. You see them too much, care for them too much. Assuming their work is (like most pitches) more passion than potential, you eventually have to find an honest but helpful way to give them — perspective.

Read the full article at The Writing Cooperative.