Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Bad things happen in life. That's just the way it is. The question is whether we will be able to recover and build better afterward. This week we'll discuss how flirting with disaster can come back to haunt you and your family; how a man froze to death trying to get you a better deal on silk and gunpowder; how my own carpentry work led to holes in my wall and nearly a hole in my foot; and how planning your disaster properly could result in the end of the world. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Ham
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Trust is a rare commodity these days -- earned slowly, lost quickly. Christians should thank God we have One worthy of trust, and a host of others trying their best. This week we'll discuss the trustworthy One and the untrustworthy alternatives; the danger in picking the wrong partner when committing a felony; a staple of trust-building in the corporate world that people don't actually trust; and the difference between a team with a great player and a team. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Every year it seems I have more and more to be thankful for, and it's high time I said so on the podcast. this week I'll tell you which Hebrew word brings joy to my heart and why; the particular genre of book that piquest my interest the most and where I find them; the reason Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson are better musicians than your favorite current chart-topper ever will be alive; and why two players at the table are better than one -- and maybe even better than four. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons97
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! If I could choose any superpower, I might pick being able to fly. I doubt I'm alone in that. No wonder flight is used so often in the Bible as a spiritual metaphor. This week we'll learn how to escape the problems of this life by looking at the world the way God does; how to embrace the desire to fly God put in us and use it properly; how to accept adversity on the way to spiritual achievement; and how to reject dreams of world domination in favor of being just one cog in a gigantic wheel. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtub
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is my final installment of my conversation with Scott Taylor and Tyler Hall, who partner in the work with the West Mason church of Christ in Mason, Ohio. We finish by talking about the most popular game in town, or so it seems — the Blame Game. These are smart fellows; can they explain to me why people’s situations are going to bet better when they find a way to blame their problems on someone else. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Dri
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Scott Taylor and Tyler Hall preach for the West Mason church of Christ in the suburban Cincinnati area. Scott, Tyler and I are all fathers, so I thought it would be good to continue our conversation by addressing the accountability of fathers in the home, and how we practically apply the concept of bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 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
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Scott Taylor and Tyler Hall preach for the West Mason church of Christ in the suburban Cincinnati area. We start our conversation with a simple question: What is your favorite story in the Bible about judgment? 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. Lak
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Turns out, there's not quite enough weeks in the year for me to say everything I have to say about San Francisco. So this week we'll put all the leftovers into a pot and see what comes out -- what if anything was really wrong with hippies; what businesses on the waterfront are closed and whether I care; whether the sound of sea lions is charming, annoying, or both; and whether going to Chinatown is worth yet another mile of walking. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and s
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The Golden Gate is a bridge, a park, and a geological feature. All three made a tremendous impression on me on my recent trip to San Francisco, and I'm here to tell you about it. We'll talk about crossing the barrier between opportunity and accomplished reality; the hazards of walking where others are careening; the most famous meteorological phenomenon in the Bay Area; and the reason why it's worth walking an extra couple of miles to find yet another statue. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammo
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! If you don't have the time or the vehicle to travel 5 1/2 hours to Redwood National Park on your next San Francisco trip, you can instead cross the Golden Gate Bridge, take a scenic drive through Marin County, and spend some quality time in Muir Woods National Monument. We did, and it's awesome in every sense of the word. This week we'll talk about some experiences from our recent vacation that cannot be put into words -- but of course, I'll try to put them into words anyway. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhamm
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! 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 hear, training Christians in righteousness, and serving our God and one another faithfully. We bel
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We're going to do something a bit different this month. I am going to spend October telling you about my recent vacation with Tracie to San Francisco. Spoiler alert: It was amazing. Life-altering, even. We'll have plenty to say in the weeks to come about Alcatraz, the redwood trees of Muir Woods, and the Golden Gate; we'll begin this week by discussing what motivated us to go to San Francisco in the first place. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakew
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Scheduled postings: October 7: Tourism. October 14: Alcatraz. October 21: Muir Woods. October 28: The Golden Gate. 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
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We finish Animal Month with my third and (probably) final venture into ursine territory. If my buddy Kenny Embry is out there, this one's for you. We'll discuss Sarah Palin's favorite mammal and the situations in which you might encounter it; the most famous bear-hunter in history and my surprising issues with him; the most obnoxious meme on the internet (and that's saying something); and the race you absolutely must win, even if it means leaving your buddy in the dust. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons970
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Again we turn to the insect world for help with living among the humans. I hope it's not bugging you. This week we'll discuss how smart humans have figured out a way to destroy themselves (which stupid ants don't do); the incredible work ants do by being what they are and doing what they are meant to do; a personal trip down memory lane with ants and my father; and a game that can serve as the remedy for the affliction after which it is named. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as pre
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I hate cats. But I enjoy Chinese food. See, there’s a blessing in every part of God’s creation – especially the lessons they teach us. This week we’ll deal with whether cats think they’re better than you or just don’t know you exist; some amazing poetry that somehow gave rise to some horrible acting; whether curiosity is actually deadly or if it will just give you hives; and whether it’s appropriate to actually detonate a feline, even for a good cause. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serv
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Maybe when I announced “Animal Month,” you just thought “lions and tigers and bears, oh my.” But God teaches us big lessons with little things. This week we’ll discuss how ugly things grow beautiful through forces beyond their understanding; the man with a butterfly tattoo who went to crazy extremes to avoid being caged; a wonderful lie and a lesson it teaches about rearing children; and the triumphant story of tiny creatures migrating all the way from one end of your gaming table to the other. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.y
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Edwin Crozier and Andrew Roberts of the Text Talk podcast are back to finish up our discussion of everyone’s favorite reptile. Here we discuss a children’s game that, deliberately or accidentally, teaches us that life isn’t fair, some people catch more breaks than we do, and there’s not much we can do about it. Can that make us bitter? Absolutely. How can we avoid that? Let’s find out. Check out the Text Talk podcast at https://texttalk.buzzsprout.com/ Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serv
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Edwin Crozier and Andrew Roberts are partners in the gospel for the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue in Lutz, Florida. They also co-host the excellent Text Talk podcast; a link is provided in the show notes. Edwin and Andrew are back to give the other side of the Biblical picture of snakes — one in which they, at least after a fashion, provide a good example for us. Check out the Text Talk podcast at https://texttalk.buzzsprout.com/ Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preach
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re talking animals this month, and we start in style by bringing in Edwin Crozier and Andrew Roberts of the Text Talk podcast to discuss everyone’s favorite reptile. We start where you would expect — the garden of Eden. But when I suggested Eve fell victim to a relatively obvious ploy, my guests didn’t necessarily agree. And the conversation went in all kinds of interesting directions from there. See what you think. Check out the Text Talk podcast at https://texttalk.buzzsprout.com/ Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.co
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s time for one of my very favorite topics. How I got six and a half seasons in without a “Children” episode, I have no idea. We’ll discuss the reason spiritual people have children and then launch them out into the world; the sort of society we get when children make the rules; the simplicity or lack thereof of our hymn worship, and why I suggest erring on the side of the former; and the happy memories Tracie and I have playing the dumbest game we have ever owned. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 H
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! If something important is on the horizon, you get ready for it. That’s just common sense. Unfortunately, sense isn’t as common as you might think. This week we’ll discuss how Jesus is coming quicker than you think, and not in the way you might think; the extremes to which people will go in pursuit of what they really want; the voices in my head and how they don’t help me as much as I like to think; and yet another game in which I know precisely what to do and cannot do it for the life of me. Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.yout
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! If there’s any subject in which I could claim to be an expert, this is the one. Thankfully God is more than competent enough to compensate for me. We’ll discuss how our repeated failures will not get in the way of a God determined to save us; a president whose best wasn’t nearly good enough and the problems that resulted; the very worst preacher who ever preached (and yes, I think I can prove it); and the latest example of how horrible I am at board games, why that’s the case, and why I keep playing anyway. Check out Hal on YouTube at
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re wrapping up with Brent Clanton and Phil Robertson in this part of the episode. Here we focus on clickbait — the news industry’s increasing tendency to rope viewers in with wild headlines, claims of urgency, and countless other tactics designed to keep us glued to the screen. How can we protect ourselves? And how extreme should our reaction be? Is the best approach to just tune out completely? Let’s find out. Check out Brent and The Real Investment Show with Lance Roberts at https://www.youtube.com/c/therealinvestmentshow and http
Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re picking up where we left off from the first part of my conversation with Brent Clanton and Phil Robertson, two veterans of the news business. If you missed the first part, make sure you go back and check that out. Is there media bias? If so, is it deliberate? And if so, what should be Christians’ approach if any to gathering news? And what implications do our viewing and listening habits have regarding our work as Christian parents? Check out Hal on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@halhammons9705 Hal Hammons serves as preacher