A Preaching Family

It is always an honor to proclaim God’s Word, but sometimes a sermon stands out. Yesterday morning, it was an honor to stand before the 9th Avenue church of Christ for a very special reason.

The sermon I presented yesterday morning was entitled “What a Mighty God We Serve!” and was based on the 11 verses of Psalm 46. It was special because of the subject matter, but it was also special because it came about in an interesting way.

My dad (Jim Faughn), my brother-in-law (Jeremiah Tatum), Leah’s brother (Jason Moon) and I all four wrote parts of this sermon and then we put it all together. I presented it yesterday, and they are presenting the sermon where they preach next Sunday.

To see the PowerPoint presentation I used for this lesson, click here.

A Better Life

Last night, while visiting with the Sanders family in Doniphan, I saw my first episode of American Idol (I know, I’m a dork for not watching it before).

One of the contestants said that he was going through the Idol process because he has two small children at home. He said that this was going to give his children a better life.

I don’t know anything about this contestant, but the Sanders told me that he was just out of the Army and didn’t have a job yet. He is hoping to get a recording contract through American Idol for his job.

Question: how would that make the life of his children better? Could he not give them a good life by being a teacher, a garbage man or a fast food worker? Kids don’t care how much money daddy has or how famous mommy is; they just know if mommy and daddy are there.

While not every celebrity family is like this, just think of what most are like. A vast majority are broken homes, and in so many more a nanny helps raise the children because mommy (or daddy) is not there.

Parents, we need to redefine a “good life” for children. It’s not about a big house or nice cars. It’s not about going to an Ivy League school. It’s not even about daddy or mommy being famous. It’s about being a family. It’s about being a faithful Christian family. It’s about being there for your children.

When this contestant is out on a tour and his daughter gets her heart broken, will daddy be there to hug her?

As Promised, Pictures of Turner

A proud mother and father with Turner. He was only about 2 hours old at this time. Somehow, Turner makes his mom smile, even after labor.
Bringing Turner into the house for the first time. Yes, I know my shirt is untucked.
Turner making his “grampy” very (very, very) proud. We were so blessed to have both sets of grandparents there for Turner’s birth, and they have been–and are being–a big help to us.
Turner’s first trip to worship. He came to worship when he was just 6 days old and came on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Leah did very well and Turner fits right in–he slept through daddy leading singing.