Our church has visitors attend every week. I love the fact that God is drawing people to our community and one of my favorite things to do every week is meet new people who attend one of our services. I know that for most of our guests, going to…
Dealing with Jihadist Fear Syndrome
Gun sales are way up. More and more, people say they are afraid to fly. It seems ISIS is a giant like Goliath and the world’s governments tremble. The people of the world are not sure what to make of radical Islamic terrorism. While there may be many sympathizers/supporters,…
3 ways to make Thanksgiving count
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! The combination of family, great food and football is tough to beat. The turkey coma that hits me at about 3 p.m. is a thing of beauty. Christmas is spectacular, but the food at Thanksgiving wins by a landslide. Let me offer three suggestions…
Christians, Choose your Outrage Wisely
This week we experienced a social media frenzy over Starbucks’ red cups. If you haven’t noticed then you probably were under a rock somewhere. The gist of the controversy was Starbucks unveiled their seasonal red cup and in a hugely shocking (not really) move they had nothing about Christmas…
4 tips for Loving on Nashville and the World
Let’s be honest, the Christmas season is already up us. Holiday cheer has exploded all over stores like Target and Walmart. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Whether you’re a firm believer that Christmas music shouldn’t start playing until after Thanksgiving or not, I have a proposal for us…
How to Honor Jesus this Halloween
Every October Christians wonder how to interact with Halloween. The reason we struggle with this is on one level Halloween is a fun light-hearted holiday. Seriously, what is more fun than to have your kids dress up and and collect free candy. All parents love pilfering that mountain of…
Tips for Packing an OCC Shoebox
Note: This blog post was shared with us by former Green Hills Church member Karen Parnell. It offers some good tips for items to include in your Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Unsolicited Advice About Shoeboxes by Katie Garrett, SIM Senegal May 11, 2015 http://garrett.with.sim.org/index.php/archives/1675 First, I can’t believe a year has already…
Think before you Post
Whenever you write something you must ask yourself, “How does what I say about this affect people that I know and I love?” You must assume your friends will see what you write. Every couple of weeks there is a huge blow up on social media. Whether it is…
Why I Don’t Believe the Gospel
Most days, I don’t believe the gospel. Not all day, every day. But at some point each day, I struggle to believe it. Now, it’s not for lack of knowing the gospel. I grew up in a home in which I was taught the story of redemption from day one.…
God Wants You Back Home
Sometimes Christians spend a period of time out of close community with God. We either go through empty motions and fake it, or we give up on the façade and step out of Christian community entirely. Often it begins as we become busy and don’t prioritize time with God. There…