Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! My Surprising Books list for the first half of the year appeared on June 14 of this year. Please go back and check that out if you have not done so already. My second-half list includes: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum Just Faith, by Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons The Names of God, by Ken Harrison The Christmas Sweater, by Glenn Beck The Thief of Bagdad, by Achmed Abdullah Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, by Greg Laurie with Marshall Terrill Aesop's Fables The Last Supper on the Moon, by Levi Lusko Coronado's
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Security may not be the first blessing that comes to mind. But really, what good would any of the other blessings be without it? This week we’ll discuss our salvation and exactly how and why we should feel secure in it; a hero of the Christian community and why I am slow getting on the bandwagon; the standard of truth in our world today and how-slash-if it should impact our walk with Christ; and a game show that put relationships at risk with the allure of big bucks. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 H
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Unfortunately, this segment concludes my discussion with BJ Sipe of Danville, KY, and Terry Francis of Chelsea, AL. We wrapped up (pardon the expression) by discussing the best gift you can give your family and/or your church family — your time. This segment includes, I believe, the longest and perhaps best monologue in the history of this podcast. I leave it intact as my gift to you. Check out BJ's podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/set-your-mind-above/id1566696596 Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@hal
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re talking Gifts this week with BJ Sipe and Terry Francis. BJ works with the church of Christ in Danville, KY; follow him through the Set Your Mind Above podcast. Terry is with the Chelsea church of Christ in the Birmingham area. We recorded this the week of Thanksgiving. It gave us a chance to discuss an attitude of gratitude — why it’s absent so often, what consequences result, and how we can reverse the trend. Check out BJ's podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/set-your-mind-above/id1566696596 Check out Hal on YouTube
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This month we’re dwelling on the good things God gives us, and one of the biggest blessings He’s given me recently is my conversation with BJ Sipe and Terry Francis. BJ works with the church of Christ in Danville, KY; follow him through the Set Your Mind Above podcast. Terry is with the Chelsea church of Christ in the Birmingham area. In the first segment of our talk, we discuss the greatest gift God ever gave His people, and that’s no exaggeration. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This month I'm giving thanks -- especially for everything God has brought me through podcasting. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Heaven podcast. You are encouraged to seek him and the Lakewoods Drive church through Facebook and other social media. Lakewoods Drive is an autonomous group of Christians dedicated to praising God, teaching the gospel to all who will h
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Our survey of some of the horrors of the world takes us inside the human mind this week – a scary place if ever there was one. We’ll discuss Paul’s alleged struggles with insanity and how we can develop the real thing ourselves; a journey into the depths of the Lord’s church and the terrifying characters we find there; the famous definition of insanity and how we just can’t believe it might apply to us; and a game that puts me in the loony bin and whether I should try to get out of it. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.co
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Surely no sin in our culture, except perhaps for fornication, has been glamorized more than drinking. Too bad Prohibition didn’t work. But then, making sin illegal rarely does. We’ll discuss whether drinking rules apply to rich and poor alike; how wine ruins your life, and how it may show up wearing a dress; the connection between songs from the bar and songs in the church; and the lines I won’t cross, even to play a terrific board game. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This month we’re talking about some of the bad things in this world. Unfortunately we have plenty of specific topics to choose from. This week we’ll discuss fake brethren and their fake gospel, and the very real problems they cause; the fake stories we hear and how important it is to check them out; the fake miracle-workers I see in the world and whether the real thing might be out there; and the fake masterpieces unworthy of a place in heaven or in your board game. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Ha
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is part 2 of my conversation with Colton McDaniel and Jay Horsley, preachers respectively for the Stone Canyon church of Christ in the Tulsa area and the church of Christ in Mulvane, Kansas. Here we cover Superman, Jedi masters, and all the other heroes we used to have who were above reproach — and how now we seem to favor the bad guys, who may or may not be dressed up in good guy clothes. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The fact that this Texan has invited two Oklahoma boys to discuss villains this week is completely coincidental. Really. Colton McDaniel preaches for the Stone Canyon church in the Tulsa area. Jay Horsley, world famous Sooner, works with the church of Christ in Mulvane, Kansas. In the first part of our conversation we discuss the villain in our midst, and how he often seems to take residence in our mirror. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods D
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! As humans, our eyes are our best tools for assessing what is real. But our eyes don’t see everything, and the sooner we accept that the quicker we’ll quit stubbing our toes. This week we’ll discuss the invisible work of the Spirit and how we can put it to work in our lives; the connection between invisibility and personal accountability; the witnesses to invisible things and why you should believe them (all of them); and the way you can do battle with an unseen enemy and see your own inevitable victory. Check out Hal on YouTube at http
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The Balancing the Christian Life Conference is finally here, or almost here. After a couple of delays because of factors beyond our control, we are good to go (Lord willing) on November 7-10. The theme is Heaven Citizens, so my interest should be obvious. Dozens of speakers are going to be delivering excellent Bible lessons. Check out BalancingTheChristianLife.com and follow the links to sign up for free. This month’s report was presented live on Facebook on Friday, October 25, and I’m including the audio here. With the season of givin
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Cheating is violating an agreed-upon set of rules for your own benefit. Athletes do it. Politicians do it. You and I do it, unfortunately. This week we’ll discuss the saddest cheating story ever and how a husband responded with mercy; one of the ugliest cheating stories in modern sports (and that’s saying something); the cheating songs we sing along with, and what it says about our character; and the worst cheating I’ve ever experienced first-hand, and why it makes me love the offender more instead of less. Check out Hal on YouTube at
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! An institution is something that has been established. There are all sorts. It can be an organization built to accomplish a specific purpose for an extended period of time; a building that has been in place for decades or even centuries; a system established by God Himself to accomplish His purposes in human society; or a silly little pastime that is an indispensable part of visiting an iconic restaurant chain. We’ll discuss all of the above this week. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serv
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! A contranym is a word that serves as its own opposite. (How does anyone ever learn English as a second language?) This week we’ll discuss whether being “finished” means completing your work or leaving it incomplete; whether “cleaving” is tying something together or breaking something up; whether being “bound” assures you of being mobile or being stationary; and whether “to wear” is to endure the hardships of the world or to be destroyed by them. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as p
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Check out the Balancing the Christian Life Conference at https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/p/btcl2024/ Check out Kenny's podcast, Balancing the Christian Life, at https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/ Check out Edwin's podcast, Text Talk, at https://texttalk.buzzsprout.com/ Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Heaven podcast. You are encouraged to seek hi
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I usually try to stick with the “What I’ve been preaching,” “What I’ve been reading,” “What I’ve been playing” format with my guests. But for whatever reason, I decided to break from that and just talk regular talk with my guests, Edwin Crozier and Kenny Embry. Links to the good work they each do are in the show notes. In this part of the conversation, we discuss our song worship — perhaps the closest thing we get to heaven in this life. Check out the Balancing the Christian Life Conference at https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I had a wonderful conversation last week with Edwin Crozier and Kenny Embry. Edwin cohosts the Text Talk podcast; Kenny hosts the Balancing the Christian Life podcast; both are longtime friends of the program. In search for practical ways to live as heaven citizens here on earth, we found ourselves going back again and again to the sermon on the mount. If you want to know how to prioritize heaven, take instruction from Jesus. Check out the Balancing the Christian Life Conference at https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/p/btcl2024/
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Beginning Tuesday, Lord willing, I’ll be sharing my conversation with Edwin Crozier and Kenny Embry, two long-time friends of the podcast. The topic was heaven. The impetus was the Balancing the Christian Life Conference — October 10-12, mark your calendars. And the significance, as far as I was concerned, was particularly noticeable. It reminded me yet again what it means to walk on earth as a heaven citizen. I’d love to tell you about it. Check out Balancing the Christian Life at https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/ Register fo
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Arrogance is something we absolutely despise in others. It’s a good thing you and I aren’t ever guilty of it, right? This week will discuss someone who was too proud to accept the gift God was trying to give him; a woman who did her best to turn her child into an entitled monster; the right of winners to brag, and whether it actually exists; and my own slice of humble pie served to me in cyberspace. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive ch
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Are you a rebel? And do you consider that a good thing? If your answer is yes, lock in for 20 minutes and I’ll try to change your mind. We’ll cover rebellion posing as good judgment that brought down a king; the original curse word and what it teaches about submissiveness; another hit song from my youth with a message as stupid now as it was then; and why I had a chance to save the galaxy and decided to pass. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewood
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Most of us have been bullied at some point. If you haven’t, you’re probably the bully yourself, so listen close this week. We’ll be covering Christian bullies and when they should and shouldn’t be allowed to win; some coping tactics that fail horribly and a couple that might succeed; a pop star who has been known to beat up half the world’s population with her microphone; and a tactic that might get you banned from the game table but earn you a friend for life in the church. Check out the Balancing the Christian Life Conference at http
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We come to the conclusion of my talk with Scott Taylor and Tyler hall today. I hope it’s been the blessing to you that it has been to me. Again, check out the You Are From God podcast that they host through the West Mason church of Christ. And watch for their contributions at the Balancing the Christian Life Conference next month; links are in the show notes. We conclude by talking about the spiritual habits we build and reinforce in our children, for better or for worse, and how we can emphasize the “better.” Check out Scott and Tyler
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We continue here with my discussion with Scott Taylor and Tyler Hall of the West Mason church of Christ in the Cincinnati area, also the hosts of the You Are From God podcast. Both are scheduled to present lessons at the Balancing the Christian Life Conference next month; check out the link in the show notes. Here we discuss one of my favorite books and the particular aspects of Jesus’s character that we struggle to adopt. Check out Scott and Tyler's podcast, You Are From God, at https://open.spotify.com/show/5sjURrBfLMGOT44BxOMyrk?si=