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MOZART: Prodigies. "Mozart and Constanze." Too many notes. Lacrimosa.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of those great ones, like Ludwig von Beethoven, where the last name is all you need to identify him. Like Einstein, or Shakespeare, or Washington. This week we’ll discuss childhood genius and the good and bad things that come with it; Mozart’s less than ideal marriage and its lessons for us; the precise number of notes that a piece of music should include (if there is one – spoiler alert, there isn’t); and a way you can build on the work of Mozart today on your game table. Hal Hammons serves as preacher a

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BEETHOVEN: Deafness. "Beethoven: The Composer as Hero." "Wellington's Victory." Symphony No. 9.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Ludwig von Beethoven is one of two names that come up more than any other when the topic of “history’s greatest composer” is discussed. Herr Mozart gets his day next week, Lord willing. This week we’ll discuss Beethoven’s battle with deafness and how losing it helped him win the war; the heroic nature of his work and how it can help you be a hero today; one of the worst pieces of music Beethoven ever wrote and why I love it so much; and a game I shoehorned into this space because I needed another segment. Hal Hammons serves as preacher

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SONGS, part 3: with Michael Eldridge and Brian Rainwater

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the final installment from my conversation with Brian Rainwater and Michael Eldridge on the topic of songs. And this is likely what you came to hear — two experts on congregational song music weighing in on what makes a good hymn, which ones have impacted them in a particular way over the years, and what makes the special hymns so special. Brian teaches music at Florida College; Michael performs music at acapeldridge.com. Check the show notes for appropriate links. Michael Eldridge's music can be found at www.acapeldridge.com.

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SONGS, part 2: with Michael Eldridge and Brian Rainwater

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Here’s more of my discussion with Michael Eldridge and Brian Rainwater. Here we talk more particularly about the songs we sing as the people of God, old hymnals vs. newer collections, old-style hymns vs. modern radio fare, how we learn songs and whether it’s worth the effort, and much much more. Apologies ahead of time to Hillsong and their song “Oceans,” which some might think we are picking on. Brian teaches music at Florida College; Michael performs music at acapeldridge.com. Check out Michael's music at https://acapeldridge.com/. H

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SONGS: with Michael Eldridge and Brian Rainwater

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! As Music Month kicks off, I thought it would be best to consult a couple of musicians. Michael Eldridge is a hymn writer and vocalist, perhaps best known for “When I Go Home”; check out his work at acapeldridge.com. Brian Rainwater is Director of Bands at Florida College, and quite the hymn writer as well. In the first part of our discussion we address the power that comes from pairing beautiful music and inspiring words, especially in pursuit of the cause of Christ. www.acapeldridge.com Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for

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VISION: God's failed visions. "The Prophet and the Astronomer." "Be Thou My Vision." Libertalia.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! They say seeing is believing. But what does it really mean to “see” something? Is it possible to visualize something conceptual? Something futuristic? Something heavenly? This week I say yes. We’ll discuss the times when God’s vision of the future is wrong, or at least seems to be; an unbeliever’s view of prophecy and the blinders he puts on himself; a musical insight into realms beyond what mere eyes perceive; and my constant inability to see around the corners of my gaming table. See a playlist for Praise and Harmony at https://www.y

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UNUSUAL: The Levite and the concubine. "The Bookshop that Floated Away." Bagpipes. Hand-to-Hand Wombat.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Whether you’re talking about the Bible, the bookstore, the music you hear, or the games you play – it can get pretty strange. But sometimes the strange parts are the most interesting parts. Today we’ll discuss perhaps the most disgusting chapter in Israelite history (and that’s saying something); the oddest bookstore in the world and its piece-of-work proprietor; the world’s most maligned musical instrument; and the piles of fecal matter being left on my game table of late (and no, that’s not a euphemism). Hal Hammons serves as preache

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WEAKNESS: Weaker wives. "unQualified." Weak love. My pewter chess set.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I started writing this episode planning to describe weakness as being not nearly as awful as you might think. I wound up deciding weakness isn’t a bad thing at all. Not if we see it as God sees it. This week we’ll discuss what makes wives weaker than their husbands (that’s enough to know it’s not a bad thing right there); the weakling God used to build a nation; the weakness deliberately designed by engineers that saves lives every day; and the most easily damaged game I own – and why I’ve kept it for 40 years. Hal Hammons serves as pr

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COMFORT: The God of comfort. "Watership Down." "Danny's Song." Upstairs.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! My dad’s funeral is this week. So comfort is on my mind. I’ve gotten a lot over the last few weeks, so I’m here to share some with you. This week we’ll discuss Paul’s counterintuitive and yet foolproof recipe for contentment; my own favorite “warm and fuzzy” book, which in places is anything but warm and fuzzy; perhaps the music industry’s best example of a feel-good song; and the place I go for comfort and the effort I’m willing to expend to get there. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Chris

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STRESS: Don't worry. "Putting an X Through Anxiety." Medication. Jenga.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Maybe we should have done this episode before the holidays. Then again, maybe you have just as much stress now but with more bills to pay. If so, I’m here to help. This week we discuss embracing the simple truth about stress; celebrating a tiny book on a huge subject; considering whether medicine is the problem or the solution (spoiler alert: it’s both); and playing a game that need not create as much stress as perhaps it has. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He

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YEAR END: My Best Books of 2023

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re finally at the end of the road — the best books I’ve read in 2023. Here I discuss 10 books I read in the back half of the year and mix in the best from the first half. From self-help to Jesus allegories to nuclear apocalypse, you’ll find a little bit of everything here. Enjoy. Books that made the list (*=appeared on one of the Halfway Point lists): Salt: A Global History The Blood of Heroes * East of Eden, by John Steinbeck The Pearl, by John Steinbeck QBQ: The Question Behind the Question * The Character of Jesus, by S.E. Jeffer

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YEAR END: My Most Thinky Books of 2023

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Books that make you go “Hmmmm” are my favorite kind of books. Whether I’m challenging my current mode of thinking or simply investigating the other side of the argument, more information is almost always better than less. And if what I read can help me understand who I am and who I am trying to become, even help me get there a bit more efficiently, that’s a good use of my time and money. I shared this list with Heaven Citizens, my Facebook group, earlier this week. Some of it got through; some of it, for technical reasons, did not. Apo

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PARTIES: Social drinking. "The Birth of American Politics." Factiousness. Spyfall.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s that time once again. Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the college football playoffs. Fun, food and fellowship in abundance. Truly, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” This week we’ll discuss the parties that get a bit too festive; political parties and whether they are really necessary; the party spirit that dominates far too many churches today; and a game we break out at parties that will leave you wondering where in the world you are. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Geo

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YEAR END: My Most Surprising Books of 2023

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! These are the biggest surprises, mostly good ones, that I got in the second half of 2023. Since I’m going back and editing the livestream I shared with my Facebook group, Heaven Citizens, I get to make an important correction. One of the books on the list was not in front of me; in fact, I never actually bought it in the first place. And since I didn’t see it, I skipped over it. So if you actually counted down with me, you may have noticed there were only nine slots mentioned instead of ten. The book I omitted was “Who Moved My Cheese?

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SIGNS: Destroying the temple. "The Day the Sun Stood Still." Merging. Mille Bournes.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Signs are everywhere, from giant words in the sky to the fuzzy green stuff in your refrigerator. God gives you signs, too. Ignore them at your peril. This week we’ll cover the greatest sign Jesus ever performed and why people completely missed it; three authors’ ideas about how dense people can be in the presence of absolute proof; the road signs that bring out either the humility or the selfishness in all of us; and the longest 1,000-mile road trip in the history of gaming. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods

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YEAR END: My Most Disappointing Books of 2023

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Back in May, when I listed my best, most disappointing, most surprising and thinkiest books I had read to that point, I had no idea what I was in for. Since that time I have averaged a bit more than one book a day. That translates to, well, a lot of books. And they weren’t all winners. I was able to derive some benefit from everything I read. However, some of my choices did not deliver nearly as much as I had hoped. These are those books. Enjoy. 10. The Map that Changed the World, Simon Winchester. 9. Live to Tell, Brad J. Kellenberg 8

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SIZE: David and Goliath. "War and Peace." The Dollar General theory. Rise of Augustus.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Is bigger always better? That depends on what we’re measuring, and how we are defining “big.” (Wait a minute. Am I talking about context again?) This week we’ll cover the real giant who fought in the valley of Elah; the biggest book I have ever read and whether it was worth the exercise carrying it to Florida; the “Dollar General theory” of churches and whether it has any merit; and the most expensive and frustrating air I’ve ever bought, and why I don’t regret it at all. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Dr

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GREATNESS, part 3: with Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! What does the next level of development look like in the cause of Christ? How do we know we are getting there and staying there? This is the topic in the last part of my conversation with Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny. If I do say so myself, I thought their comments were pretty great. Find out more about my guests respectively at edenhollow.com and TimberlandChurch.org. Links are in the show notes. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen

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GREATNESS, part 2: with Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re back with more greatness from Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny. In this segment of our conversation we discuss the book they both urged me to read, how they were right (of course), and how we can create some “atomic habits” in our walk with Jesus that will keep us on course and drive us toward greater success. Find out more about my guests respectively at edenhollow.com and TimberlandChurch.org. Links are in the show notes. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. H

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GREATNESS: with Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Are Adam Shanks and Reagan McClenny the greatest preachers I know? Let’s just say they are part of a big logjam at the top. So I brought them back this week to talk about what true greatness is, especially in God’s eyes. In part one of our conversation we discuss the one Jesus singled out for greatness and how he can be a model for us today. Find out more about my guests respectively at edenhollow.com and TimberlandChurch.org. Find out more about Adam Shanks and his work at edenhollow.com. Find out more about Reagan McClenny and his wo

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MAIL: Biblical letters. "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Junk mail. "Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig."

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s Reading Month here on the podcast, and I’m taking you down to the mailbox this week to see what lessons we might find there. We’ll discuss the “snail mail” that served the apostles so well in the First Century and that serves us still today – if we read it correctly; a murder scheme that has absolutely nothing to do with the postman or how many times he rings the bell; the blessings and burdens of the envelopes I usually never open at all; and the price I am willing to pay to preach the gospel of board games. Hal Hammons serves as

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SCI-FI: The Biblical UFO. "Out of the Silent Planet." Proof of alien life. Mission: Red Planet.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We continue Reading Month with one of my least favorite genres. I’ll traverse the galaxy to find a good topic for the podcast if I have to. And this week I have to. We’ll cover what one Bible character did upon seeing a legitimate UFO; C.S. Lewis’s attempt to get us to find Jesus on a different planet; the “proof” of alien life and why no one seems to care very much; and my own “close encounter of the board-gaming kind.” Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the

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My Gilligan's Island Book List

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! In part 3 of the “Books” episode, which aired earlier this month, I asked my guests, Edwin Crozier and Elizabeth Nowlin, to give me their list of books other than the Bible they would want to take with them if they were going to stay indefinitely on a desert island. If you haven’t checked it out, please do, along with the other two parts of the episode. Now it’s my turn. I shared my list live with the Heaven Citizens Facebook group, and now I’m sharing it with you. Enjoy. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Dr

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SATIRE: Isaiah's take on idols. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Weird Al. Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia.

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! “Reading Month” turns to Satire this week, defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity. And the Bible is full of it. This week we will discuss the fun God’s prophets had at the expense of idolators; a different take (to say the least) on the Pride and Prejudice story; the madcap adventures of my favorite musical satirist; and how you turn dystopian lemons into your faction’s favorite flavor of lemonade. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive churc

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BOOKS, part 3: with Edwin Crozier and Elizabeth Nowlin

Hal Hammons · Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Instead of shoehorning a game into this segment, I’ve decided to make my own. It’s called “Gilligan’s Island,” and here’s how it works. You’re going to spend an indefinite period of time isolated from everything and everyone. You can take five books with you, other than the Bible. And for reasons I can’t get into now, the books can’t be about building boats, satellite dishes, or luxury getaway resorts. Which ones do you choose? Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brand

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