Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Maybe it’s the fact that I am fresh off a short “stay-cation” with Tracie, an experience I’ll likely discuss in a later podcast. In any case this week I’m in the mood to talk about the pros and cons of getting away from it all. We’ll talk about the folly of attempts to escape from an angry God; the problems that come with getting away with your crimes; one of the most annoying songs I know, both musically and philosophically; and a real-world adventure that turned out to be considerably less than that. Hal Hammons is the preacher for t
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! What comes to mind when you think of monsters? The Sasquatch? The T-Rex? The boss? If telling your children there’s no such thing as monsters helps them sleep, go right ahead. But the grownups should know better. This week we will discuss the most famous monster story in the Bible, and the greatest one; how heroes find monsters instead of letting the monsters find them; how the monster inside of you can be a blessing instead of a curse; and how we defeat monsters by getting up close and personal with them. Hal Hammons is the preacher f
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the second half of my discussion of the topic of service with Tim Jennings and Edwin Crozier. Tim is the preacher for the Castleberry church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas. Edwin preaches for the Livingston Avenue church of Christ in Lutz Florida. We pick up with a discussion of how being a friend of Jerry Seinfeld does not make you an expert in the art of dealing with support staff; and how inviting friends to game night may say more about your selfishness than your service. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the first half of my discussion of the topic of service with two of the most qualified servants I know. Tim Jennings is the preacher for the Castleberry church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas. Edwin Crozier preaches for the Livingston Avenue church of Christ in Lutz Florida. I had a lot of trouble trimming this week. Lots of great content. In this part we discuss how sincere our service in local churches is, and how we can check ourselves for insincerity. Both speakers appear with me on the Balancing the Christian Life Lectures.
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the second half of my conversation with Reagan McClenny and Scott Taylor. Reagan preaches for the Timberland Drive church of Christ in Lufkin, Texas. Scott preaches for the West Mason church of Christ in suburban Cincinnati. In the second part of our conversation, we explore why God chooses to squeeze out the grapes of His wrath as slowly as He does, instead of taking care of things quickly like we tell Him to. Go to www.balancingthechristianlife.com to find out more about the lecture program that Reagan, Scott and I will be pa
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This week I have a special pair of guests for you. Reagan McClenny is a long-time friend of the show. He preaches for the Timberland Drive church of Christ in Lufkin, Texas. Scott Taylor is a first-timer. He preaches for the West Mason church of Christ in suburban Cincinnati. Reagan and Scott will help me deal with the topic of anger this week. In the first part of our conversation, we discuss the example of Elijah and the difference between righteous indignation and just plain old losing your cool. Go to www.balancingthechristianlife.
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I’m back with the second part of my conversation with Jeff O’Rear and BJ Sipe. Again, Jeff is the evangelist for the Judson Road church of Christ in Longview, Texas, and co-host of the Working with the Word podcast; BJ is the evangelist for the church of Christ in Danville, Kentucky, and the host of the Set Your Mind Above podcast. BJ is another contributor to the Balancing the Christian Life Lectures; links are in the show notes. We finish by talking about the number of days and years it takes to get all the way home and the decisions
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This week I spend some time with Jeff O’Rear, evangelist for the Judson Road church of Christ in Longview, Texas, and co-host of the Working with the Word podcast; and also BJ Sipe, evangelist for the church of Christ in Danville, Kentucky, and the host of the Set Your Mind Above podcast. BJ is another contributor to the Balancing the Christian Life Lectures; check it out if you have not already. In the first half of the conversation we discuss Solomon’s ideas about time in Ecclesiastes 3, and Morgan Tyree’s book about sorting our time
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the second half of my conversation on the topic of truth with Adam Shanks and Chris Kramer, two of several participants in the Balancing the Christian Life Lectures who will be appearing in this space in coming weeks. In these two segments we discuss what we think of Ron Wyatt and his outrageous claims, as well as spurious Biblical arguments in general; and the “Telephone” game so popular at gatherings of young people that turns out to have been triggering to one of my guests. We’ll start with what I’ve been playing. Hal Hammon
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I’m joined this week by Adam Shanks and Chris Kramer, both first-time guests on the podcast. Adam is the preacher for the Edwards Lake church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama, and the host of the Preach Impediments podcast. Chris is the preacher for the church of Christ Northside in Russellville, Kentucky, and a regular contributor to the Answering Religious Error stream on Facebook. Both will be contributors this month to the Balancing the Christian Life Lectures. In the first half of our conversation, we will discuss the nature of th
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Are secrets good or bad? It probably depends on whether it is others’ secrets under consideration or your own. Knowledge may be power, but too much power can overload our circuitry. This week we will discuss the secrets God is keeping from us, whatever they may be; whether privacy is an inherently bad thing (and I can make the case); whether introverts can get to heaven — and if so, how; and how Alfred Hitchcock made his way to my game table. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Is silence golden? Is it deadly? Is it nervous? Is it dramatic? As with everything else I seem to talk about, it depends on the context. This week we will discuss the role silence plays, if any, regarding authority; the greatest silent picture star of all time, and what he didn’t say; the thousand tiny triangles that play constantly between my ears; and your new favorite game that I’m here to make you hate. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Heaven
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! There is evil in the world. I remember President George W. Bush getting in a lot of trouble saying that 20 years ago. But he was right then, and he’s right now. This week we will discuss my theory on why the ones who knew God best rejected Him the most; how Dr. Jeckyl thought he could have his cake and eat it too; why I insist on saying Satan is ruling in the world today; and why we avoid one of the most beloved characters in the board gaming world. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Tex
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Spy stories have always fascinated me — the subterfuge, the twists and turns, the idea of being involved in something bigger than yourself. I’m largely over that, though, and this week I’ll tell you why. We will cover the challenges of getting too much information; the sacrifices that must be made for the cause; the moral dilemma of banana pudding; and the options available to us when we are in over our heads. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Hea
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The Bible speaks of three “heavens” — the one with birds and clouds, the one with the sun, moon and stars; and the one where God dwells. We will touch them all this week. We will discuss Psalm 8 and how we may have our telescopes pointed in the wrong direction; Carl Sagan’s idea of God and how woefully short it falls; one of the best arguments against the six-day creation, and my argument against that; and how making the most of your time on earth can cause you to miss the only voyage that matters. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the L
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The sea represents the edge of the inhabited world. It’s deep, cold, mysterious, intimidating — not to be trifled with. This week we talk about the sea that separates us from God, and what God’s doing about it; Clive Cussler’s take on the Titanic story — better than James Cameron’s in my book; a pair of seas from the Bible and from our hymnbooks, one of which one may represent you; and the best scuba diving experience you will ever find that’s made out of cardboard. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ i
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We follow up on last week’s “Creation” episode by talking about the land we inhabit and the role God gives us while we do so. We will discuss the nature of our stewardship, and its implications for our own bodies; the folly of thinking we can every really know what we’re doing; what it means for the meek to “inherit the earth,” and how we can act responsibly with an uncertain future ahead of us. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Heaven podcast. Yo
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This month is all about God’s power over the physical world — starting with our Evidence talk with the Appian Media guys last week, and continuing this week with the world we inhabit and how it came to be. We will discuss making something from nothing, both in the world and in our own lives; the great lie our enemies are telling, and how we can defeat it; the problems with squeezing the Bible into a model built by atheists; and why God’s ecosystems work so much better when we aren’t in them. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewood
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the rest of my conversation with Craig Dehut and Stuart Peck, the founders of Appian Media. Appian Media provides free resources of extraordinary quality to help flesh out and fortify the faith of Bible believers. Check them out at AppianMedia.org. In this part we discuss the testimony of the resurrection and how it paves the way for faith in other areas of study; and what we should do if and when the answers we are getting to our questions are not giving us the assurance we had hoped for. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the La
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! A few months ago I got to speak to Jeremy Dehut and Barry Britnell about some of the work being done by Appian Media. This week the founders of Appian Media are here, Craig Dehut and Stuart Peck. I got to pick their brains about the effective use of evidence from archaeology and history in efforts to build faith in ourselves and others. In the first part of our conversation we discuss the use of entertainment media, especially on behalf of our young people. Nothing will challenge the importance of Bible study, certainly. But if we can
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Ironic, isn’t it? The man who never gets sick catches COVID the week he plans an episode on luck. You can’t make this stuff up. Anyway, I’m likely not at my best vocally, so your patience is appreciated. This week we will discuss the myth of Karma; our tendency to see bad luck crossing our path more often than good luck; the odds of humans evolving from non-living matter, if it’s even fair to calculate them; and how we can turn an unfortunate roll of the dice to our advantage. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We talked about standing up straight in the Posture episode last week. But stand where? For how long? Using our best judgment is critical; but sometimes what we call “best judgment” is simply what comes easiest. That may be simplistic and even counterproductive. This week we will discuss the dangers of thinking too much, the real difference (if any) between rich and poor, a new and perhaps horrifying vision of pizza, and the value of a good box cover. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, T
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Take a stand for truth. Be a stand-up guy. Stand up and be counted. We instinctively connect good posture and good character. If you don’t buy into that, if you prefer to be a slouch, it’s probably going to affect your relationships — including your relationship with Jesus. This week we will discuss what our loins are and how we gird them up; what separates princes and paupers; Jordan Peterson’s first rule for life; and what motivates me to play games, including awful games. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We pick up where we left off in my conversation about racism with Benjamin Lee and Saif Alsafeer. If you haven’t checked out part 1 yet, please do so. In this conversation we go back to Robinson Crusoe one last time to discuss how relevant the racism discussion is in today’s world and today’s church; and the hazards of stereotyping people based on a sliver of facts or surface appearances, especially in the era of social media. Hal Hammons is the preacher for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of t
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We begin Season 4 of the podcast this week with a very special conversation with Benjamin Lee and Saif Alsafeer on a very sensitive topic. I very much appreciated the perspective of these two men, and I enjoyed how we were able to approach the topic as brethren. This is the first part of our discussion. We spend it emphasizing our commonality and our need to live together in the body of Christ, as well as assessing the problem of racism in the church today and how we should combat it. Check out Benjamin Lee's podcast, I Can Do with Ben