Blog (Page 2)
Shame, Guilt and Grace
Shame: Was there a time in your life as a child that a parent said to you… “You should be ashamed of yourself! That is just NOT the way we behave!” Think back on that time and see if you can remember what it was that you should have been so ashamed of. We not only have had that said of ourselves, but we likely have said that statement to someone else. Shame is a part of our life’s history.…
A special Sunday
Hello, all. My name is Andrew Stubblefield, and I have the honor of preaching at LifeWay this Sunday. I’m sure some of you might be thinking, “Wait, that Andrew Stubblefield?” Yes, this Andrew Stubblefield! Pastor Billy reached out to me in August asking if I would like to preach, but after prayerful consideration, I realized that I didn’t have time to properly prepare given how busy my life was at the time. So when work slowed down in November, I…
What is Your Favorite Christmas Song??
A couple of weeks ago I ask in the worship service to consider writing down your favorite Christmas song, and many of you participated. During this holiday week between Christmas and New Year let me tally the results for you, then for fun I will give you a little commentary! (I will use executive privilege for this!!!) The following songs received at least one vote from you the LifeWay family voted for in no particular order: Several of these had…
Emmanuel – God with Us
I am likely much like many of you in that I enjoy a few of the traditional American Christmas movies. I am NOT a Hallmark Christmas movie fan (they are all the same to me) but I love some of the comedy that comes with a few of the movies. Most of them end up with something about Christmas cheer – good tidings – positive thinking – and making good family memories. There is nothing wrong per se with any…
Behold the Lamb of God!
Behold the Lamb of God! For 20 years our church presented the outdoor walk through event called “The Living Nativity Tour.” It was a reenactment of the birth of Jesus story complete with angels, wise men, shepherds, sheep, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. We saw thousands of people come through those tours over those years (20 years of doing it, and about 450 performances! That’s lots of walk around our property in the cold of December!). At the end…
The Case for Xmas
As a young man in my twenties, there was a time when I sent Christmas cards to my family to wish them a Merry Christmas. I didn’t write “Merry Christmas”. I wrote “Merry Xmas” instead. I don’t think I did that because I wasn’t a believer in Christ at that time, and I wished to avoid making any reference to Christ, or Jesus, or God. You see, even though I wasn’t a believer, I was also not someone who opposed…
Open the Doors Wide for Christmas Fest 2023
We’re throwing a party for our neighborhood!This coming Sunday afternoon we are hosting our Christmas Fest party that is geared heavily to children and their families. Let me make sure that we all understand why this event is so important to us. For many of us if you don’t have kids you may think that this is not for you. This is far from the truth.As we have discovered in recent years it is more and more difficult to open…
unwrapping the name of jesus – what’s in a name?
Recently I got into a conversation with a teenage relative of mine about their name. We all call him Jack – and that’s the name he goes by – but his first name is really John. That led to a discussion about how that at his birth his parents named him John, but immediately they began to call him Jack. Why? That led to a little historical review and another famous person in history, President John F. Kenedy, wasactually called…
peace with God
Peace with God As I write this article to you I am sitting on the deck of a very peaceful place… floating along the Mississippi River in one of those river cruise boats. Why am I here? I didn’t come here in order to write this article. Quite sometime ago my mother-in-law wanted to go on a trip with her children and their spouses, of which I am one of those who got to be included! So we are enjoying…
A Worship Service of Giving Thanks!
A Worship Service of Giving Thanks! This coming Sunday morning, November 19, we are dedicating our worship service to celebrate Thanksgiving. We will NOT have Turkey and dressing (you can do that this week with your family and friends) but we will take the time to learn what it means to when the Bible says… “Give Thanks…” and then we will practice it. So here is your assignment as you prepare for worship this Sunday morning… Before you come Sunday…
A Promise That Came By Faith
There may not be a more significant word other than the word, “Faith” in Christianity. Our parents taught us about faith in our homes. We heard the children’s Sunday school teacher repeat it Sunday after Sunday. Then, as adults, we heard even more about God’s righteousness that comes through faith. It is not our works that brings righteousness. It is our faith. And this is why it is surprising to me what happened to the Jewish Christians in the days…
What’s in your wallet?
Most of us when we hear this question immediately identify the commercial on TV, the main actor who is featured, and the product being pitched. Being able to identify the product being advertised makes a really quality commercial. The actor: Samuel L Jackson. The product: Capital One credit! See… they are even getting some free air time from us in this newsletter! But let’s think about that phrase… “what’s in your wallet?” It implies so many things that tug at…
Crossing the Continental Divide
Crossing the Continental Divide In North and South America our combined continents are divided east and west — and this line is of greater significance than any divide that might show us north and south. All water that east of the continental divide flows essentially into the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico and its direct connection to the Atlantic). All water that hits west of this divide flows into the Pacific Ocean. When I was a kid our grandparents took…
My Thoughts on Forgiveness (Part IV)
Read Part I Read Part II Read Part III Forgiving another person is hard You know by now that forgiving another person is not easy. Forgiving others is hard work. It is supposed to be hard. If we are doing this right, forgiving others is hard because it costs us something. It requires us to cast aside our selfishness. It requires us to restrain ourselves from taking revenge on, and slander, those who have offended us. It requires us to…
My Thoughts on Forgiveness (Part III)
Read Part I Read Part II So, to forgive is, to me, more than to think or say or act as though what had happened was not a big deal, and less than forgetting what that someone has done to offend us. It is somewhere inbetween the two. I know that doesn’t really help you – we all can use a little more definition. So, I wish to share in here some of what I am thinking about forgiveness. Keep…
We are Sent to the Nations
Seems like a regularly get either an email or a brochure in the mail about a cruise to some wonderful destination. Many of you have been on cruises before – but oddly, with all my travels, I never have been at least to this point in my life. But either way, I enjoy looking and dreaming when looking through those brochures. There are a couple of cruises that especially intrigue me. One of them is one that leaves western Europe…
My Thoughts on Forgiveness (Part II)
Read Part I Giving a definition of what is forgiveness is a huge undertaking because of its many complex aspects. How do you define what is forgiveness? The Minister John MacArthur writes, “Forgiveness is a verbally-declared, personally-given promise, a statement of undeserved, unearned love that affirms that though I have been offended, there is no anger, no hatred, no desire for vengeance, no bitterness, no retaliation.” The person who has forgiven another has done all those things. Some say to…
News of the World
I do enjoy a good movie, and one came out in 2020 staring Tom Hanks (a great actor) that was called “News of the World.” Set in that late 1800’s post Civil War Texas, the main character would travel around to small villages in the frontier of Texas and read newspapers to people. Even though these farmers and ranchers in the tough frontier land of Texas were not able to go anywhere outside their own county, they could feel attached…
My Thoughts on Forgiveness (Part I)
You and I are not very different from each other. I know I am not wrong. Each of us has stepped on someone’s toes. Maybe not all the time, but enough times. I know, because you and I are sinners, and it is only a matter of time before we step on each other’s toes. We have been guilty of saying insensitive things to another person, and offended them. We have said the wrong things and have done things we…
Welcome to GIC Season!
Welcome to GIC season! LifeWay’s annual Global Impact Celebration will take place Wednesday, October 18- Sunday, October 22. We hope that you will prepare your calendar (ie, clear it!!) so that you can get the most out of this awesome time. But we also want you to prepare your heart and mind so that God can speak to you during that time. On Sunday, you will receive booklets with lots of information about the GIC, but also information about how…
GIC – (Global Impact Celebration) is up at LifeWay!
In and around the years 2008 to 2010 here at LifeWay Church, they were tough years here, and we began wrestling with how to follow God’s lead to make a difference in the world. The leadership of this congregation were deeply moved and began to take distinctive steps to leading our church in very specific ways into how to take on the responsibility of making footprints for the gospel in specific places in the world that He has guided us…
What do we learn from an autopsy?
Have you ever had an autopsy performed on yourself? Silly question… of course not! If you are reading this article then you are still around, still alive, and haven’t needed an autopsy. We have to first die before an autopsy, right? An autopsy is something we perform on the dead to try to figure out what happened to them. Why did they die? We often learn from autopsy’s how to help others who suffer from the same disease. This is…
A Mirror and a Telescope
We all have a mirror but we may not all have a telescope. But we certainly know the difference between them. We use a mirror when we want to get dressed and make sure that everything is in its proper place. We use a mirror when we really want to take a closer look at ourselves – our face, our hair, or any blemishes we might want to find on ourselves. A telescope of course is useless to us if…
From the Desk of Alvin
All of us are grateful to Edwin and Danielle for their ministry to the youth and children at LifeWay. I especially appreciate their simple love, and having their home always opened to our young ones. Youth and children’s ministries will obviously not look the same this fall, and I wish to take a moment to communicate what is being planned for both ministries so the whole church is informed. The plan for the children’s ministry is for LifeWay adults to…
From the Desk of Billy
This coming Sunday I have asked Chris Thomas to bring our teaching message. We had Chris as a GIC missionary guest this past fall as he is the church planter at DOPE Church in Tacoma. He also is a neighbor as he lives right down the street. But there is a deeper reason that I have asked him specifically to come teach us. We are still using Romans a great deal as we learn about the power of the Gospel…