Posts by Billy Arnold

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me lately… “how do you feel right now about your time ending as Pastor at LifeWay?”  My answers have ranged widely depending on who asks me the question. Often, I’ve made jokes about it.  Frequently I’ve answered with the normal American version of retirement by saying something like… “just bought my golf course membership so I can finally golf all the time!”  For some I have tried to have a more…

There was a radio announcer many years ago that would use a famous line in his broadcast when he said… “now you will hear… the REST of the story.”  (Paul Harvey). It is extremely common for us at church to state over and over again… “read your Bible regularly!” Why do we do this? Well, simply put, the Bible is God’s Word written for us. It is completely worth the time to study how we have the Bible, and the…

I had some unique and wonderful grandmothers… both of them… and in my typical Billy Arnold story telling fashion, I have some fun stories about them. But this story is from the life of my maternal grandmother is helping  me shape the sermon I’m going to bring this coming Sunday morning. Bear with me, there is a point here: Grandma Holleman had 5 children with my grandfather; 3 boys and 2 girls. My mom was the oldest girl and second…

We are in the last few weeks in this series of sermons that we’ve titled “Creation to New Creation.”  The passage that I would ask you to read and meditate on before you come to worship is Revelation 19:1-10. Revelation is often one of those Bible books that are confusing and often overlooked (much like the Old Testament book of Leviticus I referred to a few weeks ago). But Revelation is not a puzzle that we are left on our…

I’ve been reading the book of Leviticus lately, working my way slowly through this book that we know of as a serious and blunt book of the LAW.  I’ve told you many times that I enjoy reading a chapter or two from the Bible from multiple sections of the Bible.  Currently my readings come out of Old Testament books of Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Jeremiah, Hosea… the New Testament Luke, Romans, and Titus… then finish it off with a Psalm. The…

What motivates you to get something done? I have often talked about the very long list of projects that I have to get accomplished. I have church projects, house projects, yard projects, small projects, and huge projects. In no way am I trying to say that I always get stuff done, but I will tell you that no matter how many things I finally do get accomplished, the list that I go back to seems to just get longer and…

It was the spring of 1984, Patty and I were married with our newborn son (our son Brian) and living in Fort Worth, Texas. Our home was a mobile home park that was part of the seminary that we both attended, and in that particular spring I was trying to finish the last semester of my Seminary degree.  At that time, we had already decided that we were moving to Federal Way (we made that decision about March of 1984,…

My wife and I the other day were looking around some interesting ‘youtube’ documentaries, and we came across one that was titled “The Holiest Places on Earth.”  It peaked my interest and we watched about an hour of it. Top on the list of holiest places was a monastery on an island in Greece.  It was built centuries ago; was constructed multi-stories high on a crazy rock (to this day engineers are amazed how they did it a few hundred…

This coming Sunday I will bring to us a very famous passage of Scripture that are part of the “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament; that is. “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament describe theologically who Jesus really is and what He has done. Last week we studied Colossians 1:15-23.  I am asking you to read ahead before Sunday and meditate carefully on this week’s passage, Philippians 2:6-11. For a larger context, once you read this part, read the whole…

Have you ever given much thought to how the ancient societies seemed to have so many gods?  If you are a student in any way, even just a casual student of ancient times you will know of some of the names in the past of ‘gods’ that societies had.  Just for fun, let me remind you of some: This coming Sunday I am beginning to lay out the first of four in what is often referred to as “Christology hymns”…

If you have heard me preach and ‘tell stories’ (which I commonly do) you have learned some things about me. And one of those things is My wife and I enjoy on a day off or relaxing afternoon stopping at a garage sale. The one remarkable thing about garage sales is that of course you find lots and lots of American junk we are famous for that in our culture of collecting far more than we would ever need. But,…

At a youth Christmas party that we were at the other day I played a bit of a game with the teens… ‘name all the characters that you remember in the Christmas story.  I wonder if you could do that? Then… not only name them, but tell where they are found in the Scripture, and what their significance is.  This might be a good Christmas party game for you as well. Let me get you started: But did you on…

When the time change happens in November and the daylight grows shorter in our northern hemisphere, it is extremely noticeable. It actually might drive me crazy if it were not for the Christmas season.  But the long days of darkness become joyful for me when the Christmas lights go up.  I’m kind of a sucker for Christmas lights — not quite as bad as Clark Griswald (of the Christmas Vacation movie) but I do love them. The gorgeous lights of…

This coming Sunday, November 23, at 10am, the LifeWay Church family will be coming together for a worship time totally dedicated to “Giving Thanks!”  We did this last year and it was so meaningful. This simple article is to strongly encourage you to get ready so that YOU and I — all of us can truly participate in the most meaningful of ways. Here is what to expect at the worship service: Your assignment is to identify one or more…

What is the happiest place that you can think of? If you had a choice, what would be your happy place? I love to play a group game with people (many of you have been part of this in the past). I give people four different locations of places they could go to for their “happy place!”  (1)  A mountain chalet in the Austrian Alps; (2) A white sandy beach in the Virgin Islands surrounded by blue water and palm…

When I was a very young boy, I like many young boys, would get into little playful arguments with my friends about how strong my dad was.  I actually remember this. Now, I had a very good, strong, caring dad, and I never doubted how much dad cared for my brothers and me. We had a great upbringing actually. But it was kind of normal to have 6 year old boys brag to other boys how strong my dad was.…

Have you ever been through a job interview? Most of us have. The questions that are asked are usually similar no matter what specific job you are interviewing for: The interviewer will look for insights into you life as you give responses:   I’m sure there are many more questions, but you get the picture. Many of you have been through this. This Sunday is the Sunday before our LifeWay GIC week (Global Impact Celebration) – our beloved and important…

Recently I was watching a comedy show on TV and one of the talented comedians that I find very clever was doing a comedy skit from some Bible stories. Now let me be clear, this guy is clever and fast on his feet, and I find him most of the time pretty funny. But I just I’ve read some about his life and heard specifics out of his mouth that lead me to believe that he is not likely a…

For the past five years, we at Lifeway Church have spent the majority of our academic school year preaching sermons on Sunday morning with a major theme. And we’ve been using some very specific places in scripture that guide us to understanding and applying the Word of God. Five years ago as we began this journey, I told you that we had a five-year plan at that time. We have now completed the five years, but we are now adding…

I am writing this article to the LifeWay family New York City. To be a bit more specific, I’m writing from Brooklyn, New York. Patty and I are with our mission team working alongside some amazing Gospel workers in Brooklyn and in New York as they reach out to the college students on multiple college campuses in the greater New York City area. We have been blessed beyond measure this week, and we are not finished yet. Specifically, Josh and…

Track and Field is a great sport, but honestly much different than most other sports. It really is not a team sport at all, as it is pretty individual by the way it is set up. Let me explain: But Track and Field is very different. It is a solo sport for the most part. Yes, there are relay teams, but most of it track and field is very individual. There is one person at the starting line, and when…

The Beatles, the prominent 60’s and 70’s British rock and roll band, and specifically Paul McCartney, wrote and released a song in 1967 on their “Lonely Hearts Club Band” album, called “When I’m 64.” It’s a very clever and fun song about growing older and the expectations and fears we have about aging. An interesting fact about the song is that Paul McCartney wrote the tune to this song when he himself was about 14 years old. In 1966 as…

As I have stated many times, I have developed a personal habit of reading the Bible in multiple locations simultaneously.  Old Testament books then New Testament books, and always a Gospel story. Because of this way of reading from many locations I find many common themes throughout. One of those themes that always pops out at me is the theme of “Where is God in the Tragedy?” Every book in the Bible; in every time period of history; it doesn’t…

Whenever you use the words “prosperity” alongside the word “Gospel” it can be toxic!  For those of you who are astute in modern world church lingo, the phrase “Prosperity Gospel” is almost a curse phrase, and for good reason. Let me give a simple explanation. There have been many over the years who have abused the point of the Gospel when it is shared with the world. Some have taken truths, and strained them out to use only partial truths…